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We've been burned big time by RegisterFly. We have many domains stuck in their database; repeated requests (via technical support tickets, phone support, the support form here on Registerflies.com and a direct demand to Kevin Medina when he showed up on Registerflies.com) to unlock all of our domains have gone unheeded.
Our Story
Two domains which were current and up to date were NOT renewed by
RegisterFly last month went into pendingDelete status. Kept a close
watch on WHOIS, checking it literally every five minutes. Well, I had
to go out and run a delivery, and the person at the office who was to
keep checking WHOIS got tied up with a customer. By the time I had
gotten back the domains were purged from DNS and a squatter had
purchased the domain.
Long story short, we ended up purchasing the domains from the squatter;
the price was not much more than their registration fee, so the way I
see it, we encountered an honest crook. ;) In all seriousness, they
were understanding of the RF issue and agreed to the reasonable price
on the basis that if we did go to arbitration, even though it would
take weeks, we would get the domain back and they would be out what
they laid out for the domain. The way my partner saw it, we resolved
the issue for our most critical domains, leaving me focused on getting
the rest of our domains out of RegisterFly.
Who can help?
But in between our losing the domain and hearing back from the new
registrant, we pushed ICANN and found out that there IS an organization
who can intercede for us: the National Arbitration Forum, and
their telephone number is (800) 474-2371.
How to get your domains back?
If you have lost domains due to RegisterFly, where they were either
removed from your account and resold by Mr. Medina, or have been
allowed to expire and fall into pendingDelete or (worse) have been
snapped up by a cybersquatter, you need help getting your rightful name
back.
In order to successfully get your names back, you need to have
documentation for proof of ownership, and if you have incorporation
papers, bank statements, phone bills, and so forth, it is extremely
helpful in decreasing legal expenses because it makes arbitration a no
brainer. It is also helpful if you have proof that RegisterFly was paid
for your domains: screenshots, credit card statements, confirmation
emails, and so forth. If your name is actually trademarked, it's a no
brainer and there is nothing to it.
Once you have your documentation together, call the forum at (800)
474-2371 and inform them of your situation. Then, the next step is to
contact the registrant (check WHOIS) and make a good faith attempt to
contact them. If they are using a WHOIS protection service, you can
contact the registrar, inform them that you have a legitimate claim to
the domain, you need to contact the registrant, and send your notice.
If you're fortunate, the WHOIS record will be populated with the
correct information and you can contact them directly. Be sure to
document all correspondance.
Give them a reasonable amount of time to respond. For example: 52
seconds is not reasonable. You may have to be patient, and wait 3 days
or so, since not everyone works 18 hours a day, and occasionally people
get sick or take days off.
Hear out their response. If they agree to give it up and give it to
you, great! You ran into an honest guy. If they want to be reimbursed
for the registration fees and time, well, that's reasonable, isn't it?
It's not his fault Kevin Medina of RegisterFly dropped the ball.
The problem is if they refuse to hand it over for free or a reasonable
fee; if they see you are a legitimate business with a real need for the
name, some people would demand hundreds or even many thousands for the
domain. Do not under any circumstances let them extort you like that.
Asking you to recoup registration fees on a domain they are losing is
one thing, but to knowingly cripple your business is usurious. In those
cases, thank them for their offer, but you prefer to take it to
arbitration.
At that point, call the forum at (800) 474-2371, tell them you made an
effort to regain your name, and the registrant is being unreasonable.
They will then likely ask for either proof of previous registration,
proof of your business, or proof of a trademark. They will then
investigate, contact the registrant, and if the registrant is
uncooperative in simply giving up rights to the domain, they will
initiate a transfer on your behalf.
Yes, it's a pain, but it's a solution in case John and Glenn cannot
pull it together. I managed to get our most important domains out, but
I still have 15 (oops, remembered another one: 16) domains stuck in
RegisterFly.
In my case it was avoidable; after RegisterFly "lost" one of our
domains (pushed it from our account to another account) I should have
pulled all of our domains out. I didn't do that; I started using other
registrars, but everyone else in the company was still registering
domains at RegisterFly. I saw the writing on the wall, proposed pulling
our and our clients' domains out but I didn't push the issue hard
enough. I'm just glad we came to a swift and amicable solution rather
than having to resort to litigation to get our names back.
What will happen from here? Will we seek damages from RegisterFly over
this? Probably not. We got our domains back, and while RF is crippled
I'm sure John and Glenn are doing what they can to make things right.
We can't fault two guys who were bullied around a bit for the
wrongdoings of one crook. We will probably dispute the double, triple,
and quadruple charges which took place since November, and call it a
day.
The Future
What does the future hold for RegisterFly? Presuming
they maintain their accreditation and stay in business, would i use
them again? If they bring the mess under control and keep crooks like
Kevin out of the company, sure, I don't see why not. Out of the
registrars I've dealt with, RegisterFly has the best GUI. Until a year
ago, we actually had an extremely good experience with them. There is
no reason, if they survive, that they couldn't be a great company
again. I know some people experienced problems as far back as 2005, but
honestly, our first negative experience did not occur until May of 2006.
Thanks, Justin!
Lastly, let's all thank Justin for keeping this site going for so long.
He fought a battle for a very long time all on his own, and now some
other people are contributing but the need for this site is not over.
Why not hop into the chat or the forums and thank him for his efforts. He's helped every one of us.
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. If you have other domain names registered with Registerfly transfer them away while you can.
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