Namecheap: "Sorry, we mistakenly deleted your domains... but you can recover them for just $688."

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

You won't believe the nightmarish experience I've had with Namecheap over the past few days.

And to prove I'm not making this story up or misrepresenting anything, I'm providing screenshots of my online Chat Transcript and Support Ticket with their "customer service" team... linked at the bottom of this thread.

First of all, some background: For those of you who have never used Namecheap, they have an unusually aggressive policy of auto-renewing domains an entire month in advance (in contrast to most registrars which renew domains the day of or 1 day before expiration). I discovered this on August 28th when they auto-renewed my first Namecheap order from 11 months ago, which consisted of 8 "new gTLD" domains (.shop, .blog, .news, etc) for a total of $211. The problem, I argued, is that the only "notice" they sent me prior to doing this was confusing, at best, and arguably misleading.

Eventually (after an hour), Namecheap agreed to cancel this auto-renewal order placed by their system, based on the rationale I provided.

Everything was fine up to this point. I had made it clear to Namecheap that I only wanted the *AUTO-RENEWAL order* cancelled, and they confirmed that they would "reverse the domain RENEWALS with a refund", and more specifically "cancel the RENEWALS from Order #XYZ" (with #XYZ being the AUTO-RENEW order that extended the expiration dates by 12 months). I also made it clear to Namecheap (several times throughout the conversation) that I intended to transfer the domains to another registrar, as you can see in the chat transcript.

This is when things start to go awry...

The problem is that Namecheap didn't "reverse the renewals" as I clearly requested (and they clearly confirmed to me). Instead, they DELETED THE DOMAINS COMPLETELY, AND PLACED THEM INTO REDEMPTION AT THE REGISTRY-LEVEL, making them impossible to transfer.

Upon realizing this mistake they made, my first thought was "Wow, they REALLY f'ed this up", but since it was irrefutable (from the chat records) that this was THEIR mistake, and that I did NOT authorize deletion of the underlying domains, I assumed that they would willingly correct it (and apologize profusely for the inconvenience and downtime).

But oh was I wrong...

Despite telling me how sorry they were, and even acknowledging that this was their mistake, they ultimately decided that I should have to pay them $688 in fees to recover the domains THEY deleted without my authorization.

And it gets even better...

They said that for the troubles they caused me, instead of restoring the domains they deleted, they would issue me a prorated refund of $4.30 for the 1 month remaining on the *original* registration periods (which, by the way, is a small fraction of what Namecheap charges per month for these particular TLDs).

I couldn't believe it, and as I said in the support ticket, it's simply outrageous that they would expect a customer to PAY THEM nearly $700 to fix THEIR MISTAKE (if they have to pay registry fees to reinstate the domains, that's THEIR problem, not mine).

In the meantime, I've been unable to use these domains, since they are in redemption thanks to Namecheap's incompetence and refusal to fix to the problem. They've already caused me substantial time loss, frustration, and domain downtime — now they want to fleece me out of $688 to fix their mistake, and regain access to the domains I paid for (i.e. my property they stole).

I wanted to share this story with NamePros for several reasons:

(1) As a warning to domainers out there to avoid this registrar, since they clearly have no principles or integrity. You will also find that their prices are no longer "cheap" or even competitve with many other registrars.

(2) If there are any Namecheap managers/executives on this site, I would like an explanation of how you consider this to be acceptable practices/behavior by your registrar. So far, I've only been able to "chat" with low-level support staff due to your online-only customer service access (unlike other registrars that offer telephone-based support), so an explanation from someone higher-up the ladder would be appreciated.

(3) My next step is to take legal action against Namecheap over this, since the chat transcript (which I have a copy of in my Gmail account, digitally signed and sent by Namecheap) is irrefutable evidence that they wrongfully deleted my domains. Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to proceed with that? Keep in mind, this is a matter of principle now... I will do whatever it takes to hold Namecheap accountable for this.

Finally, imagine if this had happened to you and some of your valued domains. How would you feel about that?

Here are screenshots of the chat transcript and support ticket:

CHAT TRANSCRIPT

SUPPORT TICKET

(Notice how the rep who filed this ticket goes from saying "domain RENEWAL cancellation" in the chat, to just "domain cancellation" when he submitted this ticket. How convenient. If I hadn't saved the chat transcript, I have no doubt that Namecheap would have claimed I requested deletion of the domains themselves. They have no shame or integrity, and this is basically proof of that.)

(end of screenshots)

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your opinions, advice, and feedback.

Pay.My.id · Sep 4, 2020

Great point for Namepros, we trust NP reputation . Really like this "We are glad to let you know that we have restored the affected domains and added them back to your Namecheap account."

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

Pay.My.id said:
Great point for Namepros, we trust NP reputation . Really like this "We are glad to let you know that we have restored the affected domains and added them back to your Namecheap account."

Indeed. In fact I want to sincerely thank the NamePros operators for producing such an excellent platform for domain-related issues and discussion. This really is an excellent and well-moderated site.

I should also point out that I did not want to do this. I spent 3 days disputing the issue with Namecheap and gave them a fair chance to resolve the issue in a timely manner. You can even see in the support ticket screenshot (from the original thread I linked to) that I warned Namecheap that I would go public with this (and take legal action if necessary) if they did not resolve it in a reasonable time frame. Keep in mind, these domains were in redemption, which means I could not use or transfer them, DNS functionality disabled... but Namecheap didn't care until it became a potential PR problem for them.

Lord Antares · Sep 4, 2020

I think they would have a lot more problems if low level staff couldn't handle domains in a useful manner. It keeps the support fast.

They made a mistake and they corrected it. It would be nice if you removed that thread because NP threads get indexed on google very fast.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

Lord Antares said:
I think they would have a lot more problems if low level staff couldn't handle domains in a useful manner. It keeps the support fast.

They made a mistake and they corrected it. It would be nice if you removed that thread because NP threads get indexed on google very fast.

They refused to correct it until it became a potential PR problem for them, and customers have a right to be aware of that. Everything I posted is factual and clearly supported by evidence (see the screenshots in the previous thread).

In the end, I spent over 10 hours arguing this with various Namecheap reps. I gave them nearly 4 days worth of opportunities to correct this while my domains sat in redemption and were thus unusable (no DNS functionality, etc.). They adamantly refused to do the right thing for 4 days, and demanded that I pay THEM nearly $700 to fix their mistake. It's outrageous and unacceptable. If you read the original thread I posted, you would not feel sorry for them or think my words here are too harsh.

Imagine if this had happened to your valued domains.

Finally, I agree that low-level staff needs to be able to make changes, but for DELETING domains (i.e. placing them directly into the registry-level redemption stage, which is expensive to reverse) should require some extra verification, and the customer should be notified when this happens. As I said, this happened "silently" which is deeply concerning and something they need to address.

Josytal · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
You won't believe the nightmarish experience I've had with Namecheap over the past few days.

And to prove I'm not making this story up or misrepresenting anything, I'm providing screenshots of my online Chat Transcript and Support Ticket with their "customer service" team... linked at the bottom of this thread.

First of all, some background: For those of you who have never used Namecheap, they have an unusually aggressive policy of auto-renewing domains an entire month in advance (in contrast to most registrars which renew domains the day of or 1 day before expiration). I discovered this on August 28th when they auto-renewed my first Namecheap order from 11 months ago, which consisted of 8 "new gTLD" domains (.shop, .blog, .news, etc) for a total of $211. The problem, I argued, is that the only "notice" they sent me prior to doing this was confusing, at best, and arguably misleading.

Eventually (after an hour), Namecheap agreed to cancel this auto-renewal order placed by their system, based on the rationale I provided.

Everything was fine up to this point. I had made it clear to Namecheap that I only wanted the *AUTO-RENEWAL order* cancelled, and they confirmed that they would "reverse the domain RENEWALS with a refund", and more specifically "cancel the RENEWALS from Order #XYZ" (with #XYZ being the AUTO-RENEW order that extended the expiration dates by 12 months). I also made it clear to Namecheap (several times throughout the conversation) that I intended to transfer the domains to another registrar, as you can see in the chat transcript.

This is when things start to go awry...

The problem is that Namecheap didn't "reverse the renewals" as I clearly requested (and they clearly confirmed to me). Instead, they DELETED THE DOMAINS COMPLETELY, AND PLACED THEM INTO REDEMPTION AT THE REGISTRY-LEVEL, making them impossible to transfer.

Upon realizing this mistake they made, my first thought was "Wow, they REALLY f'ed this up", but since it was irrefutable (from the chat records) that this was THEIR mistake, and that I did NOT authorize deletion of the underlying domains, I assumed that they would willingly correct it (and apologize profusely for the inconvenience and downtime).

But oh was I wrong...

Despite telling me how sorry they were, and even acknowledging that this was their mistake, they ultimately decided that I should have to pay them $688 in fees to recover the domains THEY deleted without my authorization.

And it gets even better...

They said that for the troubles they caused me, instead of restoring the domains they deleted, they would issue me a prorated refund of $4.30 for the 1 month remaining on the *original* registration periods (which, by the way, is a small fraction of what Namecheap charges per month for these particular TLDs).

I couldn't believe it, and as I said in the support ticket, it's simply outrageous that they would expect a customer to PAY THEM nearly $700 to fix THEIR MISTAKE (if they have to pay registry fees to reinstate the domains, that's THEIR problem, not mine).

In the meantime, I've been unable to use these domains, since they are in redemption thanks to Namecheap's incompetence and refusal to fix to the problem. They've already caused me substantial time loss, frustration, and domain downtime — now they want to fleece me out of $688 to fix their mistake, and regain access to the domains I paid for (i.e. my property they stole).

I wanted to share this story with NamePros for several reasons:

(1) As a warning to domainers out there to avoid this registrar, since they clearly have no principles or integrity. You will also find that their prices are no longer "cheap" or even competitve with many other registrars.

(2) If there are any Namecheap managers/executives on this site, I would like an explanation of how you consider this to be acceptable practices/behavior by your registrar. So far, I've only been able to "chat" with low-level support staff due to your online-only customer service access (unlike other registrars that offer telephone-based support), so an explanation from someone higher-up the ladder would be appreciated.

(3) My next step is to take legal action against Namecheap over this, since the chat transcript (which I have a copy of in my Gmail account, digitally signed and sent by Namecheap) is irrefutable evidence that they wrongfully deleted my domains. Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to proceed with that? Keep in mind, this is a matter of principle now... I will do whatever it takes to hold Namecheap accountable for this.

Finally, imagine if this had happened to you and some of your valued domains. How would you feel about that?

Here are screenshots of the chat transcript and support ticket:

CHAT TRANSCRIPT

SUPPORT TICKET

(Notice how the rep who filed this ticket goes from saying "domain RENEWAL cancellation" in the chat, to just "domain cancellation" when he submitted this ticket. How convenient. If I hadn't saved the chat transcript, I have no doubt that Namecheap would have claimed I requested deletion of the domains themselves. They have no shame or integrity, and this is basically proof of that.)

(end of screenshots)

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your opinions, advice, and feedback.

Why all this winding story, when could you've turn off the auto renewal.
Better safe than sorry. A stitch in time saves nine!

karmaco · Sep 4, 2020

While I do agree auto renewal should not be on I am glad this was posted publicly because I have never heard of this issue. So we all learned something today.

pb · Sep 4, 2020

A classic example of a company shooting itself in the foot by doing customer a favour. You had the domains on autorenew, they auto-renewed them, and the story should end here. But you were pissed you missed the deadline and didn't read the mail they sent prior to charging ("the only "notice" they sent me prior to doing this was confusing, at best, and arguably misleading" - so they did send you a notice), so you asked for your money back. Now, normally they should have just said no and be done with it (see "we do not normally process domain renewal cancellation requests") but apparently decided you're a valued customer and worth doing you a favour. Here they made a mistake by assuming you know what you're asking for and not explicitly informing you what cancelling a renewal is, or that there is no such thing, the only thing that can be "cancelled" is the domain. I wonder if they even received any refund from the registry, probably not and just decided to swallow the costs. Long story short, you messed up but managed to put the cost and the blame on the registrar (and as a bonus, make them also mess up in the process).

Obviously if it happened to me I would also be pissed and want (and try) to get the money back, but that doesn't change anything written above. IMO.

branding · Sep 4, 2020

No need to continue calling them out for making a mistake. It was your mistake initially, by letting those domains renew.

Their communication should have been better but basically you brought this chain of events upon yourself by not properly managing your domains, then asking the registrar for a favour.

They fixed it. Now's the time to be grateful.

pb · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
Imagine if this had happened to your valued domains.

Imagine someone would want to cancel renewal of their "valued domain".

Finally, I agree that low-level staff needs to be able to make changes, but for DELETING domains (i.e. placing them directly into the registry-level redemption stage, which is expensive to reverse) should require some extra verification.

From the transcript you posted it is clear that the decision and action was made by the supervisor, not by the support person.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

pb said:
A classic example of a company shooting itself in the foot by doing customer a favour. You had the domains on autorenew, they auto-renewed them, and the story should end here. But you were pissed you missed the deadline and didn't read the mail they sent prior to charging ("the only "notice" they sent me prior to doing this was confusing, at best, and arguably misleading" - so they did send you a notice), so you asked for your money back. Now, normally they should have just said no and be done with it (see "we do not normally process domain renewal cancellation requests") but apparently decided you're a valued customer and worth doing you a favour. Here they made a mistake by assuming you know what you're asking for and not explicitly informing you what cancelling a renewal is, or that there is no such thing, the only thing that can be "cancelled" is the domain. I wonder if they even received any refund from the registry, probably not and just decided to swallow the costs. Long story short, you messed up but managed to put the cost and the blame on the registrar (and as a bonus, make them also mess up in the process).

Obviously if it happened to me I would also be pissed and want (and try) to get the money back, but that doesn't change anything written above. IMO.

On one hand, you wrote "if it happened to me I would also be pissed and want (and try) to get the money back", but on the other you try to make Namecheap the victim based on agreeing to refund the auto-renewal order. That's odd.

And I disagree that they "did me a favor" by agreeing to cancel the auto-renewal. The "notice" (which really wasn't one) was misleading to a point that it led the customer to believe the renewal would occur 1 day before the expiration date (as most registrars do). They agreed with that, and thus made the exception. If their "notice" had actually been a real notice, I wouldn't have disputed it.

And of course, the main issue is not the auto-renewal, it's the fact that they deleted my domains without my authorization and demanded that I pay them $700 to correct THEIR mistake. The fact that they agreed to refund the auto-renewals (which cost them nothing) doesn't exonerate their unauthorized deletion of my domains, and their refusal to correct the mistake (until realizing it was a potential PR issue for them).

Your point about "they made a mistake by assuming you know what you're asking for and not explicitly informing you what cancelling a renewal is" makes it sound like you work at Namecheap. Everyone else here (who actually read the chat transcript) is in agreement that Namecheap was the party that didn't know what it was doing in this case — they thought they were "reversing renewals" when in fact they were deleting domains. What I was asked for was crystal clear and repeated several times in the chat. I also told them, several times, that I intended to transfer the domains. They confirmed they were "reversing the renewals from the auto-renewal order", not cancelling the domains.

You should actually read the chat transcript.

pb · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
On one hand, you wrote "if it happened to me I would also be pissed and want (and try) to get the money back", but on the other you try to make Namecheap the victim based on agreeing to refund the auto-renewal order. That's odd.

There is no contradiction. Imagine a guy driving carelessly and slashing the tyre on a hole in the road. He would be pissed with himself for not paying attention and fully aware of being at fault, but after the initial shock he would turn to being mad at the road maintainer and seeking to get some reimbursement for the damage.

Same here, you messed up but asked for a favour, which was granted, although clumsily. With that, you proceeded to extort further action from the registrar. Are you at least going to pay the nominal renewal fee for the domains they redeemed for you or are you just going to transfer them right away and enjoy a free year? Were you even going to renew any of them in the first place? That seems doubtful by your original post.

[edit] I don't work for Namecheap. And I formulated my opinion *after* reading the transcript.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

pb said:
Imagine someone would want to cancel renewal of their "valued domain".

From the transcript you posted it is clear that the decision and action was made by the supervisor, not by the support person.

(1) The decision to refund the auto-renewal order was made by a supervisor, but the person who deleted the domains was a low-level staffer. And as I said, the deletion was "silent", with no notifications.

(2) If you read the chat transcript, you will see that I was planning to transfer those domains elsewhere, not allow them to expire. I made that abundantly clear in the chat, which you should read.

DN_Hunter · Sep 4, 2020

I really hope Namecheap does the right thing here. Looks like the last correspondence from them in the screen shots was on September 1st. They mentioned they were still working on the problem -- have they been able to do anything since then?

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

NameDeck said:
No need to continue calling them out for making a mistake. It was your mistake initially, by letting those domains renew.

Their communication should have been better but basically you brought this chain of events upon yourself by not properly managing your domains, then asking the registrar for a favour.

They fixed it. Now's the time to be grateful.

You and pb are the first here to defend Namecheap, and both of you mentioned the registrar doing a "favour" (with that exact spelling) at nearly the same time - a remarkable coincidence.

As I explained to pb, Namecheap didn't "do me a favor" by agreeing to cancel the auto-renewal. The "notice" (which really wasn't one) was misleading to a point that it led the customer to believe the renewal would occur 1 day before the expiration date (as most registrars do). They agreed with that, and thus made the exception. If their "notice" had actually been a real notice, I wouldn't have disputed it.

And the main issue isn't the auto-renewal, it's the fact that they deleted my domains without my authorization and demanded that I pay them $700 to correct THEIR mistake. That they agreed to refund the auto-renewals (which cost them nothing) doesn't exonerate their unauthorized deletion of my domains, and their refusal to correct the mistake (until realizing it was a potential PR issue for them).

Your point about "now's the time to be grateful" makes it sound like you work at Namecheap. If this had happened to you (causing you substantial time loss, frustration, and domain down-time) you wouldn't be "grateful" about it when the party at fault finally agrees to fix the mistake (and only after they realize it's a potential PR problem).

pb · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
(1) The decision to refund the auto-renewal order was made by a supervisor, but the person who deleted the domains was a low-level staffer. And as I said, the deletion was "silent", with no notifications.

Ok, let me rephrase: decision was made and action was authorised by the supervisor.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

DN_Hunter said:
I really hope Namecheap does the right thing here. Looks like the last correspondence from them in the screen shots was on September 1st. They mentioned they were still working on the problem -- have they been able to do anything since then?

Yes, within 3 hours of posting the story here on NamePros, Namecheap had a change of heart and reinstated all of the domains: https://www.namepros.com/threads/wo...-after-i-posted-about-it-on-namepros.1206894/

pb · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
You and pb are the first here to defend Namecheap, and both of you mentioned the registrar doing a "favour" (with that exact spelling) at nearly the same time - a remarkable coincidence.

1. I'm not defending anyone. But I pity them more than you.
2. What's wrong with that spelling? I learnt British English at school and I like it more than American English.

As I explained to pb, Namecheap didn't "do me a favor" by agreeing to cancel the auto-renewal. The "notice" (which really wasn't one) was misleading to a point that it led the customer to believe the renewal would occur 1 day before the expiration date (as most registrars do). They agreed with that, and thus made the exception. If their "notice" had actually been a real notice, I wouldn't have disputed it.

You realise that a notice is just that, a notice? They're not even obliged to send you any notices. They do it mostly to avoid customers claiming they "didn't know" this and that (mostly stuff that is in the rules & conditions they ticked that they "read, understood and accept").

And the main issue isn't the auto-renewal, it's the fact that they deleted my domains without my authorization and demanded that I pay them $700 to correct THEIR mistake. That they agreed to refund the auto-renewals (which cost them nothing) doesn't exonerate their unauthorized deletion of my domains, and their refusal to correct the mistake (until realizing it was a potential PR issue for them).

I fully recognise that issue but I argue that it was not a standalone issue but an effect of the registrar voluntarily giving you a hand when you messed up and as such should be judged more leniently.

the party at fault finally agrees to fix the mistake (and only after they realize it's a potential PR problem).

I must admit you planned it well, smearing a #3 domain registrar in the industry's #1 forum was bound to lead to a decision to try and make you shut up.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

pb said:
1. I'm not defending anyone. But I pity them more than you.
2. What's wrong with that spelling? I learnt British English at school and I like it more than American English.

You realise that a notice is just that, a notice? They're not even obliged to send you any notices. They do it mostly to avoid customers claiming they "didn't know" this and that (mostly stuff that is in the rules & conditions they ticked that they "read, understood and accept").

I fully recognise that issue but I argue that it was not a standalone issue but an effect of the registrar voluntarily giving you a hand when you messed up and as such should be judged more leniently.

I must admit you planned it well, smearing a #3 domain registrar in the industry's #1 forum was bound to lead to a decision to try and make you shut up.

Most registrars auto-renew the day of expiration (or 1 day prior). That's what people are used to from nearly every other registrar, including GoDaddy. So if a registrar has the unusual and aggressive policy of auto-renewing an entire month in advance, then they need to make that clear to customers. Again, they agreed with the rationale I provided, which is why they made the "exception" (which cost them nothing). And if they hadn't agreed, I would have disputed it through my credit card company on the same basis and received a refund that way. So again, it was no "favor".

As I said before, you're focused on the wrong thing here. This isn't about their auto-renewal policy, it's about them deleting a customer's domains without their authorization, and refusing to fix it. It's that simple, and if it had happened to you and your domains, you wouldn't "pity" them at all. Believe me.

I also didn't want to go this route. If you actually read the support-ticket screenshot, you will see that I did everything possible to get them to do the right thing and avoid seeking other recourse. I explicitly told them I would go public with the story and take legal action, but they didn't take it seriously. That's on them.

branding · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
And if they hadn't agreed, I would have disputed it through my credit card company on the same basis and received a refund that way. So again, it was no "favor".

No you wouldn't have. It's in their tos and it's not as uncommon as you make it out to be.

Anyway, I'm skipping all conspiracy theories about working for Namecheap and everything else.

Basically I 100% agree with @pb . I have nothing further to add. Glad you got your domains back.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

NameDeck said:
No you wouldn't have. It's in their tos and it's not as uncommon as you make it out to be.

Anyway, I'm skipping all conspiracy theories about working for Namecheap and everything else.

Basically I 100% agree with @pb . I have nothing further to add. Glad you got your domains back.

I would have, because the "notice" made it appear as though the domains were auto-renewing 1 day prior to the registration date (i.e. the common practice for most registrars). As I've said multiple times now, Namecheap agreed with that rationale and it's why they made the "exception". A credit card company would have agreed with it as well. It doesn't matter what the ToS fine print says if a "notice" leads a customer to believe something else. There was clear evidence that a customer would be likely to believe that the auto-renewals would be taking place 1 day prior (or the day of expiration) rather than an entire month prior.

I've noticed that you and pb are very much in agreement - to a remarkable extent.

Way3 · Sep 4, 2020

pb said:
1. I'm not defending anyone. But I pity them more than you.
...
I must admit you planned it well, smearing a #3 domain registrar in the industry's #1 forum was bound to lead to a decision to try and make you shut up.

Isn't the point of this forum (in part) to discuss our issues good or bad with businesses in the industry?

I happen to like NC, and I've had great experiences with their support but I'll not deny someone else the right to discuss their own issues. If it's all true, nothing to pity, and it's not a smear. It's a review posted online. That's pretty standard.

I imagine NC is a group of professionals that can handle it.

PJ Baldwin · Sep 4, 2020

Way3 said:
Isn't the point of this forum (in part) to discuss our issues good or bad with businesses in the industry?

I happen to like NC, and I've had great experiences with their support but I'll not deny someone else the right to discuss their own issues. If it's all true, nothing to pity, and it's not a smear. It's a review posted online. That's pretty standard.

I imagine NC is a group of professionals that can handle it.

Exactly, and anyone who would express "pity" for Namecheap after reading this story, or say that the adversely-impacted customer should be "grateful" for the "favour" (complete rubbish obviously), must have some kind of relationship with the company. Nearly everyone here seems to be in agreement that Namecheap's actions were indefensible... except for two users who chimed in at the same time and said virtually the same things, and even spell "favour" the same way. A remarkable coincidence to say the least.

pb · Sep 4, 2020

Way3 said:
Isn't the point of this forum (in part) to discuss our issues good or bad with businesses in the industry?

Isn't that what we're doing?

I happen to like NC, and I've had great experiences with their support but I'll not deny someone else the right to discuss their own issues. If it's all true, nothing to pity, and it's not a smear. It's a review posted online. That's pretty standard.

TBH I don't particularly like NC, my past experience with them has been rather mixed and I only keep a few exotic domains there. I should probably check the autorenew settings.

Way3 · Sep 4, 2020

pb said:
Isn't that what we're doing?

I hope so!

pb said:
TBH I don't particularly like NC, my past experience with them has been rather mixed and I only keep a few exotic domains there. I should probably check the autorenew settings.

Experiences are really driven by the particular circumstances and the CS reps one happens to deal with. I've had pretty good experiences tho.

Dude called Michael · Sep 4, 2020

PJ Baldwin said:
For the past 3 days, I've been in a heated dispute with Namecheap over 6 domains that they deleted without my authorization, as described in this thread I posted a few hours ago: https://www.namepros.com/threads/na...ut-you-can-recover-them-for-just-688.1206849/

For 3 days, Namecheap was adamant in their refusal to pay the registry-level redemption-reinstatement fees to restore the domains THEY mistakenly deleted and placed into REDEMPTION without my authorization. They wanted me to pay them $688 to fix THEIR mistake.

However, within 3 hours of posting the story here on NamePros, I received an update from a Namecheap manager saying:

Dear [redacted], Thank you for your patience. We are sorry that such a confusing situation occurred. We are always doing our best to [...] provide the highest level of support. We are glad to let you know that we have restored the affected domains and added them back to your Namecheap account.

A wise move on their part, because I would not have let it go. I would have taken legal action if necessary to hold them accountable for their egregious and shameful misconduct.

And as I noted in the original thread, it's deeply concerning that low-level staff at Namecheap can so easily DELETE domains and immediately place them into REDEMPTION at the registry-level, with no controls or double-checks in place.

And what's even more concerning is that this happened "silently" - there was no record of the deletions in my Namecheap account, I didn't even receive an email notification informing me that they were deleted. What this means is that a low-level staffer at Namecheap could accidentally delete one of your domains, and you likely wouldn't realize it until the domain has gone through the redemption period and expired (assuming you're not actively using the domain, in that case you would notice the DNS records no longer functioning).

In the end, it's unfortunate that it required so much of my time and energy to get Namecheap to finally do the right thing. And it's alarming how unwilling they are to correct their own mistakes that adversely impact a customer.

Namecheap: If you're listening, you have a lot of things to address related to this incident. I hope you make the most of it by fully analyzing what happened and making changes to prevent it from happening again.

Good for them they decided to solve this problem without charging you anything. $680 was rather an outrageous figure.

Personally, I've never had any bigger issues with Namecheap. And this is the first time I hear something this negative about them. That said, I agree with some of the others that you should let it go now and be glad that it didn't end worse. But that is your decision of course.

Namecheap: "Sorry, we mistakenly deleted your domains... but you can recover them for just $688."

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