Changes for Uniregistry Customers This Week

In February of this year, GoDaddy announced that it reached a deal to acquire Uniregistry. As a result of this acquisition, there are going to be some changes for Uniregistry domain name registrants and customers. On March 31, Uniregistry emailed its customers to let them know what was going to be changing once the deal closes, “on or about April 8, 2020.” April 8th is coming up on Wednesday, and I want to share the email I received so people know what is happening and what to expect.

I appreciate how the email intertwined easy to read commentary with some required legalease to make it easier to understand what is changing and what is remaining the same. I would suggest reaching out to Uniregistry representatives or GoDaddy representatives if you have any specific questions about what will be happening to customers, domain names, and their accounts.

In short and from my understanding, not much is actually changing for Uniregistry customers beyond contractual changes that don’t seem like they will impact the customer experience.

Here is the email I received from Uniregistry:

Acquisition notice to our customers.

As we get closer to closing the deal with GoDaddy, we have a few things we need to take care of. And this email involves information from lawyers about what is going to happen to your contract with Uniregistry and your personal information. Please read everything closely, but we’ll do our best to guide you through it.

Uniregistry, Corp. and its subsidiaries (Uniregistry) are preparing for the sale of their registrar, domain name brokerage, and parking businesses and related operations and assets to GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC and/or one or more of its affiliates (GoDaddy).

This is telling you that Uniregistry is selling its registrar, domain name brokerage and parking services to GoDaddy.

As part of this transaction, we will transfer, assign, and novate (“Transfer”) your customer contract with Uniregistry to GoDaddy, which shall remain in full force and effect from and after the Transfer to GoDaddy.

This is saying (while using fancy words like ‘novate’) that your contract with Uniregistry will be transferred to GoDaddy on or about April 8, 2020. At that point, your experience won’t change much. Neither will your pricing. So, to recap, for the foreseeable future, you’ll have the same awesome experience, same incredible customer service and affordability you’re used to, but you’ll be technically paying GoDaddy for providing the services.

Pursuant to this Transfer of your customer contract, we will also Transfer your data and information to GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands Ltd., with a registered address at c/o Mourant Governance Services (Cayman) Limited, 94 Solaris Avenue, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands, which will become the new data controller for your information in accordance with applicable privacy laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation. This means that your information will be processed and further shared by GoDaddy Online Services Cayman Islands in a similar way as Uniregistry does.

This is saying as part of the transfer of your contract, Uniregistry will transfer all data and information it has to GoDaddy, all in accordance with applicable privacy laws, including GDPR. You will continue to be subject to the Terms of Service (here for domain registrations and here for the marketplace) and Privacy Policy (here), which shall be updated on April 8 to reflect the closing of the deal with GoDaddy.

If you object to these Transfers, you can opt out of your contract being Transferred to GoDaddy by emailing help@uniregistry.combefore April 8, in which case GoDaddy will provide you a prorated refund for any prepaid fees received by Uniregistry that correspond to the unused portion of the term of your contract with Uniregistry.

One other benefit of joining GoDaddy is their extensive catalog of products and services in addition to their 24/7 customer support. Expect to hear more news on these and other benefits in the near future.

Don’t want to be a part of this transaction? Super sad, but we understand. Email the address above. You’ll receive a pro-rated refund of any pre-paid fees you paid to Uniregistry that are un-used. Things like pre-paid monthly services or store credit. If you don’t choose to stay and have domain name registrations, you will need to transfer to another registrar or delete the domain name. We can assist with transferring or cancelling, but there will not be refunds given out. Keep in mind, if you decide to cancel, any services you’re using will be canceled, so you’ll need to find a new home for those services.

That’s it! Thanks for going on this journey with us and for being a customer. We truly appreciate it. We can’t wait to get started with GoDaddy to bring you an even more incredible experience.

Thanks to Bill Hartzer for reminding me about this.