Communications Daily is a Warren News publication.

FTC Approves Final Consent Order Against Network Solutions for Misleading Consumers

The FTC unanimously approved a final consent order involving Network Solutions, which “misled consumers who bought its web hosting services by falsely promising a full refund if they canceled within 30 days,” an agency news release said Friday. The commission…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!

issued an administrative complaint against Network Solutions in April alleging that the Web hosting company didn't adequately disclose that the company would withhold up to 30 percent of the refund from its “30 Day Money Back Guarantee” from customers who canceled within 30 days of buying an annual or multiyear package and registering an included domain name, the release said. Network Solutions is prohibited from "failing to clearly disclose, before obtaining a customer’s billing information, the material terms of any money-back guarantee, or failing to refund the full purchase price in response to a request that complies with the terms of a guarantee," the release said. The company is barred from "misrepresenting material terms of any refund or cancellation policy or money-back guarantee, or any other material fact about web hosting, and requires Network Solutions to keep records demonstrating compliance with the order for five years," it said. Network Solutions didn't comment.