united-states internet civil-law legal-research domain-name
High value domain taken by registrar
<p>I registered a domain name with a large domain registrar.</p>

<p>The domain is very unique. </p>

<p>The transaction went through. My credit card was billed. I received an invoice.</p>

<p>I set up the domain with my website. I used CloudFlare for DNS and still have the domain listed in Cloudflare.</p>

<p>Google has cached copies of the website pages on the domain. I verified the domain on Google search console and it is still listed under my properties.</p>

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<p>Four days after the registration I received an email from the registrar saying that there had been an error. </p>

<p>They said the domain is a premium domain and the actual price for the domain is $1,000,000. They took my domain down and removed the whois information.</p>

<p>They refunded me with in-store credit plus $25 "for any inconvenience". <strong>My credit card was never refunded it's all in-store credit. I never agreed to the refund.</strong> </p>

<p>I have all the bank invoices and other documents. </p>

<p>I want my domain back. 
What are my options?</p>

<p>You need to look at the domain registrar's TOS to determine their polices for canceling a domain after the fact in the way they did, i.e. claiming the domain is "premium" and as such allowing them to cancel and raise the price and re-offer the domain.</p>

<p>The registrar may, in fact, have such a policy in their TOS that you agreed to when you opened an account with them and registered a domain. "Clicking through" and accepting a TOS is a binding contract. Their policy may hinge on an "escrow" hold on the domain for a certain time until your payment clears, they do due diligence, or other reasons, and by agreeing to the TOS you allowed them to reserve the right to cancel or re-offer the registration.</p>

<p>However, such a policy is at least (I think) ethically challenged and at most could be illegal - US and local laws in your your jurisdiction may come into play - in terms of ICANN's policies. You may have success opening a complaint with ICANN, the international  organization that oversees domain registrars and works to resolve complaints such as cyber-squatting, issues with the way registrars operate, etc. See <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/responsibilities-2014-03-14-en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Registrant Rights and Responsibilities Under the 2009 Registrar Accreditation Agreement - ICANN</a>.</p>

<p>If the registrar <em>doesn't have a clear policy</em> on the form of cancellation and re-offer you have been subjected to, your next step is definitely looking at <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/dispute-resolution-2012-02-25-en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Dispute Resolution Options - ICANN</a>.</p>

<p>Keep all your documents and emails, and log all phone calls or chats with the registrar. Make screenshots of your Cloudflare account and Google's web cache.</p>

<p>And, it might be helpful to do a Google search for that registrar and "domain cancellation" or more relevant keywords to see if anything similar has happened in the past and the outcomes; those stories may give you ideas for other options. You may also need to find a local lawyer to advise you on your next steps, or talk to a free legal aid clinic in your area.</p>
