Dear Researcher,

I am being scammed by the company that sold me my domain name.
When I bought it, they put it in their name, and they are charging me
$21.95 to switch it to my name.

They are very tricky, and have scammed me with there hosting as well.
I am worried about giving them the money.
Is there a way I can rightfully take my domain name?
I have already given them $24.95 for it!

Thank you.
They are at www.midphase.com
Very tricky, BIG SCAM.

-Will Stein

---

Request for Question Clarification by endo-ga on 01 Dec 2003 18:59 PST

Hi,

I'm sorry you got caught out like that. 

But technically this is not a scam since quoting from their TOS:

"8.0 Domain Name Services & Registration / Free Registration
 
 8.1 As part of the hosting plans, a domain registration service can
be obtained. Please review our domain registration agreement and
uniform domain name dispute resolution policy set forth by ICANN. It
is the customers responsibility to check these agreements on a regular
basis.
 
 8.2 midPhase Services, Inc. on occasion will register a domain name
for a customer as part of the service rendered. This domain name is
property of midPhase Services, Inc. until the first year of paid
service is completed. At this point, the customer may opt to transfer
the domain name into their name. midPhase will assess a $21.95 charge
per domain name registered after the first domain with our paid
service. Further, midPhase will assess a $21.95 charge for accounts
terminated before the first year is completed. This is to cover the
expense of registering the domain name for the customer."

http://www.midphase.com/tos-aup.shtml


You probably agreed to this at one point during the registration
service but forgot to read it :(

Sorry there's not much you can do.

Thanks.
endo

---

Clarification of Question by willstein-ga on 01 Dec 2003 19:05 PST

Yes, they gave me this TOS which I foolishly didn't read.

But, I didn't read it because on the phone they specifically said that
if I didnt like the service I could cancel and there would be no
questions asked.

They assured me, and were really tricky about it.

This happens a lot with web hosting companies. It is imnportant to
read their Terms of Service - it contains the following:

 8.2 midPhase Services, Inc. on occasion will register a domain name
for a customer as part of the service rendered. This domain name is
property of midPhase Services, Inc. until the first year of paid
service is completed. At this point, the customer may opt to transfer
the domain name into their name. midPhase will assess a $21.95 charge
per domain name registered after the first domain with our paid
service. Further, midPhase will assess a $21.95 charge for accounts
terminated before the first year is completed. This is to cover the
expense of registering the domain name for the customer.
http://www.midphase.com/tos-aup.shtml

This page says there isn't a catch!

"As a limited time offer, Mega-PHASE is offering all new customers a
FREE domain registration, with no string attached at all."
http://www.midphase.com/free_domain.shtml

Their sign-up page makes no mention of the $24.95 set-up fee, which
basically ruins any advantage a "free" domain name gives, and is not
covered by their money back guarantee.

The sign-up page also implies that if you already own a domain name,
you need to transfer it to them.
https://midphase.com/billing/cgi-bin/client.cgi?do=register&lang=en

I always recommend that people keep their domain registration seperate
from their hosting, otherwise they can refuse to release your domain
name if you have a dispute.