One of my domains expired and I ended up renewing it through the place I register my domains. I waited for the domain to be activated again, and nothing. I email support and they tell me it is in the redemption period and I have to give them over $200 to get it back. I was given confirmation of payment and reactivation of the domain by their payment system, along with transaction IDs etc. I know that if a domain is not able to be renewed due to the date or expiration, it is not even listed in the domain control panel. Since I paid for it, and their system acknowledged it, is it my fault or theirs?

The first question is where was the domain name originally
registered. Was it with a real domain registrar or a reseller for
one?

If it was the latter, something or someone possibly goofed up
with the reseller. Do contact them right away to clarify this.

If it was the registrar, contact them instead.