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.

 

[SuperDudePro]

Fyi...My experiences have all been great. But I dont do any of the things that are having issues.

 

[Arca]

@anatj - You clearly understand the issue at hand. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for GoDaddy, as they appear unwilling or unable to see this from the perspective that they need to see this from; that is of the banks and financial compliance frameworks that are responsible for determining the legitimacy of international fund transfer.

The fact that GoDaddy themselves think everything is fine and that there is no problem is completely irrelevant. They have no authority or say over whether or not the payment I have received from GoDaddy is determined to be fraudulent by my bank and the strict regulations they have to over-adhere to in order to avoid harsh penalties.

I have noted to Joe over and over that a phone call from GoDaddy to my bank as a way of fixing this issue is wholly inapplicable and unworkable in this situation.

The fact that this overrated phone call cannot solve my problem has nothing to do with me "not taking up" the offer from him (an attempt by Joe to suggest that the issue hasn't been resolved due to MY inaction...), but about the bank not being open or willing to accept such proposition, thus making it impossible for me to take him up on this irrelevant offer...

I am going through an extreme inconvenience due to my bank account still being frozen due to GoDaddy's lies. What I find very peculiar at this point is that Joe, on behalf of GoDaddy, have made zero commitments to stop falsifying payments for payments to international sellers. I still fail to see why they insist on misrepresenting the nature of payments to international sellers, but regardless of the seeming pointlessness of their actions, Joe's comments seem to indicate that they are dead set on continuing this dishonest practice, repercussions for international sellers be damned.

 

[anantj]

The fact that this overrated phone call cannot solve my problem has nothing to do with me "not taking up" the offer from him (an attempt by Joe to suggest that the issue hasn't been resolved due to MY inaction...), but about the bank not being open or willing to accept such proposition, thus making it impossible for me to take him up on this irrelevant offer...

Agreed. I thought as much on why you did not take up the offer of the phone call.

I am going through an extreme inconvenience due to my bank account still being frozen due to GoDaddy's lies. What I find very peculiar at this point is that Joe, on behalf of GoDaddy, have made zero commitments to stop falsifying payments for payments to international sellers. I still fail to see why they insist on misrepresenting the nature of payments to international sellers, but regardless of the seeming pointlessness of their actions, Joe's comments seem to indicate that they are dead set on continuing this dishonest practice, repercussions for international sellers be damned.

Exactly. I don't understand the reason why this correction cannot be made when it is, so obviously, implemented incorrectly right now! My bank would more than likely decline even speaking to Joe or GD.

 

[Nauman Butt]

Very Sad to know.

 

[DanSanchez]

The absurdity continues, now via Afternic. They allow anyone to list any domain without verification. Three of my domains listed and syndicated with BIN prices without my authorization. The practice is profitable enough not to ban the people doing it en-masse, but it's a time consuming thing to request support to delete them every time. Oftentimes they don't even bother responding to my inquiry, and I have to request they delete the names more than once.

This is how the requests look like, you can click the second link (don't click the first!) and decline the fast transfer. Not sure what happens if you don't click accept, but I suspect they would try stealing the name from your account if it sold.

Another reason why I have permanently boycotted listing/dealing with Afternic offers. I suspect an Afternic or representative, or listing owner has purchased more than one of my domains to front via their website. Last year I discovered hundreds of my domains listed by a member of this forum.

 

[Mcpherson]

I have already begun the process of moving my domains from GD because of their cut throat renewal/redemption policy.

I'm in the process of transferring all domains now, boycotting Godaddy. Still having issues with receiving some of the non-expired domain auth codes.

Where are you guys moving your domains to?

 

[DanSanchez]

Where are you guys moving your domains to?

Namebright.

 

[DanSanchez]

Aaaand more added, visible instantly on their site and syndicated on Godaddy.com - This might not be concerning to anyone, until their domains are listed for high BIN prices and you realize someone has figured out how to front your inventory using well established distribution channels. I requested all domains to be deleted, no response from [email protected]

 

[Innoverge]

In my experience, Godaddy disables the transfer-out and auth-code options for expired domains, even though well within the grace-period.
The only way to release them would be to send a request to [email protected].

On a separate note, the Godaddy customer-care execs hardly seemed to have the clarity on Godaddy's domain expiration policies themselves or possibly deliberately mislead customers.
It was even firmly suggested that the grace period ends the 12th day after expiration and all outbound transfers are impossible from there on, when their website clearly states the grace-period to be 18 days.

Even their renewal notice emails include the same incorrect and misleading facts.

You know what they say!! 'Always read the fine print' but, with Godaddy even the fine print demands further scrutiny.

Check the highlighted area below:

 

[Alex3093]

I've just become yet another unfortunate victim of Godaddy's surreptitiously introduced '30-day expiry' policy.

A domain I registered at Godaddy 12 years ago was removed from my account after being put on Godaddy's auction site, and the whois shows renewal/ transfer is currently blocked (the URL itself states 'pending renewal or deletion').

As a long term member I was quite clear on the 42 day window policy and can't quite believe that this could be changed without telling us.

I am currently looking after a sick family member as well as a new-born which is why I was late in attempting to renew the domain - but that's okay I thought - after all, I can renew the domain until the 42nd day and pay the $80 'fine'.

I have searched every email sent to me by Godaddy and NOT A SINGLE communication informs me of this policy change of the reduced right to recover a domain from 42 days to 30 days.

I contacted Godaddy via phone and was told by the agent that after 14 days customers can't renew their domain AT ALL and he hadn't heard of more time than that being allowed. That doesn't seem correct either, so there's a lot of misinformation coming from Godaddy themselves.

Strangely, from what I understood on the call, it seems that the domain is apparently in processing and moving to some sort of Godaddy 'Premium domains' account - I assume for valuation by an employee.

The domain does not seem massively valuable so I assume that some metric such as age or similar has automatically triggered this selection for evaluation. Interestingly another domain registered at the exact same time is still available for recovery in my account.

I have around 220 domains parked at Godaddy over 3 accounts, with several of them registered on behalf of clients. Unfortunately the domain was indeed registered on behalf of a client and they are considering legal action - quite simply the last thing I need right now.

I've taken @DanSanchez 's excellent advice and begun transferring names out to Namebright and will continue depending on whether or not I get anywhere with Godaddy - it seems unlikely at this point. They now seem more interested in their auction business than customers who simply register domains and pay renewals.

Godaddy are clearly happy to make fundamental changes to the domain process without considering the impact on customers. This is truly disappointing and an easily avoided situation if they simply sent all domain customers an email informing them of such changes.

 

[Joe Styler]

I've just become yet another unfortunate victim of Godaddy's surreptitiously introduced '30-day expiry' policy.

A domain I registered at Godaddy 12 years ago was removed from my account after being put on Godaddy's auction site, and the whois shows renewal/ transfer is currently blocked (the URL itself states 'pending renewal or deletion').

As a long term member I was quite clear on the 42 day window policy and can't quite believe that this could be changed without telling us.

I am currently looking after a sick family member as well as a new-born which is why I was late in attempting to renew the domain - but that's okay I thought - after all, I can renew the domain until the 42nd day and pay the $80 'fine'.

I have searched every email sent to me by Godaddy and NOT A SINGLE communication informs me of this policy change of the reduced right to recover a domain from 42 days to 30 days.

I contacted Godaddy via phone and was told by the agent that after 14 days customers can't renew their domain AT ALL and he hadn't heard of more time than that being allowed. That doesn't seem correct either, so there's a lot of misinformation coming from Godaddy themselves.

Strangely, from what I understood on the call, it seems that the domain is apparently in processing and moving to some sort of Godaddy 'Premium domains' account - I assume for valuation by an employee.

The domain does not seem massively valuable so I assume that some metric such as age or similar has automatically triggered this selection for evaluation. Interestingly another domain registered at the exact same time is still available for recovery in my account.

I have around 220 domains parked at Godaddy over 3 accounts, with several of them registered on behalf of clients. Unfortunately the domain was indeed registered on behalf of a client and they are considering legal action - quite simply the last thing I need right now.

I've taken @DanSanchez 's excellent advice and begun transferring names out to Namebright and will continue depending on whether or not I get anywhere with Godaddy - it seems unlikely at this point. They now seem more interested in their auction business than customers who simply register domains and pay renewals.

Godaddy are clearly happy to make fundamental changes to the domain process without considering the impact on customers. This is truly disappointing and an easily avoided situation if they simply sent all domain customers an email informing them of such changes.

I am sorry to hear that this happened to you. We made the change to 30 days quite some time ago. I know it was over a year ago but I do not recall the exact date off the top of my head. We did not send out a blast email to everyone but we did do many things in conjunction with this change to better alert people that they needed to take action to renew the domain.
While a .com had 42 days to renew other TLDs did not and while many people on this forum are very familiar with the ins and outs of each TLD and their various rules around registration and renewals, most every day customers are not. We picked 30 days for almost all domains because it could fit with most TLDs across the board as a standard renewal time. It is harder to explain to someone that this domain in your account can be renewed up to day 60, but this one is only until the very end of the month it expires in, and this one is good for 30 days, and this other one you have here is good for 42.
We also did extensive research and found that people who renewed late and wanted to keep the domain was something like less than 1% post day 14 or something. It has been a while so I don't remember the exact number but I know it was so small that we felt comfortable making the change. The number of people renewing and wanting to keep their domain between day 30-42 was REALLY small.
I'm sure that doesn't bring you much comfort at this point but it is to say we did not make the decision lightly and we still think that almost everyone who wants to keep their names is post expiration.
We didn't do an email blast like you said, but we did make many concerted changed to make people aware of the expiration. We want people to renew their domains with us so we try really hard to make sure they do.
We start by alerting you 90 days out that your domain is expiring. We send emails to the shopper account information - the email on the account at 90,60,30,15, and 10 days prior to expiration. With 5 days left until expiration we email the shopper account email AND the registrant on the WHOIS.
1 day after expiration we park the nameservers, so if there was an active site on the domain it should stop resolving. We do that to get your attention. We used to do this later in the expiration process. We moved it up when we changed to 30 days vs. 42 days for the .com to get people's attention. We also changed the wording on the emails we send customers when the domain is going to expire letting them know they will lose the domain. We changed the language on those emails to alert you to the fact that the domain would be lost.
On Day 4 after expiration we send emails to the shopper email AND the registrant email again to say your name expired you are going to lose it.
On Day 5 we email the shopper and registrant again. We also, and this is new as well as of the change, stop all DNS for the domain. So if you were not using it for a site but only for email or something else, it won't work anymore for anything. We basically break all the DNS except the parked page that says this name expired you need to renew it. This is to get anyone's attention who is using the domain in any way that something is wrong. At this point in the process now, almost anyone who wants to keep their domain contacts us and renews it because of all the emails and the fact that the domain doesn't work right anymore. This was our goal in making the changes in concert with the 30 day expiration change. We want people who want to keep their domain to know it is expired and to renew it.
If you still didn't renew and you are in the US and Canada, on days 6-7 after expiration we call you on your account phone number and leave you messages saying your domain is expired and you need to renew it now.
10 days after it expired we send more emails.

Here is an example of an old email for an expired domain I got in 2016.
The subject line is: For immediate review: DISCOUNTDESKTOP.COM expired

Joe Styler, you have expired domains.

===========================================================
YOUR DOMAINS HAVE EXPIRED
===========================================================

------------------------------------------------------
Special Message
------------------------------------------------------

Dear Joe Styler,

The domain(s) below expired on June 07, 2016. If you want to renew your domain(s), take care of it before June 18, 2016 or you may incur an additional $60.00 fee.

For further information about Domain Renewals or Cancelled Domains, review the Domain Registration Agreement: (link to my agreement)


DISCOUNTDESKTOP.COM
Renews: 6/7/2016
Renewal Rate†: $8.29/yr**
Privacy - Yes
Add FREE Auto Renew: (links to my account to renew my domain I removed)
Renew Now:

Here is a recent one I got in December 2018:
The subject is: Renew your expired products before you lose them.

Urgent Notice
Some of your products have expired.
You should renew the things you want to keep as soon as possible or they'll get canceled for good (this may have happened already). Need to set up a new payment method first? Read this help article.

Let's get back what we can.
1.

Go to godaddy.com/renewals or click View Expired Products below.

2.

Select what you'd like to keep and turn on Auto-Renew to avoid future cancellations.

3.

Continue to cart and complete your purchase.

View Expired Products


Products at risk

.AGENCY Domain Renewal
.AGENCY
Expires: 12/13/2018
Add FREE Auto Renew: Add Now
Term: 1 Year
Total: $16.17**

We changed the wording to make it more clear that this is urgent and you will lose your domains if you don't renew.

I am not giving you all this information to make a case that you should have known. I am just trying to point out the steps we took, and do take to make it as clear as possible that you will lose your domain if you do not renew. We really want people to keep their domains.

If you reach out to me in a private message with the domain I can see if there is anything we can do to help you recover the domain with our domain buy service agents or anything else we might be able to offer.

 

[Keith]

ICANN has too much power which spills over to registrars, most of whom are crooked.

There should be an absolute policy in place. For example...15 days after domain expiration they are immediately deleted and back into the registration pool.

Netsol is the biggest thieves in the space. They warehouse client hold domains for years. Unmanned.com is just one example that they’ve held for over a decade.

The registrars should not be allowed to profit from dropping domains but icann is too ignorant to make a proper policy.

 

[Alex3093]

So I have been informed by Joe that the Domain is gone. There is no longer a chance of recovering it.

I appreciate that you responded to my post. However, I respectfully disagree with many of the arguments you have made.

Most of the points you have put forward are in fact GoDaddy's 'justifications' for WHY you made the change but not HOW you implemented the change – that’s the real issue here. You made a substantial change to the expiry lifecycle but neglected to inform a significant portion of your user base about that change - creating the real possibility of unintended loss of domains names as they go to auction as well as financial losses by customers.

However, I have since learned from another thread that you did indeed inform SOME your customers (‘Premier Services’ Customers). This email was sent out on 21st November 2017 and the new rules implemented from 5th December 2017 - giving Premier Service Customers a definite notice period.

Therefore for at least 457 days (to date), a significant proportion of your customer base were likely uninformed of a reduction in their rights pertaining to the expiry lifecycle and at the same time these domains were being auctioned by GoDaddy for potential profit.

We made the change to 30 days quite some time ago. I know it was over a year ago but I do not recall the exact date off the top of my head.

I was not informed of the change. I received no email indicating changes to the terms & conditions or legal agreement. Nor do I recall agreeing to an 'updated' set of terms & conditions at any time within the last two years.

Could you please link me to the agreement that exists between myself and GoDaddy? Or is there a legal contact at GoDaddy that can confirm that I have agreed to these updated (and substantially altered) terms? Are you not legally obliged to inform customers?

In the thread 'GoDaddy Domain Name Expiry Changes' a GoDaddy staff member confirms the following email was sent to 'Premier Service' customers only:

We sent the email to our Premier Services customers. Here is the copy in case you do not have a premier rep:

Good morning,

We are making a change to our domain name expiry process and wanted to give you enough notice to make decisions on your portfolio. GoDaddy is changing the domain renewal timeline from 42 to 30 days for most domains. Based on our research, less than 1% of our customers renew after 30 days.

Starting Dec 4, the following changes will happen to expired domain names:

· After Day 5 of expiration, DNS, email, hosting, redirecting and any other DNS-dependent services will be interrupted and stop working.

· After Day 30 of expiration, domain names are no longer able to be renewed or transferred away.

We wanted to give a heads -up so you have enough notice to make decisions on your portfolio. As always please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions.

This indicates the GoDaddy were aware of the significance of the changes.

And why the discrepancy between the information provided to ‘Premier Services’ customers and ‘everyday’ customers? This is an agreement level change and both customer segments are potentially impacted.

While a .com had 42 days to renew other TLDs did not and while many people on this forum are very familiar with the ins and outs of each TLD and their various rules around registration and renewals, most every day customers are not.

Here you acknowledge that ‘everyday’ customers are less aware about the rules surrounding products. However, instead of helping these less experienced customers by informing them of any changes, Godaddy instead chose to keep them in the dark.

I personally do not consider myself a ‘domainer’ and lean more toward an 'everyday' customer and still wish to have been informed about the change.

We picked 30 days for almost all domains because it could fit with most TLDs across the board as a standard renewal time. It is harder to explain to someone that this domain in your account can be renewed up to day 60, but this one is only until the very end of the month it expires in, and this one is good for 30 days, and this other one you have here is good for 42.

This would be fine if GoDaddy synchronised the expiry lifecycle from day one. However, that’s not the case and most of your customers were not informed of this significant change - GoDaddy would have been aware that many domain owners such as myself were acustomed to the rules that applied to any particular TLD and this would have been an unwelcome surprise.

We also did extensive research and found that people who renewed late and wanted to keep the domain was something like less than 1% post day 14 or something. It has been a while so I don't remember the exact number but I know it was so small that we felt comfortable making the change. The number of people renewing and wanting to keep their domain between day 30-42 was REALLY small.

That additional time serves as a safety net for that small group of customers who, like me, find themselves in a situation where they need to renew later than usual. But like I previously stated, the problem here is HOW this policy change was implemented and not WHY.

we did not make the decision lightly and we still think that almost everyone who wants to keep their names is post expiration.

If this is the type of decision 'not to be taken lightly' why did you not inform the bulk of your customers? Is your statement not an admission of an awareness of the potential impact upon your domain customers?

We didn't do an email blast like you said, but we did make many concerted changed to make people aware of the expiration. We want people to renew their domains with us so we try really hard to make sure they do.

Again, you failed to expressly inform your customers of the change.

We start by alerting you 90 days out that your domain is expiring. We send emails to the shopper account information - the email on the account at 90,60,30,15, and 10 days prior to expiration. With 5 days left until expiration we email the shopper account email AND the registrant on the WHOIS.

I use a spreadsheet for my Godaddy domains which informs me of each deadline based on the rules Godaddy themselves set out. In my situation, the rules applied for the first 11 years I had the domain before they suddenly changed without me being told. If I had been sent the same email you sent out to ‘Premier Service’ Customers I could have made the necessary changes and avoided a legal situation which may potentially cost me my livelihood.

It is also worth noting, based upon Godaddy’s actions in this situation, that the domain expiry rules (or any other rule on the site) can be changed again AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. What if GoDaddy decides a 14 day limit is to their liking? It’s absolutely possible it could happen again – the precedent has already been set.

 

[amit chowdhury]

same for me as I have around 60 domains with GD and I will transfer all the domains from GD to namesilo upon renewal.

 

[Joe Styler]

So I have been informed by Joe that the Domain is gone. There is no longer a chance of recovering it.

I appreciate that you responded to my post. However, I respectfully disagree with many of the arguments you have made.

Most of the points you have put forward are in fact GoDaddy's 'justifications' for WHY you made the change but not HOW you implemented the change – that’s the real issue here. You made a substantial change to the expiry lifecycle but neglected to inform a significant portion of your user base about that change - creating the real possibility of unintended loss of domains names as they go to auction as well as financial losses by customers.

However, I have since learned from another thread that you did indeed inform SOME your customers (‘Premier Services’ Customers). This email was sent out on 21st November 2017 and the new rules implemented from 5th December 2017 - giving Premier Service Customers a definite notice period.

Therefore for at least 457 days (to date), a significant proportion of your customer base were likely uninformed of a reduction in their rights pertaining to the expiry lifecycle and at the same time these domains were being auctioned by GoDaddy for potential profit.



I was not informed of the change. I received no email indicating changes to the terms & conditions or legal agreement. Nor do I recall agreeing to an 'updated' set of terms & conditions at any time within the last two years.

Could you please link me to the agreement that exists between myself and GoDaddy? Or is there a legal contact at GoDaddy that can confirm that I have agreed to these updated (and substantially altered) terms? Are you not legally obliged to inform customers?

In the thread 'GoDaddy Domain Name Expiry Changes' a GoDaddy staff member confirms the following email was sent to 'Premier Service' customers only:



This indicates the GoDaddy were aware of the significance of the changes.

And why the discrepancy between the information provided to ‘Premier Services’ customers and ‘everyday’ customers? This is an agreement level change and both customer segments are potentially impacted.



Here you acknowledge that ‘everyday’ customers are less aware about the rules surrounding products. However, instead of helping these less experienced customers by informing them of any changes, Godaddy instead chose to keep them in the dark.

I personally do not consider myself a ‘domainer’ and lean more toward an 'everyday' customer and still wish to have been informed about the change.



This would be fine if GoDaddy synchronised the expiry lifecycle from day one. However, that’s not the case and most of your customers were not informed of this significant change - GoDaddy would have been aware that many domain owners such as myself were acustomed to the rules that applied to any particular TLD and this would have been an unwelcome surprise.



That additional time serves as a safety net for that small group of customers who, like me, find themselves in a situation where they need to renew later than usual. But like I previously stated, the problem here is HOW this policy change was implemented and not WHY.



If this is the type of decision 'not to be taken lightly' why did you not inform the bulk of your customers? Is your statement not an admission of an awareness of the potential impact upon your domain customers?




Again, you failed to expressly inform your customers of the change.




I use a spreadsheet for my Godaddy domains which informs me of each deadline based on the rules Godaddy themselves set out. In my situation, the rules applied for the first 11 years I had the domain before they suddenly changed without me being told. If I had been sent the same email you sent out to ‘Premier Service’ Customers I could have made the necessary changes and avoided a legal situation which may potentially cost me my livelihood.

It is also worth noting, based upon Godaddy’s actions in this situation, that the domain expiry rules (or any other rule on the site) can be changed again AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. What if GoDaddy decides a 14 day limit is to their liking? It’s absolutely possible it could happen again – the precedent has already been set.

For any legal questions you can contact our legal team via the link at the bottom of our website.
As for the non legal things I will agree to disagree with you. We made significant changes in the expiry notification process, changing the wording of the emails, the timeline in which they were sent, the way the domain DNS acted etc.
We sent 10 emails, some not only went to the Shopper account but the registrant as well. We also called, we broke your DNS. The emails said you will lose this domain, and in fact some say you may have already lost it by failing to renew it. I do not think it was unclear that you needed to renew the domain and that it was urgent, so I disagree with you that you were not notified of an urgent need to renew your domain in a new way after the change in the timeline.

I do nonetheless want to help at this point the best I can which is why I offered you a free Domain Buy Service Credit to help you recover your domain from the new owner.

 

[Alex3093]

Thanks for the reply Joe. Your support is much appreciated.

I don't disagree with your comments about the standard renewal reminder emails being issued. However, as confirmed by GoDaddy staff on this forum:

1) Most customers including myself were not informed before OR after the changes were made. Basic reminders may have been sent out regarding individual domains as per usual, but as GoDaddy staff members have confirmed on this site - no emails expressly notifying non-'Premier Service' customers of the ACTUAL change of the terms of agreement/policies were sent out at all;
2) Premier Service Customers did however receive an email explicitly notifying them of the changes;
3) The change was substantial;
4) A GoDaddy employee also confirms on this site that '[GoDaddy] completed the release of these changes on 12/5, late in the afternoon.' - meaning for the majority of customers the change came into being WITHOUT the customer's knowledge or consideration;
5) More than one customer has evidently continued operating under the assumption the original rules applied and lost their domains as a consequence.



In full, the GoDaddy employee states

'We completed the release of these changes on 12/5, late in the afternoon. Any domain bid on after that point will be subject to the new expiry lifecycle. One thing that we were not able to release is the immediate movement of a domain into your account after purchase. We had an issue with that part and need to fix before trying to roll it again. So, if you bid on a name after 12/5 then that name will no longer be able to be renewed by the original registrant, but it still has to wait until day 42 to wind up in your account. I apologize for the wait, but we are currently working on getting the instant delivery up and running.'

So the new regime was applied to ALL domains on the afternoon of 5th December 2017 REGARDLESS of any other factor. Customers were not informed about the changes – before, during or after - neither were they given time to consider accepting or rejecting the agreement changes.

‘An offeree cannot assent to an offer unless he knows of its existence. A party can't unilaterally change the terms of a contract; it must obtain the other party's consent before doing so.’

So yes - I would agree with you that this is ultimately a legal issue.

This was established in the Talk America/AOL case 'Douglas v. U.S. Dist. Court':

Do I have to inform my users about the changes in terms and conditions? If I have to, why?

Dana H. Shultz, Lawyer for startup and early-stage companies, many of which have TOS:

U.S. perspective

Let’s assume that you have a website with great content. When users sign up, they eagerly click the “I agree” button to accept your standard terms of use. In those terms, you give yourself the right to make future changes to the terms of use via the following provision:

“We may change these terms of use at any time by revising them on our website. You agree to be bound by any such revisions. Therefore, you should review these terms periodically. If you do not agree with any revision, you must stop using our website.”

Changes to Terms of Use Require Notice

This approach is routine on the web and, until recently, was considered by many to have precisely the effect that was intended. In 2007, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (which has jurisdiction over federal cases in the Western U.S.) stated that website owners must do more than just change terms of use online if they want the changes to take effect for existing users.

In Douglas v. U.S. Dist. Court , 495 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2007), the court considered whether a service provider may change the terms of its service contract by merely posting a revised contract on its website. Plaintiff Joe Douglas had contracted for long distance telephone service with America Online. Talk America subsequently acquired this business from AOL and continued to provide service to AOL’s former customers.

Talk America then changed certain business and legal provisions in its online contract but never notified Douglas that the contract had changed. Unaware of the changes, Douglas continued using Talk America’s service for four years.

Contract Terms Cannot Be Changed Unilaterally

The Court held that, as a matter of contract law, Douglas was not bound by the revised terms of use, stating (emphasis added) that “Parties to a contract have no obligation to check the terms on a periodic basis to learn whether they have been changed by the other side. Indeed, a party can’t unilaterally change the terms of a contract; it must obtain the other party’s consent before doing so…. Even if Douglas’s continued use of Talk America’s service could be considered assent, such assent can only be inferred after he received proper notice of the proposed changes.”

A footnote to the first sentence quoted above states, in part, that Douglas should have been “notified that the contract has been changed and how [because] [w]ithout notice, an examination would be fairly cumbersome, as Douglas would have to compare every word of the posted contract with his existing contract in order to detect whether it had changed.”

In light of Douglas, there is a clear requirement for any website owner that wants to change its terms of use: Provide notice that the terms have been changed, and explain how they have been changed.

Multiple Ways to Provide Notice

There may be multiple ways to provide that notice – for example, via e-mail to all users, or via a pop-up or redirection when each user logs in (the Ninth Circuit did not address how notice must be provided). The important point is that the user must be notified, and must have an opportunity to review the changed terms of use, before they take effect.

Joseph Yurgil
Joseph Yurgil, Art and Entertainment Attorney

Yes, otherwise the new terms will not apply to your current users.

Terms and conditions are contracts. Most contracts in the US require an offer, acceptance, and consideration. When you change the terms, you are essentially creating a new contract and unless your users accept the terms of the contract, they will not be bound to those terms. They can't very well accept your terms unless they are somehow informed of those terms.

A scenario to consider:

1) Customer renews or buys a domain before the modified 30-day expiry lifecycle is implemented unannounced;
2) Customer understands and expects expiry lifecycle to include a 45 day grace period as per the agreement and sets date in calendar;
3) Customer does not revisit site until day 30-45 of agreed grace period and then attempts to recover domain as permitted by the agreement;
4) Godaddy in the meantime auctions the domain for profit;
5) Godaddy, having reduced the recoverable period to 30 days refuses to permit recovery by customer or transfer away by customer. Customer therefore loses the domain.

 

[poppy_mcneil]

@Alex3093 We would love to hear your story. Please send a DM on twitter to @poppymcneil

 

[pjb1978]

I was a big Godaddy fan for several years, but moved my portfolio to Uniregistry a couple of years ago. Godaddy doesn't give a shit about you, me, or any of us. They've completely turned their back on domainers, and the only time they get my current business is if there is a name in GD auction that I have to have.

 

[vravis9]

I wanted to know is there a way to recover our names which are deleted (removed) from cart...without any action/permission from our side...

My names were removed...

Usually I add names to GoDaddy after searching for availability and other stats...

Today I saw them in my cart till around 4pm of my time and then again I have none in my cart when I checked around 8pm...

I added 50+ names in various extensions...

Can someone help me with any ideas / suggestions...

@Joe Styler I don't know if there is a way but wanted see your views...

Thanks,
Ravi

 

[Joe Styler]

I am pretty sure once the cart is empty there is not a way to get it back. I know for domains we don't keep that information. Sorry about that. I am sure that was a lot of work to research the domains.

 

[vravis9]

I am pretty sure once the cart is empty there is not a way to get it back. I know for domains we don't keep that information. Sorry about that. I am sure that was a lot of work to research the domains.

Thanks @Joe Styler

Well it is over then..