Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Domain Names : Dreamhost: domain transfer farce

[hobbes7]

Hi WHT,

I'm a long-time reader of WHT, and have found it an excellent source of info and advice. I now need some specific advice. Here's a quick run-down of my situation.

1. I initiated 3 domain transfers from NameCheap to Dreamhost. All were well within their expiry date. Happy days. All these domains were at Dreamhost previously. I was moving them back.

2. All 3 transfers initially failed (auth code failure) but on subsequent attempts I got "2300 Transfer Pending" codes. OK, no problem. I'll wait.

3. NameCheap acknowledged the transfers via email, and they were all transferred to Dreamhost. Dreamhost had to refresh their panel for them to appear. All good.

4. Just 5 minutes after the domains were transferred, Dreamhost deleted one of them from the registry. I raised an urgent ticket, and was told that the domain had expired 6 months previously.

5. Before transfer, the WHOIS of the domain stated the expiry date was July 2011, which matched exactly the date in the NameCheap panel.

6. Dreamhost said "It looks as though the last time we see domain.com renewed was on 2009-06-24, but nothing after this." Well, because I renewed it at NameCheap, dreamhost, as per the WHOIS!

7. All pleas were ignored, and I had to pay $120 to retrieve the domain from the redemption period and renew for 2 extra years. But, the expiry date is STILL July 2011.

So, my domain which was due to expire end of July 2011 at NameCheap was promptly deleted by Dreamhost 5 minutes after it was transferred. After redeeming it, and paying for 2 years renewal, the expiry date is still July 2011, although the Dreamhost panel says July 2012.

I would like my $100 back, because I believe Dreamhost deleted it in error.

I've raised tickets with both NameCheap and Dreamhost, with no joy so far.

Could someone who knows about the mechanics of transferring domains please comment on my case. My gut feeling is that Dreamhost has relied on "their" records without checking the actual WHOIS of the domain. But, I would like a second (and third!) opinion from the fine folk here.

Yours very frustrated,
Richard

[netearth]

If I were you, instant ICANN complaint against dreamhost.

You can also request eNom and get some other places like domaintools screen shots to confirm your side of the story. And the registry site http://registrar.verisign-grs.com/whois/ if a .com take screen shot as it will show the creation date which you will need. A domain that expired would go from expiry to deleting in 80 days, not 180ish as dreamhost are claiming.

[hobbes7]

Thanks for the response.

I appreciate your confirmation of an issue. I was wondering if there was some strange ICANN rule that I had breached.

Trouble is, I don't have the required level of membership at domaintools to get the WHOIS history.

Richard

[netearth]

Originally Posted by hobbes7

Thanks for the response.

I appreciate your confirmation of an issue. I was wondering if there was some strange ICANN rule that I had breached.

Richard

All you did was transfer a domain, unless there is something I don't know :-)

Last time I checked, ICANN love their 20 or 18 cents when a transfer happens.

[ldcdc]

My gut feeling is that Dreamhost has relied on "their" records without checking the actual WHOIS of the domain.

I'm quite sure your gut feeling is right on this one. Their system records all sorts of stuff.

I recall having played around doing mock orders (just to check if the coupon was working) but never actually ordering. Obviously the form was full of "ddadasdfasdfsadf".

Well, months or years later, I ordered properly, and almost had the order flagged as fraud. They had a record of my mock orders, and they were all showing up apparently.

So, I suppose yours is probably just another situation that their programmers didn't take into account (someone transferring domains in an out). Still, it's odd that they didn't catch it until now. I doubt you're the first person to do it.

[astutiumRob]

Originally Posted by hobbes7

So, my domain which was due to expire end of July 2011 at NameCheap was promptly deleted by Dreamhost 5 minutes after it was transferred. After redeeming it, and paying for 2 years renewal, the expiry date is still July 2011, although the Dreamhost panel says July 2012.

I'd suggest you move it before you lose it again in July due to their system having a date different to the registry.

Originally Posted by hobbes7

please comment on my case

Pick a more responsible/reliable registrar next time.

[dwrunyon]

Now this is truly disheartening. I've used DreamHost as my registrar for a few years now and really loved them... so much is just *right* with them for my tastes, but this is terrifying.

I would imagine that they have the access to just check the whois history and see the evidence for your case and simply fix this issue for you, and this, in my opinion, is what should have been done on your first ticket *before* charging you the retrieval fee.

[CrazyPenguin]

I would like to see a response from Dreamhost to explain their side of the details in this situation.

[hobbes7]

Thanks for the all the responses.

Yes, I am also disheartened because Dreamhost support may have been slow in the past, they have always resolved my issues. In this case their response has been "No, OUR records say you're wrong. Cough up $100!"

My ticket has been moved to senior management at Dreamhost. I'll update when I have heard back from them.

Edit: If this is not resolved quickly, I'll be moving all my domains elsewhere, simply for my own peace of mind. Probably back to NameCheap.

The worst thing about this is I had to cancel my pre-paid hosting with Dreamhost to find the $100. Nearlyfreespeech.net is now my host.

[hobbes7]

UPDATE: Still no news from Dreamhost. My ticket remains "locked" by support management, which I'm guessing is good rather than bad.

I've described all the steps (ie registration, renewal, transfer, etc), with documentation, to demonstrate that my domain doesn't expire until Jul 2011, as per Verisign's WHOIS.

I can't see what the delay is, but I suppose DH were never the fastest...

[DreamHost-Sean]

I apologize for all the trouble this has caused you. The support manager here dug deeper into the records for that domain, and it seems the problem was with the "authorized through" date. This is a value used on auto-renewals, used to hold a domain for 30 days after the registration expires (and before it would enter the redemption period). To quote our manager: "Because the domain was in our system, then transferred away, and then back again, the authorized date did not update, so the domain was scheduled for deletion." The redemption charge was removed from the account, and it should be all straightened out. I'm sorry again for all the hassle and inconvenience! Please let me know if there's anything else we can do.

[hobbes7]

Originally Posted by DreamHost-Sean

( Please let me know if there's anything else we can do.

Sean, thanks. There is something still outstanding.

As part of the redemption, DH charged me for 2 years renewal on 2011-02-18. This is not reflected in the WHOIS nor the DH panel. The new expiry should be 2013-07-31.

I've raised a ticket, but please could you progress this. This has already taken a week to resolve...

[DreamHost-Sean]

Originally Posted by hobbes7

...As part of the redemption, DH charged me for 2 years renewal on 2011-02-18. This is not reflected in the WHOIS nor the DH panel. The new expiry should be 2013-07-31.

I'm on it!

[DreamHost-Sean]

Alright, should be all good now. I've replied to your ticket, and the renewal charges are credited back to your account (they were put there by the domain redemption script when it thought your domain was to be deleted). You can use the credit to renew the domain separately yourself now if you'd like, or I can process the refund as described in my response to your ticket. Just let me know there. Thanks for your patience!

[hobbes7]

Originally Posted by DreamHost-Sean

Just let me know there.

Thanks Sean. No, leave my balance in my account please.

As per my ticket, I've asked you to give certain Dreamhost support reps a poke in the eye for not listening to my original support tickets. It would not have taken them too much effort to check the facts when I presented them.

Anyway, case closed.