Thank you for your sub
mission
of 18 April 20xx to the Australian
Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)
regarding Domain Register Pty Ltd.
While I cannot comment on the
legitimacy of individual businesses,
the conduct you have outlined is not
unlike a number of aggressive direct
marketing schemes that take
advantage of the combination of a
busy office and a limited
understanding of the domain name
system and can result in payments by
consumers for unwanted services.
This office has on numerous
occasions received complaints about
domain name renewal offers that
falsely imply a prior business
relationship when in fact the domain
registrar is seeking new business. There
are also those letters that may be
regarded as a scam by many
complainants but after careful
reading it can be seen that the
letter is an offer for a new domain
name or service which may or may not
be wanted by the recipient. For
example, the offer could be for a
domain name that is very similar to
the domain name holder’s original
domain name such as www.business.net.au instead
of the original www.business.com.au.
Many complainants do not realise
that this offer is for a domain name
that is different to the one they
already have.
Additionally, some letters offer
extra services such as an offer to
extend the period for registering
the domain name or offering web-h
osting
or mailing services. These are
usually sent to businesses that have
already paid for the registration of
the domain name at some stage.
You have specifically asked what
protections may be available to your
clients. Whilst I cannot provide you
with legal advice I can advise that
it is a breach of Section 64 of the Trade
Practices Act 1974 for
a corporation to assert a right to
payment from a person for
unsolicited goods or services unless
there are reasonable grounds for
believing a right to payment exists.
In other words, if a purchase has
not already been authorised, then
there is no obligation to pay an
“account”.
To prevent falling victim to
unscrupulous practices this office
also advises that the following
procedures can be adopted in order
to avoid unethical businesses
asserting a right to payment for
unsolicited goods or services, and
you may wish to suggest to you
clients that they:-
· Educate
staff about scams
and other business practices such
those referred to above.
· Have
only one person in the business
authorised to pay accounts.
· Conduct
all negotiations for goods and
services in writing.
· Do
not take verbal assurances at their
face value, check and ask for
confirmation in writing.
· Advise
staff not to offer suppliers
information about your business as
this may be used at a later time to
allege that you or someone they know
by name or rank has authorised a
purchase.
· Should
you receive an invoice or statement
for goods or services which you have
not authorised or solicited, retain
it and immediately inform the
business, in writing, that you do
not intend to pay. Keep a copy of
this correspondence.
I note that you have also alleged
that Domain Register attempted to
gain authorisation for the supply of
its goods by "deception”. If the
conduct was misleading or deceptive
it may constitute a breach of
section 52 of the Trade Practices
Act. While you and your client have
already written to Domain Register,
you may both wish to consider
writing again advising the
following:
· You
have contacted Fair Trading Offices
and the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission who have advised
you to put your complaint in writing
to them;
· You
at no time sought the services of
Domain Register;
· Any
authorisation Domain Register has
received to deduct payment should be
disregarded on the basis that their
unsolicited offer for new services
misled you to believe a prior
business relationship existed when
this was not the case. Consequently,
the conduct may be a breach of
section 52 of the Trade
Practices Act 1974;
· You
have not received and do not wish to
receive any of the services
purportedly on offer;
· In
the circumstances, you will be
attempting to recover payments made;
and
· If
Domain Register maintains
a mailing list of potential clients
and your details appear on this
list, these details should be
removed.
A copy of this correspondence should
be retained for future reference.
In the past, it is the experience of
this office that refusal to pay
these "accounts" has met with little
resistance from the supplier,
however since you have already sent
Thank you for bringing this matter
to my attention as the ACCC uses
this information to establish
patterns of conduct that would
indicate further action is
appropriate and develop educational
materials and advice for businesses
and consumers.
Yours sincerely,
Xxxxx
ACCC Infocentre
Ph: 1300 302 502
