I am often astounded at the incompetence of others. One of the major problems with these “virtual assets” is that we rely on other companies to hold them for us. Its not like money, where you can take it out of the bank and put it under your mattress.
Here is a classic example of a story that is unfolding right now about one of my domain names.
The registrar in question, eNom is using the Sgt Schultz defense of “I know nothing” and its driving me crazy. Has this ever happened to you?
Timeline
1. Win NameJet auction on December 4, 2007 and the domain goes into my eNom account.
2. Receive renewal notice on October 20, 2008 from eNom saying that my domain name will expire on 11-30-2008.
3. Try to transfer the domain name out to another registrar. When I try to release the lock at eNom I get “Failed to get Registrar Lock Status“. When I click on “Email Auth Code to Registrant” it says “Domain does not have an AuthInfo key“. Very strange - so I contact eNom support.
4. eNom support say “This domain is not registered with eNom at this time” and that its with “Registrar: DOMAIN JINGLES, INC.”. This is interesting, because I can SEE THE DOMAIN IN MY ACCOUNT !!! I also don’t have an account with Domain Jingles.
5. I check the Domain Jingles whois and it says my domain is “Registration Service Provided By: eNom, Inc.” Hmmm….
6. I update the support ticket with these new facts and receive this response from eNom: “We have forwarded this ticket to our senior technical support staff to research further. Depending on what we find it might be a few days before we have a solution or additional questions for you. I have requested a resolution as quickly as possible to minimize your wait time.”
7. Today I login to my eNom account and the domain name is no longer there. It’s just disappeared! I have received no notices to transfer it out. The whois data is registered under my name and my contact email address. Nothing has changed except that its no longer in my account.
8. I called eNom phone support in the USA. They tell me that the domain is with DomainJingles (who is an eNom reseller) and that I should call them. The support staff also tell me that they will flag this ticket and ask their techo’s to investigate. I explain the obvious concerns I have about:
- Having a domain in my account that suddenly disappeared.
- The fact that the domain name expires in a months time and nobody can tell me where it went!
- The registrar asks me (their customer) to contact THEIR reseller, who I don’t know.
I’ve tried to make contact with Domain Jingles, and will keep you all posted on further developments. In the meantime, if you can think of anything feel free to post a comment.
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Tags: domain name, enom, enom central, hijack, namejet, registrar
October 25th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
The old expression “you get what you paid for” is about to come into sharp focus as the domain bubble bursts.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:16 am
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I’m beginning to think that this field is being overrun by crooks, thieves, spammers, and bad boy moguls.
Please prove me wrong.
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October 26th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I lost two nice domains this year b/c of the inability to pay for them and customer service at the registrars just not responding…..despite legal threats……everything.
I really have stopped bidding most places b/c of this. I lost money bidding for a product I will never truly control if it goes to the wrong register.
Who wants to play Russian roulette with domains auctions?
October 27th, 2008 at 4:25 am
it reminds me of the the situation when you get scammed and the companies just don’t care, we need to check everything 3-4 times t if not more than that.
October 27th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Good comments everyone. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Oh… still no news from eNom on this either.
October 27th, 2008 at 6:36 am
You skipped step 1a. Transfer to my preferred registrar on February 4, 2008.
ALWAYS
October 27th, 2008 at 6:40 am
ALWAYS transfer out 60 days after registration.
Who knows, maybe the enom domain jingles business relationship ended. Still it is enom’s and namejet’s responsibility to transfer out the domain.
Just keep on them.
Tell them you will send a complaint to registrar-info AT icann.org. That usually gets a response.
Good luck.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:02 am
I can perhaps help you, email me.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I hate that drop-catching means that your backorder may go to ANY registrar — companies that you have no relationship with and may not even -want- to do business with. It’s a total cop-out for the major backordering services to treat its customers this way and perpetuate this system.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
This very thing is happening to me now. I told them I will bring a class action aginst them if they loose my name.
October 27th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I typed in “domainjingles.com and the name at the top of the site says dreamregistrar.com. I type in “dreamregistrar.com” and it takes me to a parked page. Very strange. Good luck with this situation.