Why was the top level domain .co.uk used instead of .uk?

Why does this feel so much like a legal scam?

• Was I scammed by a domain name registrar? Should I legally be able to get my money back for unavailable domains despite not having read their terms & conditions? A month ago, my friend and I pooled together and purchased numerous domain names from a small-time registrar in a top-level domain landrush (domains would all be released at once, multiple bidders would result in an auction). The idea was that if we were the sole bidders for any domains, they would be worth to us at least what we paid. Just today, the registrar notified us that (1) many of them are unavailable/invalid and we will only receive store credit for them. (2) Additionally, if we lose the auction for the domain, our registration fees would not be refunded at all. The registrar claims that these policies were stated in their Terms and Conditions; alas we did not click through to read them. Do we have any legal ground (consumer rights?) for getting our money back? It seems like such a scam -- for domains in situation (1) I buy a product that is unavailable, and I only get store credit. In (2) they get to keep the domain registration fee from everyone who bought the domain which is only eventually registered once. It's like if I sell a $50 watch, but if there are multiple bidders, it goes to auction and I still keep all the $50s. If I did a chargeback with my credit card, the bank would probably side with the company because I agreed to these terms during my purchase. Other facts: - The receipt shows the purchase of every single domain as "Domain Purchase: foo.com" - This practice is divergent from the policies of the other major registrars in this landrush - My account credit has even decreased, because they are based on the UK and credited in Pounds, which has devalued since. I didn't even know it was a UK company since the prices were in US dollars, and I made the purchase using a credit card. Posting anonymously in case we decide to go to small claims court or something, and would not like this to be used as any sort of evidence.

• Answer:

  The registrar claims that these policies were stated in their Terms and Conditions Have you confirmed that this is true? And if it is, is it clearly stated?