I have often read threads with titles like "GoDaddy stole my domain". To be honest, they have always annoyed. me. After all, why would a multi-million dollar registrar be bothered with "stealing" someone's domain? :confused:

Well, I'm now second guessing myself. I hope I'm wrong, but by all accounts, I simply cannot explain what happened here. Let me explain.

I have a good (credible) friend who owns (owned) a domain via GoDaddy. Admittedly, he left it to the last minute to renew it (bad, bad, shame, shame). In the last week before expiry, he clicked to process payment via Paypal. Done. However, he never received the automated confirmation email that usually follows payment. Unfortunately, he did not notice that. So he moved on. In the following week, he noticed that the domain was now expired. He then immediately contacted GoDaddy about it. Apparently, the payment he made just never got through. By the time he got a reply back, he saw that the domain was now renewed and in someone else's name.

Huh??? :confused:

I have noticed the following: Let's say that a domain was originally registered in 2000. If the domain lapses, and the current registrant recovers the domain before it opens up to the public, the creation date remains as 2000.

However, if the name opens up and a new person buys it, then when doing a whois, the new creation date would now show 2006.

Well, my friend's domain shows a new owner, with 2000 as the creation date. The only conclusion I can draw is that someone in GoDaddy took possession (or allowed someone else to take possession) when they shouldn't have. After all, the only person who should have had a right to renew a lapsed domain a mere week after lapsing should have been the current(previous) owner.

Yet, it ended up in a new person's possession.

Please explain to me why/how this has happened without foul play.

Vito

maybe it hasn't updated?
godaddy's software is flawed? (most registrars software is in one way or another)
if your friend renewed before expiration, he certainly should contact godaddy with proof
even though your friend didn't receive a confirmation email, there should be a receipt within his account of money dispensed
worth a shot

He has contacted them (several times) by phone since expiry to find out what is going on. They just claim ignorance and say they will look into it. Meanwhile, weeks later, whois shows a new owner, and the site is now online!!!

Vito

does he have the proof he sent godaddy a payment?
they all say the same thing until a higher up tells them differently

Not sure, to be honest. He never received the confirmation email, but I don't know if he can show proof in his PP account of having sent payment.

Vito

well...jeez
should be a receipt sitting right there
if there isn't, he simply clicked the wrong buttons and didn't renew

A screen shot of the payment at PayPal might help. Personally, I think your friend has been too lenient with GoDaddy.

What GoDaddy does when a name expires is put it up for auction. It's probably been bought at auction. Your friend can renew the domain after it expires during the redemption period (I think that's 14 days at GoDaddy, maybe 30 days at most) by paying the renewal fee plus a redemption fee (which I think is $160 at GoDaddy). After the grace period it's gone forever if taken by someone else.

I think that your friend needs to talk to the supervisor or manager and explain the situation to them instead of being fobbed-off by 1st level support. But I fear it's beyond redemption at this point. It's what happens when companies get big, they screw up but won't unscrew-up their mistakes and the customer (one of millions) loses. I'm not necessarily saying they screwd-up in this case, but they're only following their in-house proceedures.

Good luck to your friend. But unless he can really prove payment, it's going to be a lost cause. If he can prove payment, then he maybe has a slight chance, but it's going to be a hard won victory.

I would recommend just calling Godaddy customer service to get the matter resolved