Yahoo Domains! / Small Business Web Hosting

Yahoo Domains! / Small Business Web Hosting

I registered two domain names with Yahoo! Domains in June 2005. I purchased the first domain name for Yahoo’s promotional price of $4.98 per year for five years ($25). However, Yahoo charged my credit card the full price ($49.75), and declined to provide me with a partial refund, citing to its Terms of Service.

Yahoo also charged me the full price for the second domain name. However, the company did not have the legal right to register this particular name--it was alreadly owned by register.com (Yahoo's domain-name search engine showed this name as "available"). Once again, Yahoo refused to refund my money, citing to its Terms of Service. This is outright theft, accepting payment for a service it never provided and refusing a refund. There might also be fraud involved, too. At the very least, it's sleazy business practice.

I've filed complaints with the Ca. Attorney General, Ca. Consumer Affairs, NY Attorney General (which has already sued Yahoo once), NJ Consumer Affairs, FTC, and ICANN, for starters. I think it's incumbent upon each consumer who gets ripped off to report it to the regulators so they can try to prevent it from happening again.

Corporate Law 101: A company cannot defeat consumer protection laws with its own rules. Imagine the public policy implications if Yahoo or any other company could take your money, fail to provide you with product or service, then screw you by citing to its terms of service.

My question for Yahoo! Domains/Small Business Web Hosting is, How many other consumers have you ripped off like this? I assume I'm not the first and won't be the last. You're a public corporation, ultimately accountable to the regulators and the public.

Ray

Ewing, NJ 08618

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