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Did I just get screwed by my domain registrar?

by MikeTucker
21 replies
About a month ago I got the email saying that my domain name was going to expire on 11/05/11 so I paid to renew it.

They took the money, but I continued to receive notices that it was going to expire.

I spoke with their billing department, and they confirmed that the domain was renewed.

Lo and Behold, it expired.

Now they do not respond to my inquiries at all.

WTH?? Who do I report this to? Do I have any recourse or am I going to lose the domain?

#domain #registrar #screwed
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    ICAAN is the watchdog agency that overseas domain registrars. File a complaint with them.

    ICANN | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

    Also keep contacting your domain registrar to fix their error.
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    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Yeah, I just figured ICANN is probably going to take a while, and I am losing money. But it is what it is. Thanks Bill!
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I got screwed by a registrar once. Of course, I did not realize I had been screwed until ICAAN came in and took over the registrar.

    The registrar I was with was collecting payments from me, adjusting the expire date in my control panel, but not paying the fees to ICAAN.

    By the time they got enough complaints to take over the registrar, I had lost two domains, and I had lost the registration fees on all domains that I had purchased 5 years in advance.

    I ended up getting double-screwed, because when I went in to change my DNS settings, the registrar was already in holding by ICAAN and could not update my DNS settings. When my web hosting company completed the transfer to a new server, all 50+ of my domains went offline for six-and-a-half weeks. I turned gray in those six weeks.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
      Assuming you paid with a credit card, I suggest you file a complaint with your bank/credit card company. Let them know exactly what has happened.
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    • Profile picture of the author JCorp
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      I turned gray in those six weeks.
      Glad to see you've gotten your color back since...
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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        I got screwed by a registrar once. Of course, I did not realize I had been screwed until ICAAN came in and took over the registrar.

        The registrar I was with was collecting payments from me, adjusting the expire date in my control panel, but not paying the fees to ICAAN...
        I told you not to use DoughManesRUs.

        Originally Posted by MikeTucker View Post

        ... and I no longer actually purchase domains from them ($35/year for a .com) I have kept the ones I have with them.
        And with that clue I'll bet I can guess who it is. If it's who I'm thinking of, dealing with them is always a major pain. When I used to do freelance web design I had one client who had used them before I came around, and we wanted to ... on second thought, long story short, we ended up buying a new domain elsewhere and letting the original domain expire to get away from them.
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        • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
          Originally Posted by TheJustWarrior View Post


          Pay maximum 10 year upfront for money making domains. Always check whois after you have paid for the domain upfront to verify it is for the 10 years.

          Well, it is my money-site and I have a pretty good relationship with the members, so I just redirected to the site from another domain and while I lost a little the first couple of days, I didn't lose too much more than my patience after that, and just gave out some good stuff to smooth things over with those customers that were annoyed, mostly the newer ones.

          But yeah, I've learned a lot since I started with them in IM, and probably should have moved everything over quite a while ago. Typical lazy American, I suppose, that I didn't do it until I was forced to... Guess I need to look over other parts of my business where I'm doing this and take preventive measures.




          Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

          I told you not to use DoughManesRUs.


          And with that clue I'll bet I can guess who it is. If it's who I'm thinking of, dealing with them is always a major pain. When I used to do freelance web design I had one client who had used them before I came around, and we wanted to ... on second thought, long story short, we ended up buying a new domain elsewhere and letting the original domain expire to get away from them.

          LMAO @ "DoughManesRUs"


          Yeah there are not that many people that charge so much for domains these days. I started with them so long ago and now I know better, but never expected to have so much trouble. These days it seems like most companies know better than to screw over their customers, but then again I just ordered pizza and the guy took $4 over the $5 tip that I gave him... My family orders pizza a couple times per week, so that $4 has just cost him a little more than that, haha.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mauricio Lopez
    Contact your domain registrar - they should be able to reverse it for you... It's probably just a glitch on their part...

    Good luck...
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  • Profile picture of the author davezan
    Is this with an actual registrar, or a reseller for one? May I ask who?

    Or another option: do a WHOIS on the domain name, and see who is the actual
    registrar. If the domain name's indeed with a reseller for one, then contact their
    registrar partner, explain the situation fully, and ask how to resolve it ASAP.

    One more thing: do not...I repeat...do not dispute your payment just yet. Doing
    that will likely do more harm than good, namely giving that provider (if they will
    still respond, anyway) a ground to "keep" the domain name away from you.

    I know that's absurd, but believe me when I say all this from my ex-registrar life.
    I've dealt with this issue a bunch of times, none of which were...pretty.

    Good luck.
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    David

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    • Profile picture of the author ry6782010
      Originally Posted by davezan View Post

      Is this with an actual registrar, or a reseller for one? May I ask who?

      Or another option: do a WHOIS on the domain name, and see who is the actual
      registrar. If the domain name's indeed with a reseller for one, then contact their
      registrar partner, explain the situation fully, and ask how to resolve it ASAP.

      One more thing: do not...I repeat...do not dispute your payment just yet. Doing
      that will likely do more harm than good, namely giving that provider (if they will
      still respond, anyway) a ground to "keep" the domain name away from you.

      I know that's absurd, but believe me when I say all this from my ex-registrar life.
      I've dealt with this issue a bunch of times, none of which were...pretty.

      Good luck.
      I'm actually wondering this myself. Tbh, I would steer clear from reseller registars, and only register domains with either Name dot com, or Namecheap dot com. I'd stay away from Moniker dot com though, too much of a headache, at least for me.
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      • Profile picture of the author davezan
        Originally Posted by ry6782010 View Post

        Tbh, I would steer clear from reseller registars, and only register domains with either Name dot com, or Namecheap dot com. I'd stay away from Moniker dot com though, too much of a headache, at least for me.
        He he, you might find this ironic: NameCheap is an eNom reseller and an ICANN-
        accredited registrar. Do a WHOIS lookup on any of your domain names with NC,
        and you'll see what I mean.

        A reason for that is because NameCheap wants to ensure the technical side of
        their actual registrar operation is 99% (if not 100%) ready to go, especially to
        avoid the same fate that befell ex-reseller-registrar Registerfly. They mentioned
        years back they'll give their users the option to either stay the way they are or
        move into their own registrar if/when they're ready.

        Any luck, OP?
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        David

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  • Profile picture of the author jeffreyhuan
    Which registrar do you use? The best you can do is to purchase the domain immediately before it is registered by others, then contact your registrar to solve the problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Well I've never had any trouble with Namecheap, actually. But I still have about 8 domains with this other company, who I started IM with... I actually wouldn't mind losing most of them, but there are two or three that I care about, especially this one, which is my bread-and-butter.

    I have not registered a complaint with ICANN yet because the company finally answered its "Live Chat" service, and customer service said that the domain is "holding" and will be renewed in 12 to 24 hours. Sounds like a generic answer, but I decided to give it one more chance.

    I really do try to be nice to people, but I'm not holding my breath on this one.
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  • Profile picture of the author faizanutd
    I have always have registered my domains with UA communication and I highly recommend them as I have never faced any problems.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I actually wouldn't mind losing most of them, but there are two or three that I care about, especially this one, which is my bread-and-butter.
      Sounds like it is being resolved - mistakes do happen.

      Why not transfer those domains to another registrar before you have to renew again?
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Well Kay, I always had the mindset with this of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

    Unfortunately when I got into IM it was through a cheapbook full what I now know to be affiliate links. I got both my hosting and my domains with this company, and while I have long since left their hosting, and I no longer actually purchase domains from them ($35/year for a .com) I have kept the ones I have with them.


    Changing to another registrar always seemed like a hassle... Silly me... Now my most profitable domain has been showing "Expired" for FOUR DAYS, and I have been trying to get this resolved for over a week. (Because I was getting the automated "your domain is going to expire" emails and their customer service said to disregard them.)


    I got another email this morning saying that it would be working within a few hours. I'm going to remain calm and wait until after lunch. If they get it working, I'm going to switch registrars. If they do not, I'm going to have to report them.


    At the moment I've got another domain forwarding to the site and I sent it out to my list, so I haven't actually lost much yet. Maybe I'll leave that one there as a back-up since it was just parked anyway... But I am still a little annoyed... I've lost domains before, mostly because I just didn't care. But everyone has that handful that you just never want to lose, and this is by far my most important one to me, so it's frustrating.
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by MikeTucker View Post

      Changing to another registrar always seemed like a hassle...
      Not totally. But if you're ready to try, let me know. And hope it works out there.
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      David

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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Still not resolved. And ICANN is not actually going to help me.


    "ICANN accepts registrar problem reports for compliance monitoring and statistical analysis. You may submit a report via the Registrar Problem Report Form but please note that ICANN does not resolve individual complaints."


    It goes on to suggest contacting consumer groups and the BBB. Ugh... Yeah, I am getting completely screwed here... I always try to be nice but I am about to raise bloody Hell.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Well they got it done after I sent them a list of all the places I have filed complaints, LOL

    Time to move the domains I care about over to my favorite registrar. Thanks again for your help, Folks!
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    • Profile picture of the author TheJustWarrior
      What a frickin' nightmare Mike.

      Switch that dns as quick as possible

      All registrars have to go through extensive testing and capacity requirements including full business compliance through the verisign channel

      That such hair brained operators exist shows there are large cracks in the system. The hoops to become a registrar are extensive, I cant even guess how these operators managed to get through. Who pays for the lost profits you incurred during this week, not them obviously

      Pay maximum 10 year upfront for money making domains. Always check whois after you have paid for the domain upfront to verify it is for the 10 years.
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      even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there

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