Escrow.com question...

tonyk2000 · Mar 17, 2003

I have a strange situation with escrow.com...
Large transaction. Funds secured, all domains are promptly transferred to the buyer. Whois output agrees with escrow details for the buyer.
However... The buyer never bothered to login and they did not confirm receipt of the domain names. So the inspection period was FINISHED by escrow manually.
I expect that escrow pays me now, but.. they continue e-mailing the buyer:
"Because this transaction proceeded to completion without your final involvement, please reply to this email confirming your complete control of the domain names so that we can finalize this
transaction."
The buyer does not reply to any e-mails. It looks like they are lazy or they do not read e-mail, or.. I don't know!
But I want my money... the buyer may not reply forever, and what.. ? Inspection period was finished a week ago.

Any advise?

Donna Mahony · Mar 17, 2003

Try calling them Tony. I has this problem and a phone call resolved it.

WildCard · Mar 17, 2003

Yeah, i called them asking about this very same situation - woman stated quite directly that once they verify that the whois info has changed to the buyer's info, the money is yours.

Don't forget, depending on what method of payment you chose, you will have to wait for it to be disbursed. I chose check sent FedEx, they cut the check 4 business days later, i had it the 5th business day after the transfer was made.

-WC-

bidawinner · Mar 17, 2003

Not problem Tony,

The information they gave you is accurate, My last 2 large escrows had trhe same problem. The buyer either refused or simply ignored escrows email to confirm the domians were intheri control.

Escrow.com simply verified Whois.. just a few days later had my checks..

Escrow.com really is the best service I have used.. and they understand the domains business well .

WildCard · Mar 17, 2003

Yeah, i got that impression as well when I talked to them. It's a pretty nice service. At 6% for CC transactions, that's just double what Paypal fees are at, and I am guessing these transfers are provable in a court of law if need be.

-Wc-

Ari Goldberger · Mar 17, 2003

I know of a situation where a seller sold a domain name to a party who then refused to approve the transaction alleging that he owned the trademark for the domain name. Despite this obvious fraud, Escrow.com did not agree to release funds but said it would go into arbitration under the terms of the Escrow.com agreement. The Seller ended up settling for a reduced sum.

Donna Mahony · Mar 17, 2003

Originally posted by Ari Goldberger
I know of a situation where a seller sold a domain name to a party who then refused to approve the transaction alleging that he owned the trademark for the domain name. Despite this obvious fraud, Escrow.com did not agree to release funds but said it would go into arbitration under the terms of the Escrow.com agreement. The Seller ended up settling for a reduced sum.

It's cases like this that have made me decide to have my attorney respond to inquiries and handle escrow on important domains.

cluelessdomainer · Mar 21, 2003

winfree, what big sale domains have you sold? I do not want the amounts, just would like to see the domains you had and sold.

timechange.com · Mar 22, 2003

No problems with Escrow.com and 4 transactions - interesting situation and definitely something that I'd have to hope never happens to me

WildCard · Mar 22, 2003

Ari, never thought about that angle. Interesting. Thanks for the post.

-WC-

Donna Mahony · Mar 22, 2003

Originally posted by cluelessdomainer
winfree, what big sale domains have you sold? I do not want the amounts, just would like to see the domains you had and sold.

I have sold several hundred domains..here is one that turned out to be very nice! MoneyCenters.com

WildCard · Mar 22, 2003

Don't take this the wrong way, but how is that relevant to escrow.com?

It's a nice site, I like what they did with it.

-WC-

tonyk2000 · Mar 23, 2003

Returning to the original question...
Escrow finally wired funds to me. I had to call them twice to expedite the process. They advised, that for large transactions ( $1000 or more) they need to have actual confirmation from the buyer about complete control of the domain names - regardless of whois data!
My buyer never replied them. Escrow e-mailed him a few times and even called with no success. Finally, they sent him last e-mail - "The registrant information matches your customer profile for these domain names and our attempts to contact you to confirm the transfers have been unsuccessful. May this email serve to advise you that the funds for this transaction will be released to the seller should we not hear from you within 24 hours."

Very good protection to the buyer... but unreasonable delays for the seller

WildCard · Mar 23, 2003

Agreed. Interesting, when I called them, they never said anything about the $1000 cutoff for the confirmation rule.

Mine was $600, but they never asked what the amount would be. They sort of said, quite directly, once they see whois info change to the profile info of the buyer, they would transfer funds.

I guess there's always a risk in this business.

-WC-

hiOsilver · Mar 25, 2003

I offer my buyers options, but I like it when they use PayPal. There is none of the problem that has been pointed out here about Escrow.com. Escrow.com is good, but it is a pain when you have to wait for you $. On the other hand, I remember waiting weeks, with dozens of emails ignored by Afternic.

Important Advice

:

With Escrow.com, be sure to change the contact info to that of the buyer before you transfer name to buyer. That way Escrow.com can verify that transfer has taken place. DO NOT push name to buyer and ask them to modify whois. It can take a long time to get paid that way. Also, always ask your buyer to respond to the final email from Escrow.com.

Diogenes · Mar 25, 2003

yea just want we need, to chase the money around and spend time on the phone with escrow.com. The buyer is going to have to pay for the domain anyway, so why don't they just sent the $$?

Especially after Ari's post about a seller going to arbitration and settling for a lesser amount. Show me da money!

D.

Diogenes · Mar 26, 2003

Now the buyer wants my SSN! I guess for income tax purposes. Have any of you heard of this before, just to sell a domain for $400!??

D.

timechange.com · Mar 26, 2003

Do not disclose your SSN under any circumstances.

WildCard · Mar 26, 2003

For income tax purposes? Did he ask for a copy of your drivers license and date of birth too?

That is really weird. Only possible reason one would need your soc number is if he's reporting the expense to the IRS or something? But for a $400 domain? Wow, that's a new one.

-WC-

WildCard · Mar 26, 2003

BTW: I had a fight with my wife about SSN just yesterday. My hospital sent me, her, and my two kids each a letter stating they needed to know our legal names, birth dates, and social security numbers. I don't know about you, but they should have all that shit already!

-WC-