Dynadot

WARNING with Register.com/Snapnames expiring domains!

NameSilo
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So this is what happened: Over 2 weeks ago I won an expiring domain auction on snapnames for $214.00. The domain was with register.com. So I noticed the whois wasn't displaying my info and I tried updating from my register.com account with no luck. I contacted both register.com support and snapnames support to fix this whois issue. Well today, the domain was removed from my register.com account and given back to the previous owner who let it expire. When I spoke to snapnames on the phone, they admitted that register.com simply decided to take the domain back. They admitted it was dirty on register's side but that they can't do anything about it because it's part of their partnership agreement. Anybody else with similar issues!?
 
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Did you at least get a refund?


Oh, and I'd like to add that you'll find a lot of hate about register.com here. They are the lowest of the low when it comes to domain registration.
 
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Awful. Hope you get this resolved (refund in this case). I gave up on Snapnames years ago now because it just wasn't worth the hassle -- having to deal with nightmarish fly-by-night registrars, battling to get access to my domains, ridiculous renewal rates, inability to transfer out, it goes on and on.
 
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I never liked Register.com

The first time I ever transferred a name out of there was years ago and it was like pulling teeth..
You had to call them to get the auth number back then and the guy I had to talk to just kept insulting me and acted like I was asking for his first born.

:td:
 
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So what happened exactly ?
The previous owner redeemed the domain or or register.com repossessed the domain ?
 
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Now that I think about it, isn't that what GoDaddy does? You win an expiring domain, pay for it, but the original owner can still choose to renew the domain. If they do, you get refunded and don't get the domain.
 
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1. I am supposed to get a refund.
2. No, because godaddy doesn't award you the domain until after those days (previous owner can recover domain) pass. So once you get the domain, they can't take it back...
 
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Now that I think about it, isn't that what GoDaddy does? You win an expiring domain, pay for it, but the original owner can still choose to renew the domain. If they do, you get refunded and don't get the domain.

Yes... there was a case a few months back in the GD Auction thread where a member had the domain removed from his account several days after having received the expired domain from GD Auctions.

Looks like registrars are leaning in favor of the previous registrant when it comes to expired domains.
 
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1. I am supposed to get a refund.
2. No, because godaddy doesn't award you the domain until after those days (previous owner can recover domain) pass. So once you get the domain, they can't take it back...


I see what you are saying. So the domain was actually showing up under your register.com account?

If so, they are probably doing what GoDaddy does except for some reason, they list it under your account like you own it. Don't get me wrong, that's obviously not a good business practice.
 
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Now that I think about it, isn't that what GoDaddy does? You win an expiring domain, pay for it, but the original owner can still choose to renew the domain. If they do, you get refunded and don't get the domain.


This is not new .. I have expired domains I let drop at godaddy , I can still renew on the 45th day after expiry .

It will cost $95.20 I believe regardless of the bids at Godaddy and all registry I think

But you should be refunded..
 
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I just ran the calculations for some expiring domains I've bought on GD and they award you the domain around the 45 days... Example I bought one today that expired on 12/26/2013. Domain is supposed to be placed into my account on 2/7/2014. Is the 45th day the last day possible?
 
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I just ran the calculations for some expiring domains I've bought on GD and they award you the domain around the 45 days... Example I bought one today that expired on 12/26/2013. Domain is supposed to be placed into my account on 2/7/2014. Is the 45th day the last day possible?

45 days? Every time I bought an expiring domain from them I've gotten it in under two weeks. Where did you see that number?


Edit: I'm wrong. Turns out, I'm thinking of the time it takes for the domain to be pushed into my account AFTER it is confirmed as mine. I looked at the ToS and you are right:

"These Expired Domain Names may be listed on the Site on the date of their expiration, however, no sale will be final until forty-five (45) days after the date of expiration."


Here is the full link if anyone is interested:

https://www.godaddy.com/agreements/showdoc.aspx?pageid=dna_member&isc=dnabb518
 
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This happened to me once with a Namejet auction (forget who the registar was) and many have complained about similar cases with both Namejet and Godaddy auctions. The domain auction marketplaces are auctioning off domains that in my view they shouldn't be auctioning because the prior registrant still has rights to the domain. What I would suggest is to wait a while after winning an auction before announcing you won a domain or complaining to an aftermarket domain site about not being to list the domain.
 
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Well they auction them about a month after they expire. I am counting the days from the day it expires until awarded to the new owner. Not from the auction date...
 
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1. I am supposed to get a refund.
2. No, because godaddy doesn't award you the domain until after those days (previous owner can recover domain) pass. So once you get the domain, they can't take it back...

You can still lose a domain at godaddy after it has been placed in your account.
Normally you get the domain on the 42nd or 43rd day but they can take it from you up until the 45th day after expiring.
You are Supposed to be in the clear on the 46th day but who really knows. :]
 
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GoDaddy took a domain out of my account after I had won it at auction as long as two years ago. They took it for themselves, not for a client which renewed or transferred the domain. Domain was Daddy.co. When I inquired from my account rep, he just told me it was a TM issue, which was BS. I didn't have the will to have a fight over a losing battle over it.

The interesting thing is now that domain would never have been picked up by me at auction, it would have had xx number of bidders for the domain. Out of my reach. I think lately I've lost almost every domain I've bid on. I would say it has become super-competitive today compared to 2 years ago. I hardly bid on anything anymore at GoDaddy. I'm always outbid even when I set a price way out of my comfort zone.
 
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Snapnames can sometimes play pretty fast and loose with the rules. A perfect example is when an auction on an expiring domain is supposed to end at midnight, but people still manage to place bids way past the deadline. I once even had the experience where I was the sole bidder on an expired domain, but instead of awarding it to me, they just put it up for auction a second time while locking in my bid so that they'd still get my money if nobody bid against me the second time around. When I wrote them to complain, they responded that they always do that. lol The only reason I still use them is that I still end up making money with domains I get through them. I try, however, to transfer domains away from their registrars as quickly as I can manage it.
 
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Sorry to bump an old thread.

@stub you won a domain at GD auctions and two years later GD took it out of your account or did I not catch that right.
 
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Sorry to bump an old thread.

@stub you won a domain at GD auctions and two years later GD took it out of your account or did I not catch that right.

No. They took it out of my account within 24hrs of putting it in my account as a won auction. I had to be quick to spot it go in and out.
 
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No. They took it out of my account within 24hrs of putting it in my account as a won auction. I had to be quick to spot it go in and out.

Thanks for the clarification.

This is why I don't like GD. I hear stories about this all the time. I would love @Joe Styler to officially comment on practices like this to put my mind at ease. At the very least freeze the domain and contact the registrant. None of this - taking action and then not telling you business. I don't think you would catch a registrar like NameSilo doing sh*t like this.

Hey Joe, any processes in place to prevent your team taking domains out of accounts without confirming it with the account holders first. Or is it perfectly fine from your side to do this.
 
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I think they think it's perfectly fine for them doing this. The only explanation I could get from my Account Manager was it was a trademark issue. I could not get any further explanation from him because he wasn't prepared to discuss it. They took this domain back from me purely because somebody at GoDaddy decided that GoDaddy wanted this domain. It had GoDaddy whois for a long time before I guess they sold it on. But I didn't follow it closely after I gave up the argument.
 
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I think they think it's perfectly fine for them doing this.

What I want to know is what do they expect you to do if you are in the process of selling a name. Maybe you have a transaction started at Escrow/com and you have a deal with someone to purchase it.

What if they take back the name and you have to cancel a sale in progress. Do they care if someone sues you because you did not sell them the name?

What recourse do you have against a big company like GD?
 
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@Cdomains - Very little recourse. I'd say. The words of Christine Jones, their previous Legal Counsel paraphrasing their ToS, comes to mind :(
 
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GoDaddy took a domain out of my account after I had won it at auction as long as two years ago. They took it for themselves, not for a client which renewed or transferred the domain. Domain was Daddy.co. When I inquired from my account rep, he just told me it was a TM issue, which was BS. I didn't have the will to have a fight over a losing battle over it.

The interesting thing is now that domain would never have been picked up by me at auction, it would have had xx number of bidders for the domain. Out of my reach. I think lately I've lost almost every domain I've bid on. I would say it has become super-competitive today compared to 2 years ago. I hardly bid on anything anymore at GoDaddy. I'm always outbid even when I set a price way out of my comfort zone.

Very interesting to see this domain now available for sale. Sorry for your loss, but it appears the owners can't sell it anyway. Did you ever try contacting Godaddy about it again?
 
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I had something equally as frustering I backordered a domain at GD they then put it up for a backorder auction after it was captured informed me they placed a bid on my behalf then randomly it ended early and somehow it showed me as high bidder but not winner. Then, I emailed GD and three days later there auction team replied that they gave it back over to past owner at 1and1 register. Moral, of the story these registers do stuff like snapnames did to you, although they might be one of the better. I wish icann would come up with a regulation that says domains don't have the lock on them so that we could just transfer-out right away.
 
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