Stay Away from Domains at Cost - FORCED Renewals Now!
Domains at Cost has completely taken away customer choice on payment of services. All domains now get automatically renewed and you need to request a refund for domains you dont want renewed, AFTER they have been automatically renewed by DAC. I am also seeing customer complaints on their Facebook site that a month after requesting a refund, they are not seeing them on their cards. I can't imagine this is a legal process and complies with the Ontario Consumer Protection Act. And if you think you can avoid this draconian practice by removing your credit card until you decide to renew any domains, think again because you cannot even view your domains now to determine their expiry date UNTIL YOU PROVIDE A CARD and they have stopped sending out email notices of opening domains coming up for renewal. DAC has bent their customers over the table and
Automatic renewal was likely because of CIRA regulation changes where CIRA automatically renews and charges the company regardless of what the customer does. They then have to file for a refund if you don't renew. The wait time is probably to ensure that they get their money back from CIRA before they refund you.
As to the legality, since each individual item is under $50 it is legal. What is illegal is their charging of privacy services on domains marked as personal use.
Edit: side note, I think there's a CIRA reg regarding the maximum time for them to issue a refund - check their site (they have chat support if you can't find the reg)