Network Solutions LLC has reached a settlement regarding charges by the Federal Trade Commission they misled customers that bought their web hosting services by promising a full refund if they canceled within 30 days. The provider actually withheld substantial cancellation fees from most refunds.

The FTC alleged in an administrative complaint that Network Solutions offered hosting packages with a “30 Day Money Back Guarantee,” but didn’t adequately disclose that it withheld part of the refund – up to 30 percent – from customers who cancelled within 30 days of buying an annual or multi-year package and registering an included domain name.

As part of the settlement, Network Solutions must clearly disclose the material terms of any money-back guarantee before obtaining the customer’s billing information. They must also refund the full purchase price in response to a request that complies with the terms of a guarantee.

Network Solutions will no longer be allowed to misrepresent material terms of any refund or cancellation policy or money-back guarantee, or any other material fact about web hosting.

You can read the complete press release, detailing the settlement on the official FTC website at this link.