One of our users, AJ Doyle, wrote eNom today regarding some of his domain which RegisterFly mishandled. His domain, despite having been paid for in full for two years, fell into the redemtion grace period. eNom, in their view, is meeting registrants halfway on this situation by offering retrieval from RGP status for $9.99, plus a renewal fee of $9.99. They feel they are doing enough.
HOWEVER: This editor has read the eNom reseller agreement and that agreement holds the RESELLER accountable for any and all fees incurred in rectifying mistakes. It was [b]registerfly's[/b] responsibility to ensure that these domains were handled properly, so eNom should be holding REGIERFLY responsible for correcting these gaffs, not the registrant.
On top of that, it has to be proven by the registrant that these domains were in fact renewed. For many registrants, the record will consist of transaction reports at RegisterFly. While I cannot speak for all RegisterFly customers, I can tell you that my account absolutely, positively does not include all of the transactions my company has conducted with RegisterFly. Our AmEx bill will certainly show charges with RegisterFly, but the credit card bill does not reflect transaction details; simply the name on the merchant account processor, date, time and amount of the transaction(s) in question. eNom could argue that it was not the domain in question which was the subject of that transaction.
While $9.99 is certainly cheaper than the $160 eNom normally charges, it still amounts to extortion, especially since their reseller agreement very clearly holds the RESELLER responsible for such fees, not the registrant.
Here are two emails from the conversation AJ Doyle had with Elida Flores of eNom. He considers it to be an open letter to eNom, to be shared with existing and potential customers of eNom.
From: AJ Doyle [mailto:ajshatemail(|@|)gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:17 AM
To: Elida Flores
Cc: admin(|@|)registerflies.com; paul_levins(|@|)icann.org
Subject: An Open Letter to eNom, inc.
Dear Elida:
I understand that your company, eNom, inc., is in business to make money. I would imagine very few are in business not to make money. I also understand that Unified Names, inc. d/b/a Registerfly.com, inc. was in business to make money. As a customer, I paid Registerfly.com for a service; the service being Domain Name Registration. Registerfly.com, inc., as a customer of eNom.com, inc. paid you for the renewal service.
I understand how all of this works, and I know that policy is policy. My understanding of this issue is that Registerfly.com, inc. and its owner, Kevin Medina, failed to provide payment to eNom.com, inc. for domain renewal services which led to many Registerfly.com customers losing their domain names as a result.
Is it the policy of eNom, inc. to only accept payments for domain name renewal for a year at a time, or was it Registerfly.com, inc.'s policy to only remit payment for renewals one year at a time? I am concerned about this because my domain ( coolerthanyou.org) was registered for a period of two (2) calendar years through what I now understand to be eNom, inc. by way of reseller (at the time) Registerfly.com, inc. The part that I cannot understand, I was hoping that you may be able to shed some light on this, is why registerfly.com didn't forward this payment for the entire registration period once they received it from me. In a world where premium domain names can be backordered and automatically renewed as soon as they are "dropped" wouldn't a company find it to be in their best interest to make sure their customer gets what they pay for?
Due to Registerfly.com, inc.'s actions (or lack thereof) my domain is in what is called Redemption Grace Period (RGP). I can assure you that I am not the only Registerfly.com customer that has this issue. I have attempted to research RGP to see how long this period lasts and have not been able to find an answer to that. Could you help me to better understand the process so that I may share that knowledge with others in my situation?
I am also aware that there is a fee involved to reclaim a domain name from RGP and that again, eNom.com, inc. is in business to make money, but I ask you on behalf of every former and/or current registerfly.com customer that a special, one time "forgiveness", or even discounted rate be given to registerfly.com customers trapped with no way to reclaim the domains that they registered. I am sure you can see how this would have a positive effect on the reputation of eNom.com as well as the former Registerfly.com customers. I know from reading everything I possibly can that is related to this issue, eNom has in fact helped many former Registerfly.com customers, who, in turn, have become eNom.com customers.
I am sure that many of the customers in my situation would find this offer more than appealing and become eNom.com customers.
I did not major in Business Administration, but it makes sense to me that:
More Customers = More Money
After all, eNom.com, inc. is in business to make money, is it not?
I would like to thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing your input on this situation!
Respectfully,
AJ Doyle
--
marginally entertaining and somewhat funny...
www.coolerthanyou.org
Check it out!!!!!
Actually, the domain has been replaced with a parking page. I have no ability to change this.
This parking page is in no way affiliated with myself or coolerthanyou.org.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elida Flores <elida.flores(|@|)enom.com>
Date: Mar 20, 2007 9:43 PM
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to eNom, inc.
To: AJ Doyle <ajshatemail(|@|)gmail.com>
AJ,
Thank you for the email. Sorry to hear that your domain coolerthanyou.org was not renewed by Registerfly and is now in redemption status. We are prepared to assist as best we can. In regards to the fee that you paid to Registerfly for the renewal, you may consider contacting your credit card company (if you paid via credit card) to see if you have recourse for the fee made and service not delivered.
In regards to your domain in redemption status, we can offer you a discounted rate being that the domain is in Extended Redemption status. The fee to recover the domain would be a $9.99 restoration redemption fee plus a renewal fee of $9.99, for a total of $19.98. To take advantage of this discount rate, simply email verification that you attempted to pay Registerfly for the service but the domain was not renewed. Allow us 4 business days to complete the request and we will be able to restore the domain using the credit card on file in your account.
For general reference:
Domains are typically allowed a 30 day renewal grace period to be restored, during which time they may be restored for the regular renewal fee. After the 30 day renewal grace period, a domain enters into redemption status for an additional period of 35 days, at this time domains are restorable for $160 ( a $80 redemption discount applies for those that can verify that they attempted to renew with Registerfly but were unable). After the additional 35 redemption period, the domain may either go into Extended Redemption ( in which case it is held for a longer period of time) or it may go into Pending Deletion ( in which case the domain would be placed into the open market within 5 days). Where possible eNom has tried to place an Extended Redemption on domains, so that Registerfly customers may have more time to restore their domains. In order to place the domain into Extended Redemption requires that we pay the Registry another year for the domain. Domains showing in Extended Redemption can be recovered, for Registerfly customers at $19.98, provided that the customer can verify that they attempted to renew the domain prior to expiration. This fee will add a full year of registration to the domain, plus anytime remaining on the WHOIS record. For domains that enter Pending Deletion, those domains are placed back into the open market and must be registered as new names once they are released.
Hope this info helps in clarifying the situation.
elida flores | business development
__________________________________
eNom, Inc., a Demand Media company
Direct: 425.274.4500 x4262
Fax: 425.952.0794
15801 NE 24th St.
Bellevue, WA 98008
elida (|@|)enom.com
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