discuss Scammed on GoDaddy auctions!!

[JudgeMind]

A month ag I won auctions for two LLLL .com domains on godaddy. These were both public auction. I paid for the auctions then I sent the sellers info for transfers. A week and a half went by and I did not hear from the sellers nor did I receive either domains into my godaddy acct. I sent messages to sellers two more times after that. At this point it had been 3 weeks and still no response. I sent an email to godaddy explaining what happened and that I needed their assistance getting my domains or getting a refund. Here is their response:

As we are a payment processing service rather than an escrow service, we hold the funds for a specified period of time, and must release the funds at the end of that period unless we as your agent receive a dispute. As a dispute had not been received during the 15 day period described in the agreement, your funds have already been released to the seller. Any request for return of the funds will need to be made directly to the seller. However, we cannot intervene further. Once the 15-day Transaction Assurance period is completed, the window of opportunity to dispute the transaction has closed and we are limited in ways to help.

 

[bmugford]

I am GoDaddy supporter, but this is not acceptable. If this is the current process then GoDaddy needs to change it immediately.

If the domain transfer does not happen automatically, then GoDaddy at bare minimum should make sure the transfer has completed before releasing payment to the seller.

I would do what RevolutionaryDomains said and contact Joe Styler.

Brad

 

[STELLAR]

I have sold quite a few domains on Godaddy and they do have this 15 day period thing. Basically if I sold a domain that is NOT registered with GD after the 5 day window when Godaddy verifies the funds Godaddy would send a mail asking to get in touch with the buyer and transfer the domain. As a seller then I would use Godaddy system to send them a message that goes to them as an email and their response comes as an email to my inbox.

If there is no response from the buyer within these 15 days, funds get transferred to the seller automatically (irrespective of the transfer status of the domain although Godaddy would send multiple reminders to the seller to transfer the domain but throughout the process they would be in dark about its status and would care less) or if before that the buyer claims a refund for some reason or confirms that they have received the domain then only would Godaddy take any action.

@JudgeMind you're right its Godaddy who'd lose here plus if they take any action against you after the chargeback thats again not a good thing.

Why did you not get in touch with Goaddy within those 3 weeks?

 

[Psychedelic.us]

A month ag I won auctions for two LLLL .com domains on godaddy. These were both public auction. I paid for the auctions then I sent the sellers info for transfers. A week and a half went by and I did not hear from the sellers nor did I receive either domains into my godaddy acct. I sent messages to sellers two more times after that. At this point it had been 3 weeks and still no response. I sent an email to godaddy explaining what happened and that I needed their assistance getting my domains or getting a refund. Here is their response:

As we are a payment processing service rather than an escrow service, we hold the funds for a specified period of time, and must release the funds at the end of that period unless we as your agent receive a dispute. As a dispute had not been received during the 15 day period described in the agreement, your funds have already been released to the seller. Any request for return of the funds will need to be made directly to the seller. However, we cannot intervene further. Once the 15-day Transaction Assurance period is completed, the window of opportunity to dispute the transaction has closed and we are limited in ways to help.

Wow are you serious? This is insane. I would demand for them to settle this. I would not let this shit go. You tell them you need to speak to the manager, send letters, and post on message boards. GoDaddy personnel review boards/forums for customer feedback throughout the Interweb. I am really sorry that happened to you but they are 100% responsible for this. Not you. You did everything you were supposed to do.

 

[Jen-Sin]

I think besides sending multiple reminders to the seller to transfer the domain, GoDaddy should at least send multiple reminders to the buyer too to file a dispute by a certain deadline if a domain is not delivered.

And also highlight these in red whenever we log in to GoDaddy, just like how they highlight expiring and expired domains to remind us to renew.

 

[Psychedelic.us]

I was under the impression domains are automatically transfered from sellers?

Same here! That's what they did with me when I sold domains. They automatically took them from my account.

 

[Keith DeBoer]

Thanks for posting this is good info for other domainers to be aware of so we can avoid the same misfortune.

 

[Domainace]

This is completely unprofessional and, I suspect, illegal. To add insult to injury, Godaddy didn't even offer their own fee back. I would think that they would refund you, as I can't imagine them winning if you were to take them to court.

How difficult can it be to automatically email a buyer to let them know that payment will be completed unless they dispute?

 

[Psychedelic.us]

I used credit card. Not sure how I can reverse those payments

Normally your credit card company is good for that. I was almost ripped off for a domain on eBay. The best credit card service that offers supreme services for reversing the charges is American Express.

 

[cocaseco]

Don't be concerned with GoDaddy being mad about a chargeback or being out $300 lol....they are a multi, multi-million dollar company with standard accounts to write off losses, much bigger than this, on a daily basis.

 

[forge]

@JudgeMind you're right its Godaddy who'd lose here plus if they take any action against you after the chargeback thats again not a good thing.

GoDaddy will lose nothing. Per their TOS:

In the event of a payment chargeback, GoDaddy will deduct the amount of the Payment from Seller’s Payment Method on file. In the event that chargeback experience is high, as determined by GoDaddy, GoDaddy reserves the right to hold back twenty percent (20%) of all Seller’s Payments for ninety (90) days from the date the Payment was to be paid.

 

[BasedBeyond]

Damn man, I'm sorry for your situation.

 

[forge]

I have sold quite a few domains on Godaddy and they do have this 15 day period thing. Basically if I sold a domain that is NOT registered with GD after the 5 day window when Godaddy verifies the funds Godaddy would send a mail asking to get in touch with the buyer and transfer the domain.

Also, according to GoDaddy Auctions TOS, it is a period of "approximately 20 days". Frankly, once you read the fine print, you may never want to buy another domain using GoDaddy Auctions.

Caveat emptor.

 

[forge]

I think besides sending multiple reminders to the seller to transfer the domain, GoDaddy should at least send multiple reminders to the buyer too to file a dispute by a certain deadline if a domain is not delivered.

As a business, I am sure they have no compelling reasons for doing so. Also, you will note in their TOS that a dispute has to be submitted to GoDaddy within FOUR days of the sale date.

By the way, I guarantee that if you call GoDaddy Auctions Support within 4 days when you're confronted with an unresponsive seller, they will give you all sorts of reassurances that you should continue to wait it out, no need to worry, GoDaddy has nothing to gain from holding your money, etc., etc.

 

[Paully]

I think besides sending multiple reminders to the seller to transfer the domain, GoDaddy should at least send multiple reminders to the buyer too to file a dispute by a certain deadline if a domain is not delivered.

And also highlight these in red whenever we log in to GoDaddy, just like how they highlight expiring and expired domains to remind us to renew.

THIS is spot on. Exactly what is missing from GoDaddy's process and why things like this happen.

Unfortunately, the only recourse open to the OP is to chargeback, and while I wouldn't recommend it if the OP has other domains and regular business with Godaddy, it is definitely worth at least threatening the domain owner with it unless the transfer is effected.

It probably won't achieve anything but I would also file a dispute with the holding registrar and send all proof of your purchase.

 

[ApeXX]

That's a disgrace -- I've been a fan of GoDaddy in the past but this is not acceptable. I have not run into this problem before but can 100% say I will not bid in another GoDaddy auction until this is resolved.

 

[Jen-Sin]

As a business, I am sure they have no compelling reasons for doing so. Also, you will note in their TOS that a dispute has to be submitted to GoDaddy within FOUR days of the sale date. Even worse, merely submitting such a formal dispute jeopardizes your chances of receiving a 100% refund of the price you paid, i.e. the amount that is rightly yours to have refunded. GoDaddy reserves the right to impose a 20% "administrative fee". But -- but -- Transaction Assurance, doesn't that term still make you feel all warm and fuzzy and... secure?!

Is FOUR days enough?

Even if the sold domain is registered in GoDaddy, they hold our money for (I think) 5-7 days before automatically pushing the domain into our account.

Basically if I sold a domain that is NOT registered with GD after the 5 day window when Godaddy verifies the funds Godaddy would send a mail asking to get in touch with the buyer and transfer the domain.

Is FOUR days enough?

And since we are used to the 1 week wait whenever we buy from GoDaddy auctions, is 2 weeks a reasonable time for an externally-registered domain sales?

Also it takes up to 5 days for a transfer to take place. BTW, buyer has to pay additional transfer fee right?

Obviously the TS was patient enough to give the seller time and benefit of doubt, unfortunately the TOS bites back at his kindness. There should at least be equal protection for the buyer, if not more.

 

[campout]

They should probably not allow non-GD names to be sold on their platform if they won't/can't keep this from happening.

 

[forge]

Is FOUR days enough?

Even if the sold domain is registered in GoDaddy, they hold our money for (I think) 5-7 days before automatically pushing the domain into our account.

You know -- that point is spot on, and how could I have missed it? Of course 4 days is not sufficient, and as you say, payment has not even cleared at that point.

After a week, then I start to worry -- a lot. But from GoDaddy's standpoint, is that already too late for a dispute? Talk about a disconnect.

 

[Jen-Sin]

As we are a payment processing service rather than an escrow service, we hold the funds for a specified period of time, and must release the funds at the end of that period unless we as your agent receive a dispute. As a dispute had not been received during the 15 day period described in the agreement, your funds have already been released to the seller. Any request for return of the funds will need to be made directly to the seller. However, we cannot intervene further. Once the 15-day Transaction Assurance period is completed, the window of opportunity to dispute the transaction has closed and we are limited in ways to help.

Also, according to GoDaddy Auctions TOS, it is a period of "approximately 20 days". Frankly, once you read the fine print, you may never want to buy another domain using GoDaddy Auctions.

As a business, I am sure they have no compelling reasons for doing so. Also, you will note in their TOS that a dispute has to be submitted to GoDaddy within FOUR days of the sale date. Even worse, merely submitting such a formal dispute jeopardizes your chances of receiving a 100% refund of the price you paid, i.e. the amount that is rightly yours to have refunded. GoDaddy reserves the right to impose a 20% "administrative fee". But -- but -- Transaction Assurance, doesn't that term still make you feel all warm and fuzzy and... secure?!

15 days, 20 days and 4 days have been said here, which is correct?
Whoever been reading the TOS, please point the link(s) here.
@Joe Styler, please clarify.

 

[forge]

Here is a link to GoDaddy's Auctions Membership Agreement:

https://www.godaddy.com/agreements/showdoc.aspx?pageid=dna_member
(Skip to 3rd paragraph in 2. Description of Services)

Here is a link I found interesting because it is almost identical to the situation presented in this thread:

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...9-need-advice-regarding-godaddy-problems.html

Other posts on the Interwebs seem to indicate that back when GoDaddy Auctions was TDNAM, there was a 30-day "Transaction Assurance" window. I vaguely recall that also.

Apparently "they" (GoDaddy) managed to whittle that down to 15 days. Except that, as far as I can see, even their current TOS refers to an "approximately 20 days" window.

So the question remains, where does this "15 days" come from?