GoDaddy Auction Platform Scam or Jumping the Gun?

[richface]

Guys I have been buying domain names on Godaddy for Years. In any event 2 days ago I won an LLLL.com on the Godaddy Platform and paid immediately after the auction ended as usual. Out of curiosity I decided to check whois to see who owned the domain name and all the information on Whois was all Fake, a Company that did not exist and phone numbers made up this wasn't someone hiding behind privacy email seemed legit. Anyway I decided to investigate further as I have bought so many names on Godaddy platform only to have the sale fall through. I emailed the whois email to confirm if the domain was indeed for sale and the person behind the mask tried to solicit offers from me? puzzled , When I pointed out the domain name was already sold seller behind the email plays ignorance.
I thought i would give godaddy a heads up on the issue to check the seller out so sent screenshots of my email exchange to [email protected] and guess what? Godaddy claims I have broken their auction terms and to add insult to injury my account will be suspended and funds held? on top of that they plan to also charge me a fee lol I mean shouldn't the least thing i get is a refund?

I find it mind boggling, I also find the integrity of their platform questionable , I have spent thousands of dollars on their site and this is the thanks I get for raising an alert and concerns? maybe I am just bias and shouldn't have alerted them but i thought hey if the seller is not legit he might have other names on their platform so it was really to warn them but apparently I get banned and fined for doing so . Great times you have to love the industry.

 

[Haris]

I remember last year GoDaddy closed my account when I sold a domain at their marketplace and buyer didn't initiate transfer. They held my funds and asked for a fine. Fortunately, they opened my account after a few months thanks to @Joe Styler .

But the thing is, they should never have closed my account in the first place.

 

[DnFolk]

Was it expired domain auction? in any way i hope Joe Styler resolves it for you.

 

[richface]

Was it expired domain auction? in any way i hope Joe Styler resolves it for you.

Nope it wasn't expiring. I have just received an email they have backed off the Ban and said to give them time to look into it. I will wait and see.

 

[London555]

Nope it wasn't expiring. I have just received an email they have backed off the Ban and said to give them time to look into it. I will wait and see.

You said they -GoDaddy-are "holding funds"? How on your credit card? Something is wrong here why wouldnt you just call your credit card company and stop the transaction if you didnt get the name? I doubt GoDaddy is trying to steal your money. @Joe Styler

 

[richface]

You said they are "holding funds"? how on your credit card? Something is wrong here why wouldnt you just call your credit card company and stop the transaction if you didnt get the name? I doubt GoDaddy is trying to steal your money. @Joe Styler

Not claiming they are trying to steal my money that will be absurd Surely! My concern was with the "Seller and also their platform plus how they responded ". The reason why I mentioned the funds is because of what they said about the Ban. Meaning my account could be closed and I would have to wait for the process to play out before funds are released on top of that charged a penalty which sounded ridiculous . Anyway Godaddy are now handling this satisfactorily after speaking to them again so looks like it will be resolved one way or the other.

 

[richface]

well well it happens the listings was fake after all and I was correct how this was allowed to happen not sure. Refund has been processed.

 

[tldboss]

Thus good news, they always refund you if transaction doesn't complete, this is not unique to Godaddy, has happened to me on Godaddy and other marketplaces.

I think the listing is real, seller pays (for membership, for addons if they want) to list a domain & a commission when the domain is sold.

Is the domain name stolen? what's the name?

I understand why Godaddy don't want a buyer to contact a seller, they want the transaction to start and complete on their platform, they handle all the communication, payment from buyer (which includes renewal fee), transfers and so on. If buyers and sellers start communicating outside the platform, its easy for them to complete deals outside the platform, avoiding commissions and other charges.

 

[richface]

Thus good news, they always refund you if transaction doesn't complete, this is not unique to Godaddy, has happened to me on Godaddy and other marketplaces.

I think the listing is real, seller pays (for membership, for addons if they want) to list a domain & a commission when the domain is sold.

Is the domain name stolen? what's the name?

I understand why Godaddy don't want a buyer to contact a seller, they want the transaction to start and complete on their platform, they handle all the communication, payment from buyer (which includes renewal fee), transfers and so on. If buyers and sellers start communicating outside the platform, its easy for them to complete deals outside the platform, avoiding commissions and other charges.

Thanks for your Input Buddy, Not sure if the name is stolen but apparently the seller no longer owns the domain name but looking at the domain history nothing seemed to have changed just before or after the listing so not sure anyway I will keep the name anonymous for now until i can clarify what has gone wrong exactly to be fair to current owner . I have sent a pm to Joe Tyler about the name though.

 

[Joe Styler]

Thus good news, they always refund you if transaction doesn't complete, this is not unique to Godaddy, has happened to me on Godaddy and other marketplaces.

I think the listing is real, seller pays (for membership, for addons if they want) to list a domain & a commission when the domain is sold.

Is the domain name stolen? what's the name?

I understand why Godaddy don't want a buyer to contact a seller, they want the transaction to start and complete on their platform, they handle all the communication, payment from buyer (which includes renewal fee), transfers and so on. If buyers and sellers start communicating outside the platform, its easy for them to complete deals outside the platform, avoiding commissions and other charges.

I will look into the PM that was sent and get the details on the domain mentioned. But generally speaking we do not want you to contact the seller on a domain you found for sale on the auction and attempt to complete the sale with them outside our platform. If we think you are doing that we will ban your account.

 

[richface]

I will look into the PM that was sent and get the details on the domain mentioned. But generally speaking we do not want you to contact the seller on a domain you found for sale on the auction and attempt to complete the sale with them outside our platform. If we think you are doing that we will ban your account.

Happens the buyer did not have the right to sell the name how the name got verified is a mystery and my email communication with the seller was to verify if it was a legit listing as any one with common sense could have figured it out within minutes as i did and notified your auction team but instead got a threat of a ban as if that hurts me 98% of my transactions on the platform is buying I was also a cyber security director for 15 years so helping godaddy spot a fake one should get a nod . in any event funds have been refunded hope you take more care when verifying listings and it does not happen to any other buyers.