spiritfly
Regular Member
- Apr 30, 2011
- 302
- 132
I'm aware that 1&1 is to be avoided at all costs and that's like a rule of thumb for domaining, but we all slip sometimes so please bear with me.
March 2016: Bought 3 domains from them. Used my personal account with all my legit details. Paid with my personal paypal. Nothing fishy. I developed one of the website into a big site that started pouring traffic. I invested heavily in content($x,xxx) and hired very skilled writers that were experts in the niche. The site started ranking on 4-5 position just months after I started posting and I was so happy. Just when I was about to place some ads and monetize the site, something terrible happened.. More on that later.
June 2016: I start a PBN creation service and started registering lots of domains with the intention of selling. Some were ordered by clients, some not. I registered 8 domains with 1and1 in the period of June-August 2016. All domains had a separate 1and1 account with the intention of pushing the domain to a client. Paid for them with my personal paypal that I used for my primary account
16th Nov TRAGEDY STRIKES! All my domains, including my 3 in my personal account get suspended without any notice. They all go into redepmtionPeriod. My personal 1and1 account gets locked(was probably locked a few weeks ago, but never noticed) as well as some of the client accounts. Some client accounts were completely deleted along with their domain names. This is when the torment begins..
1and1 do not have any official email or chat for support. Only phone. US phone. I do not reside in US which means long distance calls and my bad spoken English will come into play. An option I try to avoid at all costs. Googled a few emails and sent them an email, few days no reply. Found their facebook page and luckily a person named Tara responded. Told her my troubles and she said it's best to call them. Okay.. Called their tech support phone on their website, a non-native English speaker(far better than me though) tells me my account is set for suspension(WHAAT??) doesn't provide a reason. Tells me the security team can tell me, but they are not in working hours right now. I call the security team next day, nobody picks up.. after a few more tries I learned it's thanksgiving and they are feasting on a big juicy turkey for dinner while I pull the last bits of hair I have left for supper.. Black Friday also not working.. Weekend, yup that turkey needs to be digested well.. Finally monday comes I call them and a miserable guy called Matt says in a mumbling voice your account is set for termination like it's just an ordinary every day thing. But why, how what is the reason, how can I get back my domains?! Dunno, it's just set for termination says lazy Matt.. Call the tech support maybe they can help you transfer out the domains to a different host.. (I wouldn't stay with you even if you paid me for it I think in my head) So I call the tech support which is the first phone line again and explained my case for like the 50th time and a guy literally asked me to spell out my domains to him so he can escalate a ticket to the necessary department. I spent half an hour spelling one domain name, I was exhausted. It was clearly some kind of ploy to keep me busy and wear me out. But I'm not giving up, I'm made out of steel! I listened to hard-rock / metal in my teen years, I can endure pain, hit me harder! So we hang up, but I realized the guy sent a request for one domain only. I call again and a different rep picks up, Leo. This guy was the only concerned rep I have encountered and started asking many questions. The only downside? I waited on the phone while he was typing out the ticket. And it got VEERY long. I sat like an hour and 10 minutes with this guy listening to him typing out every word I said in his own interpretation. M'Kay I can endure, I'm strong.. So at the end he says I will transfer you to my supervisor so you can explain to him. Please go ahead! Then picks up Steven from the Security Department(again). So I tell him the whole issue again and he says okay let me put you on hold. I agree and the call drops. I though it was some kind of glitch with skype and call them again. Went through the whole explaining again and asked to speak to Steven in the Security Dept. and apologized for dropping the call..
Steven: it didn't drop! - in a rude voice!
Me: Then why did you hang up?
Steven: Because I don't believe your story sir!
Me: What exactly you don't believe?
Steven: I don't believe a single word you said!
So I start explaining my stance all over again and he interrupts me instantly
Steven: I don't believe anything you say because I called all of the numbers of your clients and nobody picks up
Me: Okay if you don't believe then how about my account? I'm a real person, I exist, I can provide ID or proof whatever is necessary?
Steven: You've committed a fraud sir!! We don't want to do any business with you! Do not call us again!
Me: This phone call is being recorded and you will be reported to ICANN.. *click*
Well I really did record all the phone calls because I filed a report to ICANN before I communicated them and they asked me for evidence of them not complying. I sent the evidence today as per requested by ICANN and it was accepted. 1and1 has 5 days to answer. However I don't really have high hopes that something will come up from this.. I have to have backup plan.
So I never really understood what kind of fraud I did and they refused to tell me. I saw a lot of similar comments on their facebook page, customers complaining for their domains getting deleted on 16th November. So apparently they did some kind of a massive purge of suspicious accounts. I suspect my client accounts were deleted because of inaccurate WHOIS(even though I never received an email to those accounts to confirm the accuracy of the WHOIS details), and they somehow linked my personal account with those client accounts and deleted it as well without thinking much.
I would be glad if anyone suggests anything however unethical it might be! I already bought a service to spam their facebook page with comments constantly, but that is just not harsh enough. It does ease the pain a bit, but doesn't help me get back my domains. I would appreciate any help on this case whatsoever. I need to get that domain name from them as quickly as possible! It is still indexed on google so time is of an essence! I'd appreciate any kind of input.
March 2016: Bought 3 domains from them. Used my personal account with all my legit details. Paid with my personal paypal. Nothing fishy. I developed one of the website into a big site that started pouring traffic. I invested heavily in content($x,xxx) and hired very skilled writers that were experts in the niche. The site started ranking on 4-5 position just months after I started posting and I was so happy. Just when I was about to place some ads and monetize the site, something terrible happened.. More on that later.
June 2016: I start a PBN creation service and started registering lots of domains with the intention of selling. Some were ordered by clients, some not. I registered 8 domains with 1and1 in the period of June-August 2016. All domains had a separate 1and1 account with the intention of pushing the domain to a client. Paid for them with my personal paypal that I used for my primary account
16th Nov TRAGEDY STRIKES! All my domains, including my 3 in my personal account get suspended without any notice. They all go into redepmtionPeriod. My personal 1and1 account gets locked(was probably locked a few weeks ago, but never noticed) as well as some of the client accounts. Some client accounts were completely deleted along with their domain names. This is when the torment begins..
1and1 do not have any official email or chat for support. Only phone. US phone. I do not reside in US which means long distance calls and my bad spoken English will come into play. An option I try to avoid at all costs. Googled a few emails and sent them an email, few days no reply. Found their facebook page and luckily a person named Tara responded. Told her my troubles and she said it's best to call them. Okay.. Called their tech support phone on their website, a non-native English speaker(far better than me though) tells me my account is set for suspension(WHAAT??) doesn't provide a reason. Tells me the security team can tell me, but they are not in working hours right now. I call the security team next day, nobody picks up.. after a few more tries I learned it's thanksgiving and they are feasting on a big juicy turkey for dinner while I pull the last bits of hair I have left for supper.. Black Friday also not working.. Weekend, yup that turkey needs to be digested well.. Finally monday comes I call them and a miserable guy called Matt says in a mumbling voice your account is set for termination like it's just an ordinary every day thing. But why, how what is the reason, how can I get back my domains?! Dunno, it's just set for termination says lazy Matt.. Call the tech support maybe they can help you transfer out the domains to a different host.. (I wouldn't stay with you even if you paid me for it I think in my head) So I call the tech support which is the first phone line again and explained my case for like the 50th time and a guy literally asked me to spell out my domains to him so he can escalate a ticket to the necessary department. I spent half an hour spelling one domain name, I was exhausted. It was clearly some kind of ploy to keep me busy and wear me out. But I'm not giving up, I'm made out of steel! I listened to hard-rock / metal in my teen years, I can endure pain, hit me harder! So we hang up, but I realized the guy sent a request for one domain only. I call again and a different rep picks up, Leo. This guy was the only concerned rep I have encountered and started asking many questions. The only downside? I waited on the phone while he was typing out the ticket. And it got VEERY long. I sat like an hour and 10 minutes with this guy listening to him typing out every word I said in his own interpretation. M'Kay I can endure, I'm strong.. So at the end he says I will transfer you to my supervisor so you can explain to him. Please go ahead! Then picks up Steven from the Security Department(again). So I tell him the whole issue again and he says okay let me put you on hold. I agree and the call drops. I though it was some kind of glitch with skype and call them again. Went through the whole explaining again and asked to speak to Steven in the Security Dept. and apologized for dropping the call..
Steven: it didn't drop! - in a rude voice!
Me: Then why did you hang up?
Steven: Because I don't believe your story sir!
Me: What exactly you don't believe?
Steven: I don't believe a single word you said!
So I start explaining my stance all over again and he interrupts me instantly
Steven: I don't believe anything you say because I called all of the numbers of your clients and nobody picks up
Me: Okay if you don't believe then how about my account? I'm a real person, I exist, I can provide ID or proof whatever is necessary?
Steven: You've committed a fraud sir!! We don't want to do any business with you! Do not call us again!
Me: This phone call is being recorded and you will be reported to ICANN.. *click*
Well I really did record all the phone calls because I filed a report to ICANN before I communicated them and they asked me for evidence of them not complying. I sent the evidence today as per requested by ICANN and it was accepted. 1and1 has 5 days to answer. However I don't really have high hopes that something will come up from this.. I have to have backup plan.
So I never really understood what kind of fraud I did and they refused to tell me. I saw a lot of similar comments on their facebook page, customers complaining for their domains getting deleted on 16th November. So apparently they did some kind of a massive purge of suspicious accounts. I suspect my client accounts were deleted because of inaccurate WHOIS(even though I never received an email to those accounts to confirm the accuracy of the WHOIS details), and they somehow linked my personal account with those client accounts and deleted it as well without thinking much.
I would be glad if anyone suggests anything however unethical it might be! I already bought a service to spam their facebook page with comments constantly, but that is just not harsh enough. It does ease the pain a bit, but doesn't help me get back my domains. I would appreciate any help on this case whatsoever. I need to get that domain name from them as quickly as possible! It is still indexed on google so time is of an essence! I'd appreciate any kind of input.
