Domain expiration and renewal problems

[talk4]

I tried recently to change my nameservers on a domain name that I had renewed, and recieved confirmation of renewal as follows a few weeks ago:

Order Number : 666666666
Domain Name : #*$!#*$!xxxxx.com
Domain Id : 44444444444
Expiration Date : 2006-01-21
Years added : 1
New Expire Date : 2007-01-21

After waiting for days for an answer they now tell me that they are refunding me because my renewal was after the 28 days grace period (by a few days).

<Snip - No email quotes per T.O.S.>

I know this has happened to others but their domains had already been reregistered by someone else.

Anyone had any luck getting this kind of situation reversed.

Cheers.

[edited by: Webwork at 2:20 pm (utc) on April 5, 2006]
[edit reason] Charter [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[davezan]

If we're talking about a .com domain name here, sounds like it's been renewed too late. Do a WHOIS lookup, and see if its status is in redemption period or something.

Also check the registrar's deletion policy, see what they say they'll do to an expired name that's not renewed within its grace period.

[stu2]

The way these things usually go is the registrar usually has some kind of grace period where you can renew the domain usually by just paying the renewal fee. In your case that looks like 28 days. Then the registrar's ToS usually say they can whatever they like with the domain, including renew it for themselves, sell it, put it up for auction, or delete it. You should look for it at the auction house which is the preferred partner of your registrar. These are:-

SnapNames - NetSol, Directi, Moniker, Domainsite, (check their website for a full list)
NameWinner - Dotster
ClubDrop - Enom
TucowsAuctions - Tucows
TDnam - GoDaddy

After the registrar's grace period they usually have a redemption period where you can pay a redemption fee (between $80 - $200 depending on registrar). This is usually about the time they are busy auctioning off your domain. You might ask your registrar about their policies about redeeming your domain.

After it's gone to auction and not sold is the time the registrar (sometimes in a timely manner, sometimes not) deletes the domain and it goes back to the registry. If it's a .com/.net domain, then it goes back to Verisign. They have a new policy in place where they hold the domain for a Redemption Period of 30 days. During this time you can still renew the domain by paying your registrar's Redemption Fee.

After that 30 days the domain goes into Pending Delete for 5 days. On the 6th day, it's deleted. Then all those dropcatching services (auction houses listed above are also dropcatchers plus Pool.com) try to grab it if they have backorders for the domain. If they don't pick it up (usually within the 1st minute) then it's available for anyone else to register.

You may notice, that it's very difficult for any desireable name to actually reach the stage where it can be registered by the likes of you or me :(

I don't know how much your domain is worth to you, but talk to your registrar about redeeming your domain and how much it will cost. If you balk at the cost of the Redemption Fee, then look in the auction houses for it. You may get it cheaper there, but it's a big risk of you bidding against someone else who likes your domain.