Namecheap: as slimy as the rest of 'em!

[000]

Posting this as a heads up in case somebody doesn't know about some of Namecheap's behind-the scenes practices. They may not be as squeaky clean as you might think.

a.) Namecheap won't allow you to see domains that expired from your account more than 27 days ago, unless you contact them asking for a list. However, you may have domains that expired earlier that can still be reactivated, so don't assume that they're lost! Unlike GoDaddy, where as of today (Jan 2) I can see my domains that expired as far back as 10/24, Namecheap will only show as far back as 12/7.


b.) Namecheap will tack on a $200 redemption fee in as few as 27 days after expiration, but only if they like your domain well enough. Some domains that expired even earlier won't have any redemption fee at all - simply pay the $10 to renew and you're golden. And to make matters worse, when they want your domain (and decide to charge a redemption fee to drastically increase their odds of keeping it), they change the whois to make it look like the domain is now owned by another individual (although apparently it's just "one of Namecheap's accounts"). In my example, my domain's whois was changed to the following no more than 28 days post expiration:

Registrant Name: T CLAYTON
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: REDACTED
Registrant City: SAN FRANCISCO
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 94113
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.50895201xx
Registrant Email: [email protected]

The domain expired in December, and was already transferred away from my account before December had even ended (without any notification, naturally). Wouldn't it make sense that, if the domain is still redeemable, it might show up somewhere in my account - perhaps with my other recoverable domains? Don't you think that an honest company might indicate in the whois that Namecheap still has control of it, instead of hiding behind some "T Clayton" gmail account?

In comparison, GoDaddy charges an $80 redemption fee and gives you approximately 40 days after expiration to renew at the regular price. I forget the exact number, but it's a set number of days, and gives registrants about two extra weeks to renew vs. Namecheap.



Pretty slimy to me! It seems like Namecheap gets a lot more love around here than GoDaddy, which is ridiculous. They're too cheap to even offer phone support!

So in the end, **** Namecheap. Thankfully I don't even care about this particular domain; it's the principle of the matter.

 

[Name Trader]

There is nothing shady about the pricing and time-frame for renewal. There are more Registrars similar to NameCheap than to GoDaddy. GoDaddy are about the cheapest and most flexible for these late renewals. It's actually one of the few policies I actually like about GoDaddy. So it's just the free market at work. But it is ironic that NameCheap used to market themselves as THE alternative to GoDaddy, but have such onerous terms in this area. But, as I said, they are not that much out of line with most Registrars.

The actions they have taken regarding the domain being 28 days overdue, is in line with the their terms and conditions you have explained after 27 days. GoDaddy change the whois at 18 days I believe, when the domain is taken from your account. They are just more flexible in your ability to renew it after it is taken from your account. This didn't always used to be true with GoDaddy. They only changed this policy about 1-1.5yrs ago, IIRC.

As in all kinds of transactions, you have to understand the contract you are entering into. Caveat Emptor. Usually the bigger the company, the more onerous are their terms and conditions. Also, you cannot impugn another Registrars Terms and Conditions on any other Registrar.

However. The simple fact is you should be renewing your domains before they expire. You will never have to deal with these issues.

 

[Name Trader]

I see what you're saying, and ya I'm sure it's all according to their policy, but it's a policy that's gonna have to go before they see another dime from me. The hundred domains I've still got there are being transferred elsewhere. Why pay more for less? Namecheap needs to get their sh*t together before they go the way of Moniker.


Ummm, sure I can. This is not revolutionary stuff here. If ICANN allows 40 days before a domain goes into redemption status, I expect 40 days from my registrar. Simple as that.

ICANN allows 45 days. So no registrar is perfect. It's all a matter of degree. But as I said. You should really be renewing your domains before they expire

I think one of NameCheap's problems, which they might see as an asset, is they are really tied to eNom as a Reseller. They've had their own Registrar for years now. The excuse that they don't want to be the next eNom Reseller who moved to their own platform, and fails, is wearing a bit thin.

Also, their domain pricing is expensive compared to many others. I'm surprised you've stuck around. Using eNom's NameServers is both a blessing and a curse. Also. Although I agree their Control Panel needed a facelift, but now it is impossible to just get a long list of domains, line-by-line, which you can edit. This search for clean lines/minimalism has a very high intolerance for Domainers, IMHO. Uniregistry does a reasonable job with their CP and minimalism, but I'd still much prefer to see lists of domains line-by-line. A lot of wasted space. But I suppose that's what a clean minimalist design is all about

 

[rk1]

Some followup to my earlier post. Initially Namecheap suggested I try and buy back the domain from the new owner (who wanted $2500 for it, according to Afternic). This was a little infuriating since I saw through the scam and understood the owner was either Namecheap themselves or an affiliate in collusion with them (I'm looking at YOU Mr. "T Clayton").

I pushed back hard, informing them I own the trademark to the domain name, and threatened to initiate a UDRP complaint.

A couple weeks later they completed further "investigation into the matter" and confirmed there was a glitch in their system, which prevented my renewal notices from getting sent. They apologized and were now magically able to recover the domain for me at the standard renewal rate.

I'm glad I was able to reach a successful outcome, but still feel this is very sleazy behavior from an otherwise decent registrar.

If they're going to put our domains on the auction block when they expire, fair enough, but be transparent about it! And if nobody's bought them, do the courtesy of letting us have them back at regular price without all the game-playing.

Keep a sharp eye on your domains at Namecheap, and DON'T let them expire. DON'T rely on the email reminders. And if you do get caught in this scam, I wish you luck and suggest you keep escalating until they do right by you.

IMO GoDaddy's name is tarnished a bit in this too, since they own Afternic.

 

[Name Trader]

@-T- It's an open marketplace. You are free to take your domains anywhere you want. Even back to GoDaddy, who now seem the most flexible towards Domain Owners than they have ever been. My personal favorite is Dynadot. You can get $8.75 pricing on .coms with only a $500/yr spend. $8.50 with $5000/yr spend.Which is way cheaper than NameCheap. IIRC, Name.com are about the same pricing. You can get deals with most registrars if you are waving the domains in front of their nose.

 

[steven12390]

This has happened to a couple of my domains. I thought it was a coincidence at first until I searched and found this thread.

The domains I owed had expired but they kept the original registrations date of 2001, 2014, etc. I'm going to guess that's because they were renewed by a worker* at NameCheap.

I have tried to email the owner at the atticdump gmail account and the reply was from
Teddy. Guess who's that? He works for NameCheap... so sketchy.

He also uses fake whois. See vmd.us (9499 Market Street does not exist in San Francisco)

 

[000]

I see what you're saying, and ya I'm sure it's all according to their policy, but it's a policy that's gonna have to go before they see another dime from me. The hundred domains I've still got there are being transferred elsewhere. Why pay more for less? Namecheap needs to get their shit together before they go the way of Moniker.

Also, you cannot impugn another Registrars Terms and Conditions on any other Registrar.

Ummm, sure I can. This is not revolutionary stuff here. If ICANN allows 40 days before a domain goes into redemption status, I expect 40 days from my registrar. Simple as that.

 

[000]

I don't see anything shady about that as all, sorry.

If I have domains available to be reactivated, they should be shown somewhere in my account. I shouldn't have to "contact them".

Always put your domains on auto-renew and problem solved. In the end, you let your domains expire and are now mad

Auto-renew actually has its share of downsides and is not always the best way to go for everyone and every portfolio. And if you actually read my post you'd see I don't even care about the expired domain. I wouldn't renew it for reg fee. I'm just pointing out yet another way in which Namecheap is a shitty registrar.

Namecheap wants to be compensated for the extra work required to reclaim them. Despite how trivial you may think it is, it is not their actions that necessitated the extra work, it's yours.

Lol. Extra work required to reclaim them? You're kidding, right? It's $200 extra, and only applies to certain domains. If they don't want the domain, they charge $0 extra to redeem it, even if it expired on the same day. The only "extra work" is self-inflicted on their part. In my eyes, a proper registrar would allow me to log in and do it all myself, and not charge an exorbitant sum of $200 after just 27 days.

 

[cocaseco]

I think that's a tad harsh. @-T- has mentioned some genuine criticism about not seeing redeemable domains is his account. This is a valid point. The 27days however isn't so valid since he knows it because it's in their ToS, which he has read. If he dislikes that he should go elsewhere. Based just on the expiry terms alone, you cannot beat GoDaddy. If that is the only thing you are considering.

My opinion is that he created the problem by not properly managing his renewals. I have never missed a renewal and I don't expect to. If I had, i can guarantee you I will not be on a public forum complaining about anybody else and how they failed to protect me or make it easier for me to fix the problem I created. You may however, find me on a public forum berating myself for making a stupid mistake and taking full responsibility for allowing the situation to occur in the first place. I have high expectations of myself, and others that are trying to run a serious DN business. There is already so much that can go wrong in our business, that is outside our control, why not make the things we can control rock solid and fail safe where we can? If that's harsh, so be it.

 

[Kate]

If the domain truly is in redemption status, then it is expensive to redeem. I heard the procedure is manual, not sure if this is still the case.
I don't think there is one registrar charging less than $80 for this. But some are charging up to $200 and even a bit more. While Nodaddy have more generous terms when it comes to expired domains, they leave a lot to be desired. And in spite of their name, NameCheap are not that cheap anymore. They used to be decent in the early days when there was a limited choice of registrars.

 

[Kate]

Some transparency is called for here.

@enetwork

 

[SpareDomains]

I tend to use my GoDaddy & GoDaddy reseller account for 99% of my domains, mainly cause since GoDaddy is the 800 lb Gorilla in the room in terms of registration numbers I figure it would be harder for some rogue employee to keep up with expiring domains as way too many to track compared to competitors. Rare that I drop anything though.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/30-Abbey-St-San-Francisco-CA-94114/15143800_zpid/

 

[000]

@-T- It's an open marketplace. You are free to take your domains anywhere you want. Even back to GoDaddy, who now seem the most flexible towards Domain Owners than they have ever been.

Exactly why GoDaddy's gonna get my $800 and not Namecheap..... they're moving in a better direction, at a better price, with better policies, oh and a little thing called phone support...

 

[000]

You should really be renewing your domains before they expire

Very true, and thankfully the domain in question isn't one I even care to renew. But, when you have hundreds or thousands of domains, once in a while something is bound to slip through the cracks, and I - like many - have over the years accidentally let domains expire that were worth thousands of dollars. Having an extra two weeks to renew (without penalty) can be a big deal.

 

[cocaseco]

I don't see anything shady about that as all, sorry. Always put your domains on auto-renew and problem solved. In the end, you let your domains expire and are now mad because Namecheap wants to be compensated for the extra work required to reclaim them. Despite how trivial you may think it is, it is not their actions that necessitated the extra work, it's yours.

 

[Name Trader]

I - like many - have over the years accidentally let domains expire that were worth thousands of dollars. Having an extra two weeks to renew (without penalty) can be a big deal.

Tell me about it

 

[Name Trader]

@-T- I agree that you should see all the domains in your account that can be reactivated and you should be able to re-activate (renew) them without any intervention from the Registrar. Dynadot's de/reactivation starts at Day 35 but if the domain has been sold at auction, you cannot reactivate it (unlike at GoDaddy). But even after it has been returned to the Registrar after 45 days, you can reactivate it automatically by paying Dynadot's Redemption Fee ($65) plus renewal, and still without any intervention from Dynadot. It's all automatic. Of course it's very rare that a domain which doesn't get picked up at the auction, you'd want to renew. But it has happened to me once or twice

I also agree with you about pros and cons of auto registration. I don't use this feature. But there is something to be said for automatically renewing your valuable domains. As I said. I don't use this feature as I prefer to be fully in control of my expenditures/cash flow. It would be a lot of extra work programming all those automatic renewals accurately into your cash flow.

As for your last comment. As I've said before. These terms are not out of the ordinary for a lot of registrars. Comparing NameCheap by themselves to GoDaddy is a tad unfair. GoDaddy probably has the best domain expiry terms of any registrar.

 

[cocaseco]

The only "extra work" is self-inflicted on their part. In my eyes, a proper registrar would allow me to log in and do it all myself, and not charge an exorbitant sum of $200 after just 27 days.

It's clear you have never had to do cost accounting for your own business or you would understand. I had no doubt that you would be able to handle objective criticism, but thought i'd try, my bad. Its also ignorant to assume I haven't read your post.

If you are unable to see and accept any fault on your part, then the only way you will be happy is with your own registrar, so start one up and do it your way. I suspect you will have a change of heart when people start to infringe on your profitability or opportunity. I have very little patience for people who expect everyone else to fix the problems they created, or those who can't take responsibility for their own mistakes, especially when they were the root cause of any subsequent problems.

 

[Name Trader]

It's clear you have never had to do cost accounting for your own business or you would understand. I had no doubt that you would be able to handle objective criticism, but thought i'd try, my bad. Its also ignorant to assume I haven't read your post.

If you are unable to see and accept any fault on your part, then the only way you will be happy is with your own registrar, so start one up and do it your way. I suspect you will have a change of heart when people start to infringe on your profitability or opportunity. I have very little patience for people who expect everyone else to fix the problems they created, or those who can't take responsibility for their own mistakes, especially when they were the root cause of any subsequent problems.

I think that's a tad harsh. @-T- has mentioned some genuine criticism about not seeing redeemable domains is his account. This is a valid point. The 27days however isn't so valid since he knows it because it's in their ToS, which he has read. If he dislikes that he should go elsewhere. Based just on the expiry terms alone, you cannot beat GoDaddy. If that is the only thing you are considering.

 

[000]

If you are unable to see and accept any fault on your part, then the only way you will be happy is with your own registrar

Lol, dude, you're missing the point of my post... I posted this to inform anyone who may not know how Namecheap works. I'm not here demanding that Namecheap correct some "error" that they made. I understand it's their policy. I understand it's all spelled out in the fine print. I understand they're free to more or less run their business as they please. I understand this post isn't going to do anything. But the only way to push them to be more competitive is to actually say something about it and make sure people know about the practice in the first place...

 

[000]

If the domain truly is in redemption status, then it is expensive to redeem.

That's the issue, they're trying to charge $200 only 28 days post expiration... which is well before it hits redemption status. GD never charges more than $80, and that's not until ~ day 41.

I agree GD has issues of its own. There's no perfect registrar. I get that. But to charge $200 before it's even in redemption status, is a total rip-off !

 

[Kate]

It is the grace period that varies from one registrar to another. That is the period between expiry and start of redemption period. The registrar can send the domain to redemption from day one if they want.

So the name could really be in redemption. Check the whois. On the other hand, Nodaddy like to confuse customers and charge out of redemption fees for names that are still in grace period.

 

[Name Trader]

If the domain truly is in redemption status, then it is expensive to redeem. I heard the procedure is manual, not sure if this is still the case.
I don't think there is one registrar charging less than $80 for this. But some are charging up to $200 and even a bit more. While Nodaddy have more generous terms when it comes to expired domains, they leave a lot to be desired. And in spite of their name, NameCheap are not that cheap anymore. They used to be decent in the early days when there was a limited choice of registrars.

Dynadot charge $69.99 for this (I think I mentioned $65 from memory above).

 

[Name Trader]

That's the issue, they're trying to charge $200 only 28 days post expiration... which is well before it hits redemption status. GD never charges more than $80, and that's not until ~ day 41.

I agree GD has issues of its own. There's no perfect registrar. I get that. But to charge $200 before it's even in redemption status, is a total rip-off !

So you are saying approx 50% (or more) of the Registrars are ripping us off? I haven't re-checked, but I'd be pretty sure eNom charge the same price, also with the restricted number of days. 27 instead of 45. I also recall Big Rock charging something similar. In fact most Registrars are similar

From memory. It was ICANN who strongly suggested the renewal price being approximately this price. It was designed to be onerous to encourage owners to renew their domains on time. But it was meant for domains which have been returned to the Registry (46 days after expiry).

The problem with the length of time is different to the price. This reduced length of time is because the Registrars want to (and are) auctioning these expired domains off and they want the auction winner to take ownership of the domain. Trampling all over the original owners rights (in accordance to ICANN). GoDaddy, to their credit, have said they are more concerned about the original owner rights (Complying with ICANN) than permitting the auction winner to take possession of the domain, violating the original owners rights. IMHO.

So you can win an expiring auction on GoDaddy and still not win the domain if the original owner renews or transfers the domain. GoDaddy gain a great deal of respect and credibility, in my eyes, for their approach on this issue. I give them great Kudos for how they handle this. If it was only for this, they'd have a 2nd chance with my domain portfolio. The fact that the original owner can make this decision even after the auction is completed, is to GoDaddy's credit. Determination to protect original owners rights trumping any profit they might make from the auction. If only all Registrars had the same principals it would be a better place for us Domainers.

 

[AzN]

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