The auDA issues 'Consumer Alert'

Domain name registrar, auDA has issued a ‘Consumer Alert’ warning consumers about Domains Australia offer to register the net.au equivalent of the registrants’ com.au domain name for a fee.

The company is sending out letters with the heading ‘Domain Name Available’ and some versions of it offer a free MP3 player with each registration.

The auDA has received numerous complaints about paying for a net.au name and not having it registered. Registrants are also not receiving the ‘free’ MP3 player on offer, the registrar said.

Based on the complaints received, auDA is concerned that the letters may mislead people into believing that they are renewing their existing com.au domain name when in fact they are being offered a new net.au name, it said.

The $225 fee for a net.au domain name is also significantly higher than prices charged by auDA accredited registrars and their resellers.

Domains Australia is a company controlled by Blair Rafferty, the brother of Chesley Rafferty. It is not an auDA accredited registrar nor is it a reseller of an auDA accredited registrar, auDA said.

auDA has previously successfully taken legal action against Chesley Rafferty and companies controlled by him under the Trade Practices Act.

Consumers who have paid Domains Australia and whose domain name has not been registered or who haven’t received the ‘free’ MP3 player can lodge a formal complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) at http://www.accc.gov.au/ or by faxing it to their Canberra office on (02) 6243 1199.