The GoDaddy Transfer Issue, An Almost Lost Sale and How We Overcame it

[jideofor]

Greetings to you all.

As some of you know, yesterday, I had a problem that had to do with transferring a domain name from my Godaddy account to my buyer's account.

When I started this deal, one thing was very obvious: buyer thought it was a scam and she instructed her web guy to intervene.

I gave two options initially when they requested for how to transfer the domain name and when it appear that they didn't respond, I expanded the transfer option and included Epik, Sedo and Godaddy.

They told me they will get back to me by this week (deal started last week). I waited for the email to come in and by Wednesday, I followed up. We kicked things off with Epik escrow as their choice.

So they paid and when it was time to transfer the domain name, we hit a brick wall. I first tried to transfer the domain name to Epik's Godaddy account with no luck.

Buyer's web guy later insisted that I transfer the domain name directly to them since they had paid already. The Epik transfer was canceled and I proceeded to transfer to buyer with no luck either. I tried as much as possible to explain that the problem has been on for some time.

I think @Rob Monster could sense they were doubting my claims and so he tried to chime once a while. All these bought us some time.

Then almost 24 hours later with no luck, web guy threatened to pull out of the deal if we can not transfer a simple domain name within its parent registrar (new reg). He said it was looking like fraud already. This was his second threat. The first was him asking @Rob Monster when they will get the domain name because (according to him), there have been a lot of scam hitting the US from NIGERIA and Somalia.

You can imagine how I felt for innocently being accused due to fault of Godaddy's inability to handle transfer that previously took just 3 minutes to complete. The web guy could not believe that the fault is from Godaddy and like the typical stereotype that flew around, my country was roped in. I didn't like that at all but I kept my cool!

I pleaded with him to give me time so that I can get a reply from @Joe Styler which never came until after everything. I had to hurriedly create a thread seeking ways out and also sent a link to the other thread created by @Soofi in April on same issue.

It was not too long after the thread that the web guy reached out to Godaddy and he was told that the transfer process had changed.

He was given this link https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GSmyRH4bcPX5fE4g42dG1ko6pnnC2yIVe9aTfAMp-Yo/edit

I went through the Google doc link and that was how we resolved. Apparently, one needed to use incognito mode on chrome to finalize the last stage in order to make everything go smoothly, according to the link.

over 2 weeks ago, I had experience this problem for 2 domain name and Joe Styler helped without referring me to the link above. He did everything back end and that was it. My thought was they would have had solved before my next deal.

Imagine for a second that the web guy didn't reach out to them and just waited for me to resolve it myself, I may have lost this sale with a tag that I almost scammed them.

And all through, he did not speak good of Godaddy. He kept mentioning it and said that was why he left them many years ago. Who knows? He might end up convincing the buyer to move to another registrar and that would be a loss for Godaddy.

After we used the guide in the Google Doc, we successfully transferred the domain name to them and Epik did a nice job all through. They sent me the money same day to my bank account in Nigeria. Thanks to @Rob Monster for making that happen.

 

[Rob Monster]

I just want to acknowledge @jideofor. We helped him out and treated him respectfully on a transaction that was at risk of going down the tubes. @jideofor said he would spread the word in Nigeria, and indeed it is happening as Nigerians are signing up at Epik in quantity. I think Epik should be the #1 registrar in Nigeria. When we get to 500 accounts, we'll plan to open an office there. The domain industry is actually a great example of capitalism working well.

 

[Playz]

Congratulations @jideofor

 

[dande]

Yes I was out of the office and in this day and age in a place with no internet or phone service for a few days. By the time I got back I saw things were already resolved. I'd never tell you to use a google doc to complete a change of account though. I don't know who made it. There are some things we are working through still as we make this change. The end result is a faster easier process believe it or not.
If you can add the customer number you should. Often times I see an error occur because the customer number is not added. This can happen if you have multiple accounts with the same email address. Your cookies think you're in one account and you get the email for the acceptance. Then you login to the other account and boom there is no change because it was sent to an email address and then the cookies picked the other account, not the one you eventually logged into.
That is being worked on to force you to get the name into one account. We've cleaned up almost all the errors and removed much of the issues with the new process as some have commented. At the end of the day we will have a smoother process with less steps and work than the previous process. In the meantime, I apologize and we have support to help if needed.

Another Godaddy with another long story to tell on how simple things are sooo difficult. External transfer should have nothing to do with cookies or candies, once you generate Auth code and impute it on the receiving registrar, that should be it.

 

[Keith]

Yes I was out of the office and in this day and age in a place with no internet or phone service for a few days. By the time I got back I saw things were already resolved. I'd never tell you to use a google doc to complete a change of account though. I don't know who made it. There are some things we are working through still as we make this change. The end result is a faster easier process believe it or not.
If you can add the customer number you should. Often times I see an error occur because the customer number is not added. This can happen if you have multiple accounts with the same email address. Your cookies think you're in one account and you get the email for the acceptance. Then you login to the other account and boom there is no change because it was sent to an email address and then the cookies picked the other account, not the one you eventually logged into.
That is being worked on to force you to get the name into one account. We've cleaned up almost all the errors and removed much of the issues with the new process as some have commented. At the end of the day we will have a smoother process with less steps and work than the previous process. In the meantime, I apologize and we have support to help if needed.

I’ve done thousands of internal transfers over the years at godaddy. The new system of having both parties “approve” via email is broken. I’ve had to call 3 times in 2 weeks because novice account holders have no clue how the process works.

I suggest going back to the old system and skip all the email approval garbage. It’s much more clear, easy, and efficient to just accept via your control panel and be done with it! Oh, also, the number next to the domain is tricky because it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to be clicked. The old format with an open box was much better and obvious.

 

[spikedo]

I’ve done thousands of internal transfers over the years at godaddy. The new system of having both parties “approve” via email is broken. I’ve had to call 3 times in 2 weeks because novice account holders have no clue how the process works.

I suggest going back to the old system and skip all the email approval garbage. It’s much more clear, easy, and efficient to just accept via your control panel and be done with it! Oh, also, the number next to the domain is tricky because it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to be clicked. The old format with an open box was much better and obvious.

Agreed! Even the GoDaddy reps are frustrated with the new system. Nobody wants it!

 

[jideofor]

I just want to acknowledge @jideofor. We helped him out and treated him respectfully on a transaction that was at risk of going down the tubes. @jideofor said he would spread the word in Nigeria, and indeed it is happening as Nigerians are signing up at Epik in quantity. I think Epik should be the #1 registrar in Nigeria. When we get to 500 accounts, we'll plan to open an office there. The domain industry is actually a great example of capitalism working well.

Oh awesome.... Just awesome.

Most payment processors are scared of doing business with Nigerian but I can tell you for a fact that Nigerians are heavy money spenders... which means they are losing out big. For instance, Paypal delayed allowing us to use their service but somewhere along the line, they agreed to let us send but not receive... a year later it was reported that we beat the other Africans in terms of money spent via Paypal within a year. Paypal made more money than they had ever made in Africa.

Same goes to the South African telecom company , MTN. The money they make in Nigeria alone is 4 or 5 times what they make in their home country.

I do hope we will build on this new relationship at Epic. Good luck to us all.

 

[8675309]

I just sold a domain I bought on godaddy auctions one of the stipulations I gave the buyer is I give him the codes and get it the hell out godaddy

 

[Rob Monster]

Just a quick update about Nigeria.

Last month I said that when we get to 500 Epik accounts in Nigeria, we would be looking for a country manager. Well, we are making progress there for sure. We now have 320 customer accounts in Nigeria, and some of them have significant domain portfolios.

I realize that Nigeria has a rather well known reputation for various scams. While it is unfortunate that this image hangs over the country into the Internet age, Epik is an increasingly trusted registrar and marketplace, and will be happy to help folks to get transactions done quickly and securely.

For anyone building websites in Nigeria, I would say take special care to check out Epik's SSL parking landers. This service also uses a Content Delivery Network that should load pages quickly in Nigeria. If there is slowness, please send me a note privately with a TraceRoute and we'll investigate the routing.

Also, we are now actively planning to add the .NG registry as a direct accreditation. If anyone on NamePros is working with .NG, please let me know, or connect with @Sufyan Alani as we would love to work with you to fast-track the direct accreditation for .NG.

Finally, I want to thank the Nigerian domainers at NamePros for choosing Epik, and, Lord-willing, look forward to visiting your country in the coming year to further accelerate our efforts to empower the people of Nigeria with world class digital presence.

 

[Avijit Roy]

@Rob Monster You are the reason I am moving some of valuable domains to Epik. Come to India, I will buy you a beer.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster You are the reason I am moving some of valuable domains to Epik. Come to India, I will buy you a beer.

Thanks Avijit.

As you might already be aware, we have Rajkumar Prasad and Raj Venkateswaran already working for us in India. I will ask them to join NamePros and be more active here.

I am really bullish about India. Some of the most entrepreneurial domainers I have come across from India. I also believe domaining is going to empower a lot of entrepreneurship.

For example, Prakhar Bindal and Aishwin Vikhona are also crushing it at Epik with great success. Prakhar is often a source of some great idea sand has been great ally of Epik.

In the meantim, we have just gotten approved by NIXI for a direct accreditation for .IN. We hope to have it online shortly as we finish the last steps.

Price-wise, we will provide .IN at or slightly below cost as our goal is to be the #1 registrar for professional Indian domainers in due course.

I am also on the lookout for an acquisition in India -- something that brings (1) leadership, (2) technology and (3) geographic/language presence.

As for visiting India, I am planning to come to India in the fall. Rajkumar Prasad has close ties to a number of Ministries and the office of PM Modi. Now that NIXI approved us, he is planning a roadshow.

 

[Avijit Roy]

Thanks Avijit.

As you might already be aware, we have Rajkumar Prasad and Raj Venkateswaran already working for us in India. I will ask them to join NamePros and be more active here.

I am really bullish about India. Some of the most entrepreneurial domainers I have come across from India. I also believe domaining is going to empower a lot of entrepreneurship.

For example, Prakhar Bindal and Aishwin Vikhona are also crushing it at Epik with great success. Prakhar is often a source of some great idea sand has been great ally of Epik.

In the meantim, we have just gotten approved by NIXI for a direct accreditation for .IN. We hope to have it online shortly as we finish the last steps.

Price-wise, we will provide .IN at or slightly below cost as our goal is to be the #1 registrar for professional Indian domainers in due course.

I am also on the lookout for an acquisition in India -- something that brings (1) leadership, (2) technology and (3) geographic/language presence.

As for visiting India, I am planning to come to India in the fall. Rajkumar Prasad has close ties to a number of Ministries and the office of PM Modi. Now that NIXI approved us, he is planning a roadshow.

That's great to hear . Hope to meet you.

 

[jideofor]

Awesome @Rob Monster . You are really willing to help people get across their domain obstacle. Great job!