This post is about Go Daddy hijacking their customers’ domain names before they are even expired and asking for a “registry redemption fee” to grant access back to their property. I googled this issue to notice that internets is full of similar stories and yet people do not seem to be fully aware of the GoDaddy’s hijack policy, hence this post.
Shame on you Go Daddy! I was supposed to renew one of my domain names yesterday with Go Daddy as they informed me earlier that it is expiring presently (actually in three days). I logged in to my account just to see that Go Daddy has hijacked my domain. My domain name which will not expire no earlier than in three days was locked to “non-renewal” status. I was asked to pay a redemption fee of 80USD + the renewal fee of 20USD to get my domain back. And we are talking about a domain name which is
- my property and
- not expired.
I felt like I was just robbed.
So I had to study this robbery more specifically. The Go daddy Legal Agreement states as follows:
For certain ccTLDs (.am, .at, .be, .ca, .cn, .com.cn, .net.cn, .org.cn, .de, .eu, .fm, .gs, .it, .jp, .ms, .nu, .nz, .co.nz, .net.nz, .org.nz, .tc, .tk, .tw, .com.tw, .org.tw, .idv.tw, .uk, .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, and .vg), you must renew no later than the 20th of the month prior to the expiration date, or your domain name will be placed in non-renewal status.
When the domain name is in non-renewal status, you can renew the domain name only by calling Go Daddy and requesting that the domain name be renewed. You cannot renew the domain name through your Account Manager. If you fail to manually implement the renewal before the expiration date, the domain name will be cancelled and you will no longer have use of that name. (Source: http://www.godaddy.com/agreements/showdoc.aspx?pageid=REG_SA)
My domain is not expired and I haven’t failed to renew it before the expiration date. They have prevented me to do it. It seems that their legal agreement does not meet reality. In addition to the quotation of the legal notes above they also describe the “Renewal Grace Period” which starst AFTER the domain name has expired. The agreement also states that there is a redemption fee of 80USD for expired domains. So why do I need to pay it?
As I did not renew the domain name before June 20th they set it to “non-renewal” status. In addition, you can renew the domain name only by phoning Go Daddy’s customer service. So I phone. The answer: “We cannot comment on the legal agreement. I can renew your domain but there will be the redemption fee included.” Go **** yourself Daddy.
Finally I had to pay the redemption fee + the renewal to get access to my (un-expired) property hijacked by Go Daddy. Leasson learned. I will transfer all my domain names and web services to another service provider.
Think about it. Banks could ask an extra fee to grant you an access to your savings. GM could ask a fee before opening the doors of your car. Just name it.
People, do not let GoDaddy.com host your domain names. They will hijack them and rob you.
