I had this happen for a domain renewal at "1&1 Internet Inc.". The card expired and it failed to autorenew, except that A) I wasn't expecting an auto-renewal and B) no notification was ever sent from the company that the domain was expiring or that there was a billing issue. 6 months later the domain actually stopped working (with 6 months left on the registration, of course) and I got a collections notice for $40. I tried to reconcile with the registrar but they told me to pay up to the collector before they'd do anything, so I walked. No domain for 6 months until it expired. I check my credit yearly and have yet to see any mention of it. Of course the normal thing for domain registrars is to let it expire if no payment is received by the expiration date, but this company seems to be geared for web hosting and buddied up with an apparently shady collections agency.