GODADDY WARNING: Lying and stealing expired domains

[DanSanchez]

Godaddy has gone downhill faster than most registrars in recent history, their methods for domain retention and profit are no longer based on the value they can add to a customer, but in simple deception.

Instead of providing authorization codes for expired domains (1-30 days post expiration.) They actively block the authorization codes from ever reaching the registered contact email. In my naive attempts at manually requesting 40 authorization codes, I spent most of the morning going to each domain and requesting one at a time. Nothing ever arrived, it was frustrating, but I discovered their methods of domain retention involve blocking authorization codes by default.

Meaning, any domain that goes into expiration is "no longer eligible for transfer." This is something I clarified with support staff, clearly they are trained to tell this to customers in order to avoid transfer losses. Even though it is completely against their written policy on expired domains. (Source)

After over an hour and a half with support staff, the authorization codes started rolling in. How did I get them to do it? I found a domain's authorization code that was already in REDEMPTION, post 30 days expiration, and transferred it away by unlocking it inside the "expired domains" menu, under "Domains." I had let this domain expire on purpose, it wasn't great so I didn't want to renew it. But I had to prove to them that I knew they were lying in order to block transfers out.

Here are some of the conflicting details I received...

Tldr: #boycottgodaddy.

I'll be happy to help anyone with domains stuck at Godady, I have successfully initiated transfers on all domains.

 

[hwgriffi]

I disagree with OP 100%

I transfer my expired domains out of GoDaddy often, and i have absolutely no problem with it.

Go to "Expired Domains" and request the auth code. Sometimes the process gets stuck and I have to request it twice, so for good measure I always request the auth twice right away (Takes 10 seconds)

I unlock the domain, then go to receiving registrar and provide the appropriate data.

Within minutes I get a transfer request, and then go to my "Transfers out" section in godaddy, then approve.

I can transfer a batch of names and it takes 10 - 15 minutes max.

So sorry to say bro, but this is a function of OP not knowing his own business. There is nothing wrong with the transfer process, you cant expect a CS rep that isn't trained in expirations to know these things. The CS reps are good for hosting sales and registering a domain, thats all!

If you need real help at GD you need to talk to an aftermarket rep.

 

[canvasboutique]

I agree. I've had nothing but years of a smooth and fast experience in either transferring IN or OUT at GoDaddy. An automated system that works for the customer.

Occasionally they have gremlins in their systems (as I had recently with Premium DNS) but working with their technical team very often has a quick resolve.

 

[bsdomains]

I disagree with OP 100%

I transfer my expired domains out of GoDaddy often, and i have absolutely no problem with it.

Go to "Expired Domains" and request the auth code. Sometimes the process gets stuck and I have to request it twice, so for good measure I always request the auth twice right away (Takes 10 seconds)

I unlock the domain, then go to receiving registrar and provide the appropriate data.

Within minutes I get a transfer request, and then go to my "Transfers out" section in godaddy, then approve.

I can transfer a batch of names and it takes 10 - 15 minutes max.

So sorry to say bro, but this is a function of OP not knowing his own business. There is nothing wrong with the transfer process, you cant expect a CS rep that isn't trained in expirations to know these things. The CS reps are good for hosting sales and registering a domain, thats all!

If you need real help at GD you need to talk to an aftermarket rep.

Do you renewed any expired domains in last week or today because I'm not able to renew the expired domains which are all in (auto renewed staus not yet reached 30 days) and automatically redemption fee $80 applied to cart.

 

[alcy]

I disagree with OP 100%

I transfer my expired domains out of GoDaddy often, and i have absolutely no problem with it.

Go to "Expired Domains" and request the auth code. Sometimes the process gets stuck and I have to request it twice, so for good measure I always request the auth twice right away (Takes 10 seconds)

I unlock the domain, then go to receiving registrar and provide the appropriate data.

Within minutes I get a transfer request, and then go to my "Transfers out" section in godaddy, then approve.

I can transfer a batch of names and it takes 10 - 15 minutes max.

So sorry to say bro, but this is a function of OP not knowing his own business. There is nothing wrong with the transfer process, you cant expect a CS rep that isn't trained in expirations to know these things. The CS reps are good for hosting sales and registering a domain, thats all!

If you need real help at GD you need to talk to an aftermarket rep.

bingo
i also noticed requesting code 2 or 3 times guaranteed iget it....for me as well

if u call icann u will be told if any registrar fails to give u code....then tell ican about it and they take care

 

[DanSanchez]

So sorry to say bro, but this is a function of OP not knowing his own business. There is nothing wrong with the transfer process, you cant expect a CS rep that isn't trained in expirations to know these things. The CS reps are good for hosting sales and registering a domain, thats all!

If you need real help at GD you need to talk to an aftermarket rep.

I'm glad you enjoy wasting your time repeating the same task for hundreds of domains. You fail to understand that Godaddy is doing this on purpose, I spoke with a manager and tried my old account rep. Two different support staff at different levels repeating their inability to help me with the authorization codes is not "me knowing my own business."

But you are correct, the support staff on the front end is purely sales-based. And it's exactly why I proposed a boycott on increasing their sales numbers, what sort of company has a sales-centric support policy without being able to offer additional post-sale support on specific questions? Domains aren't complicated, Godaddy builds barriers of exit in order to create friction for more profit. Not to mention their policies funnel inventory away from your inventory BEFORE 30 days post-expiration and into TDNAM. Meaning they delete your WHOIS record and list your domains as if they already own them.

These policies have polluted all of Domain.com's properties, FastHosts, and now NameCheap! Godaddy has mastered the art of the domain business, and they know how to build walls tall enough to avoid losing regular customers or steal their domains with confusing policies. This is my last batch of domains out of Godaddy, I've been with them for a decade and have spent a fortune with them. Just because you're okay with their policies, they don't make them morally acceptable.

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@bsdomains - to transfer domains post 30-days expiration, go into your domain manager and find the top menu "Domains." Then find expired domains and make sure they're unlocked. Although if the domains sold at auction on TDNAM, they will disappear from all lists at day 30 or so.

 

[Joe Styler]

It's what I call the 'Lance Armstrong method': you try it on, you try to get away with it, you threaten/sue everyone who doesn't agree with you (even though you know you are wrong) and only when you are found out by hard evidence, you come up with all kinds of excuses to show how good you actually are.

99% of all people with a domain name are end-users, and they often don't have any knowledge about ICANN policies, so they gladly pay the redemption fee in order to keep their website. Easy money.

It's nothing new and all corporate companies do it in some way or another, whether they are accountancy firms or domain registrars.

From the outside all these corporate firms look very impressive, sophisticated and morally superior, but once you look inside you see an army of very mediocre, low-paid penpushers that are the complete opposite of what the company actually wants to reflect.

You're welcome to come for a tour of the office next time you are in town let me know.

 

[Joe Styler]

I'm glad you enjoy wasting your time repeating the same task for hundreds of domains. You fail to understand that Godaddy is doing this on purpose, I spoke with a manager and tried my old account rep. Two different support staff at different levels repeating their inability to help me with the authorization codes is not "me knowing my own business."

But you are correct, the support staff on the front end is purely sales-based. And it's exactly why I proposed a boycott on increasing their sales numbers, what sort of company has a sales-centric support policy without being able to offer additional post-sale support on specific questions? Domains aren't complicated, Godaddy builds barriers of exit in order to create friction for more profit. Not to mention their policies funnel inventory away from your inventory BEFORE 30 days post-expiration and into TDNAM. Meaning they delete your WHOIS record and list your domains as if they already own them.

These policies have polluted all of Domain.com's properties, FastHosts, and now NameCheap! Godaddy has mastered the art of the domain business, and they know how to build walls tall enough to avoid losing regular customers or steal their domains with confusing policies. This is my last batch of domains out of Godaddy, I've been with them for a decade and have spent a fortune with them. Just because you're okay with their policies, they don't make them morally acceptable.

-----

@bsdomains - to transfer domains post 30-days expiration, go into your domain manager and find the top menu "Domains." Then find expired domains and make sure they're unlocked. Although if the domains sold at auction on TDNAM, they will disappear from all lists at day 30 or so.

This is a pretty simple procedure - transferring an expired domain. It is GoDaddy's business to help people with support and we dropped the ball here not @DanSanchez . I can only apologize to him. Blaming people for things or insulting them by saying they don't understand the business really isn't called for. Bottom line you have 30 days to transfer a domain away after it expires, we should have been more helpful. I am working on making sure the people involved on our side get the coaching they need to do better next time.

 

[equity78]

That is not exactly the whole truth. We did not know she had passed away. When we found out we stopped the auctions that were still live and renewed some of the expired domains in order to give the family time to deal with it.
I also personally reached out to the family to try and help several times without response.
We did not make a big deal about this publicly but we not only stopped some of the auctions we were still able to, we also gave the lion's share of the profit we made to a charity the person who lost the domains had an interest in and we made the donation in her name. Again this was after trying unsuccessfully to contact the family. I also tried to contact the son who posted in the thread via namepros unsuccessfully.
I have seen and been a part of many free renewals for customers of valuable domains when we know they have passed away, are in the hospital etc and cannot otherwise normally manage their domains. We routinely help people with free time on products when there is a disaster such as the hurricanes last year. We just do not make a big deal about it publicly. We do not do it for PR we do it because it is the right thing to do.
Again I apologize for your experience with chat. That information is completely wrong and you are able to transfer out after expiration as you discovered on your own.

I can vouch for Joe there, because I had people contacting me and then @Paul Nicks contacted me and I said I would write a post about it, but he said they were not doing it for PR so they did not want the publicity. So GoDaddy did try in that case.

 

[equity78]

I disagree with OP 100%

I transfer my expired domains out of GoDaddy often, and i have absolutely no problem with it.

Go to "Expired Domains" and request the auth code. Sometimes the process gets stuck and I have to request it twice, so for good measure I always request the auth twice right away (Takes 10 seconds)

I unlock the domain, then go to receiving registrar and provide the appropriate data.

Within minutes I get a transfer request, and then go to my "Transfers out" section in godaddy, then approve.

I can transfer a batch of names and it takes 10 - 15 minutes max.

So sorry to say bro, but this is a function of OP not knowing his own business. There is nothing wrong with the transfer process, you cant expect a CS rep that isn't trained in expirations to know these things. The CS reps are good for hosting sales and registering a domain, thats all!

If you need real help at GD you need to talk to an aftermarket rep.

I am no shill for GoDaddy and have had expressed negative comments in public and private as well, but I can say I have transferred out several times after being expired. There might be some problems that they need to look into to find out why everyone does not have the same experience.

 

[Grilled]

The poll could use an additional option: I trust @Joe Styler

 

[mpls]

We're lucky to have Joe Styler here.
But 99.999999% of GD customer out there have not a Joe Styler ready to help them.

 

[hwgriffi]

Do you renewed any expired domains in last week or today because I'm not able to renew the expired domains which are all in (auto renewed staus not yet reached 30 days) and automatically redemption fee $80 applied to cart.

As for renewal, I don't know.

If your domains are 30 days expired you should transfer them out instead of paying an $80 renewal fee.

 

[MarkedMarket]

Dear Joe - thank you for the invitation. I'm sure your colleagues will be delighted, especially if you show them my message

I actually have 2 friends who have worked for GoDaddy and they both mentioned the (over)emphasis on sales: they had to continuously hit certain sales metrics/statistics to keep their job or get promoted. It was a competitive environment (quite well paid though) but they basically were expected to try to sell anything to any customer. When you create such a culture (only and unhealthily focussed on sales), it shouldn't come as a surprise when employees try to do anything to hit their targets and this is, in my view, an example of that.

They also mentioned that smart people with technical skills are completely underappreciated and you only count if you sell. I personally see that reflected in the lack of investment in the outdated, archaic websites of GoDaddy and Afternic (as I've mentioned in another thread https://www.namepros.com/threads/anyone-having-trouble-with-afternic-today.1085316/#post-6755314).

 

[Arca]

I have first hand experience of GoDaddy lying and stealing domains:

GoDaddy let one of their domains expire. They had 30 days to renew it. They didn't.

I bought it in GoDaddy Auctions.

It arrived in my GoDaddy account. I listed it for sale and changed nameservers. The domain was in my account and 100% under my ownership.

Then, 17 (!) days after the domain was no longer eligible for renewal, somebody from GoDaddy accessed my account without my permission, and transferred the domain out of my account into their own account. They shamelessly stole the domain straight out of my account. They said they accidentally didn't renew the domain. Well it was too late for them to take it back through legitimate means (i.e. renewing), so instead they just went into my account and stole it. They do not respect domain ownership rights whatsoever.

Here is another example of GoDaddy lying and stealing an account out of a domain owner's account a whole two years after he bought it... Your domains are simply not safe at GoDaddy. If they want to take a domain out of your account, they will user whatever made up pretense they feel like to do so.

They lie in other areas too. For example, right now my bank has frozen my bank account for investigation because GoDaddy lied to them regarding the nature of wire for a domain sale (they do this to all international sellers and refuse to send payments with true and accurate payment details for reasons I fail to understand). As GoDaddy falsified the payment details, I've been unable to explain to the bank that it's a legitimate payment... At this point looks like my bank account is going to get terminated because of GoDaddy's lies, and this situation is causing me so many problems right now.

As for the poll above, they've cornered the expired domains pre-release auctions and marketplace-registrar search path sales to such an extent that you simply can't boycott them if you're a full-time domainer. But trust them? Never. They're an untrustworthy company that lies and deceives and show a blatant disregard for their own users.

 

[DanSanchez]

I can confirm Godaddy removes expired domains from main domain manager screen into "expired domains" after less than 15 days. They actually blocked fast transfers to these specific names and the names are still not approved. All "Pending transfer" status. WTF

 

[hwgriffi]

All "Pending transfer" status. WTF

I have seen this "Pending Transfer" issue now myself. I called GD and was told that this was done to 'valuable' domains to make sure they aren't being stolen. The odd thing is that domains that they considered valuable were less valuable than ones I was able to transfer out without the "Pending Transfer" hold.

If you look on whois, the status will change to "Pending Transfer" so it may be that this is less nefarious as one would think. You just have to confirm with them that you do indeed want the domain transferred.

Don't wait the full 30 days. I will wait 20 - 24 days now just to be 100% sure the domains don't get "lost".

In all, allowing the domains to expire with GD has become a less than attractive option as all of the benefits from the expiration practice have been taken away.

 

[PlentyOfBrands]

I absolutely love Godaddy.com. Their team has treated me with respect and have helped me when I needed it. I can't speak on anyone else's experiences but I just wanted to put my experience out there. I try to get all of my domains at Godaddy because of how well I am treated by either my account representative or anyone who answers. I hope everyone else has positive experiences as well.

 

[DanSanchez]

I have seen this "Pending Transfer" issue now myself. I called GD and was told that this was done to 'valuable' domains to make sure they aren't being stolen. The odd thing is that domains that they considered valuable were less valuable than ones I was able to transfer out without the "Pending Transfer" hold.

If you look on whois, the status will change to "Pending Transfer" so it may be that this is less nefarious as one would think. You just have to confirm with them that you do indeed want the domain transferred.

Don't wait the full 30 days. I will wait 20 - 24 days now just to be 100% sure the domains don't get "lost".

In all, allowing the domains to expire with GD has become a less than attractive option as all of the benefits from the expiration practice have been taken away.

That's new, I've never had this many issues trying to transfer names out. Thanks for the heads up. On the phone with support now trying to resolve it, 40 names have taken 6+ hours of labor to get transferred. The biggest irony is their waiting/hold music on phone support, it's like they're operating in the 1920's and they have to manually transfer calls using a switchboard.

EDIT: Support refused to approve the transfers, stating that expired domains were not eligible for fast transfers... Yes, I tried explaining that I had just done 5 different names yesterday with fast transfer. But support simply said to wait until the transfer completed in 7-10 days.

#BOYCOTTGODADDY

 

[hwgriffi]

EDIT: Support refused to approve the transfers, stating that expired domains were not eligible for fast transfers... Yes, I tried explaining that I had just done 5 different names yesterday with fast transfer. But support simply said to wait until the transfer completed in 7-10 days.

I would stop talking with support and talk to someone in auctions or premiere services.

Support is barely familiar with how WhoIs works, let alone the complexities of an expired transfer.

Good luck, I know it's stressful when transfers take this long.

 

[equity78]

I had Photographyy.com expire 5/19 and due to nothing but my laziness I did not transfer or renew it, today I requested the auth code moved to Uniregistry and the transfer was complete to Uniregistry in less than 5 minutes.