Alibaba withholding auth code inside grace period

[mayhemalex]

Hey all,

Just be careful with Alibaba Cloud as they will disable transfer out within 15 days of expiration..

I had to find this out myself because their online support claimed it was because of unpaid payments??

Few registars are doing this and its a shame cos I really liked AB especially for .store renewal etc!

In fact it is contrary to ICANN rules it seems -

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/name-holder-faqs-2017-10-10-en

1. My domain name has just expired. Can my registrar require me to pay for a renewal before I can transfer the domain name to a new registrar?​

   No. You have the right to transfer an expired domain. Registrars are not allowed to deny a transfer due to expiration or nonrenewal, (unless you haven't paid for a previous registration period).
   However, if the current registrar has begun to delete your domain (i.e., the EPP status code (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en) shows the domain in Redemption Grace Period (see also https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-lifecycle-2012-02-25-en), the name must be restored by your current registrar before it can be transferred. This may result in an additional fee, sometimes referred to as a redemption fee.

 

[mayhemalex]

In the interest of full disclosure.. Alibaba Cloud did -eventually- email me the auth codes for the (5) domains in question. Maybe their tech staff really were that busy.. I don't know. Nevertheless they came through in the end!