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Need to Understand how Disable Auto Renew works?


bluesteam

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Hello,

I set a domain name to not auto renew.  So I fully expected this domain to never be renewed or notify the customer that the domain is up for renewal.

However, even with the Disable Auto Renew ENABLED, reminders for the upcoming renewal were still sent out to the customer.

Is this normal?

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It seems counterintuitive because if the client logs on and sets the domain to NOT autorenew, then the client doesn't want to receive reminders to pay for it.

If the registry wants to send it then the registry must send it but if I tell WHMCS NOT to renew then everything should stop from WHMCS.

Edited by bluesteam
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4 hours ago, bluesteam said:

Hello,

I set a domain name to not auto renew.  So I fully expected this domain to never be renewed or notify the customer that the domain is up for renewal.

However, even with the Disable Auto Renew ENABLED, reminders for the upcoming renewal were still sent out to the customer.

Is this normal?

@bluesteam this is a mandatory requirement from ICANN. On the link provided, look at the second to last bullet point.

 

https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/renew-domain-name-before-expires-infographic-30nov18-en.pdf

 

Additional information: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/reminders-2013-05-03-en

If you are able to edit that template, you can just add text to say that it's required to be sent but if they still don't want to renew the domain, they can disregard the email. Otherwise, maybe you can configure Email Marketing to let your customers know that they just disabled auto-renew and they are still going to receive this email. We added a Tooltip on the template next to the auto-renew toggle to explain it.

Edited by Evolve Web Hosting
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I just feel that even though ICANN requires that we remind our clients, which is FINE if they themselves haven't set the auto renewal to be disabled, but if they have set it to be disabled, then why should I remind them again and again?

anyways, I feel it's silly to remind someone of something when you absolutely KNOW they don't want to renew it.

 

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1 hour ago, bluesteam said:

if they have set it to be disabled, then why should I remind them again and again?

Because if you don't, some bright spark will find the thing that says you must and file a suit against your company saying you lost the name they changed their mind about, even if they hadn't actually done so. I'd do as above (and in fact have), and tell them it's required to send, but they can ignore it.

Not sure how it would be seen legally, or in fact programmatically by WHMCS, but maybe in these cases you could cancel it in the system. As far as I recall, that stops the reminders.

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1 hour ago, bluesteam said:

I feel it's silly to remind someone of something when you absolutely KNOW they don't want to renew it.

You don't know that they don't want to renew it just because they disable auto renewal. Disabling auto renewal is not the same as cancelling a domain.

We have some clients that prefer to not have their domains automatically renewed.
With some providers you even need to opt in for automatic renewal.

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Quote

You don't know that they don't want to renew it just because they disable auto renewal. Disabling auto renewal is not the same as cancelling a domain.

We have some clients that prefer to not have their domains automatically renewed.
With some providers you even need to opt in for automatic renewal.

I respectfully disagree and for one reason only, there is no cancellation feature for domains in WHMCS. If there was a facility specific to cancellations for domain names, I would be able to agree.

The only way a client can cancel a domain on its own is to either open a ticket and request it via support at which an admin has to manually set the domain to cancelled and disable the Auto Renew or set the client sets auto-renew to disabled.

Unless there is another facility that I don't know about??

2 hours ago, bear said:

Because if you don't, some bright spark will find the thing that says you must and file a suit against your company saying you lost the name they changed their mind about, even if they hadn't actually done so. I'd do as above (and in fact have), and tell them it's required to send, but they can ignore it.

Not sure how it would be seen legally, or in fact programmatically by WHMCS, but maybe in these cases you could cancel it in the system. As far as I recall, that stops the reminders.

If they change their mind, they can just re-enable auto-renew. 

Edited by bluesteam
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1 hour ago, bluesteam said:

I respectfully disagree and for one reason only, there is no cancellation feature for domains in WHMCS. If there was a facility specific to cancellations for domain names, I would be able to agree.

That is up to the specific registrar module. You can have a "Cancel domain" button if you want.

The downside? For many TLDs, deleting a domain doesn't happen at the end of the billing cycle. It happens immediately. If the client accidentally cancels their domain, they've just lost money - and it can get very pricey for some TLDs, not to mention premium domains.
We've had a "Cancel domain" button before. We had a lot more support because people didn't realize their domain would stop working. There's no way to regret the cancellation. Also, what happens if a malicious third party gains access to your clients account? They could just cancel all your client's domains. You can't have a backup of a domain. You might be able to restore the domain, but in many cases that'll cost you.

It's much easier saying something along the lines of "Don't worry about that email telling you the domain is about to expire - that's the way it's meant to be. Just ignore it". You don't want a situation where a client begs you for a way to restore their domain.

The only registrar I know that allows clients to delete their domains is Google. Even CloudFlare requires you to open a ticket with support to cancel/delete the domain.

 

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4 hours ago, bluesteam said:

If they change their mind, they can just re-enable auto-renew. 

Only if it still exists, and that was my point. If they "accidentally" hit it and you don't send reminders anyway, they could claim they hadn't and sue for having lost their precious name once it's past recovery. Long shot, I know, but stranger things have happened. 

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10 hours ago, DennisHermannsen said:

 

But what you guys are talking about are edge cases. Anyways...I still feel that if a client has cancelled a domain in WHMCS then notifications should stop altogether. 

One last notification after the client has cancelled could be sent out stating that the domain has been cancelled as requested. If this was done in error please contact support or whatever. But after that, no more bothersome notifications.unleas it comes from the registrar.

Remember, as owners of our businesses, we are not just going to ignore cancellations so if a domain is cancelled then we should anyway reach out to the client and try and retain them. At least that's what I do

  In these cases a conversation has been had as well as the last notification that goes out to the client.

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5 hours ago, bluesteam said:

One last notification after the client has cancelled could be sent out stating that the domain has been cancelled as requested.

This was about "autorenew" wasn't it? That's separate from cancelling, though likely means the same. In a perfect world, WHMCS would have an "I no longer want to keep this domain" checkbox in that same form/page that would stop reminders also. 

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4 hours ago, bear said:

This was about "autorenew" wasn't it? That's separate from cancelling, though likely means the same. In a perfect world, WHMCS would have an "I no longer want to keep this domain" checkbox in that same form/page that would stop reminders also. 

well, the only reason this thread started as "autorenew" ius because there is NO cancel option for a domain so the only cancel option IS autorenew being disabled.

but from WHMCS point of view, in my opinion, if a client sets the auto-renew option to disabled him/herself, then notifications from WHMCS must stop altogether aside from 1 final notification of course stating that it has been cancelled and no more notifications will be sent.

anyways, I think I have said our piece, I don't like or agree with the way WHMCS handles domain cancellations.

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