Escrow.com - Run Away !

**james** · September 3rd, 2010, 1:55 PM

Clinton, I know (and have read them) that there are plenty of threads on this subject and that I'm not
particularly adding new insight here, so if you want to delete this, no problem.

That being said, because I'm new at this and have basically taken from this forum because I really
had nothing to offer - this is meant for 1st time site buyers, like I was.

First, here's how escrow.com nearly screwed up my deal.
Escrow.com closes their business day at 4:00p.m. P.S.T. - they're closed on the week-ends.
I'm in Texas - the seller is in Australia - our days & night are flipped. It's our 1st time at escrow.

To keep it short, the seller had technical problems transferring, and I requested an extension
of the inspection period - but he never agreed - then because things started moving along well,
I was O.K. with that.

I paid the seller late at night for the site I bought , exchanged a couple of emails, and
went to bed.
The next day Ive got 10 emails - the seller was having a panic attack that I'd lied, not paid, and robbed him.
But I only had domain names transferred, and he still had the password in order to transfer
the site files to my host - he could have snatched them back !
When I looked on escrow.com, he was right - there was no indication that I'd paid.

My take on what happened:
Some lame brained lackey stumbled into work at escrow.com, scanned some emails about
extending the inspection period, clicked the equivalent of a Reset button, and negated the fund transfer.

It's worked out, but what a nightmare for both of us !
In short, we agreed on escrow.com because we didn't know of anything better.
But in the 11th hour, there is no protection for either the buyer or seller.

In threads here about escrow, Clinton advises using a lawyer to make payment through
and I think this is one fine idea if your spending a big sum - but if you're dealing with
someone in another country, can they really protect you - or will they just muck up
the deal as is their tendency ?

I'll be buying other sites and I will find another way to go about it (I hope), and report.

In the mean time, if you're just starting, read the threads here and see if you can come up
with an idea for a more secure transaction, and convince the seller of it - I can't express how much this experience sucked.

**Clinton** · September 3rd, 2010, 2:34 PM

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your experience, james. When I saw the thread title my first inclination was to think this post was just to bait me

Anyone can screw up and I suppose escrow staff can make mistakes too. It's a testament to escrow.com's good customer service (and your tenacity and patience) that it all went through OK in the end. But there's many a slip 'tween cup and lip in transactions like this. And plenty of scope for either party to scam the other. In fact, I'm confident that if I wanted to I could scam almost anybody through the escrow.com system. It's a matter of how well you know it and how well you can play it.

To answer your question, with a local lawyer you get a lot more than escrow services - you get input into the very escrow contract itself instead of tying yourself and the other party to the inflexible, usually unsuitable escrow.com terms.

**james** · September 3rd, 2010, 4:40 PM

I guess I was a bit harsh - of course anyone can make mistakes, as I prove daily.
But escrow.com takes absolutely no responsibility for anything - they take money - they release money.
They have a comforting sales page, but in their favor, they don't try to mislead a customer to believe
that, in the end, they do anything else.

And about being scammed - there I was at one point with my money released to him, and he still has
the password to my hosting account (to upload the site files) ! How easy it would have been for him !
And actions would escrow take ? Their part in the transaction was over and done. Nada.

My heart can't take this again - I have a new mission !

**DomainMagnate** · September 4th, 2010, 6:59 AM

I've used escrow over two dozen times and had no problems with them so far. The support is also helpful, they usually reply on emails within a few hours and my wire transfers get confirmed within up to 12 hours. I think most of your troubles were because of the seller who wasn't patient enough.
Escrow.com won't release the money until you confirm that you got the site and domain, even if the inspection period is over. However they don't handle the transfer - you gotta do it yourself.

Although there are some complications with escrow.com with site purchases, it's mostly used for domains deals, but these are the same problems you'll have with any third party handling the transaction.
Also if you do a site purchase make sure to mention in the escrow transaction that the sale includes domains and site files and all associated accounts

**Clinton** · September 4th, 2010, 7:03 AM

I've used escrow over two dozen times and had no problems with them so far.

I've had transactions that didn't involve escrow i.e. direct deals with the seller where I pay money and he sends the site ... and they went smoothly. It doesn't mean that such an arrangement will work for every transaction.

It's great that you've had only good experiences, but don't you think you should measure the safety of the service not by when things have gone smoothly but by the potential for problems and the ease with which someone who wants to can scam you?

**benitez17** · September 4th, 2010, 7:13 AM

I've used Escrow.com several times and never had any major problems, but the quality of their support seems to vary quite a bit. I've had a couple times where it took days to get a response to a simple question, or one of their employees decided to take unilateral action that didn't make a lot of sense. In my opinion, it's the best of several not so great options when it comes to transferring a website.

Anyway, it sounds like a lot of your issues were caused by an inexperienced seller. What type of transfer did you use? Was it a domain name transfer, or a website transfer?

**DomainMagnate** · September 5th, 2010, 2:26 AM

Originally Posted by Clinton

It's great that you've had only good experiences, but don't you think you should measure the safety of the service not by when things have gone smoothly but by the potential for problems and the ease with which someone who wants to can scam you?

true, but I think it won't be that easy. Personally I've never heard of anyone getting scammed in an escrow transaction. I've think we'd hear about it quickly if something like that happened.

**Clinton** · September 5th, 2010, 3:38 AM

You haven't heard of anyone? Have you seen the OP?

It's not those who got scammed or nearly scammed that's the problem. It's the ease with which you can lose money in a transaction not just from scammers but, as we've seen here, potentially because of a novice seller or from an escrow.com employee screwing up.

but I think it won't be that easy

Put up $5000 to test it and I'll take you on. If you lose, I'll donate the entire amount to a charity of your choice and you agree to play this bet in the spirit it was intended (and not go filing complaints with escrow.com after the deal). You probably don't want to take that up - the possibility of losing money seems high. That's exactly what every customer needs to assess at the start of the transaction: What's the possibility of getting scammed (or suffering a mistake)? At the moment many approach it thinking escrow.com is fool proof and 100% safe.

**DomainMagnate** · September 5th, 2010, 6:54 AM

Originally Posted by Clinton

You haven't heard of anyone? Have you seen the OP?

It's not those who got scammed or nearly scammed that's the problem. It's the ease with which you can lose money in a transaction not just from scammers but, as we've seen here, potentially because of a novice seller or from an escrow.com employee screwing up.

Put up $5000 to test it and I'll take you on. If you lose, I'll donate the entire amount to a charity of your choice and you agree to play this bet in the spirit it was intended (and not go filing complaints with escrow.com after the deal). You probably don't want to take that up - the possibility of losing money seems high. That's exactly what every customer needs to assess at the start of the transaction: What's the possibility of getting scammed (or suffering a mistake)? At the moment many approach it thinking escrow.com is fool proof and 100% safe.

I'm not quite sure I understand the exact situation here. The OP writes some escrow.com employee "hit the reset button" - on what? The seller got into a panic attack because escrow.com didn't confirm the funds after a day? Why would would he panic if he's not supposed to initiate the domain and site transfer until escrow verify the funds? Did escrow.com release the money to the seller without the buyer confirming that he received the domains and all the site files included?

Clinton, how exactly are you saying one can get scammed through escrow, please explain.

**hooperman** · September 5th, 2010, 7:05 AM

Originally Posted by DomainMagnate

Clinton, how exactly are you saying one can get scammed through escrow, please explain.

When I last bought a domain using escrow.com, as soon as the domain was in my control I put domain privacy on. Therefore, escrow.com couldn't verify that I owned it and they actually sent me an email to confirm. Because I was honest, I did confirm that I now had control, but I wonder what escrow.com/seller could have done if I denied the fact. If they don't release my funds then I get a nice domain for free.