GoDaddy lost my domain names, where do I go from here?

[throwedoff]

Edit: This may be resolved, check this post for an update.



A while back, during the Registerfly > godaddy merge, all of my domains from registerfly were switched to godaddy. I logged in the other day to find those domains gone from my godaddy account, and the whois information changed back to registerfly's whois info, but the registrar is still GoDaddy.

I contacted godaddy, they told me to submit a change of ownership request... I did so, and they denied it saying that 'Registerfly.com is the legal owner of these domain names.' That's bullshit, because these domains were always in my posession up until the point where GoDaddy basically "lost" them.

Obviously, RegisterFly wouldn't own domain names which were registered at GoDaddy... especially with the registerfly fiasco that's been going on.

So, where do I go from here? GoDaddy is insisting that Registerfly owns these domains, they are still pointed to my nameservers, but I have no control over them. These domains produce tens of thousands of dollars a year in revenue, and are my only source of revenue. Now, godaddy is basically telling me that I'm ****ed and there's nothing I can do about it besides suing registerfly.

Any advice?

 

[throwedoff]

I had some names at Registerfly and Godaddy sent out a few emails when they changed hands, if you can find those then you can use them as proof. I would try ICANN, send a letter to them, then try BBB.

I never even got these from GoDaddy.

I spoke with ICANN and am currently emailing them all of my documentation (I can still access my RF account, and it still shows the domains as being in it... I can also pull up all of my purchase receipts on it).

I'm also contacting the AG and BBB in GoDaddy and Registerfly's states and seeing what they can do.

I think you need to hire a lawyer right now.
In the meantime take screenshots, gather as much evidence as you can in order to rebuild the ownership trail. If you would like I can look up domain history at domaintools for you, then PM me the name.

Unfortunately, hiring an attorney right now is not a financially viable option for me. I'm in contact with the attorneys who are building the RegisterFly class action.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, these domains expire in mid october. A lawsuit wouldn't help me by then. I guess all I can hope to do is sue for lost income.

Thanks for the offer to do the history lookup, but I signed up for the domain tools free trial yesterday and used that.

 

[PowerUp]

Yes, they were whois protected. This is where the problem came from.

Speaking with the office of the president at GoDaddy, I was basically told that this could have caused the problem, but was basically told that I'm ****ed because this was not a "widespread problem".

If I am correct, when you register for privacy, you'd be automatically setup with a user account with the privacy service provider. Maybe you can login to this service provider and take screenshots. Maybe you could also email the service provider to support your claims when you liaise with ICANN or GoDaddy.

 

[Name Trader]

You had whose privacy. Registerfly or GoDaddy? I can see why it might be a problem if you still had Registerfly's privacy when the domains were at GoDaddy. I think you might want to ask GoDaddy who requested the transfer? how it was requested? who gave the authorisation for the transfer? and why the owner of the account they were in was never notified beforehand?

So Registerfly still have a long reach and are still f*cking over their customers, and now their former customers as well. When is this going to end?

Oh. And I don't believe GoDaddy's hands are as tied as they say they are. They took them from you. They can take them back. As others have said. Evidence is required. But it really shouldn't be needed. If the domains after the transfer were in your account. Who the hell does GoDaddy think owned them at Registerfly.

 

[dna]

You should know that enom has also made themselves the legal owner
of domain names that are registered with them. Which is the
reason i no longer have any domain names at enom. I protested
this repeatedly before finally transfering my names to Godaddy.
I can see from this thread that i was right to do so.
Registerfly, which used to be a enom client, probabily got this
practice from enom.

It isn't easy to see this is happening because enom would show
you as the legal owner on the enom web site, but if you checked
on whois.net, you would see that enom was the owner of
your domain name. And when i transferred the domain names
to Godaddy, enom was still shown as the owner. Since the
names were transfered to my Godaddy account, i could easily correct
this problem. Unfortunately for throwedoff, he needs to prove
the names are really his. I suggest that he uses receipts for
payment of registration fees to prove this to Godaddy.

 

[mis_chiff]

Godaddy sent out an email referring you to Domainsbyproxy.com
for those customers with privacy on their domains at registerfly.

Did you get any of those ones?
Different account number than your current one.

If you didn't, email support and ask if they have an account
setup in your name at domainsbyproxy and see if you can
gain access that way. they had to assign them to someone...

They got mine done in a few days, but that was when it
first happened and was fresh in all their minds :D

 

[throwedoff]

Godaddy sent out an email referring you to Domainsbyproxy.com
for those customers with privacy on their domains at registerfly.

Did you get any of those ones?
Different account number than your current one.

If you didn't, email support and ask if they have an account
setup in your name at domainsbyproxy and see if you can
gain access that way. they had to assign them to someone...

They got mine done in a few days, but that was when it
first happened and was fresh in all their minds :D

Sure didn't, but I also didn't get an e-mail from GoDaddy when the migration happened with my new account information to claim my domain names. If I remember correctly, I had to have a rep set it all up for me. When you say e-mail support, do you mean e-mail GoDaddy support or DomainsByProxy support?

If I am correct, when you register for privacy, you'd be automatically setup with a user account with the privacy service provider. Maybe you can login to this service provider and take screenshots. Maybe you could also email the service provider to support your claims when you liaise with ICANN or GoDaddy.

Well, RegisterFly's whois privacy was 'ProtectFly' which was handled directly through the RegisterFly website.

 

[mis_chiff]

When you say e-mail support, do you mean e-mail GoDaddy support or DomainsByProxy support?

I did it through Godaddy support at the time.

But maybe try the contact of Domainsbyproxy support,
they must have the domains sitting there with the privacy
on them if they were transferred over.
You might have more luck dealing directly with them.

 

[WebTech]

throwedoff, is it problem for you, to give us, as example one of your domains in question?
Maybe there is another way, if you still have this problem.

 

[throwedoff]

Good news!

I just personally got a call from RegisterFly's new Vice President who was a former RegisterFly employee. He said about 15 days ago, the company basically changed hands. He talked with me for about 15 minutes and said he will personally see to it that I get my domains back, and has a contact at GoDaddy who he will speak with himself.

He said that they are trying to turn the company around and make a new name for theirselves (which I don't know if it will happen, but if it does, he is a very good businessman), and was very pleasnt to speak with. According to him, something should be done about this by Monday or Tuesday.

If anyone here has this same problem that I had, please contact me. I may be able to help you out.

 

[Name Trader]

<ot>
In which case, they should throw out their entire website at the first opportunity. They will never know what backdoors have been left behind.
</ot>

Great news

 

[PowerUp]

He said that they are trying to turn the company around and make a new name for theirselves (which I don't know if it will happen, but if it does, he is a very good businessman), and was very pleasnt to speak with.

In the interest of public safety, could you disclose the new name of the company when you know its name?

 

[Dave_Z]

the company basically changed hands.

Interesting, considering there's a lawsuit that doesn't appear to be updated.

 

[throwedoff]

In the interest of public safety, could you disclose the new name of the company when you know its name?

They're not changing names, I didn't mean that in a literal sense. I just meant that they are trying to rebuild the reputation of the registerfly name.

Interesting, considering there's a lawsuit that doesn't appear to be updated.

I'm not sure if the lawsuit would definitely be updated, I would think that the case would be against the old owners.