Registerfly locks account when using "special offers"

[MadMac]

Registerfly, a wonderful registrar, always good for an unexpected and unwanted surprise! I had 2 domains there for some time. Nothing important, nothing to care about. And they always send their weekly newsletter with the so fantastic special offers they have at least 2 or 3 times.

Well, currently they offer transfers for $3.99, so I thought I give it a shot as I have a couple of domains waiting for renewal in GoDaddy.

Bad mistake. I tried 3 which took me already 30 mins to get the auth codes. With the fourth an error message popped up saying "invalid domain secret" although the code was verified to be correct. And then suddenly the account was blocked. "Please contact our risk department at risk@registerflysupport.com. There was a transaction that just occured that resulted in your account being restricted." As the account is blocked I can of course not open a support ticket and mails to risk@registerfly.com, risk@registerflysupport.com and support@regsiterfly.com remain unanswered since more than a day. What a lousy support!!! Or is it a tactic to let the 48h offer expire first before reacting?! It's like offering a happy hour when you have only 3 beers available.

Be warned!

Cheers,
Mac

[StockDoctor]

Regfly are just outright crooks. They take names and double bill etc. I remind the members that they have answered concerns posed by the domain forum with a response of "Frankly, we don't give a damn" Don't forget it!

[MadMac]

Thanks. I've just canceled the transfers in GoDaddy. Obviously not a company to trust and make business with.

[katherine]

I would not expect outstanding service from a company selling at a loss

[MadMac]

Who says they are selling at a loss? They use a mixed calculation to provide cheaper and more expensive offers, sometimes they probably rip off someone %+|. However if they would make a loss they would not have been in the business so long. And they're driving an aggressive expansion strategy.

But: For a registrar of I think now 2 million domain names this behaviour is simply unacceptable. I'm still waiting for a simple email reply that they look into the issue. Nothing. Zilch.....

[katherine]

If I'm not wrong Verisign charges registrars $3.50 for a .net domain + $0.75 ICANN fee = $4.25 actual cost.
For .com Verisign charges $6.00 + ICANN fee $0.25 = $6.25.
On top of that they must cover their payment processing fees (credit card etc). I hardly see how they make a profit with .net transfers at $3.99.
It looks obvious they are pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy as you put it. They are growing big. Too big and not well.

[MadMac]

Completely agree. The trick obviously is to advertise these mega-cheap offers, but when someone really tries to use it and not order other possibly overpriced products they simply kick one out as it just happens. Suckers.

Now I've canceled the new transfers, but I still have the old domains with them which obviously I can not access anymore as the account is locked and they do not answer. How much time should I give them before contacting the registry (it's biz and net)?

[ThisDot]

If the names are valuable, initate transfer away from them as soon as possible. Don't let them stay there.

[MadMac]

The problem is I can not transfer them away as I have no access to the account. I contacted Enom yesterday as the domains are registerd there through Registefly and they answered they will look into it. From Registerfly no reaction from any of the listed email addresses. Also had to block my credit card as these jerks still tried to take out the money for the failed transfers, not once but twice! I can only say stay away as far as possible from Registerfly! Lesson learned.

Short addition, just got the following reply from Enom:

> RegisterFly is no longer using our credentials and are now their
> own registrar you will have to work this out with them directly.

This obviously means Enom has kicked them out already.

[ThisDot]

Mac,

Try initiating a trans. from GoDaddy or a GD reseller, I have transfered names into them without ever needing to access the account at the losing registrar. Godaddy and their resellers use the email on file at whois to verify ownership. I have yet to have a problem doing this.

I don't think it would hurt to try, they can't hold your names hostage.

[MadMac]

Thanks, but it doesn't work because the 60 days after registration are still counting. GoDaddy keeps it on hold till then. Anyway, there's now the auth code for .com and .net I think and the domains were locked at registerfly...

I'll contact Verisign tomorrow anyway. They will not slip through with this rip off attempt this time.

[Dave Zan]

I'll contact Verisign tomorrow anyway. They will not slip through with this rip off attempt this time.

Unfortunately Verisign won't intervene. This is a matter between you and the
registrar based on what you described.

[MadMac]

Enom was very helpful and has moved the .biz domain directly into my Enom account.

Verisign doesn't seem to care about complaints: "If you wish to issue a complaint or a transfer dispute against the Registrar, you can do so through ICANN." I don't know how this would eventually fit together with existing policies as I'm unable to receive administrative mails or eventually manage the affected 2 .net domains.

An ICANN complaint is lodged but they do not seem to react.

Are there any other options to save the 2 .net domain names or is this a law free area for culprits like Registerfly?

[acesfull]

Enom was very helpful and has moved the .biz domain directly into my Enom account.

Verisign doesn't seem to care about complaints: "If you wish to issue a complaint or a transfer dispute against the Registrar, you can do so through ICANN." I don't know how this would eventually fit together with existing policies as I'm unable to receive administrative mails or eventually manage the affected 2 .net domains.

An ICANN complaint is lodged but they do not seem to react.

Are there any other options to save the 2 .net domain names or is this a law free area for culprits like Registerfly?

I find (from personal experience) that a *properly-worded* e-mail or phone call from a lawyer, to Registerfly (in particular to Kevin Medina), can get results.

[MadMac]

Neulevel tried to contact Registerfly in this regard and informed me about it, they did not bother to reply. I've sent two more mails to Mark Klein and Kevin Medina.

[Marcvs]

registerfly sucks, dont use the; i think there is a site - registerflysucks.com or something where people can post all there horror stories

ill stick with my directi account if you ask me as I know they are trustworthy

[acesfull]

Neulevel tried to contact Registerfly in this regard and informed me about it, they did not bother to reply. I've sent two more mails to Mark Klein and Kevin Medina.

Sometimes a hammer is the only appropriate tool in the toolbox to get the job done. In this case a hammer would be a lawyer, with a properly worded message. In the case of RegisterFly, their favorite tool appears to be a screwdriver.

[Marcvs]

i think the best thing to do with registerfly is to delete them from the net persoanlly as i think they are all crooks; there support is worse than sdotster who are pretty bad

at least if you are a dotster reseller they never double bill you or try to steal from you!

[MadMac]

Mark responded, the first contact so far. I have now access to my account after obviously his personal intervention and I will move the domains out of registerfly.

[Marcvs]

Mark responded, the first contact so far. I have now access to my account after obviously his personal intervention and I will move the domains out of registerfly.

what the hell did you do? tie him to a chair