Entire GoDaddy account repossessed!

LordMomo said:

Hi everyone,

Really in need of some help here...
So I changed payment methods about a week ago at GoDaddy. A day or two later I got an email from their Verification Office requesting that I submit some additional documents:
ID, Bank Statement showing latest transaction, Back and Front of card.

I did so.

Since I received that first email, my account has been locked. I get an update a few hours ago (after submitted all documents) saying that my account has been reviewed and is not eligible to be unlocked.

Around the same time I see the WHOIS on my domains being updated to [email protected] and I have still been locked out of my account.

In all honesty, I have done nothing wrong, and I am unable to speak to someone regarding the reinstatement (I only get computerized responses and the Call center can do nothing).

Does anyone know what I can do as I have spent a lot of money on some of the domains in that account (it is my primary account)?

I would really appreciate any advice.

Momo

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What country are you from? How did you make payment for your purchase, if by credit card was it the same name as your id?

Very strange, and worrisome. I checked the whois on one of your names you have listed here and saw the repossessed by godaddy.
Repossessed by Go Daddy is associated with ~148,519 other domains
Try not to worry to much @Joe Styler may have some answers.

wwwweb said:

What country are you from? How did you make payment for your purchase, if by credit card was it the same name as your id?

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Thanks for the info wwwweb.
The ID and payment was done through my Daughter's account as my credit card had recently expired and I was waiting for a new one to be issued. I did submit her ID, bank statement and card images though.
Payment via credit card

I am from South Africa

MasterOfMyDomains said:

Very strange, and worrisome. I checked the whois on one of your names you have listed here and saw the repossessed by godaddy.
Repossessed by Go Daddy is associated with ~148,519 other domains
Try not to worry to much @Joe Styler may have some answers.

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I hope so...
I did not even receive correspondence from them apart from the request to submit documents before they repossessed my account. Did not get the chance to even make my case...

.NJ said:

http://www.domaininvesting.com/information-about-repossessed-by-go-daddy-registrant/

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Thanks for sharing that article NJ.
I assure you, nothing fraudulent occurred but I can understand their suspicion as a result of my change in payment method. Suspicion does not justify repossessing my account though.
No chargebacks were processed

Update:
GoDaddy support has told me that once locked, an account cannot be unlocked. Also no orders can be refunded. So basically I've lost all domains and money spent in this account

Gotta be something going on here that we don't know yet.

Your going to have to wait for Joe Styler, looks like he has a busy Monday on his plate, he will be able to break it down for you.

creataweb said:

Gotta be something going on here that we don't know yet.

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The guy that I was dealing with says that he spoke to the Fraud department and they say that there are no options available to me

LordMomo said:

The guy that I was dealing with says that he spoke to the Fraud department and they say that there are no options available to me

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I'm sorry, something does not add up, I can't see why they would do this to you, even if you submitted your daughter's credit card, and backed it up with her ID.

There has to be more to the story, Joe Styler is management he might be able to give you a reason, you should be allowed some due process to a certain degree. I just can't see them turning away a customer.

wwwweb said:

I'm sorry, something does not add up, I can't see why they would do this to you, even if you submitted your daughter's credit card, and backed it up with her ID.

There has to be more to the story, Joe Styler is management he might be able to give you a reason, you should be allowed some due process to a certain degree. I just can't see them turning away a customer.

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Me neither. I really didn't think that changing payment options would cause such a problem. And it was only to purchase WHOIS protection on one of my domains (less than $10). Really hope he can help

This brings back into mind the famous statement of Christine (forgot the last name) former Legal Counsel for GoDaddy. Who said, paraphrasing from memory. We can do anything we like to any domain (and customer) with no repurcussions to themselves whatsoever. It's in their ToS. You should read it. After her statement, I immediately started moving my domains out of GoDaddy as my main registrar. It was a pity. Because I actually liked their control panel (which shows how weird I am).

I also had my account locked, fairly recently, when I changed my account name from a personal account to a company name. On the advice of my previous account manager, who said GoDaddy couldn't care less what you put in that box. But it turned out they do care. They were asking for documents which I couldn't provide because they didn't exist. So they also told me (to eff off) and refused to unlock my account. I had just about accepted I'd lose a few hundred domains in my account (bought at GD auctions). It was only the continued persistence of my current account manager (after me badgering him endlessly), that they wanted me to provide some statement to them (which was essentially, meaningless) but couched in legalese which they could accept. So I can refute absolutely that what they say about being unable to unlock an account is just BS.

As others have said, @Joe Styler is the person to talk to. But this comes at a busy time with Namescon. Everybody is so busy. But he has been called to this thread by many of us. So let's hope he clears his desk and pays us a visit here.

You should state openly what transpired. And tell them it was a genuine mistake on your part. And that you changing your payment method was an attempt by you to rectify what you had done. You should also state that there was no fraud here, and the original payments were never disputed by your daughter. But I know they are sticklers about fraud. They need to be tough on it. But not to honest customers, who admit what they've done, and GoDaddy only found out when you tried to fix the problem. If there is a mismatch between the account name and name on the credit card, this could be enough for them to lock your account.

Best of luck with your endeavours. It's going to be a long, hard, frustrating struggle. Believe me. And I hope it works out for you, in the end. Which came for me only after I'd already given up all hope of them ever unlocking my account. It's going to be tough.

Hey LordMomo (Fellow South African )

Hmmm I'm sure this can be sorted out.... I mean it's clear this was an innocent mistake and you can prove everything you are saying. They could even contact your daughter if they want and verify your story. As everyone says already, I'm sure Joe would be able to rectify this... but chances are you will have to wait until he is done at NamesCon.

Fingers crossed here, really hope it works out. I will be watching this thread as well to keep updated.

Scary thread

Domains - Wanted said:

Scary thread

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Agreed ! but i think there is more to this thread than what meets the eye.

LordMomo said:

(it is my primary account)?

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Errrrr primary account?.... So you have more than one godaddy account? Hmmmm.

Were any of these names bought with one of those coupon codes i see at ebay where you can use the same code unlimited times?
And for those that go search that at ebay, I would be very careful using any of those discount deals

That's strange...Lets wait and follow in this case.

Wow, thats frightening.
Especially if you live in a non-english speaking country where you can't provide proof of whatever required documents in English.
I certainly would consider moving my domains from GoDaddy.

FYI, same crap happened to me recently at Enom. I was just a new customer. No change of anything. I already had domains in my account there but hadnt used it in a while. I regged a domain and somehow their fraud detection locked my account. then they asked for all my ID. I gave them everything, then they did unlock the account. Only problem, they deleted not only the one registration which set off their fraud system, they deleted all 15 registrations I had in there and I lost the money. Good thing they were on 1.99 special.

I do think GD can unlock your account. However, not sure if your domains will survive. Good Luck!

MasterOfMyDomains said:

Were any of these names bought with one of those coupon codes i see at ebay where you can use the same code unlimited times?

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I've never used a coupon code apart from the ones that they constantly send via email.

Wannabean said:

Errrrr primary account?.... So you have more than one godaddy account? Hmmmm.

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By primary account, I meant that GoDaddy is where the majority of my domains are. I have a few at Uniregistry.

Thanks for the responses everyone. It has given me some hope.
My daughter would definitely be willing to sign an affidavit or whatever to state nothing fraudulent occurred.

I honestly have done nothing fraudulent unless changing payment methods can be construed as such.
I hope @Joe Styler can help. I have PM'ed him as well. I'm sure he is busy currently

LordMomo said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. It has given me some hope.
My daughter would definitely be willing to sign an affidavit or whatever to state nothing fraudulent occurred.

I honestly have done nothing fraudulent unless changing payment methods can be construed as such.
I hope @Joe Styler can help. I have PM'ed him as well. I'm sure he is busy currently

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not too sure as to why this happened , but anyway i hope it gets sorted for you