This is How I lost my Domain Name at Epik.com

[Fadi H]

Hello everyone,

I've been closing my eyes on many things that I didn't like on Epik.com Registrar. But today is the final day and I'm transferring all my domains from there for a Never comeback.

So what happened is that I had a .CO domain hosted at Epik, Which Expired on December 11th 2021. I did not renew it or transfer it as I've been busy and thought I still have time as I know that .CO domains have a 40 day grace period and that's by the registry. And during that grace period domains are transferable and renewable.

Yesterday I logged in to my account and didn't find the domain, So I clicked the blue button and the support agent said that they will look into the matter and reach back to me later.

Today I received the following response :

"Hello Fadi,

The domain expired on December 11, 2021 and the grace renewal period is 15 days which means that the last day that you have to renew your domain was on December 26, 2021. Since renewal did not take place, and someone had a backorder on your domain, the backorder was fulfilled.

We may be able to get in contact with the new owner to help you get your domain back but you might need to provide your best offer so we can send it to our sales team.

Looking forward hearing from you. "

So I clicked back the blue button questioning about that backorder story and I got the following response :

"Thank you for patiently waiting. I have confirmed with our tech team that domain renewals of 40 day grace period is only applicable for domains without back order. You will only get 15 day grace period if there is a backorder for your domain."

But in fact if you visit Epik.com You will not find this backorder story anywhere on the site.

They referred to this link which doesn't help :

https://www.epik.com/support/faq/expired-registration-recovery-policy/

I'm not satisfied with their answers at all and this is the first time I hear of this 15 day back-order story and it's not even mentioned anywhere on the site.

You can see it clearly "After the discretionary grace period the customer's domain is deleted from their account. And deleted domains may be recoverable for up to a total of 69 days after the expiration date.

Where is the 15 day backorder story?

Your opinions matter, Do you think what they did is right?

 

[Daniel Owens]

Learn your lesson mate. Listen to @Daniel Owens he is a seasoned domain name investor of the highest calibre and one of the most respectworthy members in the history on Namepros. He doesn't fish for fun he fries them too in grade a fat. Renew your domain names on time. Move on.

Thanks, for the support Mr. redemo and I hope we have also supported the OP. It's his choice to leave epik or not, I just advise he read policy at new register before moving their or contact the register if it's not clear to make sure he has plenty of time to renew late. Personally, I renew most of my domains early or if not I sell them before expiry. I do understand the steep renewal of .co at $25 probably reason for possible delay in renewal. Also, when it said in most cases after 2 months it can be recovered you probably should have contacted epik to double check and ask also if their was a recovery fee which apparently their is not you just can lose domain after about 2 weeks past expiry.

 

[Rob Monster]

Quick comment here:

- Our policies are published and reasonable. We do have the ability to provide extended grace periods for most TLDs -- as much as 35 days. Usually the people who need that much grace period have larger issues which is why this is handled on a consultative basis.

- Earlier today, Fadi did also reach out to me for an intervention. I replied to him, while on vacation, within an hour and was working towards giving him a remedy that also positions him to succeed at Epik. Unfortunately, he chose not to wait for my reply and then posted a misguided post with a click-bait title. Pity.

- Unfortunately, in light of the inflammatory tone of this NamePros thread, restoring the domain is not going to be an option as we don't bow down to thuggery. That said, we do routinely provide a hand up, and even a hand out, to people in distress and who engage with humility rather than entitlement.

As for remedy, here is what we'll do. The domain backorder has been canceled. The domain is now in liquidation and anyone can bid for it:

http://nameliquidate.com/cashout.co

Half of the proceeds will go to Fadi. The other half will go to support orphans in Pakistan:

https://www.lifefunder.com/orphans

This is part of a larger empowerment project we have been incubating called Orphans.com. We are helping the orphanage to buy a new building.

 

[redemo]

Thanks, for the support Mr. redemo and I hope we have also supported the OP. It's his choice to leave epik or not, I just advise he read policy at new register before moving their or contact the register if it's not clear to make sure he has plenty of time to renew late. Personally, I renew most of my domains early or if not I sell them before expiry. I do understand the steep renewal of .co at $25 probably reason for possible delay in renewal. Also, when it said in most cases after 2 months it can be recovered you probably should have contacted epik to double check and ask also if their was a recovery fee which apparently their is not you just can lose domain after about 2 weeks past expiry.

Still think it's a fishy thread title.

 

[Daniel Owens]

I see the domain was cashout.co interesting domain, it's nice but nothing to lose sleep over, I personally would have contacted ROB (wait you did or maybe wait for reply) before posting this he is a good guy of high moral fiber and might have done something, it's a shame they can't issue you account credit for a different domain or something. However, I think it was more the OP fault than epik but that is my personal opinion and I still feel bad you lost it.

 

[redemo]

I told you not to write fishy thread titles. Eel be more humble next time.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

domains may be recoverable for up to a total of 69 days after the expiration date.

I think the term I bolded is important. It is not that all TLDs can be recovered that long, I think.

 

[Daniel Owens]

I think the term I bolded is important. It is not that all TLDs can be recovered that long, I think.

May or Most is similar to usually but is different than always.

 

[Daniel Owens]

@Rob Monster I love you so much and admire your orphan project, I think I'm a little strapped to buy that but it is good the $'s is going for a good cause and half to OP is pretty fair as you will probably get more for it then if he tried to sell it. Also what's this reverse auction thing, does it mean price is reduced daily? If so he can get it back cheaper then about 1K?

 

[Fadi H]

Quick comment here:

- Our policies are published and reasonable. We do have the ability to provide extended grace periods for most TLDs -- as much as 35 days. Usually the people who need that much grace period have larger issues which is why this is handled on a consultative basis.

- Earlier today, Fadi did also reach out to me for an intervention. I replied to him, while on vacation, within an hour and was working towards giving him a remedy that also positions him to succeed at Epik. Unfortunately, he chose not to wait for my reply and then posted a misguided post with a click-bait title. Pity.

- Unfortunately, in light of the inflammatory tone of this NamePros thread, restoring the domain is not going to be an option as we don't bow down to thuggery. That said, we do routinely provide a hand up, and even a hand out, to people in distress and who engage with humility rather than entitlement.

As for remedy, here is what we'll do. The domain backorder has been canceled. The domain is now in liquidation and anyone can bid for it:

http://nameliquidate.com/cashout.co

Half of the proceeds will go to Fadi. The other half will go to support orphans in Pakistan:

https://www.lifefunder.com/orphans

This is part of a larger empowerment project we have been incubating called Orphans.com. We are helping the orphanage to buy a new building.

Wow, Goodluck with the sale!

Just a quick reply to the points stated here and to clarify my position a bit more.

It's true that I forwarded the email that I received from Epik Support which I shared above to Rob. I questioned about the matter and was having a chat with their support at the same time.

To be honest I didn't accept the fact that Epik gave the domain to someone else, That unclear backorder process that cannot be found anywhere on the site or terms of service and the live chat support suggesting me to Make an offer on the domain as a "resolution" to what happened.

This resulted in a bit of anger especially as the support failed to explain the unclear backorder process. That's why I made the title like that and I stand back on that statement and apologize.

I still stand on my points and don't like what happened and still not finding good answers. If that process is clarified, I think it's good for the community as we can see some people here not happy with the policy and probably no one knew about this backorder process earlier than today.

I also think that revealing the domain in question and deciding what to do with it isn't really a remedy and it doesn't make you a hero. But I just think and the ball is in your court.

Peace.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster I love you so much and admire your orphan project, I think I'm a little strapped to buy that but it is good the $'s is going for a good cause and half to OP is pretty fair as you will probably get more for it then if he tried to sell it. Also what's this reverse auction thing, does it mean price is reduced daily? If so he can get it back cheaper then about 1K?

Looking for the lemonade knowing that Romans 8:28 is in effect.

The remedy seemed as close to even-handed as possible.

As for NameLiquidate, it is a reverse auction - the price bottoms at just $9 and the domain is already renewed.

 

[iAdam]

The good news is someone will be supporting orphans in Pakistan.

 

[alcy]

lol its funny how all em registrar stole.my name threads literally always end up making poster seem like.some clueless newbie amateur

or those dumbazz threads about registrars stealing people searched domains and registering them

I always pee my pants reading em

 

[tiletalk]

How is it fair on the person who backordered the domain now that @Rob Monster has cancelled it and put it out to public auction?

As mentioned in second post of this thread, it seems to be pick and choose as you like

 

[redemo]

or those dumbazz threads about registrars stealing people searched domains and registering them

Are you saying it's never been done?

 

[alcy]

Are you saying it's never been done?

that is exactly what I'm saying

if u think billion dollr company have nothing better to.do than sit around watch what u type into searchbar for a stupid 10$ handreg idea then well... i think u are overestimating yerself or underestimating registars hehe

 

[redemo]

that is exactly what I'm saying

if u think billion dollr company have nothing better to.do than sit around watch what u type into searchbar for a stupid 10$ handreg idea then well... i think u are overestimating yerself or underestimating registars hehe

I have no data so it would be pure conjecture without specific examples. This thread was very interesting. I think we learnt three valuable lessons

1. Always read and understand the terms of service.
2. Re-new your domain name in advance of its expiry date.
3. Being kind to others is the way forward for all of us.

On that note I'm going to love you and leave you.

 

[bmugford]

How is it fair on the person who backordered the domain now that @Rob Monster has cancelled it and put it out to public auction?

As mentioned in second post of this thread, it seems to be pick and choose as you like

I agree with this. You can't really stand by the terms of service when it comes to (15) days, then when there is a backorder just take the domain back after it was fulfilled. How is that fair to the party that played by the rules and backordered the domain?

Brad

 

[adaaja98]

I've expirienced the same thing. I didn't know the grace period only 15 days. But fortunately no one backorder my domain.
Then the CS help me renew my domain, they even let me renew it for just 1 year from the default is minimum 2 years

 

[tiletalk]

I agree with this. You can't really stand by the terms of service when it comes to (15) days, then when there is a backorder just take the domain back after it was fulfilled. How is that fair to the party that played by the rules and backordered the domain?

Brad

hehe. in saying that all my domains are at EPIK as I like their simplicity and Rob has always stepped in and sorted things when aren't being sorted.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Gross to admit you pee your pants in public forum. Hate to do your laundry

lol its funny how all em registrar stole.my name threads literally always end up making poster seem like.some clueless newbie amateur

or those dumbazz threads about registrars stealing people searched domains and registering them

I always pee my pants reading em

Yes registrars track your searches. Twice i searched a name at net sol searching for discount codes and phone rings, hi its net soil, we saw you had a name in the cart. hehe

that is exactly what I'm saying

if u think billion dollr company have nothing better to.do than sit around watch what u type into searchbar for a stupid 10$ handreg idea then well... i think u are overestimating yerself or underestimating registars hehe

Were a little off topic here, but the topic is off topic, as epik never stole his name.

Change title to
I didn’t renew my name in time, now i am feeding hungry orphans because i couldnt wait for Rob to reply.
Fadi, pay up, re buy, its a penalty, feed hungry kids and you get your name back.