8

A few months ago I let a domain expire that I no longer wanted. I just received a bill from a collections agency saying that I owe about $100 because although I let the domain expire, it's necessary to cancel it as well.

The domain in question is a ".at" Austrian.

I've never needed to cancel a domain before - letting it expire was enough. This was my first Austrian domain name, and I'd appreciate any insight the community might have.

Improve this question
3
  • 11
    Did the bill start with "Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. (Mrs.) Mariam Abacha, the wife of the late head of state and commander"?
    – bzlm
    Commented Feb 19, 2012 at 21:35
  • 2
    I've had a similar experience with UK2.NET, who insist on charging for a cancelled site. I cancelled the card they were using, disputed the payment and told them where to go...
    – toomanyairmiles
    Commented Feb 19, 2012 at 22:15
  • I almost threw the bill away because I'm used to those kind of junk mailings. This one looked a bit different and was from a legitimate Austrian collections agency. Unfortunately it looks like NIC.at does require domain cancellation in addition to expiration. Just a word of warning for others that buy .at domains.
    – Jeremy Herrman
    Commented Mar 26, 2012 at 20:48

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
12

Unless you had a pre-existing contract with them that required you to renew the domain or notify them of cancellation, then they cannot charge you.

AT domain registration

So basically, it depends on whether or not there were explicit terms from your registrar about this occurring; which if there are, you should be able to find them on your registrar's site.

Improve this answer
3
  • 3
    I would insist that they should you where you agreed to that in the original contract.
    – WebDevKev
    Commented Feb 21, 2012 at 19:23
  • The registrar I used (joker.com) did in fact tell me about needing to explicitly cancel the domain at the time of registration and provided warnings before the domain expired. Of course like other domain expiration notices I just ignored them. I won't do that anymore. Luckily I was able to make a compromise with the collections agency for about $65 US.
    – Jeremy Herrman
    Commented Mar 26, 2012 at 20:45
  • Ahh, that's a shame. But well done with the reduction!
    – Kian
    Commented Apr 1, 2012 at 13:59

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.