How do I get my domains transferred when my registrar is kaput?

June 11, 2015 4:51 AM

My domain name registrar appears to have gone belly-up and I still have my domains there. What do I do?

I have several domains registered at badger.com. They have been unresponsive for over a month, no email replies, phone anything. I have auto-renew set on my account for my domains, credits with them that I purchased so they would auto-renew. The first domain renewal came up in May and did not renew. I emailed them prior to this, no reply. Now the domain has expired and more are coming up for renewal.

I started the transfer process for all the rest yesterday to a different registrar and the status on that (new registrar) is "Auto verification of transfer request initiated". Does this mean it's waiting for someone at Badger.com to do something? I hope not. I did put in the EPP codes.

Also, what do I do about the domain that expired? Apparenltly I can't transfer an expired domain without the current registrar releasing it (or something).

Frustrating!!! What recourse do I have? Any? Will my domains get transferred?

posted by dukes909 to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

I ran into this when I transferred a (non-expired) domain from GoDaddy to Gandi. The process stalled for several days while Gandi was waiting for a response from GoDaddy. According to Gandi's tech support, the transfer would go ahead after a few more days, even if GoDaddy never responded. If I remember correctly, I requested the transfer on a Tuesday and contacted tech support the following Friday, which is when they told me that if GoDaddy didn't respond, the transfer would go ahead on the following Tuesday; so it took a week overall.
posted by neushoorn at 5:12 AM on June 11, 2015

Best answer: Yes, the model moved to one where the failure to respond eventually turns into an implicit approval after a few days.

The expired domain issue is problematic. As far as I know, unless you can coerce a response out of them, you may need to wait for it to expire and re-register.

Contact information from WHOIS, if it helps:

Badger Inc.
548 Market St. #80135
San Francisco, CA, 94104-5401, US
Email: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone]

You may be able to lodge a complaint with ICANN if they are nonresponsive. Registrars have certain minimum obligations.
posted by jgreco at 6:36 AM on June 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

You should definitely file a complaint with ICANN compliance.

Depending on the quality of support at your new registrar, they should be able to help clarify these issues for you.
posted by Sleddog_Afterburn at 9:48 AM on June 11, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, I've filed a complaint and new registrar has been helpful.
posted by dukes909 at 11:45 AM on June 11, 2015