GoDaddy / NameFind Bad Faith - Took Domain Away

[Seasoned]

I won a GoDaddy/ NameFind auction. I paid for it right away. Was very excited and already drawing up plans for the website.
They removed it from my won auctions 2 days later and straight up LIED to me that they hadn't caught the domain in time.
Complete and totally lie. As namefind has owned it and still owns it, this is disgusting behavior.
(GoDaddy owns the namefind portfolio)
Plus no email from GoDaddy explaining any of this. I have been a GD customer for 5 years and spent xx,xxx in that time. Beyond furious.
Has anyone had similar experience ?
I emailed [email protected] since phone support was nice but clueless to help.
No reply and not even email explaining their actions.
Does anyone from GD ever chime in here ?

 

[creataweb]

I transfer every single name out of GD when it comes time to renew. Every. Single. One. When it asks why at the end I say "Cheaper elsewhere." Other reasons include what you mentioned.

 

[Joe Styler]

First of all I apologize, it looks to me like something broke on both these names being fulfilled. These names are not expired at GoDaddy but one of our partners. The way that works is if someone renews the domain there they send us a cancellation notice for the auction and we cancel it and refund it. This will not change 12/4 these names are coming from another registrar with their own expiration time lines etc they are not impacted in any way by our policies.
We sell millions of domain names, these systems are all automated and audited and work pretty well. So we would have caught it in an audit. We are not taking anyone's names they bid on in the auction. We do not bid against anyone or take or hold back any names they all go through our expired auctions like normal. The names are put in various holding accounts depending on the company they are coming from. Those holding accounts automatically update the WHOIS to say Namefind - Pending transfer. Like the two examples in the thread, Axium.co and NakedHeart.com they both say - Pending transfer, meaning we are moving them to the buyer. I am having the developers look into this to find the issue, but somewhere from some side we got an automated call to cancel these auctions which again is meant for the case where the original owner renews, transfers the domain, court order says hold the domain etc etc basically when a name can no longer be listed for sale.
So this was all automated and something broke. We will look into what. The agents on the phone are likely only going to be able to see the cancel call and assume that the system is working like it should and you cannot get the domain anymore. That may still be the case, we don't know and have to investigate. I will let you know what we find out. It is possible that the original owner did renew the domain and the automatic call to update the WHOIS failed, it could also be there is a hold placed on the domain after the sale from a legal entity and that happened in the middle of fulfillment so the name is frozen and cant move and the WHOIS is not updated. I will let you know when I find out more.
Bottom line we don't cancel auctions and take names from people. This WHOIS shows we were trying to move it to the buyers, not keep it. Our WHOIS for names we own just say Namefind not Namefind - Pending Transfer. Something broke, we'll figure it out and I will let you know what I find out.

 

[Cdomains]

Yes they sometimes take away your domains won at auction and sometimes you will not get any notification at all.

If you have a lot of domains you might never discover if you are missing one - if they don't tell you.

I have been transferring all my domains away for the last year or so.

If you do win an auction and you get the domain in your account you should transfer out as soon as possible.

 

[Joe Styler]

Even though this name has our info on it in the WHOIS it was not at any time in our possession. We are working very hard to acquire the domain name for you from the other company who has it. We are trying to help you as a customer we always try as hard as we can to help. Once we are able to get possession of the name we will move it to you.

 

[internext]

I cant speak to your specific concern but Ive been using GD since the early days. Ive finally given up on GD and am moving all my domains away. I miss Bob Parsons. GD is not the same. Nothing surprises me with them anymore. Im sad to leave them in a nostalgic way but they are no longer a good and reliable business partner in my view

 

[equity78]

I won a GoDaddy/ NameFind auction. I paid for it right away. Was very excited and already drawing up plans for the website.
They removed it from my won auctions 2 days later and straight up LIED to me that they hadn't caught the domain in time.
Complete and totally lie. As namefind has owned it and still owns it, this is disgusting behavior.
(GoDaddy owns the namefind portfolio)
Plus no email from GoDaddy explaining any of this. I have been a GD customer for 5 years and spent xx,xxx in that time. Beyond furious.
Has anyone had similar experience ?
I emailed [email protected] since phone support was nice but clueless to help.
No reply and not even email explaining their actions.
Does anyone from GD ever chime in here ?

Was this an expiring auction at Go Daddy ? @Joe Styler and @pnicks can weigh in with more info.

 

[Joe Styler]

What seems to have happened here is that the domain expired and was listed on an expired auction. It was and is not registered at GoDaddy. GoDaddy now sells expired domains from many registrars when they expire. It has been in the news and blogs. http://domainnamewire.com/2016/11/22/another-major-registrar-sending-expired-domains-godaddy/

This is a great reason to buy your domains from us. We have a large inventory of expiring domains. But the name wasn't with us and still isn't. It definitely wasn't in the poster's account if it was never registered with GoDaddy. So we didn't renew it and take it out of his account, it was never there.

When expired names are won on the auction there is still time for the original registrant to renew the domain. If this is right or not is a subject for another thread, but the point is that is what has happened since we started selling domains on the auctions over 12 years ago. Very few are renewed and not delivered. We are looking into other options for this on an ongoing basis.

When the domain name was listed for sale we did not own the domain. We didn't list a name for sale we owned and then pull it back. We do not do that. That is not the normal flow.

The original owner of the domain most likely renewed it before we took possession. We recently purchased a portfolio of domains. This was likely part of that acquistion. We have an agreement with the seller to not disclose certain aspects of the transaction so I will not confirm nor deny any aspects of the transaction although you can read about it domain blogs as it made the news today and make your own conclusions.

Whois history will bear out what I say which is also public information. We did not own the domain name when it was listed for sale. The original owner has the right to renew the domain which they did. This is an edge case. While it is bad timing, it is patently untrue that we let a domain expire and then after it did not sell for enough we renewed it. We purchased a portfolio of tens of thousands of domains and did not single any names out for renewal or deletion as of yet.

I understand there are concerns but this is easily verified by third party sources such as media, blogs, Whois, etc.

 

[wwwweb]

Another scenario is the current registry allowed the owner to move the domain while it was expired via auth code, in that case when godaddy did the transfer another year was added, and it was pulled from expiry, in turn ending your auction thru their partner channel.

 

[mr-x]

Yes, indeed it was. Thanks.

... Those are the only situations I have seen at this point.

@Seasoned What was the name? Have you checked the whois history to see if they caught the name or just let the registration lapse ?

 

[mr-x]

All our domains that expire go through the usual flow. We are not holding any domains back. The only acquisition we have done thus far is to buy protfolios from domain investors. We are not keeping names back or purposefully letting names expire and go to auction only to renew them at a later time.

Thanks.

In my experience, there is usually a simple explanation. I've found and recovered my own domains when not renewed on time.

 

[Seasoned]

I just figured out that the domain was never renewed by previous registrant.
I won the domain 36 days after it expired. I paid for it.
Now it has been awarded to Namefind by Fastdomain 2 days after I paid for it.
This is bad faith and I want answers from Namefind / GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY).
I am filing complaints against FastDomain [owned by the poorly rated EIG] presently.

 

[Joe Styler]

The original poster sent me the domain. It was not owned by us when it was listed for sale. Nor very likely when it was renewed. We recently purchased a portfolio it was a part of.

 

[Keith]

The original poster sent me the domain. It was not owned by us when it was listed for sale. Nor very likely when it was renewed. We recently purchased a portfolio it was a part of.

The OP said it was expired so a sales listing is irrelevant. Is your claim that godaddy renewed its own domain after the end of an expired auction?

 

[Seasoned]

The original poster sent me the domain. It was not owned by us when it was listed for sale. Nor very likely when it was renewed. We recently purchased a portfolio it was a part of.

Wait, you purchased a portfolio the domain was part of ? That's funny since the domain expired on October 30 and I purchased it on December 4th on GoDaddy expired auctions.
But according to FastDomain, they did not transfer it to Namefind.
So you purchased an asset that was in redemption period, but the previous owner did not renew it
Instead Namefind now replaces the previous owner and FastDomain support is equally confused.
This is hilarious. What kind of shenanigans are going on here ?
So that's great, you do own the domain. Please push it back to my won auctions.

 

[Keith]

So the original registrant listed it for sale at GoDaddy.

OP buys it and has it in his account.

GoDaddy buys a portfolio which this name is part of.

OP loses domain as GoDaddy always has priority.

GoDaddy pulls name out of OP account and issues refund.

No.

The domain expired and auctioned. OP won the auction and godaddy renewed because it didn't sell for enough. This is what it seems.

 

[LucidDomains]

It doesn't matter. Registrants, including godaddy, are allowed to renew after expired auctions take place. It is what it is.

Well it does matter, as @Joe Styler said this exactly what GD doesn't do. Seems contradictory to me.

All our domains that expire go through the usual flow. We are not holding any domains back. The only acquisition we have done thus far is to buy portfolios from domain investors. We are not keeping names back or purposefully letting names expire and go to auction only to renew them at a later time.

 

[Joe Styler]

Thanks and just to clarify when you say "WE" you are speaking as GoDaddy and NameFind as one entity, correct?

correct GoDaddy as a whole including all its sister companies ie namefind.

 

[wwwweb]

Duty to their shareholders ? To create a worse image for their brand?
When I won and paid for it they were not Party A, the legal registrant at the time.
After I already won the auction via Godaddy's expired Domain auction and paid for it, it appears that GoDaddy's NameFind bought the domain directly from their supposed auction partner, EIG's Fast Domain.
They were not Party A and did not renew it. They became Party B, the new registrant, after replacing the legal registrant AFTER I won and purchased the auction.
They continue to tell me in emails and state that the registrant who let the domain renewal lapse is the one who just renewed it.

Yes, if that party put the domain in the deal, in order to validate the domain they would have to renew it, and transfer it with the other domains. If that is the case your domain should have a 2018 renewal, one year from the party who renewed it, and one year on the transfer.

 

[Seasoned]

Paul Nicks at GoDaddy and I emailed a short while ago.
He basically stated that he has nothing to add from what Styler wrote.

Neither has denied my final assertion that after they emailed me I had won a GoDaddy Expired Domain auction, paid for it, that two days later GD/NF bought it directly for themselves from the registrar [not the domain name registrant), Fast Domain. A registrar who is part of Endurance Group, who Styler pointed out is their new GD partner.

Since GoDaddy is poised to become even more of a behemoth of a monopoly, it is very concerning to see the lack at ethics play here. With the purchase of Host Europe Group for nearly 2 billion dollars, its chilling to see a company act in such a caviler manner.

 

[wwwweb]

Even though this name has our info on it in the WHOIS it was not at any time in our possession. We are working very hard to acquire the domain name for you from the other company who has it. We are trying to help you as a customer we always try as hard as we can to help. Once we are able to get possession of the name we will move it to you.

@Seasoned You can't really get a better answer than that.

 

[namezest]

I am not aware of us redeeming any names that expire from the namefind protfolio. From time to time we do get customers upset with us for that but in the ones I have investigated this is what happened.
Original owner lets domain expire -> renews domain during time we are buying portfolio -> whois gets updated to our name. Those are the only situations I have seen at this point.

About time some body said it so I will.

What I find hard to deal with is how when icann rules specifically say in registrar agreements that they (the registrars) should hold no domains, ie a portfolio as it could lead to unfair advantage, eventual market dominance that would lead to price fixing. Therefore a breach of icann accreditation agreement that would result in the registrar/s loss of business . Yet time and time again it is seen. Sorry Joe but Godaddy is the worst when it comes to useage of multiple sites to move domains around that eventually end up in secondary markets partnered or owned by Godaddy. Deny this if you like but the fact Godaddy has a portfolio is and has been for a long time a serious breach of icann rules. Average Joe who has no idea of such things would have little more than an excuse and money back where the domains end up again on secondary market. One reason there milk the market. People want transparancy. Icann has a lot of explaining to do also for a non profit they sure made a lot of money before saying that was to change. I think Godaddy is going to be doing a rebrand because I can see a boycott coming on along with a fed investigation.

 

[brianbrytus]

Hi Guys. This happened to me with and Expired Auction at GoDaddy.com. The domain name is Axium.co and I was the only bidder on 11/24. From what I can see in the Whois the parties involved are Afternic, NameFind, FastDomain. The domain is currently in pending delete status. GoDaddy says it was "from a partner registrar and they informed us that that domain would no longer be becoming available."

Anyone know anyone at the three companies mentioned?

Hmm, afternic is owned by godaddy and fastdomain is a godaddy reseller.. I am jus grateful I got my domain in my account. All godaddy domains expired should go to godaddy auctions and fastdomain is a godaddy reseller, they shouldn't be allowed to give it directly to namefind if they want. That's theft. Let me know if it goes into your account.

 

[wwwweb]

As of yesterday the transaction was "canceled" by GoDaddy. So unless someone with authority steps in to question the transaction and review the logs it will not go to my account. I posted this in hopes that someone has access to the logs and will take a look. If someone at either company is cherry picking then they should be delt with.

Maybe it got renewed, which would be viable in regards to their TOS

 

[wwwweb]

TOS says " ...the original registrant has the right to reclaim the Expired Domain Name." By original I would think name and address have to match? Not to mention we're in the new 12/1 GoDaddy promise time though this was a 11/24 win.

Whois says today 12/5:

Registrant Name Afternic Transfer Service - Transfer Pending
Registrant Organization NameFind LLC

Any whois ninjas out there that can track this for me before and after? I'm super curious to watch it. Message me here or on LinkedIn for a small fee. Thanks.

Looks to me like they are transferring it over to you. Have patience don't read to much into the whois you might be surprised. They own one of the largest portfolios out there, they don't want to get a bad rep by stealing a single domain from a client purchase, they don't need to. Give it 5 days, and see what the whois says.