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

 

[dirk]

I don't think expired domains are sent to Name Liquidate. According to the FAQ there is a seller and there is a buyer.

You can set the option to automatically send expired domains to NL. It's an opt in.

That may have been the case here like suggested. Not an excuse though.

All other expired domains, if not renewed or transferred, go to Epik owned landers 15 days after expiration where Epik is selling your domain as if it is their own asset to sell.

(It's possible to extend to 30 days, if you're lucky and they're in a good mood)

After that your domains end up at daily diamonds, another reverse auction and ultimately drop.

I think they also used to send names to other backorder venues but I'm not 100% certain.

 

[Future Sensors]

 

[disaac81]

This is awful.

So a name owned by you gets sold by someone else, and miraculously the name disappears from your account and someone else gets the money!

And to make it worse, no emails or anything that it happened.

Sounds like theft to me.

 

[bmugford]

Show attachment 222336

"However, once the domain is bought, the ship did sail since all sales are final. The verified registrant has sold the domain to the qualified buyer."

-Rob Monster-
2/2/2020

Fact Check - NOT TRUE

 

[bmugford]

This is awful.

So a name owned by you gets sold by someone else, and miraculously the name disappears from your account and someone else gets the money!

And to make it worse, no emails or anything that it happened.

Sounds like theft to me.

Poof, like magic. It was just removed from my account and moved to a new owner.

Brad

 

[novasyd]

Thats sonds like an Epik Rob bery.

 

[Start]

Expired domains do go to NameLiquidate.

I did a quick search now and found an example:

Check out americasbestshrimp.com... it's on NL. And the page at americasbestshrimp.comis the default page for expired domains at Epik (the flag isn't default, but the buttons and other content are).

I don't think it requires opt-in either. I once let a domain expire (decided not to keep it), and after it left my account, I saw it at NL.

It makes sense that they would put the expired domain inventory on NL.

And the americasbestshrimp.com timeline does match the timeline described for pianomoving.com. It has 5.5 days left, and the price would have been higher when it started at 7 days left.

 

[bmugford]

Expired domains do go to NameLiquidate.

I did a quick search now and found an example:

Check out americasbestshrimp.com... it's on NL. And the page at www.americasbestshrimp.com is the default page for expired domains at Epik (the flag isn't default, but the buttons and other content are).

I don't think it requires opt-in either. I once let a domain expire (decided not to keep it), and after it left my account, I saw it at NL.

It makes sense that they would put the expired domain inventory on NL.

And the americasbestshrimp.com timeline does match the timeline described for pianomoving.com. It has 5.5 days left, and the price would have been higher when it started at 7 days left.

Well, whatever the case, according to Rob Monster "all sales are final".

I guess we will have to see if someone buys the domain, and a month later it is reported as sold, and magically disappears from the owner's account without permission or notification because of some "error" or something.

Brad

 

[Start]

Well he shouldn't have said "all" there, since I can imagine a scenario where a domain gets stolen, and then the thief posts it on NL and it gets bought... in that case, the domain should be returned to the rightful owner, and the NL buyer would get a refund.

a month later it is reported as sold

This part also suggests to me that it was some kind of screw-up. I think there's some quote attributed to Napoleon along the lines of: when there are screw-ups, it's often due to incompetence and not malice.

I wrote above "But I think if something underhanded/malicious had happened, it would have been smoother. Because it would be pretty dumb to purposely take a domain out this way, and not give a refund or communicate for a week, and then expect the owner to not be upset by that. Especially when it's the only domain in the account, so it's easy to see it's gone."

...and it also would be dumb to nefariously take the domain from you, and then to announce the sale price.

I don't know much about Braden Pollack, but I do hear about his huge sales periodically... so it also seems unlikely that he would purposely sell the domain for less than $1000?

 

[bmugford]

I wrote above "But I think if something underhanded/malicious had happened, it would have been smoother. Because it would be pretty dumb to purposely take a domain out this way, and not give a refund or communicate for a week, and then expect the owner to not be upset by that. Especially when it's the only domain in the account, so it's easy to see it's gone."

...and it also would be dumb for the domain to be nefariously taken from you, and then to announce the sale price.

You mean they would have done a better job of removing the domain without authorization or notification, like I would never have noticed it?

I don't know much about Braden Pollack, but I do hear about his huge sales periodically... so it also seems unlikely that he would purposely sell the domain for less than $1000?

I respect Braden. We have done business in the past.

I have absolutely no idea on his role in this situation. He is more than welcome to clarify.

All I know is the domain could simply not have been magically removed from my account by anyone other than Epik. So, any sale is irrelevant unless they were able to pull it from my account, without authorization.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

I also want to clarify, for transparency, that there are no communications going on behind the scenes with any party involved.

No one has reached out to me to further explain what happened or to try and reach an equitable solution.

With that being the case, I will keep posting publicly and highlight what happened.

Again, this happened to me with (1) domain @ Epik. What are the odds?

Brad

 

[Keith]

And the americasbestshrimp.com timeline does match the timeline described for pianomoving.com. It has 5.5 days left, and the price would have been higher when it started at 7 days left.

The domain you mentioned isn’t expired. In fact, it has a buy it now of $4250.

Anyhow, @Epik.com should tell us what’s going on here.

 

[lambo.com]

I also want to clarify, for transparency, that there are no communications going on behind the scenes with any party involved.

No one has reached out to me to further explain what happened or to try and reach an equitable solution.

With that being the case, I will keep posting publicly and highlight what happened.

Again, this happened to me with (1) domain @ Epik. What are the odds?

Brad

I wonder if @Braden Pollock's involved. Either way it's bollocks.

 

[Start]

The domain you mentioned isn’t expired. In fact, it has a buy it now of $4250.

Nope, it's an expired domain.

I see the listing at GoDaddy for $4250, but that doesn't mean it's not expired.

And like I said, I saw my own expired domain go onto NL.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Sorry to hear it @bmugford .

Something similar happened with another NamePros member @owntype in the past where he bought the domain DomainNames.com for $2,577 and later NetworkSolutions took aka stole the domain and never returned it back. They gave similar excuses of an internal system mistake which is not at all acceptable.

I believe the domain was later sold for 6 figures by Network Solutions.

 

[MSN-Domains]

@bmugford, for what it's worth. Lick your wounds and move on. As they say, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

At worst, it could've been a $900 loss which isn't even a nosebleed. They've refunded you

It pains me to say your preaching ethics to a group of operators who seem to have none. You're wasting your time.

If I were you, take your refund and your last remaining domain and run, don't look behind you.

 

[Rob Monster]

Greetings from NamesCon in Austin.

As many of you know, we have had an eventful week here, starting with a #BeEpik event on Wednesday where we hosted a group of Epik clients and allies. This video captures the spirit of that event:

Earlier today, we also shared the news that I have stepped down as CEO, making room for Brian Royce who I believe will serve the company very well.

Brian is a technologist first but deeply versed in technology, operations, finance, legal and compliance. He is big on keeping "trains running on time" through technology and process.

As for this incident with Brad, it is truly unfortunate. There was a domain that Braden was doing as an escrow transaction with a payment plan with zero commission. It was a bit of an exotic deal.

To make a long story short, the domain expired during the payment plan and was routed through our liquidation marketplace. It was then re-directed by Brad.

In short, we screwed up. We really regret this outcome. Although we did refund Brad, the communication and process was far from Epik.

As many folks here know, for much of the last 11 years I have been extremely hands-on as a CEO. I love working directly with customers. Many domainers have my personal cell phone, Skype, Telegram, etc.

At some point, my accessible personal approach ceases to scale. We are there. Earlier in the week, we were actively considering making room for Brian Royce to come into the CEO seat.

On Wednesday, on the occasion of our #BeEpik event, we had 2 NamePros members point out our shortcomings. The first was Brad. The second was Dirk.

Perhaps for reasons of lingering pride, I was still debating whether to vacate the CEO slot. Be that as it may, ultimately, I believe this is the guiding word:

I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked closely with so many folks in the industry for the last 11 years. I am excited about the skills that Brian Royce is bringing into the CEO role.

I will continue as Chairman and majority shareholder, but will now be able to devote more time to a number of passion projects including Kingdom Ventures, Orphans.com and Lifeverse.

Thanks in advance for welcoming Brian. Best wishes for a great (holiday) weekend to all!

 

[dirk]

Greetings from NamesCon in Austin.

As many of you know, we have had an eventful week here, starting with a #BeEpik event on Wednesday where we hosted a group of Epik clients and allies. This video captures the spirit of that event:

Earlier today, we also shared the news that I have stepped down as CEO, making room for Brian Royce who I believe will serve the company very well.

Brian is a technologist first but deeply versed in technology, operations, finance, legal and compliance. He is big on keeping "trains running on time" through technology and process.

As for this incident with Brad, it is truly unfortunate. There was a domain that Braden was doing as an escrow transaction with a payment plan with zero commission. It was a bit of an exotic deal.

To make a long story short, the domain expired during the payment plan and was routed through our liquidation marketplace. It was then re-directed by Brad.

In short, we screwed up. We really regret this outcome. Although we did refund Brad, the communication and process was far from Epik.

As many folks here know, for much of the last 11 years I have been extremely hands-on as a CEO. I love working directly with customers. Many domainers have my personal cell phone, Skype, Telegram, etc.

At some point, my accessible personal approach ceases to scale. We are there. Earlier in the week, we were actively considering making room for Brian Royce to come into the CEO seat.

On Wednesday, on the occasion of our #BeEpik event, we had 2 NamePros members point out our shortcomings. The first was Brad. The second was Dirk.

Show attachment 222342

Perhaps for reasons of lingering pride, I was still debating whether to vacate the CEO slot. Be that as it may, ultimately, I believe this is the guiding word:

Show attachment 222341

I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked closely with so many folks in the industry for the last 11 years. I am excited about the skills that Brian Royce is bringing into the CEO role.

I will continue as Chairman and majority shareholder, but will now be able to devote more time to a number of passion projects including Kingdom Ventures, Orphans.com and Lifeverse.

Thanks in advance for welcoming Brian. Best wishes for a great (holiday) weekend to all!

As a majority shareholder, you may ask your newly appointed CEO what the fuck is going on and report back here.

Love the update, but unrelated to this thread.

 

[Future Sensors]

Using this thread for personal gain is really the lowest thing you can do. Shame on you, Rob.

 

[bmugford]

Using this thread for personal gain is really the lowest thing you can do. Shame on you, Rob.

I would thank Rob for the response, but it just seems like self-promotion honestly.

Everyone needs to understand the domain was not only removed without permission, it was removed without notification or record of it happening.

The refund was only issued after I stumbled on this, around (2) weeks after it was removed from my account.

So when was Epik planning to notify me? As far as I can tell, never.

So much for that "legendary" customer service.

Brad