GoDaddy auction problem: GoDaddy charged me $920 without my consent

[centreurope]

Hello,
I would please need your help on how to handle a problem with Godaddy.
I've reported by phone a bug for a domain name auction, where my proxy bid was... $424k!
The person told me that he could no cancel my bid and that I would need to contact by email the auction department. Which I did the next minute.
Of course I won the auction, at a final price of 920usd. I've not paid for this domain name I did not want, but Godaddy has debited the amount from my Credit Card.
3 days after my request to cancel the auction or/and handle the domain to the 2nd bidder, a person from the support sent me a stupid copy and paste answer. I tried to explain that it is a problem with the platform and that I don't want the domain but they don't care. Any advice on how to solve this?
thanks

 

[centreurope]

At last, probably thanks to Joe Styler's intervention, the support sent me a message stating that the auction was cancelled and my money refunded. Apparently, the bidding IP did not match mine.

 

[tonyk2000]

I mistakenly put just 1 extra zero once somewhere else (snapnames I think), and the system did not instantly accept the bid. I was asked something like "do you really want to bid $<...> as it is not in line with the current highest bid". Why wouldn't GD implement something similar? Accepting $424K proxy without any extra cofirmation screen is not good programming style.

 

[Joe Styler]

Typically we do not reverse a bid that exposes someone else's proxy bid. It is very rare we would reverse any bid but even more so on one where you now know and let everyone else know the other bidder's proxy amount. If there was indeed a technical issue, meaning something broke we would look at the bid so if you believe that is true you can email [email protected] but it is unlikely as I do not know of any technical issues we had on bidding.
I am sorry this happened but as someone pointed out you obviously have a domain other people are interested in so maybe you can resell it and gain most if not all of your money back quickly.

 

[Recons.Com]

@Joe Styler

Apparently, the guy's complaint is not only just "I made a mistake, can you cancel" type.

- he claims he never did a bid, and $425,048 is a hard number to mistype
- your system has no stop for this ridiculous type of bids. Apparently, their should be some kind of verification before allowing this kind of amounts, no?
- he is not managing to get non "copy and paste" responses from support. Please help him to get his tickets to next level, as apparently he had already done what you have advised him here in the thread (mail to [email protected])

Also, if he contacted before bid reached $900+ level, why couldn't support cancel his proxy bid and just leave his max amount there? No one would have been affected.

 

[wwwweb]

Many thanks to both of you!
When the buyer does not pay, I suppose that they cancel the auction. So why can't they do it here?

I am pretty sure that I have not bidded this amount (How would I confirm $424k?), and that it is rather a bug of the platform. From my experience, the platform does not work well. For example, in the last 2 years or so, almost every day, I've got an error message stating that a domain name I am looking for is not available anymore, but 2 seconds later, a screen allows me to bid on the same domain name.

To be honest, it sounds like user error with you inputting a $424 bid into your phone. People have to take auctions seriously, these are binding bids, no takebacks, you are playing with real money for keeps, and you are playing against other peoples money as well, so you can't change your mind. Someone must have had a $895 proxy on it. I buy domains all the time, so PM me, if I find value in it, I will pay you the $1K. If it is not of quality, then I will tell you the truth also. My guess is you probably got a decent name, but you probably paid higher than wholesale value for it.

 

[Steven McEvoy]

Nothing you can do really and nothing godaddy can do.

Share the domain!

 

[wwwweb]

I mistakenly put just 1 extra zero once somewhere else (snapnames I think), and the system did not instantly accept the bid. I was asked something like "do you really want to bid $<...> as it is not in line with the current highest bid". Why wouldn't GD implement something similar? Accepting $424K proxy without any extra cofirmation screen is not good programming style.

With the app, things move quickly, It would not have been an isolated incident if it wasn’t user error, but they can check logs to verify what happend.

Maybe an extra confirmation opt in for people who need it could be implemented.

 

[campout]

previous user may still renew the domain... the only hope

Not if the domain is at GoDaddy.

 

[davidc1]

one of the worst support in this industry.
managing domains with them is a nightmare.
many bulshitting products and packages...

GOOD LUCK !

 

[proer]

@Joe Styler

Apparently, the guy's complaint is not only just "I made a mistake, can you cancel" type.

- he claims he never did a bid, and $425,048 is a hard number to mistype
- your system has no stop for this ridiculous type of bids. Apparently, their should be some kind of verification before allowing this kind of amounts, no?
- he is not managing to get non "copy and paste" responses from support. Please help him to get his tickets to next level, as apparently he had already done what you have advised him here in the thread (mail to [email protected])

Also, if he contacted before bid reached $900+ level, why couldn't support cancel his proxy bid and just leave his max amount there? No one would have been affected.

I do agree with that. I think Godaddy should respect Centreeurope's request.
It seems he's an old customer (he's on NP since 2007). We all know there's already a problem when an old customer has to create a thread on a forum because support is not considering him.
He's a real client who thinks something has gone wrong on Godaddy's platform.
Thinking there can't be any bug on his platform is a very big mistake, but a bigger mistake is to think being big enough to ignore any customer's request because some money has already been given. Trust is something Godaddy should not play with. There are a lot of customers on NP and this sad case from an old member is not a little joke for us. So you can be charged tomorrow for a name you didn't bid on and you won't have any help from support, not any investigation... ?

 

[wwwweb]

Hello,
I would need please your help on how to handle a problem with Godaddy.
I've reported by phone a bug for a domain name auction, where my proxy bid was... $424k!
The person told me that he could no cancel my bid and that I would need to contact by email the auction department. Which I did the next minute.
Of course I won the auction, at a final price of 920usd. I've not paid for this domain name I did not want, but Godaddy has debited the amount from my Credit Card.
3 days after my request to cancel the auction or/and handle the domain to the 2nd bidder, a person from the support sent me a stupid copy and paste answer. I tried to explain that it is a problem with the platform and that I don't want the domain but they don't care. Any advice on how to solve this?
thanks

Happend to me, many years back, lucky for me I won a non generic one word .com for $6xx, fast forward a few years it's all good, but back then I was panicked also as I put an extra digit in. It is just like when your at a live auction, and you put your paddle up, this is a big boys game, you better double check your bids before you press submit, and the TOS you click when you submit your bid give them the right to do this.

If you don't like your buy, list it on namepros for $1K, and let's see what happens.

 

[tonyk2000]

Nothing you can do really and nothing godaddy can do.

previous user may still renew the domain... the only hope

 

[NoBS]

If it's a bug, or you entered a decimal seperator either a comma or period and the system didn't reject the bid entirely then I doubt you're liable for the amount, despite any confirmation prompts. If you mistyped, take it as a lesson if you can afford it, but if the bidding did get a lot higher you could argue that 424k is a ridiculous number.

I doubt you want to take it to court so if you can't get GD to accept their system is flawed, you need to decide if you want to end your relationship with them. In that case issue a chargeback and accept a possible permanent ban.

 

[Name Trader]

thanks for all your comments
I'm familiar with purchasing domain names with Godaddy, I've bidded on thousands of them and probably purchased over 1000 in the last 12 years. I've never had a single problem until now.
The proxy bid was $425,048, which is a strange amount. I remember having checked this domain name but I did not bid at all on it, not even 12 usd.

Ask them to show you the transaction coming from which IP Address?

 

[Name Trader]

interesting, thanks
I guess that it is the minimum they should do. Try to see what happened, first.

""Ask them to show you the transaction coming from which IP Address?"""
excellent, thanks

The idea is that no communication is possible with a support that do not wish to go above copy and paste answers

you can always raise your support request above level 1 support replies.

 

[canswift]

Hi @centreurope, sorry to hear of your GoDaddy issues. Could you just clarify this a bit? I can't figure out if you're saying that you didn't bid on the auction at all, or if the amount of your proxy bid was input incorrectly by you, or if your proxy bid was recorded incorrectly (ie: changed) by GoDaddy. I realise the outcome is the same for you (ending up with a domain you feel you've overpaid for) but as someone who bids on GD auctions, I'd really like to know if there's a GD bug / issue.

 

[DomainsMaven]

Sorry that happened to you.
Not a big fan of Godaddy. Moving all my domains away from these guys. Too expensive.

 

[centreurope]

Many thanks canswift for you interest

I can't figure out if you're saying that you didn't bid on the auction at all, or if the amount of your proxy bid was input incorrectly by you, or if your proxy bid was recorded incorrectly (ie: changed) by GoDaddy.

I don't remember exactly what happened, because this domain name was of little importance for me. I think I that I've only checked the end of the auction. I don't think that I've bidded such a strange amount, especially that I would have seen it in the confirmation screen.

What seems astonishing to me is that Godaddy can take the amount it wants from you ("it's in our TOS"), and wait 3 days until they answer a simple copy & paste that totally ignores what a sensible customer is requesting.

The least would have been: "sorry blablabla, we are going to investigate".

 

[Nitaky]

I agree with Centreurope. Godaddy can not disregard a support request and charge the amount they want just because it's in their TOS !!!

 

[Joe Styler]

I do agree with that. I think Godaddy should respect Centreeurope's request.
It seems he's an old customer (he's on NP since 2007). We all know there's already a problem when an old customer has to create a thread on a forum because support is not considering him.
He's a real client who thinks something has gone wrong on Godaddy's platform.
Thinking there can't be any bug on his platform is a very big mistake, but a bigger mistake is to think being big enough to ignore any customer's request because some money has already been given. Trust is something Godaddy should not play with. There are a lot of customers on NP and this sad case from an old member is not a little joke for us. So you can be charged tomorrow for a name you didn't bid on and you won't have any help from support, not any investigation... ?

The thing we are really concerned about here is that the other bidder has had his proxy bid revealed. So if I am bidding on domain.com and I have a high bid of $50 and you come along and bid $300 as your proxy bid, the live bid showing will be $55 (the amount just big enough to outbid me). If another member comes and puts in a $1,000 bid the bid will jump to $305 just big enough to outbid your proxy bid. This shows everyone else on the auction what your bid was, $300. If the $1,000 bid is removed a couple days later and the auction goes back to $55 all the other bidders potentially know your proxy amount which should remain hidden unless there is a real bid for a higher amount.

 

[Joe Styler]

Any idea please how I can raise the support request above level 1?
For the 1st time somebody with a brain understood my request but still they do not want to do anything.

I am pretty much the highest level of support you can get. You can PM me the domain and I will take a look but as I said we very rarely cancel a bid.

 

[jalsoftware]

You're right, it seems to me that GoDaddy ought to have a verification requirement in place as does Namejet. At the very least for bids >$10k.

+1 here

I really hope they cancel this auction ASAP. If they don't then I guess I'll have no other choice but to leave GD. And so will my 2500+ domains.

 

[Nitaky]

There is a bid confirmation before it is accepted.

You don’t feel that $425048 is really a very strange number!!! And it’s surely a machine mistake! I can’t believe that Centreurope or any other human can use such number!

 

[centreurope]

apparently a security problem, they have asked me to change my password