Anybody with experience with Registerfly

StephanieCordray

New Member
I have a sticky situation. Am trying to help a person with some issues she's having with registerfly who lost their reseller through enom but was subsequently accredited through ICANN. What puts me in the sticky situation is that I'm a reseller myself, although not through enom. For me to intercede on her behalf would look fishy.

This person wants to transfer her domains away from registerfly but is unable to do so. Whois info on the domains list registerfly, not her. The domains are on her account with registerfly but transfers are declined as the requests go through registerfly instead of the domain name owner. She's tried. One of those domains is her sole source of income as it's her business. She has a little time before expiration but you can understand why she'd be nervous of the situation she's in.

Any suggestions from the domain name gurus in the house? At this point, the only ray of hope she has seen means paying a whopping amount of money ... $160 I believe it was.
 

Artoonie

New Member
will registerfly keep the domain after it is expired? if not, couldn't you just wait til it expires and buy it immediately after from somewhere else?

I'm sure you know much more about this than i, so sorry if this is completely unhelpful.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
yes, they'll keep it and sell it to someone else. she's already been down that path with another domain which didn't even expire but the renewal was mangled through billing... which is why she's so frightened now... registerfly didn't try to resolve the issue then. She had to contact the person who "stole" her domain to get it back. If she hadn't had that receipt showing where she had paid for it before expiration she would have lost it completely.
 

DLPerry

New Member
Hi Stephanie--

What happens when the domain owner logs in to their registerfly account and tries to update the domain admin data?

I've not had experience dealing with Registerfly specifically, but I do hold an enom reseller account, and I've 'done' a few domains in my day :)
If you'd like to contact me off-forum with the details I'd be glad to see if I can assist.

And no - they don't have to transfer thier domain registration to me. :)
I'm not in the domain registration biz per se. I maintain an enom reseller account as a convenience - not a source of income.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
Neither am in in the domain registration biz per se. it's mainly for our own hosting customers. She created a subaccount for me on her registerfly account and all her domains are listed there and they are unlocked but transfer is still impossible because registerfly has made their company the contact for the domains... We tried with one of them, her business name, and registerfly denied the transfer. Right now, due to some information we've found on the net, she's going through enom to see if she can regain control of her domains since they are the registrar of record... however, that $160 charge they speak of really worries me. It shouldn't cost that much for domains you already own, you know?

Heck, it shouldn't cost that much for new domains...

I also found out that the owners of Registerfly are actually another company called Unified Names, Inc. which is in some pretty heavy litigation over domain names that are supposed to belong to some rather large companies. I think it's going to be a very nerveracking time for registerfly customers for some time to come.

I wish I could do more to help her. Although I'm only barely a reseller, I'm still a reseller, so heavy involvement on my part could just make things worse. At this point all I can do is advise her of the appropriate channels. While I don't like that $160 charge for her sake, the loss of her business domain name would mean a lot more than that amount of money spent to safeguard them.
 

DLPerry

New Member
...She created a subaccount for me on her registerfly account and all her domains are listed there and they are unlocked but transfer is still impossible because registerfly has made their company the contact for the domains...

If she does own the domain and it is still current on registration - she should be able to make changes to the domain admin contact data through her Registerfly account - but your sub account may not have that capability.
Do you know what happens when she tries?

We tried with one of them, her business name, and registerfly denied the transfer. Right now, due to some information we've found on the net, she's going through enom to see if she can regain control of her domains since they are the registrar of record... however, that $160 charge they speak of really worries me. It shouldn't cost that much for domains you already own, you know?

I agree. I wonder what is the $160 from enom for - have they said? I don't use my enom account very much, but I know they do charge an additional fee if the domains registration has expired, and the domain is in Redemption period.
That's not what has happened here is it?

I also found out that the owners of Registerfly are actually another company called Unified Names, Inc. which is in some pretty heavy litigation over domain names that are supposed to belong to some rather large companies. I think it's going to be a very nerveracking time for registerfly customers for some time to come.

Yuck. It sure looks like it. It looks like the enom/Registerfly snafu has been ongoing since 02/06 (unless that's a typo)....there's an old notice on their website that says they were working on transferring domains from enom to registerfly. Did this one fall through the cracks?

I wish I could do more to help her. Although I'm only barely a reseller, I'm still a reseller, so heavy involvement on my part could just make things worse. At this point all I can do is advise her of the appropriate channels. While I don't like that $160 charge for her sake, the loss of her business domain name would mean a lot more than that amount of money spent to safeguard them.

That is true. $160 is a small price to pay if that's the only recourse. I just don't understand how paying enom will get the domain back. Is enom the listed registrar at present, or Registerfly? I'm confused. :confused: (so what else is new)
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
When you do a whois it lists enom as the registrar via registerfly which was once a reseller for enom. The big problem is that the whois info lists registerfly as registrant and they've gone a step further at this point... I'm taking out the old screenshot program it's gotten so bad... they deleted her nameservers on her domains and neither she or I can put them back... her site is essentially gone at this point because no one can access it except via her hosting company control panels... and they are still unresponsive to trouble tickets, phone calls, or emails... they've essentially stolen her domains

Yes and no, 3 of her sites were left at enom, the other 6 are still with registerfly but registerfly has all nine on their list for her account... however the account is practically worthless since she has no control of the domains... none are expired at present although one will expire on the 4th of next month unless something is done very quickly... the one she is most concerned about understandably is her business' domain name which doesn't expire until some time in July... given the circumstances it's a moot point since this stupid registrar has basically stolen her domains by taking control of them the way they have.
 
Last edited:

DLPerry

New Member
When you do a whois it lists enom as the registrar via registerfly which was once a reseller for enom. The big problem is that the whois info lists registerfly as registrant and they've gone a step further at this point... I'm taking out the old screenshot program it's gotten so bad... they deleted her nameservers on her domains and neither she or I can put them back... her site is essentially gone at this point because no one can access it except via her hosting company control panels... and they are still unresponsive to trouble tickets, phone calls, or emails... they've essentially stolen her domains

Yes and no, 3 of her sites were left at enom, the other 6 are still with registerfly but registerfly has all nine on their list for her account... however the account is practically worthless since she has no control of the domains... none are expired at present although one will expire on the 4th of next month unless something is done very quickly... the one she is most concerned about understandably is her business' domain name which doesn't expire until some time in July... given the circumstances it's a moot point since this stupid registrar has basically stolen her domains by taking control of them the way they have.


Ugh. What a mess. Just thinking out loud -- from the outside looking in, it sounds like Registryfly claims they have control of the domain, but this one at least is actually still controlled at enom - which could explain why no-one can make changes to the domain data through registerflys control panel.

It doesn't explain what enom is charging $160 for, though. If you'd like me to try and transfer the domain through my enom account I'll be happy to give it a go. If it succeeds she'll only owe me the registration extension fee (under $10 I think), and she'll get an extra year added to her registration. Of course if enom tries to charge me $160 I will not complete the transaction. :)

If I'm successful, I can then update her domain administration data, point to her host DNS settings, etc. I can even transfer the domain to another enom account, but I'm not sure if there's a waiting period before that can happen or not.

Failing that - I must agree with you that paying enom $160 may be her only recourse. I only hope that enom can actually secure the domain as they claim.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
We tried transfers and they were always "declined". Registerfly has tied up the domains under their contacts, even if enom is the registrant of record. And no, she doesn't have whois protection set for any of them, yet, as far as a whois, she doesn't even exist although she's the one paying for the domains... which is another issue we're going to be dealing with later. Her site is back to being accessible... it took only 4 tries. Given everything that's happened to date, we have concluded her best bet is to work through enom to gain control of them again. Once that's done, she has a number of options of where she would like to transfer them or stay with enom if they prove satisfactory.

All in all, it's been a lesson; one I hope others will read and learn from.
 

AainaA

New Member
That's strange that RF is not allowing that - As long as her domain is unlocked meaning she's not using any of the optional svcs attached to her domain like whois privacy protection - that should be alright - if all fails - call.

because registerfly has made their company the contact for the domains... We tried with one of them, her business name, and registerfly denied the transfer.
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
I never liked using registerfly after an early problem many years ago which was never resolved. But that US$160 charge definitely sounds like a fee to get a domain out of redemption period. In any case, I am glad that they have sorted out their problem.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
I never had any dealings with them before picking up a reseller account with our domain name registrar. I always used directnic for everything. People don't want to pay that price when they can get something for a lower price but you can't beat their support and the fact that you truly have complete control over your domains. I'd recommend our registrar but they are not set up for private accounts as yet, only resellers. I hope they will do that in the future. If so, I'll start recommending them as well.
 

DLPerry

New Member
Stephanie--

Was your client able to regain control of the domain through enom?
I sure hope so.
It does cost a little more (not much more), but when you factor in the support, plus the other services and add-ons - it's worth it - to me anyway. I still get chills remembering back when good ole 'NetSol' was the only game in town, and it was $35 per year. :)
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
Yes she did regain control of it and is presently working on the other ones she owns.

OMG...NetSol... I almost forgot about them in this mess... they are the biggest ripoff on the net in spite of the mess coming from the topic of this thread. the sad thing is there are people still using them.
 

DLPerry

New Member
I'm glad to hear it. Good ole enom to the rescue :)

My apologies for dredging up old painful memories ;)
Like you said - as bad as it is - it could be worse - you could be dealing with Netsol. :)
 

zkiller

Super Moderator
Staff member
Stephanie--

Was your client able to regain control of the domain through enom?
I sure hope so.
It does cost a little more (not much more), but when you factor in the support, plus the other services and add-ons - it's worth it - to me anyway. I still get chills remembering back when good ole 'NetSol' was the only game in town, and it was $35 per year. :)
that was towards the end of their reign. when i registered my first domain name they only offered 2 year registrations at a cost of $75 USD. god know how much money i gave to netsol over the years before their monopoly was brought to a halt. after that i started using dotster.com and never had a problem. they offer fair pricing and good service IMO.

anyways, glad to hear you got the situation sorted out steph. :)
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah dotster are good as well, I used them a lot when their namewinner service was still up and running.
 

DLPerry

New Member
Registerfly problems continue...

From Webmasterworld -
http://www.webmasterworld.com/domain_names/3271045.htm

ICANN accuses Registerfly of willfully refusing to comply with an accreditation audit as mandated in its Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). Registerfly's failure to fulfill the most fundamental obligations of its RAA appears to have forced ICANN's hand; the harshly worded letter lambasts Registerfly for its failure to allow ICANN's auditor to copy Registerfly's registration data, and gives notice to Registerfly of ICANN's intention to file suit against it in federal court on Tuesday, March 6.
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah I came across a similar article on registerfly being sued, and I thought to myself, about time some justice should finally be served. Good luck to icann.
 
Top