I just found out that my domain has been registered by someone else. Turns out my 1-year period expired, and within a couple of days someone had registered it. My registrar claims they sent renewal notices to the admin contact on record, but it seems the admin e0mail info was erroneous so I never got the messages.

I thought registrars (the TOP ones, anyway, which this registrar claims to be now that they are "officially in the Top 20") offerred a grace period (some advertise up to 40 days) as recommended by ICANN? The registrar's response to this is that the 40 days is a guideline, but that they release names at random after the expiration and that once it expires "you don't own it anymore".

Is it reasonable to expect a registrar to be more accomodating to their customers? Do I have any recourse to getting the name back (ICANN's site implies I can appeal this but it will cost money to do.)

Depends on the register, was it the "cheap" register? Cause they have to pay to hold the name themselves. There is nothing that says they have to give a grace period, though it is a courtesy.

Sorry you lost your domain, just next time, remember to re-register on time for any domain in the future.

Originally posted by MyBrotherDan
Is it reasonable to expect a registrar to be more accomodating to their customers?

Not really.

The bottom line is, it's your responsibility as the registrant to not only be aware of your chosen registrar's policies, but to make sure you keep your contact info up-to-date, as well as know when your domains expire. Unfortunately, it looks like you blew it on all three counts.

Do I have any recourse to getting the name back (ICANN's site implies I can appeal this but it will cost money to do.)

If the 40-day thing is merely a guideline and not a rule (I'm not personally familiar with any such guidline/policy), you really have no recourse other than to maybe try to work something out with the domain name's new owner.


-Bob

No James, it was one of the well known "stars" of registrars...13.95/yr

Originally posted by ljprevo
Depends on the register, was it the "cheap" register? Cause they have to pay to hold the name themselves. That's an important point. As I understand it, when the name expires the registrars that choose to offer a "grace period" do so by paying ICANN for the renewal, and then they have period of time during which they can cancel that renewal and get a refund. So basically they are tying up some of their money, hoping to make a profit by still selling the renewal to you.

If they let it just drop, someone else might pick it up through a different registrar, so the plus side for them of offering the grace period is that it increases the chances that they will the ones who carry the name for the next year. So it's a business decision, and some registrars might feel that the cash flow repercussions of holding that name inventory aren't offset by the eventual sales -- or by the improved customer relations.

All CNO domains are renewed automatically when they expire. The registrar then has 45 days in which to DELETE the name and get their money back from the regsitry if the owner does not renew. Some do this in a consistent manner, some do not as you have painfully discovered.

ICANN just recommended a 30 day grace period where a domain cannot be dropped until 30 days after it expires - however this is not formally in effect yet...

Some registrars will actually try to get ahold of their registrants within 30 days of a domain actually expiring (or in our case, after expiration but before the domain drops - since OpenSRS drops on day 40) using phone contact information if the admin email contact no longer works. If the phone contact information is also invalid though, there is not much we can do.

Sorry you lost your domain. Unfortunately there is probably nothing you can do about it now.

-t