I sold a domain via fast transfer last month, registered at NameSilo. The domain did not move automatically.
I messaged the TA agent more than a dozen times, notifying them that the transfer was stuck. The TA agent did not have the courtesy of apologizing for the delay in transferring the domain, let alone provide any updates, or even tell me they were aware of the issue. In fact, while I tried numerous times to get Afternic to move the domain to the buyer in a timely manner, the TA agent did not reply me a single time. Complete radio silence. This has happened several times in the past. And when I do get a reply from TA agents, they tend to reply with a level of snark that is just unbelievable. They're earning a 20% commission o
I don't understand why Afternic workers would be so antagonistic towards sellers and buyer, refusing to respond to sellers, or responding rudely, and refusing to move domains to buyers in an expedient manner. They work
for sellers and buyers, but it feels like they work
against us. The domain was moved via fast transfer after several weeks had passed by, and without the TA agent ever responding or providing any updates.
I've also had domains registered at namesilo sell via fast-transfer and transfer just fine both before and after that, so I'm not sure why it affects some domains and not others. I really hope that it won't affect any domains in the future, because dealing with Afternic's TA agents is just really frustrating when they don't reply, and unpleasant when they do.
I've also emailed
[email protected] with basic requests, and they struggle more than ever with basic tasks. For example, when I'm contacting them about removing already listed domains I've won in auctions, it goes like this:
Arca: Please remove these the outdated listings for these domains.
Nearly a week passes by.
Afternic: The domains have been removed.
Arca: Please check again, you did not remove all the domains. I'm still not able to list the domains.
Nearly a week passes by.
Afternic: We have removed the domains.
Arca: Sorry to ask again, but you have still not removed these domains!
Another week passes by.
Afternic: We have removed the domains.
And they do indeed manage to do it eventually. But why does it have to take so many weeks, and so many emails? It would be wonderful if they could respond within 24 hours and actually have fixed what I asked them to fix.
We're doing Afternic a favor by notifying them of outdated listings. If a listing by a former domain owner sells, the seller won't be able to fulfill the sale due to not owning the domain anymore. Its a bad experience for the buyer, and tarnishes the image of the registrar where he bought it. And we, as the new domain owner, lose out on sales opportunities (and Afternic lose out on potential commission fees) when we can't get some domains listed on Afternic. Everyone loses. They should be jumping at the opportunity to remove outdated domain listings and cleaning up their marketplace. Why are they dragging their feet and putting so little effort into removing old listings?
And recently when I contact
[email protected] about domains stuck in "in review", they just respond that my account has no domains stuck in "in review." But there are clearly domains stuck in "in review" status. So I contact them again. They deny it again. I contact them again with screenshots of every single domain stuck in "in review", and they finally admit that they are stuck in review and fix it. I understand that denying that there is any issue is the fastest way to deal with a customer support email at that moment, but it's such a self-sabotaging way to deal with an issue. Someone from Afternic will have to deal with the issue eventually. And as long as the domain is stuck in "in review" they won't be able to earn a commission on those domains. Afternic staff seem to forget that Afternic is in the business of facilitating the sales of domains, not blocking the sales of domains...
And my bank account remains frozen due to Afternic's lies to my bank. I don't know what will happen to it eventually, but from reading about other's experience in various forum, I fear that it's going to be terminated. A check that was supposed to last a few days would not last this long if they thought my proof was okay (though since I had no way to prove GoDaddy's lies, I obviously understand why they haven't unfrozen my account).
I've opened a new bank account with another bank and just received my first fraudulent payment of "online advertising income" from GoDaddy... How long is it going to be before GoDaddy gets this bank account frozen too? As a brand new customer, I fear that it won't be too long. I have no way of proving GoDaddy's lies. So I have no choice but to open a third and fourth bank account to prepare for that eventuality. Why does GoDaddy insist on falsifying payment details when they pay international sellers? I don't understand why they insist on being such a dishonest company. We're living in a world of strict KYC, AML, and other regulations, yet GoDaddy is set on lying and getting international seller's bank account's frozen. I just don't understand the thinking behind how they are operating these two companies. It's like they think they'd go bankrupt if they provided good honest service to users.
