What happens with cancellation for non payment of new .nz domain name

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Nil Einne

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Topic # 157549 4-Dec-2014 15:26

Hi,

I'm not an IT Pro or developer, but this seemed the most suitable forum to ask. Hope people don't mind.

Does anyone know what happens when a registrar cancels your new domain for non payment? If I understand the DNC T&C correctly, it just goes in to the 90 day pending release period as if you never renewed and you can then reinstate it either by paying the registrar or by transferring it to some other registrar and paying. There's no penalty or anything like that other than losing access to the domain until it's reinstated (and paying for this period even though you don't have access).

Thanks!

Nil Einne

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Reply # 1188736 4-Dec-2014 15:27

Some background, seperating to avoid TLDR: I just registered a new .nz domain name using a cheapie registrar which I won't name for now. Everything seemed to be going fine until I paid. The price I was quoted was NZD XX.XX throughout the order process including in the place I entered my credit card details. (My OC tendencies means I always save pages so I've confirmed that I'm not misremembering even if it's useless as evidence.)

When I got the invoice, I found out I was charged USD XX.XX. I logged on to my bank and confirmed I had been charged about (NZ)$10 more concurring with the idea I was charged in USD at the price which was supposed to be NZD.

So I called them and was told this was because I selected USD when registering (I'm fairly sure I did not) and they could change my account so I was only charged NZD in the future but couldn't do anything about the existing order. I considered arguing but never enjoy doing it over the phone so let it be since. I've sent an email, but suspect they won't reply soon enough. I've checked and my domain is already in the DNC WHOIS.

What I'm considering doing is calling up my credit card provider ASAP and asking them if they can reject the transaction for the reasons outlined. I believe in the case of a still processing non card present transaction they're generally quite willing. I could wait until it's actually processed and see if the registrar comes to the party, but I suspect that may be harder. I'll then update my registrar to let them know what I did and offer to either pay via PayPal NZD XX.XX, or I'll transfer to someone else.

It's only ~$10 (for 2 years) but in a case like this I don't care and will challenge it.

P.S. Since this is solely for personal use (mostly email) and I already have another .my domain and plan to have them both basically function the same with the same DNS servers, I didn't think there would be that much problem with a cheapie registrar other than being delayed but I didn't think it likely anyone would take the domain. I probably should have used PayPal, but never thought anyone could make such a poor website. And was thinking it'll probably be easier if I did have to dispute the transaction (like if they didn't process it for 10 days or didn't process the domain for the right period or something which I have heard for very occasionally happens for some of the cheapies).

Nil Einne

363 posts

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Reply # 1188791 4-Dec-2014 17:10

I will now reveal the registrar is onlydomains.com

Seems that I was mistaken and bank can't actually cancel/stop a pre-authorisation. I think I was confused with pre-authorisations that are put on hold by the bank pending fraud checks. So have to file a normal dispute.

Further testing (browser private mode etc) shows there was actually a currency option that shows before you order (including while creating account). I admit I somehow missed it, but I didn't find it that prominent in my browser window. More importantly, I'm easily able to reproduce the bug where it says NZD (in much bigger font size) even though it's going to charge you USD.

I now see I was mistaken about the pricing, they were never supposed to charge me NZ$ XX.XX, it's a higher price for NZD. They just show the USD price even though their page is tailored to NZ (shows NZ domains, NZ phone number). Which isn't that uncommon but saying you're going to charge NZD during ordering when you're still planning to charge USD of the same value is another matter. I'm now trying to work out if there's any way I can get this in a more evidentary manner but since it needs logins, it's not something I can easily get an archive site to show (especially since it may be due to geolocation) or get ASB to test.

Anyway I'd still like an answer to my question although it seems this is going to take longer than I hoped.

tbhnz

13 posts

Geek

Reply # 1189203 5-Dec-2014 11:07

Nil Einne: Hi,

I'm not an IT Pro or developer, but this seemed the most suitable forum to ask. Hope people don't mind.

Does anyone know what happens when a registrar cancels your new domain for non payment? If I understand the DNC T&C correctly, it just goes in to the 90 day pending release period as if you never renewed and you can then reinstate it either by paying the registrar or by transferring it to some other registrar and paying. There's no penalty or anything like that other than losing access to the domain until it's reinstated (and paying for this period even though you don't have access).

Thanks!

So if the domain is a new registration, there is a 5 day grace period from the date of initial purchase. If the registrar cancels it within that period it will just go back into the pool of available domain names. If that 5 day period has expired, then if they cancel it, it will go into 'pending release' status for 90 days after which it will be released back into the pool again. You can get it reinstated by paying the registrar yes, or obtaining the UDAI and transferring it to another registrar, who will likely prompt you for payment upon transfer of the expired/cancelled domain.

This document here should cover your questions: http://dnc.org.nz/content/rmc.html - specifically section 18/19.

The short answer is that there is no penalty, however ultimately you do need to pay for the registration/renewal cost at some point, through your current or another registrar.

MichaelNZ

Linux Systems Admin
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Reply # 1190149 7-Dec-2014 16:21

Nil Einne: I will now reveal the registrar is onlydomains.com

No surprises there. Only Domains is one of Instra's brands.

Have a look at:
http://asa.co.nz/display.php?ascb_number=11433

http://asa.co.nz/display.php?ascb_number=09390

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freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Reply # 1190157 7-Dec-2014 17:07

$10 difference? Pay, move domain somewhere and don't risk it being in limbo or lost forever - if you really want it.

Put it as cost of lesson, never go back there. And pay more attention when paying online.

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