i'm not from gd but i have names there, see if this applies to your situation, my concern is that as soon as a domain expires it should appear on the "Recover Expired Domains" section of the DCC, even if you can still renew them at normal prices from your RENEWALS list, ie "renewable" vs "recoverable" which means you have to pay $80 to recover it, so perhaps the real exp date and time (some WHOIS databases show all these detalis) was Sep 17, 2009 at XX:XX:XX which is GMT time and not where the registrant lives or where the registrar is based, so it may be too late, if not, try this :
(i'm assuming you checked a couple of WHOIS to see where the name stands, i expect the gd WHOIS to be the most accurate since that's where the name is)
you should look at the exp date of the domain, then follow this :
from day 1 to 17 (17 full days) AFTER the exp date you can renew it on gd at normal prices, it's still on your renewals list and dcc
from day 18 to 27 (10 full days) it goes on a 10-day auction on gd, you can risk it and get it on auction for as little as $10 + ren fee, OR PAY $80 (current redemption fee for all gd members as far as i know) as long as there are no backorders, then if the orig owner doesn't reclaim it's given to the highest bidder on a provisional basis (orig owner can still reclaim for $80 AFTER that)
from day 28 to 37 (10 full days) it goes on Closeout Sale on gd if the regular auction didn't get any bids (formerly Fire Sale, $5 BIN auctions on gd ) so you may get it for as little of a $5 BIN + ren fee if no one else wants it as long as there are no backorders, or pay the $80 redemption fee before this period ends
from day 38 to 42 (5 full days) nothing happens if no one picked it up on Closeout Sale, i believe backorders are still honored, orig owner can still reclaim for $80
from day 43 to 72 (30 full days) it is held by the registry for "Registry Redemption" before release to the public, whether the owner can still redeem for the same $80 or the registry has its own fee i'm still not clear lol....
on the 73rd day after exp date it goes back to the public and it becomes available for new reg, so if luck is on your side you could even reg the name as new for $7 after 72 days !
there isn't much info on this available on forums but after closely following a couple of names i wanted and one i forgot to renew, this is pretty close to what actually will happen, in my case the $80 fee looked so bad i decided to take my chances and try to get my name from auction, and i'd actually prefer to let a name go and then regret my choice, than having this happen, this has actually happened to me but it wasn't because i didn't get reminder emails, i just forgot to renew it while i still could
i don't know who adam is or which dept he's in but maybe the right person can help you avoid the $80
i thought i'd post this since a lot of people, like myself not long ago, didn't know names are still available for normal ren w/no penalty for 17 days after they expire, full redemption only begins on the 18th day, and this 17-day grace period only works for gd, redemption period rules vary widely from one registrar to another and redemption fees vary by a lot too depending on which registrar it is
maybe this helps a little and i hope you get that name back !
