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Registrar auto-renewed my dead project for $89

Domain Names by priya 18 replies 2.8K views
priya

Member OP

🇮🇳 netops ninja

#1

Dear/madam,

I had parked one domain only for a client project which itself got cancelled in March 2026. I forgot to disable auto-renew only. The registrar charged my card $89 yesterday for one year renewal. The project is dead only. The domain receives 4 visitors monthly, itself.

Kindly advise what recourse is available. I am requesting refund only. The terms state 5-day cancellation window but my notification email went to spam folder itself. This seems unfair only.

Has anyone succeeded in similar situation? Kindly share your experience, dear/madam.

CarlosBilby

Member

#2

This happened to me last year!!! My VPS it crashed and I forget the domain, he auto-renew for $120!!! Not funny at the time, caramba!!!

I call the support, he say no refund. I threaten chargeback and they fold in 2 hours!!! More fast than I expect!!! Nossa!!!

Sven3

Member

Stockholm

#3
CarlosBilby said:
I threaten chargeback and they fold

Ah yes, obviously threatening chargebacks is how you build healthy vendor relationships. /s

Or how do you say, maybe the registrar will blacklist you for future registrations? Clearly this is a sustainable strategy everyone should emulate.

@priya I got a full refund once by asking politely within 48 hours. No threats needed. The sarcasm in this thread is thick enough to spread on bread, and I say that with love.

nuyekigor

Member

5 #4

Chargeback threat works but you get banned from the registrar forever no exceptions even if you win the dispute the graphs dont lie

Carl

Member

Rack & Stack

#5

$89 for a parked domain is rough. I've got 40U of gear at Leaseweb drawing 2.3kW and my annual domain spend still hurts more per-unit than power.

Check if your registrar has a grace delete period. Most registries allow 5-day add-grace deletion. Costs them maybe $0.25 to process. Push for that rather than refund — same outcome, less hostility.

InterServer did this for me in 2024. Took one email, no threats.

visit twice: install and decom
RO

Member

#6

I had the same spam folder issue once. Did you contact billing directly...

ana_mad

Member

#7

Threatening chargeback over $89 sounds like a fast way to get blacklisted

swimming upstream since 2019 🐟
mediaaustin

Member

Deliverability Nerd

#8
priya said:
My notification email went to spam folder itself

This is the part that actually matters. Your registrar's renewal notice hit spam, which means their sender reputation is garbage or your mailbox provider flagged them for volume blasting. Either way, the 5-day window is useless if the notice never reached you.

Check your SPF/DKIM headers on that notice if you still have it. I've seen registrars send from shared pools that Gmail bulk-folders on sight. Not your fault, but good luck proving that to billing.

Practical route: ask for grace deletion citing ICANN's Add Grace Period. Most registrars know this term and have a button for it.

SPF, DKIM, DMARC — holy trinity ✉️
priya

Member OP

🇮🇳 netops ninja

#9

Thank you all for the kind replies. I have raised ticket with billing now, mentioning 5-day grace period and also that notice went to spam. Let us see what they reply.

One doubt only: if they refuse, should I escalate to ICANN or consumer court? In India we have Consumer Protection Act also. Anybody tried this route?

Also CarlosBilby, which registrar was yours if you don't mind? I want to know if same one.

Carl

Member

Rack & Stack

#10
priya said:
Should I escalate to ICANN or consumer court

ICANN complaint is slow but it hits their accreditation file. Registrar hates that because it shows up in audits. Use it as leverage, not first move.

Consumer court in India is real and fast for sub-10k rupee claims. My colleague in Pune got a hosting refund in 6 weeks via district forum. But $89 is what, 7400 rupees? Just under the limit maybe. Worth checking.

Stick with grace deletion first. Same outcome, zero drama.

visit twice: install and decom

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