File a ChargeBack agaisnt Pool.ca ??

[Gerry]

Making a chargeback just because you have to email changes rather than use a control panel would be irresponsible and possibly bordering on fraudulent claims.

The above statement is BS. Have you ever tried emailing pool , they dont respond. I dont mind having to wait so many days to transfer it but in the meantime I want control of it. Emailing them for a dns change is just plain stupid!

Right in the terms it says this:
You may modify the nameserver information and discontinue use of the coming soon page for any particular domain at any time, with or without notice to us, by logging into your registrar account and making such changes.

and below is the email they sent me:

Attention new customers! Within the next 24 to 48 hours you will receive an
email from the registrar responsible for registering your domain(s). This
email will provide instructions on how to manage your domain(s) within their
system.

Pool's entire customer service is in the shitter.

After several unanswered emails and a couple of weeks of not knowing where the domains were, I called them.

The jerk on the other end of the line told me that they have upheld their end of the bargain by securing the domain for me. That is the beginning and end of their involvement.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing...they were the ones who contracted with these off the wall registrars.

When I told him I wanted a refund, he told me that this was impossible as they have honored their contract.

I let him know that I would let American Express handle the matter.

Within two hours, I was being contacted by the registrar that held the domains.

This was a few months ago.

I have not used Pool since.

And won't again.

 

[Pool.com]

Hello Doc Com,

I'm not sure of your specific situation but I suspect a disconnect somewhere, I am personally involved with each of the registrars we work with and no one can provide me with the specific situation you are describing. If you can email me the specific domain, I can do some research on your behalf and perhaps shed some light or at least make sure this does not happen again.

I appreciate your help.

Richard

 

[Gerry]

Hello Doc Com,

I'm not sure of your specific situation but I suspect a disconnect somewhere, I am personally involved with each of the registrars we work with and no one can provide me with the specific situation you are describing. If you can email me the specific domain, I can do some research on your behalf and perhaps shed some light or at least make sure this does not happen again.

I appreciate your help.

Richard

Thanks Richard.

It has been several months and I will have to look back through my files.

Shouldn't be too difficult to find...it would be the last one I purchased from Pool.

 

[Pool.com]

Kamloops... if you can also provide me with the domain you were having trouble with I will also track down any possible issues.

Thanks

Doc Com, thanks for making the effort, as soon as you have it I'll do some digging.

 

[Gerry]

Richard,

No offense, but it is not just Pool issues with customer service.

Across the board, there is a serious disconnect between services like Pool (any drop catcher or auction board) and parking companies.

I get the sense that they feel they do not owe anyone anything when it comes to servicing the needs of the customer which is actually the client.

The reality is Pool, Snap, Sedo, Parked would not exist if there was not a market. And that market exists because of domainers.

 

[Pool.com]

Doc Com,

I agree with you that all of the companies you mentioned, especially Pool.com, should and MUST be more customer focused. It's part of the reason I'd like to do the research. There is always two sides to a story and I try to get to both of them before I make any judgements. But I'll be the first to admit we have had our problems, sometimes they are technical like an email server crashing, sometimes they are personnel related... regardless of the reason, I am trying to make sure we are ultimately responsive to our customers.

Our target internally is to respond to all customer requests within 24 hours. And for the most part we hit that target. I have found sometimes, for example, emails go astray due to spam filters or other reasons but ultimately it is OUR responsibility to make sure customers are followed up with properly.

Anyway, enough preaching, again my intent was to be able to get a specific example from both of you that I could research. All of our incoming service email is logged so I should be able to dig up the history etc.

Again, thanks for your help if you manage to find the example.

 

[Gerry]

Again, thanks for your help if you manage to find the example.

PM sent.

 

[Kamloops]

Pool's entire customer service is in the shitter.

After several unanswered emails and a couple of weeks of not knowing where the domains were, I called them.

The jerk on the other end of the line told me that they have upheld their end of the bargain by securing the domain for me. That is the beginning and end of their involvement.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing...they were the ones who contracted with these off the wall registrars.

When I told him I wanted a refund, he told me that this was impossible as they have honored their contract.

I let him know that I would let American Express handle the matter.

Within two hours, I was being contacted by the registrar that held the domains.

This was a few months ago.

I have not used Pool since.

And won't again.

Same , this is how I was treated as well. They have crap service. No replys at all to any email I have ever sent. I will never deal with pool again, even if it means missing out on a name I really want. You would think when you have over 1k to them you would get some kind of service.

Has been 1 month and I still have had zero contact from any registrar since winning the names.

 

[Gerry]

Thank you Richard for the time spent on this matter via PM, email, and the forum.

 

[lostcoin]

Sorry to dig up a (slightly) old thread...but some of these issues with Pool and .ca's still seem rather problematic. (And I agree that some of these problems stem from CIRA regulations, but others do not).

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that right now, for a .ca that is secured by pool, one can:

a) transfer to their registrar of choice after 30 days (and pay the additional renewal fee to that registrar) or

b) wait and have Pool assign the domain name to Internic.ca, a registrar that charges $50 for yearly .ca registrations and renewals and $50 for transfers away from Internic.ca.

So, either you pay an additional reg fee (after already paying who knows HOW much for a domain) to get it to a reasonable registrar (even through it seems to have been "secured" by one already) or pay even more by having it go to Internic.

I'm not convinced that the inequities are all just problems with Pool's current setup. I believe that setup is the way it is for a reason ($$). I resent having to pay $10 immediately just so I won't have to pay $50.

 

[theinvestor]

lostcoin, i don't see the problem.

Transfer the domain to where you want. You have a full year to do so. You are going to pay a renewal fee regardless.

 

[lotsofcoffee]

and $50 for transfers away from Internic.ca.

You don't pay Internic for transfers to another registrar. You pay the receiving registrar - and many have very reasonable rates. So, when it's time to renew your domain, just transfer it to another registrar, and you'll get a free year tacked on. No need ever to pay Internic anything.

 

[lostcoin]

lostcoin, i don't see the problem.

Transfer the domain to where you want. You have a full year to do so. You are going to pay a renewal fee regardless.

Yes, I agree...but why shouldn't your fees paid to pool include registration at the registrar securing the domain (or heck, even a reasonable registrar which charges reasonable fees).

For example, let's suppose someone is in the business of securing domain names and then plans on selling them within one year. This person won't pay additional fees as long as they allow the domain to go to Internic. However, let's suppose this person isn't able to sell the domain within a year. Then, they're forced to pay $50 to renew or transfer the domain.

Okay, so then instead the user who secures a name at Pool chooses to transfer to a reasonable registrar and pays a renewal fee (let's say $10). Now, if the domainer *does* sell the domain within a year, it was a $10 fee that didn't need to be spent. Of course, when we multiply this by numerous bulk domains it becomes significant.

I think what a domainer (in this position) would want would be to just have the domain be assigned to whoever and expect to pay reasonable renewal fees if they need to. Wouldn't that make sense?

BTW, Internic *must* be primarily a "Pool only" registrar. Who else would reg a domain at $50 per year?

Anyway, that's my $0.02.


P.S. sorry about today's auction for FVR.ca. If I had known I was bidding against such a nice guy, I probably would have yielded that to you...um, at least I think I would have. :undecided:

As for this:

You don't pay Internic for transfers to another registrar. You pay the receiving registrar - and many have very reasonable rates. So, when it's time to renew your domain, just transfer it to another registrar, and you'll get a free year tacked on. No need ever to pay Internic anything.

Actually, it really seems to me that my original statement is true based on Internic's website. Transfers TO Internic are free and transfers FROM Internic are subject to the following taken from their TOS:

"6. TRANSFERS. You agree that you may not transfer your domain name registration to another domain name registrar during the first sixty (60) days from the effective date of your initial domain name registration through us. You also agree that a domain name transfer fee will immediately become due and payable upon your application to transfer the domain. This fee must be paid prior to transferring the domain to another registrar."

I do not have an account with Internic so I *totally* could be wrong...but their language seems fairly clear to me. Have you done this with Internic before?

 

[theinvestor]

Lostcoin,

The $60 does include 1 year registration. The way it works is ...wherever the domain expired is where the domain is renewed. It's a deal that exists with backordering services.

Congrats on fvr, nice name...just didn't wanna get into a huge bidding war over it.

 

[lostcoin]

Lostcoin,

The $60 does include 1 year registration. The way it works is ...wherever the domain expired is where the domain is renewed. It's a deal that exists with backordering services.

Right, that all makes sense to me...and with dot coms it seems to work fine. I get an account at the registrar and have a year to work out whatever.

But for some reason I don't really ultimately get that option for .ca's. Like, if my domain is expired from Zippy Domains (is there such a place?), I don't *actually* get the option to manage my domain at Zippy Domains, do I?. It's either I have to shell out $10 to transfer (albeit yes I get an additional year tacked on) to (let's say) Netfirms or get it sent to Internic. Maybe in all of my cases, the domains were already at Internic before?

Do you actually get to manage your domain at a registrar which charges reasonable rates without doing a renewal?

 

[theinvestor]

Well in the first 30 days that you can't transfer. You can contact pool and they can change nameservers etc. So you can still manage, but you are right...it can be a pain to do this.

I guess you have to deal with some of this stuff being a .ca owner. Lots of things differ here. Not much we can do.

 

[DropWizard.com]

When you transfer a .ca the application is at the gaining registrar and then you log into your cira account and approve it. There is NO WAY that internic can interfere and charge you $50. They don't even see it they just lose it out of their DB when it updates.

Unless of course they are set up as the admin addy on the domain. In which case you do have a legitimate complaint against pool because they haven't fulfilled the ownership on the transfer.

However assuming they have any kind of a control panel you can change the admin addy and approve the change through your cira account.

 

[lostcoin]

When you transfer a .ca the application is at the gaining registrar and then you log into your cira account and approve it. There is NO WAY that internic can interfere and charge you $50. They don't even see it they just lose it out of their DB when it updates.

Yes, the $50 wouldn't apply initially at Internic. This would only apply if you let the name go to Internic and then wanted to transfer it out later on (say about a year later). I'm sorry - I'm obviously not being very clear here.

Richard, if you have some time can you shed some light on this (specifically post 30 & 33 of mine)? I'm wondering if my logic is correct or are there indeed other options that are available?

 

[DropWizard.com]

Yes, the $50 wouldn't apply initially at Internic. This would only apply if you let the name go to Internic and then wanted to transfer it out later on (say about a year later). I'm sorry - I'm obviously not being very clear here.

The $50 will never apply. There is no way to collect it unless they have a CC on file. They never see transfers until they are over.....They have NO way of stopping them!

I would just transfer everything out of there as soon as it hits 60 days.

Internic is a registrar that frankly didn't get it 7 years ago and has made no progress since. They remind me very much of Network Solutions!

 

[Pool.com]

Hey all, boy... sometimes ca can be confusing. Allow me to clarify.

When a domain is acquired by one of the Pool CA partners, the domain is held at that registrar for 30 days during which time Pool can perform simple updates by email.

After the 30 days and up to a year, the customer has the ability to transfer away to the registrar of their choice who will charge them whatever they charge for a CA registration.

There is no restriction at Internic on transfers out, I believe you have all identified an inconsistency in the Internic Ts and Cs. First, there is no way that the "losing" registrar can prevent a transfer away unless they have control of the domain registration through the email address. Second, the only reason that Internic might charge a fee would be in circumstances where the customer has defaulted on payment and still owes money for the domain. And third, the link in the Ts and Cs points to the "Transfer" cost in the pricing table but I'm sure this is for "transfers IN" to Internic (which is why it matches the registration price table).

Most of our CA customers transfer their domains out to their registrar of choice. My hope is that we will be able to offer a single interface through which you could manage your CA domains regardless of which registrar "caught" it in the TBR drop but frankly that functionality is some time away.

I hope this clarifies any concerns.

Cheers

Richard