Client sues GoDaddy, alleging domains improperly transferred from account

One of the domains was sold through Afternic’s Fast Transfer.

A pro se litigant has sued (pdf) GoDaddy, alleging that it improperly transferred domain names from his account.

Jason Nash alleges that two of his domains were improperly transferred.

PanacheWineCellars.com was transferred to a former business partner of Nash. It’s not clear from the lawsuit if the business partner requested the transfer.

ReplacementPoolCovers.com sold through Afternic and automatically transferred to the buyer. As stated by exhibits Nash attached to the lawsuit, Afternic stated the domain was opted in to GoDaddy’s Premium Listing service, which was replaced by Afternic listings.

Nash is asking for $1.75 million.

While this could all be due to a partnership issue and a forgotten listing, a support person in GoDaddy’s CEO office sent an email stating, “We recognize that we made a mistake when your accounts were transferred in error…”

One change I’ve argued GoDaddy ought to make with domains listed for sale on Afternic through the GoDaddy interface is to send an annual reminder to clients regarding their listings. I suspect many clients list their domains for sale, forget regarding the listings, and later put the domain to use. This could prevent issues like what happened with the second domain.