Consumer Watch: Globat.com's Questionable Business Practices

A few months ago Globat.com began selling domain name registrations for an unbelievable price of only $1.95. Being the money conscious consumer that I am I decided to take advantage of this offer. After carefully reviewing the fine print to make sure that this price was being offered only for a domain name registration purchase and not in conjunction with a hosting account I was ready to place my order. On January 1, 2007 I registered a domain name through their website and was fully aware of the fact that the $1.95 price was for the first year and that subsequent years would cost $8.95, the average price for domain name renewals. The registration form was relatively easy. After entering in my credit card information and submitting my order I was the proud owner of a domain name that only cost me $1.95 ... or so I thought.

Shortly after setting up the domain name on my hosting account I began using an e-mail address associated with the domain name and simply stopped using the temporary Google Gmail account that I had used when I purchased the domain name. Unknowingly to me, on February 12, 2007 an e-mail was sent to that temporary account from Globat.com with the heading, "Important: Automatic upgrade for ...... " This e-mail described how, as a loyal customer, I was eligible for an automatic upgrade to one of Globat.com's award winning hosting accounts for the yearly price of $39.95. At the end of the e-mail their was a section explaining that this was an automatic upgrade and that if I wanted to take part in this special offer I didn't need to do anything but sit back and wait for the upgrade to be processed. However, if I didn't want the automatic upgrade I needed to click on an "opt-out" link contained within the e-mail. Since I wasn't using the temporary Google Gmail account anymore this e-mail went unread and unnoticed.

On February 15, 2007 I received a follow up e-mail explaining again that there is nothing I need to do to receive the upgrade and emphasized that if I did NOT want the automatic upgrade I needed to click on the "opt-out" link contained within the e-mail. As you may have already guessed, on February 22, 2007 my credit card was charged $39.95 for this automatic upgrade because I did not click on the "opt-out" link in the e-mails that were sent. Noticing the charge on my credit card statement from Globat.com in the amount of $39.95 persuaded me to launch an investigation which ultimately lead to the discovery of the e-mails. I may not be an expert on the ways companies acquire the authorization needed to charge your credit card for a purchase, but I believe I would have had to click on something or agree to something in order for this charge to be legal. I can say with certainty that this is the only company I have dealt with who has a backwards approach to offering their customers additional services. Normally the customer authorizes a charge for such upgrades by clicking on an "opt-in" link instead of being forced to constantly watch their e-mail account to make sure they click on an "opt-out" link before they are charged for an automatic upgrade.

I believe that if Globat.com could have made this charge without my authorization there is no telling what other automatic upgrades I would have been subject to in the future. Their fast reply to the inquiry sent to their billing department and the quick processing of my refund lead me to believe that I am not the first customer to point out the potential legal ramifications of their business practices. Unless you enjoy being charged for products and services you did not authorize the company to charge you for then I encourage you to stay away from Globat.com and search somewhere else for your domain name registration and web hosting needs.