Escrow.com fees getting out of hand

[DnPowerful]

I just finished a $55k transaction, and fees topped $500 USD.

Simply put, it's just out of sight.

Yes, people will chime in and say how much a lawyer costs, but the comparison is unfair: lawyers overcharge for everything.

Escrow.com takes no risks, excuses themselves from any liability, and simply shuttles money from one account to another. You pay every step of the way.

In my other Escrow.com thread, I noted great service, but I'm noticing cracks starting to show in that very service, and given the money spent, I'm not sure it's worth it anymore.

There is another thing I've noticed: Unless I'm dealing with the one person who really knows my history with the company, I get treated like a peon, having to explain myself over and over. Just checked: In excess of a quarter of a million dollars in business with them just in the last six months alone. Shouldn't I formally have an account manager?

Additionally, why haven't they introduced feedback mechanisms or "recommended seller" appelations for realiable and/or big-ticket sellers? The site treats everyone like a brand new customer every time, which is prettty absurd.

Ultimately, if you want $500 of my money for what amounts to a few emails and an escrow account, shouldn't your service be more sticky??

 

they need a real competitor to give them some reason to improve and work harder for the way they treat their customers. A feedback system would be a real bonus there imo.

 

[Mik]

Dude no offence but if I had 55k to blow on a domain name i'd either be flying to where you live or have you flown down here and do it in person

I haven't had dealings with them but surely if it's that bad there must be another service out there that would take some risk on both parties behalves for 100 - 500 per transaction.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by DnPowerful
I just finished a $55k transaction, and fees topped $500 USD.

Simply put, it's just out of sight.

Let's check this out for you. What name was it again?

 

[Fearless]

I sent an inquiry to their marketing department in March about integration of www.perfectname.com with their system. No response. Now because I'm opening up PerfectName for others to list and I really need this integration, I try calling the sales department. I left a voice mail and the sales department called me back. He said I needed to talk to another department to determine the level of integration I would need. Next day I got a call from that department. He said if they did private label landing pages and emails there would be integration costs I would have to pay. I said I don't need private label integration and my programmers won't have any trouble with the integration. He said I can send you a pdf on integration and you're on your on. Next day I get a Terms sheet from the salesman.
In it they had a $1,200 fee for integration. I fired an email back saying are you charging me $1,200 to send you more business?
An email battle ensued. One of questions I had was, What deal did Afternic get? His response " In regards to Afternic, I guess I'm having a hard time getting to your issue. Afternic is a subsidiary of Register.com, one of the largest companies in the Domain space. If you do some research, you can probably find out the transaction volume associated with an account like that." I replied: "To see Afternic's volume, All I have to do is look and see that they have 2 auctions that have met the reserve in all the auctions that are closing in the next 30 days.
You have latched your cart to a dieing horse."
It comes down to this. I already sent them 100+ transactions. I wasn't about to pay a penny to send them more business. When Tradenable.com went bust, Escrow.com immediately doubled their rates. I have proven to be an honorable player in the domain business. I have a very successful business in www.motherboards.com. I have the financial strength to launch a site to compete with Escrow. Unless Escrow.com gets some competition, Rate hikes and Network Solutions like mentality will prevail. As you may have seen, I have a thread here looking for a great name for an Escrow company. Look out Escrow.com.

 

[DnPowerful]

Originally posted by Mik
Dude no offence but if I had 55k to blow on a domain name i'd either be flying to where you live or have you flown down here and do it in person

I haven't had dealings with them but surely if it's that bad there must be another service out there that would take some risk on both parties behalves for 100 - 500 per transaction.

Ironically, doing it in person offers no more protection than doing it from 5000 miles away. You can scam either way, trust me.

 

[DnPowerful]

This week, wanting to voice my frustration directly to senior management, I asked for the General Manager's email. I sent her a note asking if she would be open to discussing some bothersome issues. I explained my customer status (ie big volume, big ticket).

No reply.

Her name is Adrian Cole ([email protected]), GM of the company.

 

I've had problems with them claiming underpayments of $20 on transactions by wire (supposedly due to 3rd party bank fees). They have now done this twice in a row, on both a buy and a sell transaction (ie the second time they did this to the buyer, I was the seller).

 

[Duke]

Gentlemen - companies like this that think they can treat customers like garbage simply because the company temporarily enjoys quasi-monopoly status are destined for failure. As soon as someone launches a viable alternative, their customers will leave in droves and never come back. I have seen it happen over and over.

Gregr, if you have enough time on your hands (I know running businesses is enormously time consuming), take this bull by the horns and ride it to the promised land. Escrow.com is currently doing you the enormous favor of alienating their best customers - the people who will make their eventual competitor a success.

 

[Fearless]

Originally posted by DnPowerful

No reply.

Her name is Adrian Cole ([email protected]), GM of the company.

One thing for sure, With me, You guys will have access.

 

[EroGenius]

Well, I sold a name through GreatDomains.com for $35k. Since it had been found through GreatDomains.com, they took a cut of around $4,500. Sick, huh?

Outside of a listing, they would have been one of the cheaper Escrow services I'd seen at the time. They charge $500 too (or 1%, whichever is greater).

I'm not sure I see that as such a bad thing... sure they don't DO too much, but I got my wire transfer, and the buyer got the security they wanted. They provided the contracts, and arrangements.

Problem solved (though my pocket smarted a bit).

~ EG

 

[Duke]

Problem solved (though my pocket smarted a bit).

EG - I don't think that was your pocket that was smarting. I think it was an area between your back pockets and a bit south.

Surely someone will come along and give sellers a better alternative.

 

[Fearless]

Originally posted by Duke of Earl


EG - I don't think that was your pocket that was smarting. I think it was an area between your back pockets and a bit south.

 

[EroGenius]

::: Shifts uncomfortably in his seat :::

I have no idea what you're talking about...

~ EG ( I did set myself up... )