Epik, We have a problem. Domain removed from account without permission.

[bmugford]

I am sure as many of you are aware I have had issues with Epik in the past, but decided to give them a chance when I saw a domain I wanted on Name Liquidate.

I purchased the domain PianoMoving.com on 7/20. It was transferred into my account then.
This was the only domain in my account.

It was in my WHOIS information.
I updated the nameservers.

When I just checked it is magically no longer in my account.
The nameservers were changed.
I received zero contact about the domain being moved.

I have all the receipts -

1.) The purchase/renewal from Epik.
2.) The Paypal charge.
3.) Email of when the domain was moved into my account @ Epik.
4.) Email when the nameservers were updated in early August @ Epik.

I don't see any indication that the domain was removed from my account.
On top of zero communication, there also appears to be nothing under "Outgoing Pushes" or "Task History".

I sent a DM to @Rob Monster about this earlier this morning, but have not received a response yet.

I was just notified I received a refund. I don't want a refund.

I want the domain I won, that was in my account, which I had full control over.
It was removed from my account without permission or even notification.

I do not find this acceptable in any way.

@Epik.com, you have some explaining to do.

Brad

 

[tonyk2000]

> In this case, it appears there was a system error that allowed this
> domain to be placed in liquidation status, and this in turn allowed
> it to be purchased through NameLiquidate.

So, the former registrant received a credit for a nameliquidate sale (high 3 figures), but did not notice it?

 

[bmugford]

From what I understand, this Braden guy listed domain at DN liquidate, he forgot to remove the for sale listing, the domain arrived to you, he sold the domain, Braden contact his inside friends at Epik "hey bro I just sold my domain, can ya do me a favor push it to the new owner" that's it sale done.
It seems that Braden Polock has good friends at Epik.
I think he should pay you for what he sold the domain, minus some percentages.
IMO

I don't really have any idea what went on between Epik and Braden, a month after I had legitimate ownership of the domain.

What I do know is that whatever happened would not have been possible without someone at Epik removing the domain from my account without permission.

When it was removed there was no notification given. There is no record of it happening.
There was also no refund given then. Why?

Brad

 

[Lox]

“ > In this case, it appears there was a system error that allowed this … “

… System Error my A**

…. we already know what happened … mudding.

 

[bmugford]

In any case, something is definitely wrong and hopefully @bhartzer will find a solution. Which would not be easy since a) the domain is now owned by unrelated 3rd party AND b) discussing a settlement should almost definitely require this thread be removed by Brad, which is impossible as per NP rules.

If Epik and/or Braden made a good faith effort to resolve this, I would be more than happy to mention that.

All I have seen so far is a lack of response from the parties involved, and one response that really addresses none of the serious issues at play.

Brad

 

[jhm]

From what I understand, this Braden guy listed domain at DN liquidate, he forgot to remove the for sale listing, the domain arrived to you, he sold the domain, Braden contact his inside friends at Epik "hey bro I just sold my domain, can ya do me a favor push it to the new owner" that's it sale done.
It seems that Braden Polock has good friends at Epik.
I think he should pay you for what he sold the domain, minus some percentages.
IMO

Sounds plausible

 

[NickB]

It stinks - blatant case of someone selling the domain after no longer owning it and having friends in the right places.......

Unless proof is provided showing otherwise that's what I'm going with.....Always like to be shown I'm wrong though........

 

[GeorgeK]

Since domain names are one-of-a-kind assets, I'd be upset (just like Brad is), as a refund doesn't make one whole!

 

[Lox]

It stinks - blatant case of someone selling the domain after no longer owning it and having friends in the right places.......

Unless proof is provided showing otherwise that's what I'm going with.....Always like to be shown I'm wrong though........

Simply, unauthorized sale w a fraudulent intent - stolen domain name. That’s the best way to describe .

 

[Future Sensors]

EPIK.

 

[HotKey]

Looking forward to Epik doing the right thing- namely, returning Brad's asset.

I certainly hope we get a proper explanation, because the one given to Brad by Customer Service doesn't cut it. This does not bode well when we have a very-well known registrar simply taking domains from customer's accounts. It also does not bode well if Epik is putting customer's assets into their own liquidation pool, "by mistake". Give me a break.

This is different than a domain name selling at a marketplace where they are unable to fulfill the sale because the seller forgot to remove an old listing.

In this case, the sale was indeed fulfilled and the domain was under full ownership and control by the new owner; Brad. Everything legitimate on customer-side.

 

[Laguna]

I've read the whole thing and my conclusion is... it stinks!

 

[karmaco]

I just received this response from Epik support -

> Dear Brad,
>
> Hope you're well.
>
> My name is Jaime, I'm the Customer Success Manager here at Epik, nice
> to meet you.
>
> Firstly and foremost, I'd like to apologize for this situation. While
> we do our best to keep an elevated standard of quality in our
> marketplace, there is always a small margin of error.
>
> In this case, it appears there was a system error that allowed this
> domain to be placed in liquidation status, and this in turn allowed
> it to be purchased through NameLiquidate. While this is not the
> outcome you expect, we hope you can understand that our error
> affected the previous and original domain owner first, and we must
> cancel and reverse this aftermarket sale in order to correct this
> error on their behalf.
>
> Due to the anomalous nature of this event, this was noticed and
> corrected later than it should've been, for which we take
> responsibility, and I offer our apologies for not having properly
> notified you in your expected timeframe, as there was due diligence
> to be made in seeking the root cause for this issue.
>
> We have refunded you in full any and all fees associated with the
> domain name purchase, and we again apologize for this situation and
> inconvenience.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jaime Jacob
> Customer Success Manager


I am sorry, but this is just not going to work for me. Oh, it was some unexplained error or something. Sure.

There are way too many unresolved questions regarding what happened.

The timeline does not really make any sense. It was removed without my permission, notification, or any record of it around a month later. It was magically removed at the exact same time it "sold".

Again, how was it even removed from my account, after a month, when it was sold by another party?
Why was there no notification or record of this movement? This was clearly done internally.

Was Epik ever going to even let me know? It was only for dumb luck that I even noticed.

This situation reflects very poorly on Epik, and potentially other related parties.

Epik has a chance to make this right. The response doesn't even pass the smell test.

After reading this thread, I wonder how many people feel more secure with domains in their Epik account?

If you think this statement is going to resolve what happened, you are sadly mistaken.

Brad

Yeah and the sale of the domain is strictly coincidence right? I don’t buy it either. Someone put that name on NameLiquidate and clawed it back when it sold to an end user. I hate when companies do not accept responsibility for their very obvious screw up.

 

[Laguna]

As for the two guys mentioned, they are both at namescon and must have phones or laptops with them so no excuse not to reply. You would think they would respond in some form as this is only damaging their image and trustworthiness

 

[redemo]

@bmugford Being completely neutral mate, everyone makes mistakes. It's human nature. What exactly do you want them to do that would satisfy you?

 

[bmugford]

@bmugford Being completely neutral mate, everyone makes mistakes. It's human nature. What exactly do you want them to do that would satisfy you?

It magically disappeared from my account after it was "sold", a month later.

The domain was removed from my account after a month without permission.
Without notification. Without any record of it being removed from my account.

- I want a full explanation of how the domain was listed in error.
- I want a full explanation of how and why the domain was removed from my account.
- I want to know why I was not notified.
- I want to know why there is no record of the movement in my account.
- I want to know when Epik was planning to notify me.
- I expect to be made whole because of the "error" which involved me losing the domain and/or proceeds of the sale.

The "it was a mistake" excuse, well after the fact, is really lacking in this instance when you factor in the entire chain of events.

The fact that I was not even notified, and there is no record of the transfer in my account makes it look even that much worse.

Brad

 

[Avijit Roy]

Can't wait to hear Epik's response.

 

[alcy]

It magically disappeared from my account after it was "sold", a month later.

The domain was removed from my account after a month without permission.
Without notification. Without any record of it being removed from my account.

- I want a full explanation of how the domain was listed in error.
- I want a full explanation of how and why the domain was removed from my account.
- I want to know why I was not notified.
- I want to know why there is no record of the movement in my account.
- I want to know when Epik was planning to notify me.
- I expect to be made whole because of the "error" which involved me losing the domain and/or proceeds of the sale.

The "it was a mistake" excuse is really lacking in this instance. The string of events look pretty shady.

The fact that I was not even notified, and there is no record of the transfer in my account makes it look even that much worse.

Brad

so that guy Braden who u all imply basically sold his soul.to devil for 12k... if i remember the price..... well.... I mean I assume u paid it much less.than 12k ?

 

[biggie]

Hi


i feel for you Brad and hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.

however, this "system error" explanation is an issue,
why?
because this means that it, the system, is/was acting independently, like some AI without oversight.

not throwing rocks, but is this the same system that had the data breach?

if a domain can be entered in an auction marketplace accidentally and then be removed from a buyers account after purchase,
then that is a serious problem with the registrar and that marketplace, including the security of each users domain names, if/when a system error could initiate that process.

imo....

 

[bmugford]

Hi


i feel for you Brad and hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.

however, this "system error" explanation is an issue,
why?
because this means that it, the system, is/was acting independently, like some AI without oversight.

not throwing rocks, but is this the same system that had the data breach?

if a domain can be entered in an auction marketplace accidentally and then be removed from a buyers account after purchase,
then that is a serious problem with the registrar and that marketplace, including the security of each users domain names, if/when a system error could initiate that process.

imo....

Again, this is the only domain I own there.

What are the odds that only this one single domain is effected by whatever the "error" is? That really seems to stretch credulity.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

so that guy Braden who u all imply basically sold his soul.to devil for 12k... if i remember the price..... well.... I mean I assume u paid it much less.than 12k ?

I have no idea who played what role in this, but I think it is quite clear that the domain was moved by someone @ Epik from my account without authorization or notification, a month after I purchased the domain and had full ownership.

No one else would have had access to do it.

It was only after this was caught, that we get an "error" or "mistake" excuse.

It's gonna need a little more explanation than that. There are a lot of issues at play here.

Brad

 

[Laguna]

Epik seem to be at the centre of most of the controversy over the last few years. Coincidence?

 

[tonyk2000]

According to namescon website, previous registrant is one of the speakers, so, indeed, he must be extremely busy now. Hope he will show up later and enlighten us what happened and how.

 

[Mister Funsky]

I know how frustrating an issue like this is. It happened to me at daddy (I've mentioned it a few times here over the years) after the name had been in my account for some time.

The only difference is, I never got an explanation. I hope in your case some type of compensation is offered (maybe by the seller that benefited from the clawback).

Now I have to go back and review the status of the names I won that used to belong to the same person...just what I need today, other drain on my time.

 

[bmugford]

I know how frustrating an issue like this is. It happened to me at daddy (I've mentioned it a few times here over the years) after the name had been in my account for some time.

The only difference is, I never got an explanation. I hope in your case some type of compensation is offered (maybe by the seller that benefited from the clawback).

Now I have to go back and review the status of the names I won that used to belong to the same person...just what I need today, other drain on my time.

I am not sure what the issue there was, but with Name Liquidate you have to opt-in.

The only options I see are -

1.) It was not an error. It was intended to be listed.
2.) It was a mistake on Epik's part, somehow.
3.) It was a mistake on Braden's part, somehow.

There is no logical scenario where someone else is not fully responsible for what happened.

I simply bought the domain, took ownership, and it was removed from my account a month later when it apparently sold. How another party sold the domain in my account, and it was transferred without notification or record...I still don't have an explanation for that.

Brad

 

[Future Sensors]

The fact that the seller still owns Epik equity makes the case all the more curious.