Why hasn't my domain auto-renewed?

June 21, 2007 4:56 AM

One of my .co.uk domain names does not appear to have auto-renewed with GoDaddy. The UK body for domain names, nominet, are mailing me by email and regular post to warn me about this and since this week, have sent a pro forma invoice (£94) so that I can directly renew my domain and save having it suspended...

The thing is, GoDaddy, when questioned, want me to believe this is normal for .co.uk domains!

On their system, my domain is showing as registered until 2009, as if the registration had gone through, or as if they have paid Nominet. GoDaddy say

"If you have renewed the domain, the renewal will not show up at the registry until the end of the month. The Nominet UK registry does have some delay. We appreciate your patience in this matter."

But time is running out! I can't afford to wait until the end of the month, when the domain expired on the 1st!

Nominet say:
"If we do not receive payment, either from you or your registrar within 30 days of the expiry date, we will suspend the domain name and then cancel it."

Surely this cannot be an efficient way to run a domain name registrations body? To have to email and write people all the time warning them and cajoling them to register when they already have?

And when I wrote to GoDaddy again:

"Thank you for contacting online support. I apologize for the confusion. Domain names ending in country codes do not reflect as being renewed with the registry until the end of the month they expire, as previously stated. Please let us know if we can help you in any other way. "


Does anyone have any experience of this kind of mess?

Thanks so much!

posted by dance to computers & internet (8 comments total)

That sounds incredibly expensive for domain renewal. I own several domain names (.co.uk's mainly) and have never paid more than £5 for two years.

I've also never been contacted directly by Nominet other than to receive my domain registration certificate (months after registering, and only upon request).
posted by dcbarker at 5:32 AM on June 21, 2007

Yeah they say that the pro forma will be more expensive than renewing through a registrar - guess it's to put you off doing just that whilst still providing a last resort.

I wish I could just pay them and bill GoDaddy for my expenses.
posted by dance at 5:48 AM on June 21, 2007

C'mon! It's a scam.
posted by markovich at 6:27 AM on June 21, 2007

No, it's not a scam, actually. Nominet sends out these pro forma invoices when a domain has not been renewed, to give the domain's registrant a last chance to save the name before it gets completely cancelled.

Frankly, it sounds like GoDaddy has fucked it up. You don't get these pro formas if your domain has been renewed normally.

Can you check your registration through the standard whois system (rather than GoDaddy's site) to see what the registration status and dates are there?
posted by chrismear at 6:33 AM on June 21, 2007

I'm sorry, is your comment a joke?
posted by dance at 6:33 AM on June 21, 2007

(joke remark directed at markovich)

When checked through nominet whois it says "renewal required". Only GoDaddy report everything is fine.
posted by dance at 6:34 AM on June 21, 2007

I don't think markovich's comment is a joke. Receiving pro-forma "invoices" for domains in the mail from companies other than one's own registrar is a very common scam in the US and Canada, and that was how I expected this thread to end up when I read the question too.

(I don't think markovich is right, but I don't think he meant it as a joke, either. Sometimes people will answer in AskMe but be wrong.)
posted by mendel at 7:06 AM on June 21, 2007

in this case nominet really are the good guys...well, the guys at least.
try and get something in writing from GoDaddy, it might persuade them to check again.
posted by muteh at 9:45 AM on June 21, 2007