I need some help with serious GoDaddy/Afternic issue!

[indiegrind]

I'm extremely pissed off right now.

Yesterday morning I randomly got an email that a domain I own was canceled from my GoDaddy account.

This happens sometimes when a domain is sold through afternic. Domain is just moved from my account and I get that email, then get the afternic domain sold email a few hours later. This time, a day later I never got a sold email. The domain was not due to expire and I didn't see anything in my afternic account.

Today I call my GoDaddy account rep, she looks into it. And finds out my domain sold apparently through afternic.

She reaches out to someone,don't know who, but eventually find out that someone else listed the domain in afternic for $295 dollars and it sold, and was moved out of my GoDaddy account via fast transfer.

This was a domain I wouldn't have sold for less than high 4 figures. Anyway, they let someone sell it who didn't even own it and took it out of my account, and I imagine preparing to pay the other person.

I was on the phone for about an hour trying to get to the bottom of this and get it resolved.

My GoDaddy rep comes back and tells me I need to contact afternic. So I do. On the phone and back and forth on hold about another 45 minutes. Then after talking to the afternic legal department, afternic rep came back with someone from legal on the line and told me I need to go back to GoDaddy, because afternic isn't the registrar and have them escalate the situation.

I bought the domain at GoDaddy expiring auction in September. Never even listed it through afternic myself. Afternic sold it through someone's listing who wasn't the owner and GoDaddy took it out of my account.


Now I can't get it resolved and being sent around in a circle to get my domain that was taken.

Who do I need to talk to to get this resolved. I do not have time nor should I need to get runaround about this!


Already had an extremely frustrating day at my main job, then had to spend a couple of hours on this and got nowhere and sent in a complete circle.

 

[Ategy]

They can easily reverse a sale if they want to and I'm sure they will once someone higher up sees this.

The bigger problem is that reversing this one sale totally ignores the larger issue.

Particularly for those of us with larger portfolios .. the really scary part is that the way it is now, there's a good chance something like this happens without our even noticing it! We see an "action required" email that says:

"The following domain names have been requested for sale through the Afternic Premium Network:"

So we assume it's our own name AND that it's our afternic account .. when it fact it's only the first part and there's nothing in the email that indicates even the chance it could be otherwise.

The domain is at godaddy with no pending transfer currently.

I'm talking about the larger scope of this problem in general .. not this individual case. The whole point is that the way things are now, there is a likelihood something like this could happen without the owner even noticing if they get the typical 30+ registrar related emails per day. The answer to sloppy infrastructure isn't to fix each issue as they come up, it's to fix the actual problem.

I agree, godaddy is definitely not "evil", they try to do the best they can in most cases but the end result is extremely inefficient.

Yeah .. I've actually said it multiple times. What's required of them at this point is a monster task. But they seem to keep ignoring the problem. Every couple of years redo the pavement .. which usually does address some issues. But other things simply require hard work .. like going through their automated emails. That's not code .. that's tiring manual work that involves the bridging of multiple departments.

The issue is not unique to GoDaddy. It happens in just about every big institution that grows and grows .. then all of a sudden realise their FAQ and help files refer to things that were changed 4 years ago .. or that they do a huge upgrade to one part of their website/platform, but then realise it's not compatible with another part (how many YEARS have there been login issues at GoDaddy auctions?).

The biggest problem however .. regardless if they admit and apologise to us about it .. is that they don't even seem to recognise the issue themselves .. it's always someone else's department .. there's nobody who understands the entirety of the mess and nobody responsible for it. To each person and department, they have done what they need to do ... it's just that with lack of communication and coordination the end result is inefficient and the exact opposite of synergy.

 

[bmugford]

Mr Styler reached out to me with a very sincere personal apology for my experience, both the incident and my customer service experience and response of my account rep.

He has assured me that they will be working making sure that this does not happen again to me or any other customers.

I am glad Joe was able to help.

My question is what actually happened here? Why was the domain fast transferred when you did not list it?

Brad

 

[indiegrind]

This would be comical if it wasn't so damn frustrating. Another email.

Hello Roderick,



Congrats again on your sale! I'll be handling this transaction moving forward. Please login to your Afternic.com account and under the 'My Domain Sales' header, click directly on this domain to see the information needed to push this GoDaddy.com account registered domain to us. We can then start the ownership transfer and once that transfer has completed, we will proactively deliver your payment.


The transfer process is time sensitive so please provide this info as soon as possible. Let me know if you have any questions or issues with the information and/or push.




Thank you,

Steven B

Afternic Transaction Assurance

 

[indiegrind]

My reply

Steven, I did not list this domain, or set that price. I have been dealing with this domain since last Wednesday when it was moved and fast transfered out of my GoDaddy account and it was not even listed in my afternic account.

I finally got the domain put back in my GoDaddy account yesterday afternoon, but apparently afternic also moved the listing to my afternic account with the same buy now price without my knowledge. And someone obviously hit buy now again.


I am copying Mr Styler as he knows he history and I have had significant communications and problems with this situation for the last week.

 

[Joe Styler]

The problem is that the email does not specify the Afternic Username who requested the Fast Transfer.
The problem is that any Afternic user is able to add a domain for sale there that he doesn't own. There isn't any kind of domain owner verification when adding domains at Afternic.
The problem is the existence of Fast Transfer, a feature that by-pass the domain owner intervention for a domain transfer or push.
For what's useful the fast transfer? To gain 1 day on the domain transfer? Godaddy owner can approve the domain transfer once the domain has been sold, without waiting the 5 day transfer period, but still having control and knowledge of the domain transfer.
So, for what or who is useful the Fast Transfer?

There are a lot of benefits. One of the top ones is that opting in gives your domains a much better chance of selling as much as 2-1 over non opted in domains. The amount of network partners who show your domain and as a result the number of end users who see it increases dramatically. https://www.afternic.com/sell-domains explains some of the benefits. 25 million to 75 million potential end user views a month is a big difference as one example.

 

[Sutruk]

We are already also planning on some improvements with the listing ownership verification like txt records at some point and a variety of other things to help improve that aspect of the listing process.

This is the important issue Joe.

You just need to set up the Afternic system to verify the domain ownership before accepting the domain for sale there, just like you have already done in order to list domains for sale at Godaddy.

At Godaddy you need to upload a TXT file at your registrar's DNS to verify the domain ownership. Just place this step also at Afternic, and you will have the peace of mind that nobody will place domains for sale at Afternic they don't own.

Just imagine someone having their business domain registered at Godaddy. One day he gets an email from Godaddy requesting for Fast Transfer at Afternic. They don't have a clue about what's Afternic or Fast Tranfer, but it's a Godaddy email, they are a bit busy at work, and they click on approve... just think what will happen next.

The normal domain tranfer process is set up, as you already know, in order to notify the domain owner, and to involve the owner in the transfer process. He needs to request the Auth Code, and approve the transfer at his registrar, if he wants to speed up the transfer.

A security measure that the Fast Transfer network system bypass just by clicking on one email, relying that hopefully the domain owner understands what he is clicking.

 

[indiegrind]

I direct messaged Joe earlier but didn't know if he is the person I would need to contact. Thank you.

 

[indiegrind]

The authorize emails come from GoDaddy and list your GoDaddy account ID and info.

They don't identify anything regarding who's afternic account/username they are being approved for.


I didn't know whether I had listed the domain in afternic myself or not. I got an email not too long after acquiring the domain about opting in . I occasionally remove all of my name's from afternic and reupload a spreadsheet to relist over 1000 names and prices, and the GoDaddy opt in emails trickle in gradually for the domains when they are priced..

 

[ABDELDJALIL]

Maybe you opted-in fast transfer by mistake in your registrar account.
Afternic is a must for me but your story make me think twice now before i list any there.

 

[indiegrind]

I still have no respone from my last email yesterday, didn't hear back from my account rep today. I have been working all day and not able to call since 7:00 am and just left the office at 8pm.

 

[King]

This is terrifying.

They get 20% from domain sales, 3-4x the price on registrations and renewals with privacy compared to other places, all of the sneaky upsells, yet they can't provide support in less than 45 minutes (let alone waiting 3-4 days for email responses). Absolutely ridiculous. I can hop onto a chat with other registrars and get a response within seconds, why won't godaddy invest more in support? Why do we continue to put up with this?

Just like any other near-monopoly as long as they're getting paid their billions they don't care. Just look at how many domains are registered at GD & their subsidiaries compared to the competition. They hire overseas support who take advantage of people, they've registered my domains for themselves.

About Afternic, their security is a joke, I've seen many domains of established businesses for sale on there. Their verification is something a high schooler would set up because they started the site as a hobby, just take a screenshot of your "ownership" & boom it's your domain now! The only reason I list my domains on there with their disgusting UI is so other scumbags don't list them which I saw was happening before I joined & listed them myself.

 

[indiegrind]

I don't blame you. I haven't had a positive image of GoDaddy for awhile. About 11 years ago someone I know had their domain name for their business expire when his card was expired and he never got an email from Godaddy letting him know. Someone else got it on the drop and today it sits in the portfolio of a large well known domainer with a nearly 20k price tag. Since then I've had a low view of Godaddy and more recent experiences both first hand and stuff like this hasn't helped that at all.

Dynadot would be a big improvement over GD in my opinion, they are my second favorite registrar after Epik.

Yes, dynadot is the only other registrar I use currently and have enough there to maintain bulk pricing. I've used them for about 5 or 6 years now without issue.


I don't think I have ever even had to contact customer service with them.


I've also held a good amount of names at namesilo, uniregistry, and name.com in the past, but I buy most of my names at GoDaddy auctions so it was convenient to consolidate as much as possible.

 

[xynames]

For what you describe to happen:
Having it listed for sale by someone else is not enough. The domain must also be opted into fast transfer wherever it is registered.

Whether this opting in is somehow linked or must be linked to a specific for sale listing - I don’t know.

 

[7363824]

Yes, dynadot is the only other registrar I use currently and have enough there to maintain bulk pricing. I've used them for about 5 or 6 years now without issue.


I don't think I have ever even had to contact customer service with them.


I've also held a good amount of names at namesilo, uniregistry, and name.com in the past, but I buy most of my names at GoDaddy auctions so it was convenient to consolidate as much as possible.

Can't blame you there. As much as I don;t like GD I am active on their auctions. Fortunately I recently discovered the have an API to shows me when a domain is eligible to be transferred away, and allows me to unlock it and get the auth code. So I am able to automate the consolidation, unlock and get the auth code after 60 days, then make an API call to Epik to start the transfer. I haven;t look too closely at the Dynadot API though to see if you can initiate a transfer automatically with them or not though. I really just have my DD account for their auctions.

For what you describe to happen:
Having it listed for sale by someone else is not enough. The domain must also be opted into fast transfer wherever it is registered.

Whether this opting in is somehow linked or must be linked to a specific for sale listing - I don’t know.

Dosen't matter who lists it, as soon as it is listed the registrar who controls the domain emails the owner, and as someone who myself is always getting opt in emails, I can understand how one can simply assume its from their listing and approve fast transfer. The result someone else lists it for sale, sets the price, and gets paid upon sale for your domain. Afternic could have a better system, but they don't.

 

[Ategy]

Sigh .. GoDaddy is a raging disaster on a few things. Their website/platform is *NOT* secure .. and has not been secure for at least 4-5 YEARS !!! I reported the security issue at least 4 years ago, before I even started actually actively domaining .. lol .. and it's still there.

But the real root of the problem here is their absolute disaster of their automated emails. So much of it is wrong, incomplete, unclear, inconsistent, outdated information. It's been like that for as long as I can remember. The only word to describe it is "shameful".

I get those "action required" emails all the time .. but as mentioned above, it never even confirms if the domain is in my actual account or someone else's. It also says: "The following domain names have been requested for sale through the Afternic Premium Network:" .. but then there's never anything beyond that, it seems it's not an actual inquiry that triggers that email. What's worse is that these emails come from "GoDaddy" and not Afternic. Then I go to check at afternic, and like in this situation, it seems to be already listed at a low price I most certainly never set. Forget calling in .. as in this case .. GoDaddy tells you to contact Afternic and Afternic tells you to contact GoDaddy. So the end result is simply to never trust an automated email coming from GoDaddy and never click on any link in any of their emails. It's a colossal disaster. The problem persists for YEARS because ultimately each company and department blames a different one .. and so nobody ever takes responsibility to actually address the situation.

Each separate department at GoDaddy works fine .. but the moment anything overlaps with a different department it simply falls into a black hole for YEARS !!!

I've crossed bugs that make this look like a pimple compared to Mt Everest. I was forced to pay for auctions I didn't bid on .. I was then able to give a detailed report in how to duplicate the bug .. the end result .. NO action .. NO fix .. and a polite reminder that if I didn't pay for the domains (that I didn't bid on) that I would be banned from their auctions platform. But even that is nothing .. there was stuff that likely cost domainers literally countless millions of dollars in auctions. What's worse is that I'll continue to say GoDaddy isn't evil and they are NOT doing this on purpose. It's just bigger than any one person or department .. so any hopes of ever seeing things get better simply gets lost as the issue gets pushed around to the next department and the next department .. etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc and on and on and on ...


Sigh .. ok .. rant over .. lol .. almost ..

IMO the opt in email SHOULD INCLUDE the AFTERNIC USERNAME that listed the domain. That would make it much clearer to prevent accidential opt ins.

I have said that multiple times for years! Seems like at least a very simple quick fix. But since it would require coordinating Afternic data with GoDaddy email templates I'd say it's probably a 5 year job! At the very least if they can't coordinate, then they should send one email from afternic and one from the registrar the domain is at and have you confirm at each before the domain is able to change status.

Better yet would be to have a unique Afternic code associated with your individual registrar account, so that if you changed the settings within your registrar, that code would get sent to Afternic, who in turn would put it in the email (or even better on the confirmation page at Afternic after you click the link in the email AND after you log into Afternic)

I would like to know more about what happened here. There can obviously be potential issues with fast transfer if the ownership verification breaks down.

I quoted this to answer .. but it's pretty much most of what I wrote above .. lol

 

[Ategy]

Yeah .. I wonder what they would have said if you actually build out the domain into a website?

I keep some of my domains for my own person usage .. in those cases the domains are effectively priceless.

 

[King]

Yes, GoDaddy gets well into five figures a year from me, and right now I am looking at moving my business to dynadot.

Do it sooner than later

 

[bmugford]

Not sure why this thread was moved to marketplace reviews which buries the topic. This is a serious domain security issue that impacts almost all who use GoDaddy, afternic or any fast transfer network domain registrar.

I didn't even list the domain in afternic.

I agree. We need to figure out what actually happened here.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-was-this-thread-moved.1193186/

 

[BrandCollectors.com]

I have had experience with afternic: some of my newly registered domains was removed from my afternic account and re listed by another person the same person listed it on nodaddy auction with make offer. i sent proof of screens to no daddy auctions and afternic support that I am a current owner and than nodaddy staff just deleted all my domains from my afternic account it was really annoying I think someone from nodaddy doing dirty things..

 

[indiegrind]

The domain also has a for sale page at uniregistry market, which I did not list.

I found it by looking up the domaintools whois info for the domain which is under privacy and clicking the domain is for sale link at the top.

I didn't previously disclose the name, but it is DepositCrypto.com

https://uniregistry.com/market/domain/depositcrypto.com?d=depositcrypto.com&src=domaintools

 

[NameBuyer.com]

The domain also has a for sale page at uniregistry market, which I did not list.

I found it by looking up the domaintools whois info for the domain which is under privacy and clicking the domain is for sale link at the top.

I didn't previously disclose the name, but it is DepositCrypto.com

https://uniregistry.com/market/domain/depositcrypto.com?d=depositcrypto.com&src=domaintools

In my case, it could be that the person who listed my domain was a prior owner who never flushed out their expired domains from their domain list/spreadsheet/database. But the list would have been 4+ years old.

But in any case, whether it is by mistake or done with criminal intentions, it is a huge security hole that has a solution that is easy technically, but a pain when dealing with so many external registrars.

At minimum this should be offered at GoDaddy and made available to registrar partners since the fix is trivial (to stop the issue from propagating).

There are 3 parts that consist of patching the problem to prevent new cases and identifying incorrect listings.

1. Patch the fix at GoDaddy/Afternic (small effort - only allow afternic listings to be approved by GoDaddy that are related to pre-authorized Afternic accounts)
2. Allow registrars to patch the issue via their API (small effort - just sending the Afternic account info with each domain approval. If I add my Afternic account/unique identifier at Epik, optionally send me an approval email)
3. Come up with a process to backflush the data at GoDaddy/Afternic to ensure domains are not listed by the wrong Afternic account. (Medium effort, but can be fixed by individual domain investors. For example, once the patch fixes are in place above, I would just go through all my accounts and ensure the domains I expect to be listed in Afternic, are actually in Afternic.)

 

[indiegrind]

If they can figure out how to quickly remove a domain from a customer's account when someone purchases from "another" platform, it shouldn't be a problem to verify ownership.

 

[7363824]

If they can figure out how to quickly remove a domain from a customer's account when someone purchases from "another" platform, it shouldn't be a problem to verify ownership.

The weird thing is they do, to some degree at least. Sold a domain here. It was listed on my Afternic with fast transfer. After pushing the domain to the buyers Epik account I logged into afternic to delete it and found it was "in review". Not completely deleted but AFAIK in review removes it from sale at least.

 

[Spex]

Maybe it's time GD/Afternic just get rid of their archaic system. There must be a COTS product that could do a decent job and then GD/Afternic could just add their customizations in later

 

[Kostas]

I agree, godaddy is definitely not "evil", they try to do the best they can in most cases but the end result is extremely inefficient.

You're assuming the buyer made their sale at GoDaddy

The domain is at godaddy with no pending transfer currently. Godaddy could easily settle the commission in case another registrar is involved but I'm sure they have a system in place where they can reverse a sale under certain circumstances.