GoDaddy canceled all my domains without my knowledge

[Brandizer]

I received series of emails from godaddy telling me how my account is being reviewed and some of, (almost all) my products canceled and how I would get my refund in 10 days time.


I tried to login to my account where i was met with this error message

Request to Unlock Account
To ensure your security, access to shopper account 25******* has been temporarily disabled until our Verification Office has received the necessary documentation to confirm recent account activity. This precautionary step is taken as a security measure to defend you, our valued customer, from online predators and identity theft. Upon receipt of the requested documentation, we will re-evaluate the status of your account. Notifications, including confirmation that your access has been restored, will be sent to the email address on file.

Please Note: Customer Support cannot bypass this verification request. Phone inquiries will be directed to provide the requested documentation through this process.

I tried uploading my identification documents via the online upload and got another error

There was an error submitting your request. CSE002

So used the email option. It has been 12 hours since i sent them the email, no reply yet from them, and it is not very conducive for me to give them a call right now....

Why would godaddy cancel my products which are hand reg domains that are weeks old without informing me..?
What can i do?
Will i still get my domains back?
Please sir i am told you can be of great help at this kind of issue, please put me through @Joe Styler
@godaddyhelp

 

[alcy]

you probaly have to say a bit more about that recent accnt activity of yours part... before people here can comment and help.

i mean its ultra rare that such gd decisions are taken either by error or by insufficient prior considerations on their end.

 

[Brandizer]

Wait a moment and never stop to evaluate your GD account progress. I pray that your GD account solved immediately

Thanks, yeah I keep checking, it's still locked, and i still haven't received a reply email after 32hours. I am still waiting until the 72nd hour before i send them a reminder

 

[Brandizer]

you probaly have to say a bit more about that recent accnt activity of yours part... before people here can comment and help.

i mean its ultra rare that such gd decisions are taken either by error or by insufficient prior considerations on their end.

I don't know what more important stuff to say except that i was in the middle of trying to broker my biggest domain Sale, when i realised what has happened.

 

[lock]

Thanks, yeah I keep checking, it's still locked, and i still haven't got a reply email after 32hours. I am still waiting until the 72nd hour before i send them a reminder

I would be on the phone to get some sort of answer.

 

[Brandizer]

I would be on the phone to get some sort of answer.

Right now calling them is inconvenient for me.

 

[lock]

Right now calling them is inconvenient for me.

And in so many hours? Right now all your doing is creating hysteria. When can you ask the question direct? You're asking whole community and we are now eagerly awaiting outcome with out a pop corn stand in sight.

 

[Brandizer]

you probaly have to say a bit more about that recent accnt activity of yours part... before people here can comment and help.

i mean its ultra rare that such gd decisions are taken either by error or by insufficient prior considerations on their end.

Another thing that i deem worth noting is that i recently configured one of the domains to use a custom email address which i used for outbounding using an external email service. (zoho mail).

 

[lock]

Another thing that i deem worth noting is that i recently configured one of the domains to use a custom email address which i used for outbounding using an external email service. (zoho mail).

You need to be talking to someone to clear your woes.

 

[alcy]

sounds like you did couple things there.. that you yourself seem to think may have some negative impact.

not sure how people here can help aside maybe from mr Styler.

sometimes it doesn't take much to get them suspicous and verify things.. depending on account age etc.

 

[Brandizer]

sounds like you did couple things there.. that you yourself seem to think may have some negative impact.

not sure how people here can help aside maybe from mr Styler.

sometimes it doesn't take much to get them suspicous and verify things.. depending on account age etc.

Can you help me get @Joe Styler to see this thread?

 

[pinkdragon]

Registrant Name: Repossessed by Go Daddy

Are you sure you paid with your own credit card? A chargeback maybe?

Wasted money anyway ... that company will not buy the domain from you.

 

[Brandizer]

Registrant Name: Repossessed by Go Daddy

Are you sure you paid with your own credit card? A chargeback maybe?

Wasted money anyway ... that company will not buy the domain from you.

Very sure.. What do you mean by the emboldened text?

 

[NameFit]

It definitely has to do with money. Sometimes, using their coupons in different ways can get them possessed.

 

[Brandizer]

It definitely has to do with money. Sometimes, using their coupons in different ways can get them possessed.

The whois of all my domains don't say repossessed .

 

[Kai W.]

I believe it has nothing to do with the domain, seriously recall everything you did everything, everything.
Is there a serious violation of GD regulations?

 

[pinkdragon]

The whois of all my domains don't say repossessed .

Check again. You have at least 2 domains repossessed by GD.

 

[wwwweb]

Only other thing I can think of off you day your CC is ok, is spamming if someone filed an official complaint against your domains. It’s far fetched, but since you say everything else is in order, I can’t understand what else could have caused this.

What Country are you from?

 

[Joe Styler]

I can only make an educated guess. There's several reasons we can do something like this. But in this case it seems to me like we do not like your payment for the domains. It is at the very least suspicious, and at worst we have received a complaint from a third party saying the charges were not authorized and they are taking or already took the funds back. Be it the bank, or account holder who complained or a governing body of some sort. So either we think it is really likely that we are not going to be able to keep the money from the payment, there's a pending chargeback, or we already lost the money. That is why you got that email.

You need to follow up with the fraud team at GoDaddy and reply to that email with what they asked you to give them. If you don't we are not going to give you the domains back. What they are trying to do now is work with you to clear up any misunderstanding with the bank and our payment provider and makes sure that these charges are legitimate. If you do not answer them with what they asked they will have further reason to believe you have something to hide or you are unable or unwilling to prove that you are a person who has authorization to use the payment method you used. It is a pretty simple process to clear things up. Instead of posting here answer their email and if you provide them with the correct info they are asking for you will get the domains back quickly. The goal we have is to get people who have a legitimate interest in the domains their domains back ASAP while still protecting ourselves and others from bad actions.

 

[Brandizer]

I can only make an educated guess. There's several reasons we can do something like this. But in this case it seems to me like we do not like your payment for the domains. It is at the very least suspicious, and at worst we have received a complaint from a third party saying the charges were not authorized and they are taking or already took the funds back. Be it the bank, or account holder who complained or a governing body of some sort. So either we think it is really likely that we are not going to be able to keep the money from the payment, there's a pending chargeback, or we already lost the money. That is why you got that email.

You need to follow up with the fraud team at GoDaddy and reply to that email with what they asked you to give them. If you don't we are not going to give you the domains back. What they are trying to do now is work with you to clear up any misunderstanding with the bank and our payment provider and makes sure that these charges are legitimate. If you do not answer them with what they asked they will have further reason to believe you have something to hide or you are unable or unwilling to prove that you are a person who has authorization to use the payment method you used. It is a pretty simple process to clear things up. Instead of posting here answer their email and if you provide them with the correct info they are asking for you will get the domains back quickly. The goal we have is to get people who have a legitimate interest in the domains their domains back ASAP while still protecting ourselves and others from bad actions.

thank you so much for your reply.

Let it be known that i have already sent them the document they requested 12 hours prior to creating this thread. I've been waiting for their reply for more than 32hours. I just got this reply :
Discussion Notes
Support Staff Response
Thank you for your inquiry. The referenced shopper account has been carefully reviewed by our verification office and is not eligible for reinstatement.

Respectfully,
Verification Office.

Can they at least tell me what the problem is. I have tried calling them on the phone, they don't pick up for almost an 1hour.i live in Nigeria, and toll free is not available for my country..

Sir can i PM you? This looks to be getting out of hand and i am not happy.

 

[NameClerk]

How do you think this domain is worth, i found a finance company called gravity payment(s) based in Seattle USA. And this domain without the (s) is not a trademark.

How much do you think it's worth

Did you attempt to sell the domain to them? If so, this might be your issue..

 

[Brandizer]

Did you attempt to sell the domain to them? If so, this might be your issue..

Yes i did, really?

 

[NameClerk]

Sure. It's strong evidence for "bad faith" if you registered the singular version of their domain on 2/18 and immediately marketed it to them.

Not sure this trademark is active but they possibly complained to Godaddy.

https://trademarks.justia.com/775/48/gravity-77548129.html

 

[Brandizer]

Sure. It's strong evidence for "bad faith" if you registered the singular version of their domain on 2/18 and immediately marketed it to them.

Not sure this trademark is active but they likely complained to Godaddy.

https://trademarks.justia.com/775/48/gravity-77548129.html

By this link, you don't think i violated any rules right?
I registered this domain in 2020.

If they had a complaint against me, why did godaddy have to cancel all my other domains

 

[NameClerk]

I do not know. I was just answering one of your original questions as to why they would cancel your domains.

 

[Ategy]

Did you attempt to sell the domain to them? If so, this might be your issue..

Are registrars allowed to arbitrarily cancel domains for unproven trademark complaints (ie: domains that didn't have a formal UDRP or court action taken against it)

I can understand them blocking certain "subjective" trademark domains from their marketplace because they technically also profit from the sale with their commission, but to actually revoke a domain seems a bit much. Plus I think with trademarks GoDaddy would tell you.

Conversely, when it comes to suspicious payments (as @Joe Styler suspected) unfortunately a lot of the time they either don't have the specifics or don't give the specifics for what I'm assuming are legal and/or security reasons. The vagueness really sounds like a payment issue.