Karma's a Bitch...

[Ms Domainer]

Karma's a bitch.

As the old saying goes, "Don't get mad, get even."

Stay tuned for more details.

By the way, MOST transgressions are not worth stewing over, but this one is a doozy, a spectacular breach between company and customer.

And I have found a way to exact an appropriate payback to two VERY BAD players in this industry.

I can't say much right now -- next week I'll be more specific.

Someone crossed the wrong person...

I'm slow to explode, but when I do...

Ka-Pow!!!​

*

 

[DnEbook]

Hey Opera's on ….i gotta go

 

[johname]

 

[NPer]

That's sooo funny!! :D

 

[forge]

Hey Opera's on ….i gotta go

Pagliacci or Die Fledermaus?

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Here's a taste of what is to come:

If you own domains at Web.com, Network Solutions, Register.com, and Yahoo! Small Business, be sure to keep a wary eye on your digital property.
The above registrars have been known to transfer domains, without your permission or even knowledge, to a domain warehouse called New Ventures Services Corp. Some of these domains have expired, but some have not –
Some have just been plain hijacked, mostly from small business users and personal website owners, often ordinary people who have scant knowledge of the domain business.
Better yet, transfer your domain(s) to a domain registrar that places the domain rights of customers ahead of their own special interests.
Just do so well before the expiration date because.....

Read More: NewVenturesServices.com

Still gathering details.

*

 

[Domainace]

At first I thought Google would make a big splash, but then I remembered that registrars require some form of customer service - something Google have never done. And so far as contempt for customers goes, Google makes some of the companies you mention look like amateurs.
People who spend 1000s of dollars a month in Adwords can hardly get an audience with Google. Why would they give any time to Joe Domainer or a small website owner?

 

[DU]

So I guess the post is going to include Name.com, Yummy names, Hover, too........ and then perhaps some smaller cases like... LuxaryDomains, limit.com, egypt.net etc etc.

 

[Keith]

Please just spill it already. Otherwise, it's sounding like rubbish or a possible bitter lashing out.

Give us the goods!

 

[johname]

Why would they give any time to Joe Domainer or a small website owner?

Because all Joe Domainer or Betty website owner need from support would mostly be things like "How do I change my name severs" Which are things that can be written down and hire cheap labor abroad.

On the other hand imagine the massive amount of people bitching about their search engine placement and being gouged on adwords. No wonder they don't want to talk to anyone.

 

[Kate]

We are talking about an old "player" here...

 

[Domainace]

I think you underestimate the contempt Google has for small business customers. Even outsourced support would be a reach for them.

 

[Ms Domainer]

We are talking about an old "player" here...

*

But still very active.

*

 

[Ms Domainer]

So I guess the post is going to include Name.com, Yummy names, Hover, too........ and then perhaps some smaller cases like... LuxaryDomains, limit.com, egypt.net etc etc.

*

There are no totally clean hands in this biz.

To be honest, domainers may be part of the problem; whenever we bid on and win an expired auction, we may be bidding on a property that someone else never intended to allow expire. At least Go Daddy offers a generous renewal policy. I used to think that GD's 45-day renewal policy was too generous, but now I'm leaning the other way. I still think GD should not be auctioning off expired domains at day 25 but should wait until later in the cycle.

In my research, I haven't run across anything about the companies you have mentioned, DU, but, then, I haven't conducted those specific searches. I haven't heard too many complaints about Name.com on this forum -- if anything, the reviews here seem glowing. And until Web.com acquired Register.com. it used to be a fairly decent company.

The companies I discuss seem to be especially egregious in their contempt for their customers.

I really had intended to post my story by now -- I hope by tomorrow.

*

 

[Ms Domainer]

I think you underestimate the contempt Google has for small business customers. Even outsourced support would be a reach for them.

*

All I know is that I'm probably one of 1% who got her suspended Adsense account returned in good standing.

I made my case in a cogent manner, and Google listened.

But, yes, Google can be difficult.

To compete with Go Daddy, their registrar subsidiary will have to set up an extensive support system and be responsive quickly. Google Forums will not cut it, for sure.

*

 

[DnEbook]

Finally ………..some quality entertainment i can base an entire evening around

Pagliacci or Die Fledermaus?

Both


Is it animal, vegetable or mineral >>??

 

[DU]

Finally ………..some quality entertainment i can base an entire evening around

Do you accidentally dislike everything you find entertaining?

 

[Kate]

At least Go Daddy offers a generous renewal policy. I used to think that GD's 45-day renewal policy was too generous, but now I'm leaning the other way. I still think GD should not be auctioning off expired domains at day 25 but should wait until later in the cycle.

Nodaddy likes to portray itself as the cool guy in the industry but it has had its share of shady dealings too
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/12/03/standard-tactics-llc-how-godaddy-profits-from-expired-domains/

And by the way we could also mention Enom aka Acquirethisname

 

[Domainace]

Basically, the whole business in shady. You don't have to be a shady person to be a domainer (there are lots of wonderful and very ethical domainers, in fact), but you do have to recognize that the game is rigged to some degree. And you have to learn to ignore the "he's a great guy" talk in the forums and blogs. It's ridiculously easy to earn "great guy" status that way. (The better to fleece you with.)
But also recognize that, while a wild west atmosphere involves a lot of bad guys, it also provides a lot of opportunity that wouldn't exist in a more protected/regulated environment.

 

[NPer]

And you have to learn to ignore the "he's a great guy" talk in the forums and blogs. It's ridiculously easy to earn "great guy" status that way. (The better to fleece you with.)

I read about the "great guy" often, but I don't get why these characters feel the need to say such things on a forum...as if everyone else is the opposite of great.

Many a time, "the great guy", ain't great at all. There's clearly some game going on... which involves exchanging sh!t domains for newbie money... Yeah- He's definitely a "great guy".

 

[Ms Domainer]

Nodaddy likes to portray itself as the cool guy in the industry but it has had its share of shady dealings too
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/12/03/standard-tactics-llc-how-godaddy-profits-from-expired-domains/

And by the way we could also mention Enom aka Acquirethisname

*

I vaguely remember this Standard Tactics case; I had been in the business about a year and didn't fully understand the nuances (except that something seemed shady and off).

Apparently, Go Daddy pretty much stopped this (but I don't think entirely -- I found a few of their escrow domains parked on a certain nameserver shared by Net Sol and Register.com, among others).

The head scratcher: some of the domains involved are not all that great. I suppose they think that snatching mediocre domains will allow them to fly under the radar.

My article is narrower in its scope, but I'm willing to see any case of malfeasance to be rooted out, including AcquireThisName, or whatever. Perhaps my article will get the ball rolling a bit.

When we choose to be blind to these situations, then we become a part of it.

And when we participate in expiring auctions -- I'm guilty of this; I'm no saint -- we become a part of it because our participation allows these companies to thrive.

*

 

[DU]

*
The head scratcher: some of the domains involved are not all that great. I suppose they think that snatching mediocre domains will allow them to fly under the radar.

Define mediocre? A name earning $10 a month might be mediocre, might not.

When we choose to be blind to these situations, then we become a part of it.

And when we participate in expiring auctions -- I'm guilty of this; I'm no saint -- we become a part of it because our participation allows these companies to thrive.

There's something wrong with expiring auctions?

 

[Ms Domainer]

Define mediocre? A name earning $10 a month might be mediocre, might not.


There's something wrong with expiring auctions?

*
Should a company try something fishy with names like Sex.com, this is likely to attract mega attention in the mainstream media, but ones like YouHaveFriends [dot] com (which I hand registered recently) would not. These are the types of names involved -- in addition to the exact names of small companies and personal websites.

There is a bit of a taint to expiring auctions, simply because they occur too soon in the expiration cycle, a mere three weeks later.

This IS a gray area, though, given that Go Daddy allows renewals up to day 45, but other companies are not so kind, some of them snatching domains the day after expiration and holding them hostage in shell companies. John and Jane Doe do not know that the registrar and the shell companies are often one and the same -- at the very least in a seamy partnership.

I do wish ICANN would rule (and enforce) on the rights of both registrant and potential buyers of expired names.

*

 

[DU]

*
I do wish ICANN would rule (and enforce) on the rights of both registrant and potential buyers of expired names.

*

The rights of a registrant are those that exist in the contract that they've signed. If it says that you lose your domain after not renewing for 16 days you lose your domain. Your direct contract will always hold.

As I understand it, the registrar is charged for the next years renewal so extending you a break is a financial burden to them (depending on scope and size, obviously). I recently had a domain expired for more than the period allowed and the company was nice enough to renew it for me (despite clearly me missing the deadline - though the page I looked at for the deadline was contradictory).

I don't know why but for some reason we want to think that missing a renewal is somehow not a problem. If you don't pay your electric bill they will eventually cut off your power. If you don't pay your cable bill you will eventually be watching OTA TV. if you don't renew your domain they will take it away and get rid of it in the manner they see fit.

Your right as a registrant is limited to what contract you sign unless that contract contradicts some higher legal provision.

As John Berryhill has stated before (roughly) - if you want to have a domainer friendly registrar - set one up.

 

[Kate]

When we choose to be blind to these situations, then we become a part of it.

And when we participate in expiring auctions -- I'm guilty of this; I'm no saint -- we become a part of it because our participation allows these companies to thrive.

You know, I really think that the vast majority of expired domains are effectively abandoned.
How do I know ?
Because I have bought hundreds of expired domain names and I have seldom heard from the previous registrants. I suspect that in one or two instances I was even dealing with persons posing as the previous owner because their stories didn't add up... (there was a guy who actually was sent to jail because he was posing as a lawyer and grabbing domains by making threats).

But we all understand that there is a conflict of interests here.
The registrars have an incentive to screw you if you own great, liquid domains.
Renewals = low margins. Auctions = big margins

How could they screw you ?
Here are some tricks, that may actually be common practice (or not )

1. Unfortunately, people rely on the courtesy E-mail reminders. If you don't get them, you risk inadvertently losing your domains.
   
2. Jack up the renewal price when you renew late (even 1 day); even when the domain name is still in grace (vs redemption) period. Purpose: deter the cheapskate from renewing potentially valuable domains. Naming names: register.com, netsol (surprise !)
3. Mess up with the system, allow convenient 'bugs' that prevent normal use of the website for critical, time-sensitive operations like renewing the domain in time
4. Payment errors (declined credit card) leading to failure to auto-renew. No notification of the failed payment.

Hey, I am not saying it always happens, or that it's intentional. It just could happen

 

[RelativelyGenius]

*

Here's a taste of what is to come:


Read More: NewVenturesServices.com

Still gathering details.

*

I have personal experience (unfortunately) with this EXACT scenario occurring with more than 30 domain names. Included, varying degrees of admission of wrongdoing from multiple employees and little or no action or accountability after such admissions. I have sat on the the matter for about 2 weeks while deciding whether or not to pursue legal avanues. Have you looked into moving forward? Included in the list: SEDO - who is partnered with Web/Register/NetSol and readily allows easy aftermarket sales of such domains with very little due diligence. I'd like to know, who and what action NP members have taken.....?