All Domains in PendingDelete Long Before Expiration - 1and1

[spiritfly]

I have avoided them all my life. Their bad reputation is hunting them all over the internet for years. I have more than 10 years in experience with domains and I don't know what made me buy some of these valuable domains from them.

Around 9-8 months ago I bought 3 good domains from them. 2 of them I have developed in great sites. Invested like 2k for writers, content and promo on one of those. The hard work was just starting to pay off. When all of a sudden my account gets locked and all my domains are in pending delete status?!

I never received any kind of warning whatsoever. No notification or explanation as to why they are dropping the domains. The even worse thing is that all those domains were set to pending delete on 16th which is 5 days and means they will drop today.

I called their support phone and a rep. told me she will escalate the case to their security team and they will contact me in 24 hours which will be too late.. And also told me my account with 1and1 is scheduled for cancellation, WTF?? She also couldn't tell me the reasons why they are deleting my domain names. Then why the heck did I spend 10 minutes on long distance call??

Lesson learned. Avoid 1and1 at ALL costs no matter how tempting their offers may seem, they are professional crooks. They don't care about their online reputation which means they do not care about their customers as well.

Then I remembered a few days ago, a domain got cancelled much the same way for a client I represent. I asked why on their facebook chat about it, and they replied because of inaccurate whois date. I am not aware of how accurate the data really was that the has client provided, but I doubt it was inaccurate. An email from their "security team" asked the client to call them on the same support number that's on the website which means they are setting us up on a loop. This was two days ago. Today I checked that domain
and it was registered by buydomains.com. Did they just dropcatch it or is this some kind of a scheme among 1and1 and buydomains I don't know. But it seems like a lot of people are being affected by this 1and1 domain deletion before expiration dates:

prnt.sc/d9uhh2

 

[Kuffy]

I've been interested in domain names for around 18 years, and there has been one consistent theme during that period - don't use 1 and 1.The major reason seems to have been that you can't transfer your names away from them if you sold them. People don't seem to bother with these warnings, they seem prepared to risk the house to save 50 cents.

 

[spiritfly]

I've been interested in domain names for around 18 years, and there has been one consistent theme during that period - don't use 1 and 1.The major reason seems to have been that you can't transfer your names away from them if you sold them. People don't seem to bother with these warnings, they seem prepared to risk the house to save 50 cents.

I've been following this advice for as much as I know, but then I thought I am going to keep these domains and work on them, so what could go wrong? I wasn't afraid of auto-renewing them because I would be happy to renew them. But this scenario is totally unexpected and as sketchy as it gets. They provided no reason whatsoever as to why are the domain names in a pending delete status.

I will contact their "security team" today and see what they say about it. But since the domains are already in a pending delete status I believe they won't be able to bring them back even if I'm able to prove they are at wrong. Am I correct?

 

[Kuffy]

I'd report them to ICANN, or whoever is controlling registrars after Obama's give-away.

 

[spiritfly]

Thanks for the suggestion @Kuffy . Just checked their report page and there are a lot of different types to choose from and I can't see something which includes domain deletion without consent and explanation.

icann.org/compliance/complaint

Would you mind suggesting what kind of a complaint should I file with ICANN? I wouldn't like to risk it by sending it to the wrong department as my domain is dropping today.

 

[Kuffy]

I've never done this, so I'm not the best person to advise you. There are some much more experienced domainers on this board, and hopefully they can offer some more informed advice.

 

[deez007]

Those 1&1 idiots are the scum of the domainng world.

I've had over 30 domains with them (back in the day I registered lots after falling for their 99c registrations con) They pretty much did the same thing to me... closed my account due to irregular and inconsistent whois data .....the only issue I could see was that my WHOIS data was my Initial and Surname not my Full fist name and surname.... seems they lack the mental capacity to figure that out....when I pointed it out to them the excuse changed to a payment issue..claiming I didnt make payment on their last invoice (which I did) they waited like 10 months to decided I didn't pay and suspended the account and I lost all the domains.

 

[golan]

I'm still getting renewal notices from them for domains expired /sold out /transferred years go. What a dumbfuсks!

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrars/consensus-policies/wdrp-en

I would tell icann that you never received any wdrp regarding proper whois info. I have been receiving them

from netfirms all night. Not sure if this will help, hope things get straightened out for you.

1&1 review: do not use this company, they will rip you off.

A penny saved is not always a penny earned

 

[RU]

1n1 sucks

 

[spiritfly]

I just realized today that all my clients domains went down for the same reason. I have like 10 clients for whom I bought domains in their name. They all had developed websites on them and all were paid with my paypal. All went into pendingDelete on 16th. Wow! These guys really hate their customers! Not sure what their problem is. On top of that I just noticed that they charged me twice $15 per 3 months for some kind of "Website Builder" on two of my clients accounts. There goes the penny saved down the drain. They probably had some kind of a hidden line in their contract because I'm 100% sure I saw $0.99 during checkout on both of these domains.

Anyway I just filled a suspended/deleted domain complaint at ICANN from all client accounts and noted not received WDRP in the description as suggested, thanks for that @MasterOfMyDomains ! I really hope it will do something. This company is a high-class crook! I have never had such an experience with any domain registrar. Even Domain.com are sweethearts when compared to 1and1. Absolutely horrifying experience. It's the second day I haven't done any work whatsoever and dealt only with these thieves. 24 almost passed still no response from their "security team" as claimed..

Thanks for all the support guys, it's really comforting knowing how many experienced domainers got burned by these crooks, but at the same time I feel so stoopid for going against my gut and the big NO the whole internet was basically screaming in my face, lol.

 

[spiritfly]

This is the email they have sent after NUMEROUS attempts to contact their support:

Dear Mr. XXXXX XXXXXXX (Customer ID: XXXXXXXX)

Your accounts were terminated for a violation of our terms and conditions which were agreed to when you signed up for an account. These requirements are laid out in section 8.1 of the Terms and Conditions (1and1.com/Gtc).

8.1.
You agree and warrant that the contact information you have provided to 1&1 is complete and accurate, and you further agree to notify 1&1 within fifteen days of a change to any such contact information. Contact information includes your full legal name, e-mail address, and mailing address and the name, mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address of the technical and administrative contacts for your domain, if any.

8.15.
You agree and warrant that you shall not engage in any false, deceptive or fraudulent activities in association with your use of the 1&1 Services or 1&1's Equipment.

2.2.
Except as otherwise provided herein, you or 1&1 may terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason, with or without cause, upon thirty days' written notice. 1&1 may suspend performance under or terminate this Agreement and cease transmission of data associated with Your Web Site immediately and without notice:

2.2.1.
if 1&1, in its sole discretion, deems that you have breached any part of this Agreement, including, without limitation, any warranty or obligation set forth in Section 8,

2.2.2.
if your Payment Account provider refuses payment of fees or charges or you refuse authorization for same, or

2.2.3.
if payment for the 1&1 Services is more than fifteen days overdue.

We apologize for this inconvenience but you will need to find another hosting company.

If you have any other questions, you can contact our Security Team at (Not Allowed to Post Links). Or during their business hours (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST) at 1-877-206-4253.

Sincerely,

Tara V.
1&1 Social Media Support

1&1 Internet Inc.

First of all how did they came to the conclusion that I am violating that term? They haven't requested an ID from me at any point. My name is exactly the same in the whois as in that ID. And second of all those domains all had WHOIS protection enabled on them. So I'm not sure what the problem is. I am not trying to cheat anyone here. How in the world did they decide that I am violating the term 8.1 is beyond me.

It's been almost 48 hours since I called their support and my case got escalated. They said the security team will contact me in 24 hours. I even wrote an email directly to the "security team". Two working days has passed, no email from them yet.

My report at ICANN seems to be successful though and they have asked me to send them any proof of emails trying to contact 1&1 about the issue and not getting a reply from them. So if tomorrow they do not reply, I will send the emails to ICANN as proofs and hope for the best.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

So the email in your last post was from 1&1? And they are saying you violated 8.1?

Hopefully icann report gets this fixed. Thanks for sharing, learning experience, sorry is at your expense.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/1and1.html

These guys should be shut down. Aren't they part of sedo or some larger group?

 

[spiritfly]

I basically tried everything. I wrote to all the emails that showed some kind of activity:

tara at 1and1.com - the representative on their facebook chat
auth at 1and1.com
hosting at 1and1.com - they sometimes reply from this email(seen from other contacts, but not to me)
support at 1and1.com - sometimes they reply from this one(not to me either)
security-team at 1and1.com - and of course the infamous security team which never replies to anyone for anything

Yesterday I had a chat with Tara again on facebook and she told me the following:

Tara: Hello XXXX, I'd like to help you with this. I am currently working with our Security Team to sift through this and resolve your troubles. In this instance, we will have to email every email on file from every account. Do you have access to all the emails on file? - Tara, 1&1

Me: Okay send the information to the email on file please.

Tara: Sure. This may take a few hours. I will be sure that it's done today though. Also, I cannot promise anything. But, I did want to look a little deeper into this for you, because I understand that it can be frustrating. - Tara, 1&1

She never did reply back and today I noticed that she had blocked me. I never used any foul language or anything in the meantime so not really sure what I did to deserve this block.

Great, more evidence for ICANN. I hope they will actually do something about this.

 

[spiritfly]

Okay so after days and hours spent hanging on phone lines, being transferred from one department to another.. I finally understood the reason behind my account termination and domain suspension. Apparently my account was linked with other fraud accounts.

So this is the case:

1. I have an account on my name and all details are correct. Bought three domain names on that one in March 2016.
2. In June I started a service building website building business for SEO clients who needed the domains for so called PBNs (public blog networks). My clients were just handing out to me the domain name, email and person details and I registered those domains at 1and1 with the details provided for them and I was paying with my personal paypal which was used in my original account.
3. From June 2016 till just a month ago I registered 8 such accounts for clients of mine. Well apparently the clients provided non-existing info about the domain names I registered to them. I didn't care about even checking the info because I was already doing the same with other registrars. Buy the domain, build a website on it, push the domain name to the client or just give him access to the account so he can do what he wants with it and he pays me for the service.
4. 1and has marked all of those accounts as fraud and since my personal 1and1 account is linked with those by the same paypal they also terminated mine. Remember, the only thing linking my account to the other accounts I've opened up for my clients is the paypal. I've even used a US proxy to open up the client accounts because I'm not from USA and my clients are US based so I didn't want to happen anything like this. I always do the clients work by using US proxies.
5. I called several times to their support today and all had different answers.
- First I called their security team: a miserable guy just said:
- Matt: sir your account has been terminated for fraud.
- Me: what am I supposed to do? And he says
- Matt: well you can't do nothing about it.
- Me: So how can I bring back my domains, they are in redemption period?
- Matt: Maybe the technical team can help you, call them

So I call the technical team again and they said they can get the domain back for me to another registrar, to which I gladly agreed. They opened up a ticked and escalated it to the proper team. Then I remembered that I only told them about one domain and I never got asked about the other domains. So I called them again and to tell them about the other domains and my clients domains. A guy literally took those details in a whole hour and was typing them into a ticket while I was online. I spent an hour explaining my case again. And finally he said I will transfer you to my supervisor so you can explain to him and guess what? I get transferred to the security team again! This time it was Steven. So I explain the whole situation again to him and he said okay let me put you on hold and after a few minutes they drop the call.. What?? Then I call them again and ask for Steven and this time he was pissed off for calling them again and says:

Me: Hi, I was just talking to you and the line dropped or something
Steven: I know it didn't drop. It's just I don't believe your story sir
Me: What? What exactly you do not believe me??
Steven: I don't believe a single word you're saying
So I started explaining again I work with clients and they provide the details for me blah blah..
Steven: I don't believe you, I called all those numbers and no one picked up!
Me: I get the details as they provide them to me, I have no idea who they are
Steven: I don't believe you and don't call us again!
Me: Okay you don't believe me about the other accounts. What about mine? I wasn't asked for an ID and I can prove my identity!
Steven: You are committing a fraud sir! We don't want to do any business with you, don't call us again!
Me: This call is being recorded and you will be reported to ICANN... *click*

So I really did record every single call with them just so I can provide them to ICANN as evidence to the report. The domains for my clients, I don't really care about them because it's actually them who put me in this mess in the first place. But my domains in my personal accounts were very valuable to me and they are currently in a redemptionPeriod. I know 1and1 can still transfer them to another registrar, and maybe, just maybe, I ruined my chances of that happening by calling for the second time and asking for my clients domains to be transferred as well, but I seriously doubt they would've done anything about that one domain as well.

So can you guys give any suggestions on what to do next here? I will send evidence to that ICANN report and hope for the best. But the issue is I REALLY need those domains and need to do everything that's in my power to get them back. I will also backorder them, even though it will be a loong wait and they will probably lose the google rankings they had. Nevertheless they were developed websites and in which I invested my hardearned money and now they are gone, just like that. Can some one please suggest any other ways? Do I have any chances at getting these back while they are in a redemption period?

 

[Cat3240234]

Spiritfly so are they letting you transfer the domains to another registrar or are they going to keep the domains themselves?

As for accurate whois information, to my knowledge, and it may be several years out of date: if someone complains, internic sends an email. They don't call, write a physical letter, or do any other verification. They send an email, which very likely can get lost in all the spam that gets sent to the email on a regular basis. If the email is lost in the spam, they declare the info bad.

 

[spiritfly]

Spiritfly so are they letting you transfer the domains to another registrar or are they going to keep the domains themselves?

As for accurate whois information, to my knowledge, and it may be several years out of date: if someone complains, internic sends an email. They don't call, write a physical letter, or do any other verification. They send an email, which very likely can get lost in all the spam that gets sent to the email on a regular basis. If the email is lost in the spam, they declare the info bad.

No they do not let me transfer my domains. The last thing I was told by their "secruity team" was: "we don't want to do any business with you and don't call us again!" in a very rude manner. That was the supervisor of the security team so my guess is they won't assist me into getting my domains back even to a different registry.

I doubt that anyone has complained about any of the whois info of the client websites because they were all some small websites without much traffic if at all. But even if they did they should've just disable that website and account, not my personal account which has nothing to do with those websites and accounts.

None of the websites were breaking any laws or something in that regard. They were plain company websites or blogs on various topics.

So apparently they are not letting me have my domains and ICANN still haven't responded regarding this issue and I'm kinda losing hope that they will be able to do anything..

Do you think it will be good idea to place a backorder now on all of the dropcatching services available so I can be sure I get my domain back?

 

[Kate]

I've even used a US proxy to open up the client accounts because I'm not from USA and my clients are US based so I didn't want to happen anything like this. I always do the clients work by using US proxies.

This is a red flag for sure, and it's even dangerous: a malicious proxy could tap your traffic (passwords etc).
To be honest, I would want to investigate a customer with a story like yours, as part of routine fraud controls. This kind of stuff happens with other registrars as well. Not just 1&1, that have a bad rep nonetheless.

If you really need to open multiple accounts (generally not against the T&C, but another possible red flag), one thing I would do is provide advance notice. I mean, assuming you can get hold of a human being over there, apparently they have more trained robots than human beings).

Do you think it will be good idea to place a backorder now on all of the dropcatching services available so I can be sure I get my domain back?

Depends on how valuable you think the domains are. Since they are now in redemption period, they're bound to drop soon. But there is no 100% guarantee you'll get them back.

 

[spiritfly]

This is a red flag for sure, and it's even dangerous: a malicious proxy could tap your traffic (passwords etc).
To be honest, I would want to investigate a customer with a story like yours, as part of routine fraud controls. This kind of stuff happens with other registrars as well. Not just 1&1, that have a bad rep nonetheless.

If you really need to open multiple accounts (generally not against the T&C, but another possible red flag), one thing I would do is provide advance notice. I mean, assuming you can get hold of a human being over there, apparently they have more trained robots than human beings).

Depends on how valuable you think the domains are. Since they are now in redemption period, they're bound to drop soon. But there is no 100% guarantee you'll get them back.

When I checked better, I did not use a proxy for registering those accounts at all. Used the same IP address that I uses for my personal 1&1 account all the time. So still not sure what made them flag me as fraud with such certainty that they wouldn't even talk to me. Besides the inaccurate WHOIS info on some of the client domains, I haven't done anything wrong. Maybe it's my rant in my first email that pissed them off or something. I really have no clue and I'm exhausted by this.

Today ICANN returned a negative on my complaints with the following message:

Dear XXX XXXXXXX,

Thank you for submitting a Domain Deletion complaint concerning the domain name XXXXXX.XXX. ICANN has reviewed and closed your complaint because:

The registrar of record advised ICANN that the Registered Name Holder’s account was suspended following the registrar’s own domain use policy. Please note that ICANN-accredited registrars may set their own domain use (or anti-abuse) policy, provided that it is consistent with their obligations under the RAA and any applicable laws or regulations. If you believe that the registrar might have breached its registration agreement with you or any applicable laws or regulations, you may consider seeking legal advice as to what options you may have.

ICANN considers this matter now closed. If you require future assistance, please submit a new complaint to ICANN at: http://www.icann.org/resources/compliance/complaints .

Please do not reply to this email (replies to closed complaints are not monitored by ICANN staff).

ICANN is requesting your feedback on this closed complaint. Please complete this optional survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8F2Z6Dp .

Sincerely,

ICANN Contractual Compliance

I had a paradigm shift today. I never thought that registries can delete your domain just like that without any explanation or consequence. This means any registry can remove a domain for the reason of "fraud" and never get punished for it, especially for a customer outside of the US. If I would like to pursue this legally, what am I supposed to do? I have to spend so much time and money that the whole process would make no sense now.

Wow the power registries posses.. they literally have you by the balls.

 

[HKIBC]

Hmmm... high time to set up own registrar, I think.
Seriously!