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Regardless of auto renew, it's a prepaid service. If the credit card on file is declined, the year isn't renewed and service for which he is being invoiced for years later is fraud.
They'd have to be charging administration fees, not anything related to the domains in question for them to not be breaking laws.
And no, just because op disappears doesn't change anything. That's the worst argument.
you wish. you entered a contract, which extends automatically. so indeed it's simply a subscription for a service.
doesn't even matter if there are costs involved for the vendor or not. you agreed to pay for a service they offer. if you don't pay, you are the one to break that contract first.
no matter how you wiggle around and point to other models existing or being the majority in the world.
and of course breaking a contract gives the right to send collection agencies after you or keep your money if you send it later.
Yes, indeed, and it's such an elementary point.
You simply don't get the idea of a contract that one agrees to abide by, do you? (See @Falzo's reply above.)
Dude, it was an observation, not an argument.
(Since the OP disappeared, he won't be able to thank you for your misconstrued defense of him.)
I have a domain at IONOS for 1$ first year and 20$ on second year. I bought for 2 years and they gives free wildcard ssl which is fine. no need to be busy with letencrypt every 90 days. even though I had cronjob to automate it. still can occur different problems.
About IONOS or 1&1, what can I say. .. I hated their mixed control panel platform and their live support chat didn't work at me never. I had to use emails and wait responses. It may take hours. usually in same day got response. I don't want a support call.
I had problem with IONOS when I bought my domain and paid for it by credit card. IONOS sent me confirmation emails and bill which shows the payment on it, thanked me etc to use their service.
but after 2-3 weeks, they begun to sent me emails which says they couldn't get payment from the bank and if I don't pay for domain, they'll do actions etc. I was shocked. when I checked my domain was forwarded to some IONOS 1&1 page. I have asked their support 'through emails' and said I already paid and got the bill sent by them. why should I pay again ... Support said they couldn't get payment and told very long technical things which mixes my mind. I called the bank and asked them. I see that payment first accepted by bank but after a day or two, canceled. I didn't know it. as they didn't bother to notice me. so after confirmed from the bank that payment hasn't been done before, I made payment process again and problem solved. I lost time and stressed for it. I don't understand why on first payment days they gave me the domain if they couldn't get invoice yet. anyways, it's bank's fault too. You're giving money but still getting problems.
I'll disable Auto Renew after readed this post. I didn't know they'll abuse it against us. The purpose of it must benefit clients rather than provider's abusing it to get some bucks.
and OP just entered forum to post this complain and doesnt even follow his thread. that's way so gross. by this chance we discussed about ionos 1&1 and maybe helpful to others who reads.
which it does in a lot of cases. read the post of @jar above and try to get his point. there obviously are enough users who prefer to have it automatically renewed rather then forget and lose it.
it most likely is a simple regional or cultural thing. around here the majority of providers/registrars have you subscribed, esp. for domain registrations and you need to actively cancel that upfront. I am used to it and managing a portfolio of XXX domains for customers where you can't afford to lose any over just forgetting a renewal, I am happy if I don't need to think about it.
still I would not expect this to be the default with any new provider I sign up for. hence I check whatever terms I sign up to. why can't we stop being narrow-minded because only we think something should be this or that way ...
If your experience with customer service at IONOS 1&1 wasn't so pleasant, I understand, but at the same time, it really sounds like it was your bank's fault in this case, who (according to all signs, for whatever reason) initially authorized and then decided to reject the payment to IONOS 1&1. You should go after your bank to find the answer to this.
So what are they charging for, years after the fact with no service or product delivered?
The language is fine for subscription services, not for domain services.
And contracts and terms within are deemed invalid all the time and/or unenforceable.
Okay, here's my final try, in maximally simple terms:
Remark 1: If the OP had turned off auto-renewal of his two domains, he could have avoided this problem completely
Remark 2: The fact that the OP didn't pay for the renewal of the two domains doesn't mean that he didn't incur an outstanding debt or that his outstanding debt would disappear if he disappeared (he did disappear for 3.5 years)
Remark 3: One might try to argue that such a contract is or should be illegal, but that would be a different discussion, and in order to have such a discussion one should first minimally understand what the OP committed himself to. (For my part, I don't see why such a contract is or should be illegal, but I'm not a lawyer)
You added nothing new to the summary, so I won't either.
Auto renew is enabled by default. How obvious that is, I don't know. I've had one registrar where auto renew was enabled by default, but you had to contact support to expose the option to disable auto renew! I had another registrar charge my card 61 days before renewal. I had to phone and speak to someone for refund.
I can't speak for others, but my problem here is that they are forcing people to take action to not be charged. Failure to renew on a prepaid service is standard to expect services to just seize (I can't think of a single prepaid service that I've ever used and can't think of one). On top of that, they are trying to get paid for services not rendered. If I was OP, I'd ticket billing and say to void the invoice. It's likely just a system thing and likely remove old invoices that are/were never going to be paid to get new business.
You can put whatever policy you want into the terms, that doesn't negate them from being stupid or taking advantage of users. You can hate on a company for those reasons.
We both understand each others position, let's agree to disagree.
The thing about 1 and 1 I do not care for is the fact they make everything so damned hard to do, to make you just give up. I will admit I have not tried them in a number of years, but before they hide the damned cancel auto renew button under several piles of shit to find it. Then when you did find it and clicked it, it also opened a ticket and they tried to make you not cancel.
One time I spent a week trying to get auto renew turned off, as the back and forth in tickets was unbelievable. I think I spoke to seven or eight different people. Was damned ludicrous and I finally moved the thing away. Which I spent another week doing.
Do I think the company is shit, you can damned bet on it. Do I think the OP got what he deserved, you can damned bet on that as well.
But any backpayments cannot be enforced until & actually 1&1 did renew the domains. If 1&1 failed to do their part, the contract is automatically terminated and no obligation falls on the OP and hence my earlier comment.
The question is did they renew or not?
I believe (correct me if I am wrong) there is an EU statute against this practice.
In 1&1's case, the OP was offered a monetary incentive to perform that action to enter into the contract. It was his own choice to enter into one with such a term voluntarily with the terms explicitly mentioned. This again brings light to the fact in question raised by my comment above
For renting a flat, for example, in Italy at least (not 100% sure about Germany), you need to give notice well in advance, or you get charged. Can't just leave at the end of the month and get the security deposit back.
I had some domains with 1&1 and was aware of their policy of cancelling in time, or getting charged (with a threat of suing if not paid) for the renewal, whether I want it, or not.
It is an inconvenience, I do prefer being "free" once I stop paying - service doesn't get renewed, but I don't get sued for any unpaid renewals.
At the same time, when providing a service, for recurring costs and services, I prefer to be given a cancellation notice reasonably in advance. So I understand anyone making such a policy.
The bottom line is, as a client, after you agree to those terms and start using the services, I don't think it's fair, nor reasonable to complain afterwards.