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Hi,

Just want to express my honest disappointment with the phone verification process.

First of all, I received phone verification email on the weekend.

The email says:

If we do not receive a response within 2 days, we reserve the right to cancel your domain name or web hosting.

This IMO is just ridiculous for the following reasons:

1. I simply don't check email on the weekend. So I could have lost my domains for no reason by Monday.
2. I was planning to go on holidays (with little access to Internet). Would lose my domains too.
3. There was no previous, explicit notice about the verification requirement after transferring the domains.
4. You would cancel the domains I have already paid for and have more than a year to expire. This is absolutely unacceptable.
5. You put under risk and question my reputation and status on the Internet.
6. You have no right to cancel my domains with not legitimate reason for that.

All in all, it sounds like you make up the rules for yourself.

What I think you should have done is:

1. When I was transferring the domains you MUST HAVE SAID that phone number verification is required explicitly.
2. Explain the exact reason for the phone verification (not just to "minimize fraud").
3. Give a prior notice, far in advance (at least 30 days), about the domain cancellation.

So Dynadot guys, please follow up on this and explain.

If anything similar is going to happen again, I promise to transfer the domains out of Dynadot.

I hope it won't happen, but I still want to hear the explanation on the subject.

Thanks,
Dmytrii.


 [This post has been edited by d_n_mulgrave_au on Mar 3, 2012 5:32pm.]

We have an automated system that filters our orders.  Some orders may or may not require verification.  There are also different verification methods we use to help prevent fraudulent orders.  

In your case, we asked for a phone number verification.  It looks like you were able to verify and the transfers have completed.

The point I am making is not that I was able to verify.

The point is that If I wouldn't do that within 2 days (which was extremely likely) I would have lost my domains.

I want to hear the justification (please do answer the following questions):

1. what are the exact reasons to attempt the cancellation;
2. what law, terms & conditions you were acting on (cancelling paid domains);
3. why I haven't been notified about that far in advance;
4. what are the exact conditions under which you have the right to cancel legitimate domains?
5. will anything similar going to happen again?

Thanks.


 [This post has been edited by d_n_mulgrave_au on Mar 4, 2012 8:02pm.]

1. what are the exact reasons to attempt the cancellation;

For most domains that are fraud checked, we have 5 days total to decide whether to keep a domain or not.  If an order is fraudulent and we don't cancel it within 5 days, we have to keep the domains and we end up having to pay for them ourselves.  If we do that too much, we will have to increase our prices.  


2. what law, terms & conditions you were acting on (cancelling paid domains);

Our Terms of Service allow us to cancel orders.  

http://www.dynadot.com/registration_agreement.html


3. why I haven't been notified about that far in advance;

Not all orders require verification, many customers never receive verification emails us.  However, there are many threads on this subject in our forum.  We don't remove them once the issue is resolved, so anyone is able to see that we do, sometimes, request a verification.


4. what are the exact conditions under which you have the right to cancel legitimate domains?

If there was no fraud ever, we wouldn't need to complete verifications.  Sometimes legitimate customers get flagged too.  It is just one of the ways that we use to protect ourselves.

I also received this suspicious message from Dynadot and find it offensive. There is no requirement that they verify phone numbers in particular, and the threat of cancelling domains if you do not respond within 2 days is absolutely absurd. Adding to the insult is the fact that I received this verification request after filling out a customer support ticket to express my outrage at being denied a referral discount due to the fact that my (direct quote) "request did not pass our fraud checks." When I asked for what provision of the referral program was not met, I was told (two more direct quotes) "We have our own fraud checks that we do not disclose" and "We do not disclose the specifics of our fraud-prevention process."

So it seems that Dynadot doesn't care if they violate their own offers, violate your rights as a consumer by taking away your paid-for domains, etc. They're worried about, as their answer to you shows, the remote possibility that they would have to "pay for" domains.

I'm very disappointed in Dynadot.

Wait, I just transferred my domain to Dynadot. Is forced phone verification a thing at Dynadot? It was not mentioned anywhere during the transfer process. I was completely unaware of it.

If this is true and Dynadot forces me for phone verification, I am transferring to another registrar.