So there was someone on Namepros talking about a situation with a domain name transfer. Where they transferred a domain name for a friend.
I transferred a .com for a friend into my account on 10th March 2020. Domain renewal date is 31st January every year.
So obviously when I transferred the domain name on 10th March 2020 it’s expiry was 31st January 2021. (No misunderstanding here too)
Paid the full transfer fees. The additional year should have made the expiry 31st January 2022 but now I am getting alerts that it will expire on 31st January 2021. Don’t know where the year vanished. (Have receipts of this all too)
When you look at the TOS at GoDaddy (and other registrars) you see:
2.D. Transfers of Recently Renewed Domain Names
You understand that if you are transferring a domain name that has been recently renewed, there is the potential the renewal year will be lost. The renewal year will be lost if: (i) the domain name was renewed during the forty-five (45) day grace period after the expiration date had passed; and (ii) forty-five (45) days have not yet passed since that expiration date. You understand and agree that GoDaddy is not responsible for this lost year and that GoDaddy will not credit that year to your domain. You will need to review the registration agreement you have with your previous registrar to determine if you are due a refund or credit for the lost year. Please contact your previous registrar if you have any questions about the lost year. You understand and agree that GoDaddy will not intervene in the recovery of any such lost registration years that occur during the transfer of your domain name.
So be careful when transferring domain names out, you don’t want to waste money on a domain name transfer with no extra year added.
Yes. And this “lost year” phenomenon occurs at ANY registrar, not just GoDaddy. It’s just the way the grace renewal period functions, unfortunately.
Customers used to ask me about this pretty frequently. And the explanation is technical, which leaves a lot of people scratching their heads even afterward. Nobody likes hearing that they double-paid for a single year of registration. Technically, the customer should be able to get a refund from the losing registrar, since the registrar itself is credited by the registry; but that’s an uphill battle.