GoDaddy grabs a valuable domain name from their customer because of invalid email

[Auraka]

Godaddy strikes again

http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/27/godaddy-deletes-domain-name-for-inaccurate-email-address/

So if their email gets caught in your spam filtering they will cancel your domain.....nice

 

[cache]

I am surprised that GD did that. Even when I don't have any problem, I receive godaddy's real phone
call to ask how am I doing, I think their detailed service should be very good.

 

[Dave_Z]

Responsible?

Godaddy was not being responsible for the domainholder but negligent.
Maybe not to ICANN but certainly from a moral and customer service point of view.

Do both of you have to see how the other sees it? No.

Which is why you shouldn't use them (or any service provider for that matter)
if their points of view don't jive with yours. People can believe whatever they
want, but it's not going to change the fact that you agree to all the terms of
your service provider if you use them.

 

[Auraka]

The story has been updated:

http://domainnamewire.com/2007/02/28/godaddy-responds-to-deletion-over-invalid-email-address/

1) What is your procedure for handling invalid whois complaints?

“Our standard procedure is to send an email message to the current Whois contacts as well as the customer email address.”

2) Why was this domain removed from the original owner?

“We cancelled the domain name registration on this domain name because the customer did not respond to our email request to update the information. In fact, we did not hear from the customer for more than eight weeks after our initial contact attempt. Per ICANN regulations, we are required to collect valid information. Per our Registration Agreement, we will cancel the name for invalid Whois if the information is not updated within the appropriate amount of time.”

----------------------------------------

wow....don't respond to an email and have your domain taken...great service...

 

[-db-]

wow....don't respond to an email and have your domain taken...great service...

If the registrar for the domain makes an attempt to contact the owner, and gets no response despite waiting for 8 weeks (2 months), what exactly do you feel they should do at that point?

 

[-Adam-]

RossH, it's in the agreement when you purchase the name and clearly states it in the TOS. Also as stated ICANN has set these procedures for the registrar to follow and they must comply. It's as simple as that so besides bashing GD for following a rule your previous argument has no standing value.

 

[Auraka]

If the registrar for the domain makes an attempt to contact the owner, and gets no response despite waiting for 8 weeks (2 months), what exactly do you feel they should do at that point?

I would say a phone call or a letter would be nice.....email is not a reliable/foolproof method of communication. Godaddy tried neither in this case.

What many people fail to understand here because they think Bob is cool because he pays some bimbo to dance on tv is that I think domains should be delete if they have had contact info. However all methods of communication should be used before deletion; email, phone and mail.

 

[greggish]

I believe the story is true. From my first and only experience with Godaddy I immediately realized they were a sleazy company. From the multiple screens of additional products and services you have to make your way through before you can complete your registration to the actual spam PHONECALLS they make to you trying to upsell you. Godaddy is still the only registration service I've used that has taken the sleaziness to the annoying phonecall level. Actually, it's pretty ironic that Godaddy can take the time to phone you to solicit you with unwanted addition services to buy, but they can't be bothered to phone you before they take your domain away. I don't know why so many people use Godaddy. You get such better service from Namecheap or just about any enom reseller.

 

[seeker]

so If someone regged or buys a few domains, puts all the correct data, but for whatever personal reason does not access his/her computer for 2 months, their domain should be gone???

the phone and address were correct. lets assume so was the email, but like I said the person didnt get to a computer, they just regged the domains for 2 years, and had to go away for 2 months. a simple phone call or a letter would have sold this.
GD really sucks!

 

[cache]

I have tried to contract some domains owners, whose names are not used as a real sites (I was hoping to buy the names cheap). But some of them I have never got any replies, I should
have reported them to their registrars to have their names canceled, now that is a
good idea!

 

[greggish]

I have tried to contract some domains owners, whose names are not used as a real sites (I was hoping to buy the names cheap). But some of them I have never got any replies, I should
have reported them to their registrars to have their names canceled, now that is a
good idea!

Me too. The next time I email an offer of $10 to an owner of a domain registered with Godaddy, I'll just inform Godaddy that the contact info is incorrect when the guy doesn't email me back. Brilliant!

 

[mis_chiff]

I don't reply to alot of "offers to buy" via email,
does that mean the person has a right to report
that they believe my info is invalid?
Not that it would matter, because the registrar would
be able to reach me via email anyway...and if I was not able
to access my computer for 2 months, you bet I'd have someone
watching over my "property" 2 days and I give up my passwords :lol:

 

[Cronus]

From Archive.Org, it appears that FamilyAlbum.Com was a functioning website which had been registered with GoDaddy for years. When someone (often a domain hijacker) files a "false whois information" complaint, STARTING with an email to the registrant is the right approach for a registrar to take. But if there is no response, a decent registrar IMHO should absolutely call and send a postal mail before taking the extraordinarily drastic step of cancelling the domain. There are many reasons someone could miss the email. Maybe their (or their ISP's) spam filter caught it. Maybe they mistook it for more GoDaddy spam. Maybe they were on vacation. Maybe they changed email accounts and forgot to (or haven't yet) modified the whois information. Maybe the email bounced because their mailbox was full. Yes you can blame the registrant for some of these things, but they don't deserve to lose their domain over it!

Also, GoDaddy didn't say how long they waited before canceling the domain. Instead they quoted the amount of time from when they sent the email to when the guy realized his paid-up domain had been sold to someone else.

The updated domainnamewire article has good news for people who AREN'T using GoDaddy:

I’ve talked to a number of other registrars over the past 24 hours to ask what they would do in a similar situation. I’m still compiling the responses, but all said they wouldn’t cancel the domain registration. In fact, one registrar even went to court to not have to cancel a registration with invalid Whois information.

I can't wait to hear the responses from other registrars, as keeping my domains secure is WAY MORE IMPORTANT to me in choosing a registrar than saving 25 cents per domain-year.

 

[Amnezia]

Just godaddy up to their usual tricks, stealing domains and ripping people off. nothing new here.

 

[Damion]

People can believe whatever they
want, but it's not going to change the fact that you agree to all the terms of
your service provider if you use them.

Right....terms, just because the terms are in place to allow room for GD to screw their customers doesn't make it right my friend.

Doing the right thing is doing it when nobody is looking or asking.
You can't hide all the time behind rules or terms, that's just not the way PEOPLE should think. And i am glad most people don't! And it's sad some do.

That's the difference, a business as a business that only cares about the money - and a business that cares about the money and the customer.

 

[mirrorcube]

Looks like moniker is getting some more business from me soon. If everything went down how the article spells it out, i am simply disgusted. Good Domains are way to valuable to delete without making several attempts on the other communication methods. Im telling you we domainers should unionize.

 

[RogueWriter]

Whenever I decide not to renew a domain at GoDaddy, I receive emails, letters in my mailbox and phone calls. GoDaddy seems to be very careful in making sure I TRULY wish to cancel the service. They even send a final email saying the domain is cancelled - but that I have 7 days to respond if this is an error.

I find it difficult to believe that GoDaddy would not take similar steps in the case as mentioned above.

If it did happen that way, I would expect that that transaction was the exception, not the rule.

 

[ZuraX]

Theres a few registers I have contacted before about invalid WHOIS info and most have been fixed. It is NOT the registers job to CALL you if you are to lazy to keep your info up to date. 99.9% of the registers I have used have a bulk update so it doesnt take to long.

When I moved one of the first things I did was to go and update my info.

BTW I was looking at a few expired/available domains listed on NamePros last night and a few that had now been taken had a invalid phone number. No I didnt report the domain but if in the future I came accross these domains and seen the invalid info again I would report it to ICANN. And yes I know the numbers were fake because theres no such number as 1-286-828.

 

[Amnezia]

If the registrar for the domain makes an attempt to contact the owner, and gets no response despite waiting for 8 weeks (2 months), what exactly do you feel they should do at that point?

there are a lot of other forms of contacting someone other than email. Godaddy made no attempt to call or send a letter to the registrant.

Imagine if they sent you an email which for some reason you missed or it got blocked by your spam filter. how would you feel if they deleted all of your domains because you missed just one email? i'd be pretty damn pissed.

 

[-db-]

How do we know that only 1 email was sent?

 

[Auraka]

How do we know that only 1 email was sent?

Because their person who responded to this said an email was sent....not multiple emails were sent...

 

[floatingworld]

The domain owner is responsible for maintaining up to date registration. Full stop! Godaddy is not your GoMummy even if you continue to throw your rattle out of the pram...............

 

[-db-]

Because their person who responded to this said an email was sent....not multiple emails were sent...

That response was vague. It doesn't prove that only 1-single email was sent.

Anyway, it appears GoDaddy has decided to give the domain back to the original owner as long as he doesn't take legal action, so hopefully this will have a happy ending soon.

Of course, I'm sure the GoDaddy haters will find another isolated incident to focus on.

 

[mis_chiff]

The domain owner is responsible for maintaining up to date registration. Full stop! Godaddy is not your GoMummy even if you continue to throw your rattle out of the pram...............

:lol:

 

[tricolorro]

Godaddy strikes again

If the registrar for the domain makes an attempt to contact the owner, and gets no response despite waiting for 8 weeks (2 months), what exactly do you feel they should do at that point?

:hi:

The point is that GoDaddy only sent an email and then removed the
domain when no response was received.

Only the email address wasn't valid, for whatever reason, but the
Street Address and Telephone Number was correct.

GoDaddy should have called.

Simply emailing to a bad email address is not much of an attempt.

GoDaddy staff often call their domain holders to remind them to
renew expiring domains. They should have picked up the phone in this
case also.

If the email is not working (for whatever reason) and the recipient
never gets GoDaddy's email , how can he respond?

Patrick

 

[greggish]

That response was vague. It doesn't prove that only 1-single email was sent.

Anyway, it appears GoDaddy has decided to give the domain back to the original owner as long as he doesn't take legal action, so hopefully this will have a happy ending soon.

Of course, I'm sure the GoDaddy haters will find another isolated incident to focus on.

It doesn't matter if 100 emails were sent. The point is that Godaddy did not attempt other than email means of communication. They certanly have the staff and inclinition to call their customers multiple times when they want to upsell them to other crappy services, so why not in this case? It's true I dislike Godaddy, but for the simple reason that they're a crappy company run in a crappy way. It's amazing the problems a company can overcome by simply throwing $$$ at marketing.