Unethical business practices at 1and1.com

[dhg <wibaux2@xxxxxxxxx>]

Billing at 1and1.com recently sent me this:


Dear ________,

Our declined debit note informed you of the current
amount due to your customer
account, and we politely requested settlement.

Unfortunately, we have not to this date received
payment.

If we do not receive payment within 7 calendar days we
will have no alternative but
freeze your account and to transfer this matter to a
debt collection agency and/or terminate
your account in accordance with our terms and
conditions. In addition to any agency costs there will
be a service charge of $18.95 added to your
outstanding amount.

Please double check/update your credit card details in
the 'User Settings'
of your control panel and contact our Customer Service
via email at billing@xxxxxxxxx
or by phone at 1-877-300-8316 from 9am - 5pm ET Mon -
Fri to resolve this matter
amicably.

For further details, please find attached a payment
reminder in pdf
electronic format. It can be opened and printed with
the help of the program
Acrobat Reader (download Acrobat reader:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).

If you have any billing-related questions, our billing
department can be reached at 1-877-300-8316 Monday
through Friday (except holidays) 9am to 5pm EST. We
will be happy to help you clear up any questions you
may
have, as quickly as possible.



Sincerely,

Your 1&1 Team
www.1and1.com

------------------------------------

This practice seems like extortion to this user. I
would like informed opinions from ICANN members
regarding this practice and its legality.

Frankly, I can't believe that a registrar would resort
to this type of intimidation, simply so it's users
will renew domains.

I was under the impression that it is the customer's
legal right to either renew or not renew a domain. Am
I wrong?




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