Pay attention to your domains we don’t.
A recently received email from GoDaddy regarding our account(s)
stated:
“We recently sent you a notice to review and update the contact information for your domain name(s). This is a
follow-up to that email.
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) requires all accredited registrars to ask their
domain administrators/registrants to review domain name contact data annually, and make any changes necessary to ensure accuracy.
Under ICANN rules and the terms of your registration agreement, PROVIDING FALSE CONTACT INFORMATION CAN BE
GROUNDS FOR DOMAIN NAME CANCELLATION (to review the ICANN policy, visit:
http://www.icann.org/whois/wdrp-registrant-faq.htm) .”
Get the salt out…
The wound is reopened…
It’s been shown in the past GoDaddy uses this little loophole to sell accounts out from under people.
I got wise to the ways of the cyber-thieves who file a grievance stating that the WhoIs information for X-account
is incorrect. The domain service is to investigate any grievances of this sort, and often emails the client using
contact information, and email address. If they find invalid contact information on the WhoIs listing or do not get any reply then the ISP then gets resell the domain!
No kidding? No kidding, just read this little article in detailing the horror the (previous) owner of
FamilyAlbum.com went through
GoDaddy Deletes Domain Name for Inaccurate Email Address.
Well, I think, nothing should be out of order…
we scrupulously checked every page on our account login and updated ALL 6 areas of GoDaddy pertaining to our
remaining website way back in July. All should be well, we think.
Ha! But, no, things are not all right… somehow, over the course of the last few months the City, Zip and Phone details on the Billing Information have all reverted back to previous versions.
We double checked in July and August to ensure accuracy. How could this be?
Somehow those details changed between August and December!
All is right once again. Details were corrected, accuracy ensured.
And, a handy little receipt eMail from GoDaddy confirming that changes were made to the account assures.
No email when the account changed last time. Hum?
But wait, the same sort of method in which I lost my previous domain name is reviewed here
follow up to Tim’s familyalbum.com dilemma
I found this little nugget posted in the comments, #67 from tm
“tm
July 9th, 2007 | 4:35 am
just so anyone can know. In case you have ever lost a domain name, I work at GoDaddy. When a domain expires, if it doesn’t get redeemed or won in auction, it automatically gets purchased by a company called Standard Tactics LLC. This company is owned by a relative of Bob Parsons, the owner of GoDaddy. Nice lil monopoly heh? Bob Parsons sells you a domain name and if you allow it to expire there is an automated system that puts it in his account. There is no way this practice is legal.”
Thanks, TM…
This leads me to some more digging, or clicking as it were, to find this brilliant little article in the Washington Post, December 3, 2008 entitled
GoDaddy Uses Standard Tactics To Warehouse Domains
Most of author Robin Wauters info was gleaned from Andrew’s blog on Domain Name Wire
Standard Tactics, LLC: How GoDaddy Profits from Expired Domains
which explaines how GoDaddy is auctioning off top traffic names for a price or keeping them to themselves to park ads on.
Besides the expiring and auctioning of domain names; the other thing that really gets me is the changing of the database info on accounts and contact information.
I know everything was up to date on our other account when we moved sites because, well, we moved!
Former addresses were never attached to this account, we not longer lived there!!!
Now, we’ve had to go in and change account / contact information twice, what’s up with that?
Something’s fishy here.
Right around another holiday too! I can see how this type of email could be overlooked.
Or bounced.
How much money do they make doing this?
How much money on average does it take a business to rectify this sort of issue?
How much money does a photographer stand to loose if their day-to-day site goes down?
Betting many would pay a pretty penny in order to restore a site that is heavily marketed to clients with. Quickly.
In the end, I had to laugh when I read former GodDaddy employee dirtdaddy’s comment
(#121)
December 17th, 2008 | 4:48 am
Standard Tactics 16 Rules
1. We can keep you out of your comfort zone.
2. Never give up your domains, we sell them behind your back.
3. When you are ready to quit, we have met our goal.
4. Accept the worst possible outcome.
5. Focus on what has just happened to your domains.
6. Take things a day at a time, we take the domains one at the time.
7. If you move forward we can mess you up with our legal beagle.
8. Our Supervisors are trained liars.
9. Remember you are of no significance to us.
10. Anything that we manage will disappear.
11. Pay attention to your domains we don’t.
12. Never push us around we use Standard Tactics
13. Never expect liars to be fair.
14. Solve your own problems we wont.
15. Don’t take us too seriously.
16. There’s no reason to smile.
Check your data… review and update the contact information for your domain name(s),
Someone’s ready to sell your precious name for cold hard cash.
