Forums
New posts
New posts
Search forums
Market
Domains/Websites Wanted
.com Domain Market
gTLD Domain Market
ccTLD Domain Market
Web3 Domain Market
Third-Level Domain Market
Adult Domain Market
What's New
New profile posts
Latest activity
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Account Upgrade
Premium Members Directory
Log in
Register
What's New
calendar
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Enjoy unlimited access to all forum features for FREE! Optional upgrade available for extra perks.
Forums
Other
The Watercooler
I Made Godaddy Refund The "udrp Fee". Here's How I Did It...
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Maxwell" data-source="post: 2219131" data-attributes="member: 133328"><p>As per my previous thread, I had a bit of an issue with Godaddy charging me a $50.00 "administrative fee", when I had a UDRP filed against me in mid-September. It was honestly the last thing I needed. I had just moved overseas, and was in the midst of loads and loads of busy work, and now, not only did I have a UDRP to deal with, I was also out $50.00. Not even in exchange for anything. Just a bullshit administrative fee. </p><p></p><p>However, as of today, I can proudly announce that I have made them reverse the fee, even after being told it's "non-refundable". I thought I would post this here on DNForum, so that other domainers can see what I did to get the fee refunded - and hopefully, no one else will have to get bullied into paying this nonsense fee.</p><p></p><p>Just as a caveat and a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer (yet... I'm putting in my law school applications this month, though, as I will be finishing my bachelors degree this year). Therefore, I am not in any capacity to provide legal advice. The contents of this posting are strictly observations based on agreements that were applicable to my relationship with Godaddy, and Godaddy's relationship with ICANN. This posting is not a guarantee of anything. It is strictly anecdotal in its nature.</p><p></p><p>Here are the events, as they happened...</p><p></p><p>- On September 17th, 2014, one of my domain name registrations was challenged with a UDRP proceeding. I received all the relevant documents by email - and as the registrar, so did Godaddy. As a result of this, they decided to charge me a $50.00 administrative fee - presumably, for the "inconvenience" of having to receive this paperwork.</p><p></p><p>- As I did not agree with this fee (seriously... $50.00, to receive an email?), I attempted to correspond with Godaddy by phone, to have the fee reversed. The first call resulted in me being put on hold (and me not having the patience, so I hung up). The second time, the guy I spoke to was a bit more helpful, but he attempted to justify the fee by saying that they "had to have an administrator from legal process it", and for that reason, it is a "non-refundable fee".</p><p></p><p>This bothered me (obviously) - but what really got to me was that as a registrar, they are bound to be required to cooperate with UDRP proceedings in some way... which, in effect, makes it <em>their</em> responsibility, and not mine.</p><p></p><p>After all, they didn't actually DO anything... other than receive the email, place the domain name on registrar lock, and notify me accordingly. Which, conceivably, they would have to do <em>anyway</em>, as a registrar, right?</p><p></p><p>So I decided to investigate. </p><p></p><p>Sure enough, the <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/approved-with-specs-2013-09-17-en" target="_blank">ICANN Accreditation Agreement (2013 version)</a> has something to say about this sort of thing, as far as the registrar's role goes...</p><p></p><p>- §3.8 (domain-name dispute resolution) requires the registrar to comply with the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) - which includes requiring them to put the domain name in a registrar lock, while the dispute is active.</p><p></p><p>- Additionally, §3.5 (rights in data) strips the registrar of any exclusive license, with respect to registrant, as well as registration data. In other words, they are <em>required</em> to disclose it, as they do not have an exclusive right to it. Not that it matters, because my domain name wasn't even on private registration in the first place. I have nothing to hide. So there are no barriers for anyone to get past.</p><p></p><p>- Further, I know for a fact that Godaddy hardly had to do anything to begin with. Because WIPO (with whom the complaint was filed) sets out a <a href="http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/guide/#g" target="_blank">very limited scope of duties for the registrar</a> (which is only reasonable, because they are not actually party to the proceeding - they only hold things that are relevant to it, and they are contractually bound to comply with the provision of data, and restraint of the domain name). </p><p></p><p>So, I sent Godaddy the following email, explaining why the fee needs to be refunded...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To which, their reply was...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Of course, she <em>would</em> avoid the key point of the registrar's duties. That was my strongest argument. But by failing to mention it, it can be twisted to make it look like I just didn't read the fine print. Guess what? I did - and I'm calling them out on it.</p><p></p><p>What I find to be interesting, though, is that they will readily refund the fee if I win the UDRP. Which tells me that it's a totally bullshit fee. Whether I win or lose, the "administrative involvement" that they had in all of this doesn't change. It all took place prior to the case even being heard by the panel.</p><p></p><p>So I sent them this...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Then, this afternoon, I received email confirmation that they are, in fact, refunding the administrative fee!</p><p></p><p>I would have gotten it anyway. As I said in my prior thread, I was all set to file a chargeback for it (which I was going to do last night, but didn't get around to it - fortunately). </p><p></p><p>But this just goes to show that if you pay attention, you can notice discrepancies between what <em>happens</em>, and what's <em>permissible</em>. If something impermissible ends up costing you money, you have every right to seek any remedy you can get - and that's just what I did - and I hope that anyone else who gets hit with this fee gets to see this thread, so they can harass Godaddy a little bit too, and get them to refund the money.</p><p></p><p>The best part? I'm STILL leaving them! Their approach to this was grossly unprofessional, and that's not conduct that I'm going to finance, with revenue that comes out of my pocket. So, in the end, they end up losing my business, <em>and</em> the $50.00 they tried to snake out of me.</p><p></p><p>Not so tough now, are you, Godaddy?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Maxwell, post: 2219131, member: 133328"] As per my previous thread, I had a bit of an issue with Godaddy charging me a $50.00 "administrative fee", when I had a UDRP filed against me in mid-September. It was honestly the last thing I needed. I had just moved overseas, and was in the midst of loads and loads of busy work, and now, not only did I have a UDRP to deal with, I was also out $50.00. Not even in exchange for anything. Just a bullshit administrative fee. However, as of today, I can proudly announce that I have made them reverse the fee, even after being told it's "non-refundable". I thought I would post this here on DNForum, so that other domainers can see what I did to get the fee refunded - and hopefully, no one else will have to get bullied into paying this nonsense fee. Just as a caveat and a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer (yet... I'm putting in my law school applications this month, though, as I will be finishing my bachelors degree this year). Therefore, I am not in any capacity to provide legal advice. The contents of this posting are strictly observations based on agreements that were applicable to my relationship with Godaddy, and Godaddy's relationship with ICANN. This posting is not a guarantee of anything. It is strictly anecdotal in its nature. Here are the events, as they happened... - On September 17th, 2014, one of my domain name registrations was challenged with a UDRP proceeding. I received all the relevant documents by email - and as the registrar, so did Godaddy. As a result of this, they decided to charge me a $50.00 administrative fee - presumably, for the "inconvenience" of having to receive this paperwork. - As I did not agree with this fee (seriously... $50.00, to receive an email?), I attempted to correspond with Godaddy by phone, to have the fee reversed. The first call resulted in me being put on hold (and me not having the patience, so I hung up). The second time, the guy I spoke to was a bit more helpful, but he attempted to justify the fee by saying that they "had to have an administrator from legal process it", and for that reason, it is a "non-refundable fee". This bothered me (obviously) - but what really got to me was that as a registrar, they are bound to be required to cooperate with UDRP proceedings in some way... which, in effect, makes it [I]their[/I] responsibility, and not mine. After all, they didn't actually DO anything... other than receive the email, place the domain name on registrar lock, and notify me accordingly. Which, conceivably, they would have to do [I]anyway[/I], as a registrar, right? So I decided to investigate. Sure enough, the [URL='https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/approved-with-specs-2013-09-17-en']ICANN Accreditation Agreement (2013 version)[/URL] has something to say about this sort of thing, as far as the registrar's role goes... - §3.8 (domain-name dispute resolution) requires the registrar to comply with the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) - which includes requiring them to put the domain name in a registrar lock, while the dispute is active. - Additionally, §3.5 (rights in data) strips the registrar of any exclusive license, with respect to registrant, as well as registration data. In other words, they are [I]required[/I] to disclose it, as they do not have an exclusive right to it. Not that it matters, because my domain name wasn't even on private registration in the first place. I have nothing to hide. So there are no barriers for anyone to get past. - Further, I know for a fact that Godaddy hardly had to do anything to begin with. Because WIPO (with whom the complaint was filed) sets out a [URL='http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/guide/#g']very limited scope of duties for the registrar[/URL] (which is only reasonable, because they are not actually party to the proceeding - they only hold things that are relevant to it, and they are contractually bound to comply with the provision of data, and restraint of the domain name). So, I sent Godaddy the following email, explaining why the fee needs to be refunded... To which, their reply was... Of course, she [I]would[/I] avoid the key point of the registrar's duties. That was my strongest argument. But by failing to mention it, it can be twisted to make it look like I just didn't read the fine print. Guess what? I did - and I'm calling them out on it. What I find to be interesting, though, is that they will readily refund the fee if I win the UDRP. Which tells me that it's a totally bullshit fee. Whether I win or lose, the "administrative involvement" that they had in all of this doesn't change. It all took place prior to the case even being heard by the panel. So I sent them this... Then, this afternoon, I received email confirmation that they are, in fact, refunding the administrative fee! I would have gotten it anyway. As I said in my prior thread, I was all set to file a chargeback for it (which I was going to do last night, but didn't get around to it - fortunately). But this just goes to show that if you pay attention, you can notice discrepancies between what [I]happens[/I], and what's [I]permissible[/I]. If something impermissible ends up costing you money, you have every right to seek any remedy you can get - and that's just what I did - and I hope that anyone else who gets hit with this fee gets to see this thread, so they can harass Godaddy a little bit too, and get them to refund the money. The best part? I'm STILL leaving them! Their approach to this was grossly unprofessional, and that's not conduct that I'm going to finance, with revenue that comes out of my pocket. So, in the end, they end up losing my business, [I]and[/I] the $50.00 they tried to snake out of me. Not so tough now, are you, Godaddy? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Other
The Watercooler
I Made Godaddy Refund The "udrp Fee". Here's How I Did It...
Top
Bottom