60 Day Lock at Godaddy Still?

I read that Godaddy had done away with their 60 day transfer lock policy on domain names where the Whois information changes. I know ICANN prohibits transfers away when a domain name is newly registered, and I heard that there were major rumblings when Godaddy had their own lock, but I thought that situation was remedied.
Today, I tried to transfer WeddingEntertainment.com to my account at Moniker, and I received this message from Godaddy:

“Dear EJ Silver,
The transfer of WEDDINGENTERTAINMENT.COM from GoDaddy.com, Inc. to another registrar could not be completed for the following reason(s):
Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. – email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means).
The express written objection may be the result of a pending or recently completed Change of Registered Name Holder. This is an opt-in process during which the new Registered Name Holder agrees not to transfer for 60-days. This domain will be transferrable on 7/26/2008.
If you believe that this domain name does not fit the situation described above, go to http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/support.asp?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=gdbb35 for assistance.
Regards,
Domain Services
GoDaddy.com, Inc. “

Luckily for me, I have a couple of great people at Godaddy who I am sure will make this problem go away in no time. However, if I didn’t have an executive account with them, I would probably be stuck making phone calls, trying to get this resolved, which would have ended up in the office of their President. Also, if I was selling the domain name, it would add unnecessary hassle.
A change in Whois shouldn’t require a 60 day lock. I thought this was resolved, but apparently it wasn’t.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. It is an “opt-in” process with Godaddy. You will always have to select the 60 day option when making whois changes within Godaddy, but as long as you’re not within the ICANN 60 day new registration or transfer period you can simply contact a Godaddy rep and they will lift the restriction.
    I spoke with my rep at length about this not too long ago. I actually like the 60 day period because it’s another layer of protection for a domain portfolio. This is why Godaddy still maintains this restriction and by making it an opt-in they are abiding by ICANN’s rules.
    Just go into your account every 60 days or so and make a subtle change to reset the restriction. By doing this there is no way someone could ever transfer away your names, even if they hack your account. If your selling, pushing or transferring away a domain name anytime after that, just simply contact your rep to lift the restriction.
    I recommend establishing regular contact with the same rep at your registrar to help prevent a hacker from using “social engineering” to circumvent these protections.

  2. Since I keep most of my names at Moniker, I don’t have any special connections at Godaddy. During a recent domain transfer, I had to go through several levels of technical support before finally getting the issue resolved by Office of the President. After being told “no” by the level 2 support, I responded with a link to http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-03apr08.htm and was able to get the issue expedited.

  3. The 60-day choke-hold put on by GoDaddy is not optional. I recently had several domains pushed to my GD account, and I did not check the box agreeing to the stranglehold, and I was not allowed to continue until I did.

    I too supposedly have an executive account with GD, but what is the real value. If I ever have to call them, it is nothing short of painful. As a result, I am moving away from GD.

    They may be fine for newbies, but GD is not geared towards the Internet professional.

    mp/m

    ***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***

    My rep is going to take care of this, but now I have to cancel the transfer with Moniker, get a refund from Moniker and re-do the whole thing. Not customer friendly.

  4. All I can say: complain to ICANN, perhaps even file a class action suit against GD. Putting a lock for info changes goes against ICANN rules, but if ICANN doesn’t enforce its own rules, then there isn’t much you can do.
    Having said that, there are always loopholes for problems like this, and a great customer rep can fix these pesky problems.
    I almost lost a great cc domain because I didn’t realize that they had to be renewed a month before expiration.
    A good rep fixed it for me AND allowed me to use a GD coupon.
    😉

  5. “The 60-day choke-hold put on by GoDaddy is not optional. I recently had several domains pushed to my GD account, and I did not check the box agreeing to the stranglehold, and I was not allowed to continue until I did.”
    Mike,
    GoDaddy is most likely considering a “pushed” domain to equate to a domain transfer.
    I think there is a BIG difference between that and locking your domain because you changed your email address or phone #.
    If GoDaddy is still doing that as Elliot suggests, maybe we can all join together to fix the problem…once and for all.
    Patrick

  6. I almost lost a great cc domain because I didn’t realize that they had to be renewed a month before expiration.

    Yep. Country codes don’t necessarily have the same rules as gTLDs like .com, so check with the registrar on their renewal policies for that extension.

  7. Just a quick update. I had the lock removed by my rep at Godaddy, but I had to cancel and reinitiate the transfer. It’s not the end of the world but an annoyance. I will know tomorrow if the transfer goes through.

  8. I just recently faced the same ordeal simply wanting to transfer from my reseller account to my GD account.
    Because I had a change in address (PO Box change) I had to update my contact info.
    So it is a double whammy.
    I \”selected\” the second day rule prohibiting transfer.
    Forgetting I had done this awhile back, when I went to transfer to GD to take advantage of some coupons, I was reminded of this \”selection\”.
    There is no opt out.
    It is purely a GD ploy. You \”agree\” to these terms. Not that you had a choice in the matter to begin with.
    Whether you like it or not, GD has you by the short hairs.
    (By the way, I am entering this info on your \”unofficial\” mobile site).
    🙂

  9. “Luckily for me, I have a couple of great people at Godaddy who I am sure will make this problem go away in no time.”
    I wish I had the same. Numerous email and phone calls … they refuse to lift the ban for us plebians.

  10. 1&1 are blocking me for 60 days and wont even honor the money back guarantee, i trying to leave and they say i tied in for 1 year. I guess there is a lot of crooked stuff going on out there

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