WordPress Violates ICANN Requirements for Domain Registrars

  • Unknown's avatar
    tompressed · Member ·

    My domain and hosting were on annual autorenewal and autorenew they did. Thirty days earlier than the domain’s expiration date, no refunds allowed, not even for the hosting – I tried.

    If that sounds a bit unfair to someone who may have checked their domain registration and had planned to cancel, guess what? Surprise, it’s actually for YOUR benefit! To avoid disruptions with your domain. Gee thanks.

    My domain got disrupted anyway. No surprise, once you read this forum and see this happens daily. Fees paid. Receipt in my purchase history. But the domain itself disappeared and hosting downgraded to free.

    Over a month later my domain is still missing. And there is no support available. Zero phone, zero chat, zero email support. This forum is the only option for people who pay WordPress for stuff but don’t receive it. Oh there is also a helpless AI bot that will hallucinate about transferring you to a human, then start a new chat.

    I was worried about my missing domain. So I checked on it using whois. And right there I saw solution – a phone number!! To report abuse!!

    Registrar: Automattic Inc. Registrar IANA ID: 1531 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: (email visible only to moderators and staff) Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1 877 273-3049 Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited

    Not just anyone can be a domain registrar. It is far too lucractive for that! So there are important rules about safety and security and operations and a great many committees and such and such that result in ICANN obligations that all registrars must follow. It’s hard work which is I suppose why WordPress needs $20 a year to keep one database entry entirely the same as it was the year before. One rule requires companies that register domains have a telephone point of contact availabe 24-7 to receive and respond to reports of domain theft or abuse and to make themselves available to law enforcement. Calls not answered live must be investigated and returned within 24 hours.

    Certainly, a company like WordPress would not violate the ICANN rules! They could lose their registrar accreditation and all those fees, which probably fund all those safety and compliance efforts. WordPress may charge a bit more for domains, but at least they are a reputable company we can trust to keep our domains safe. So even though my record looked up to date, it was missing and I haven’t gotten help. So I called the Registrar abuse phone number expecting to at least leave a message.

    It just hangs up on you.

    Can’t leave a message. Can’t get a call back. Can’t report any crimes, abuse, theft, or ICANN contract violations. Can’t assist any law enforcement. It’s even less useful than the AI support bot. Automatic will shove terms and conditions at you to enforce payment of annual renewals, but has no problem ignoring it’s own contractual obligations as a domain registrar.

    Thanks for reading.

  • Unknown's avatar
    justjennifer · Member ·

    Hey there, your forum thread has been tagged for staff attention. Thanks for your patience while they get back to you. Meanwhile, kindly refrain from posting your issue in other people’s threads.

  • Unknown's avatar
    staartmees · Member ·

    Also read the answer you got on your previous thread – https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/worst-ai-support-ever/#post-4077574

  • Unknown's avatar
    aisajib · Member ·

    Hi there!

    To clarify a few points, when auto-renewal is enabled for any WordPress.com subscription, we process the renewal 30 days prior to the expiration date, as outlined in our support document.

    We send renewal reminders before this auto-renewal takes place, giving ample time to cancel the subscription or turn off auto-renewal. Even after the auto-renewal takes place, you can cancel the subscription within the refund period and get a full refund. The refund period for domains is 96 hours.

    For your particular case, I see that we’re already in touch with you via email, so I’ll close the forum threads to avoid duplicate replies.

    Please respond to our email so that we can continue to assist you directly. If you didn’t receive our email for any reason, you can contact us at billingsupport@wordpress.com.

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