Never buy .xyz domains (Namecheap)
Recently (Dec 22) I purchased a new domain name from Namecheap. Everything was okay, I added MX and TXT records to add this domain to my mail provider. All was set up.
I didn’t send a single email message, there were just a couple of incoming messages. But then something weird happened. I only noticed the issue when I didn’t receive an email from the airline with my ticket.
My new domain was not resolving anymore, although all the settings looked okay. I contacted Namecheap.
They checked something and concluded: domain was blocked by the registrar — gen.xyz. I need to contact them and solve this issue with them. No one bothered to contact me about this issue, the domain was blocked quietly.
I was provided the link where I found out that my domain was suspended for Spam, Abuse Reported. Considering that I didn’t send a single email using this domain and didn’t even have A-records to point somewhere — it is weird. Then I have to provide the evidence that I didn’t do spam or some other illegal activities. Curious, whoever reported the abuse — did they have to provide any evidence?
After selecting buses, fire hydrants, crosswalks, traffic lights, etc. in Google’s magnificent ReCaptcha I was able to send the request to unsuspend my domain. A few hours later I received an answer:
Subject: Unsuspension request for: domain.xyz
Priority: Medium
Status: AnsweredGen.xyz support hours are Monday through Friday, 9am — 5pm Pacific Time.
So the priority for wrongful domain suspension is Medium. And the answer is amazing. This is not live chat, it’s a ticketing system. What is the problem to answer me at 9am Pacific Time? No, it seems that I have to submit the ticket at 9am Pacific Time.
I contacted Namecheap once again, asked them to solve this issue on my behalf, but they refused. They said it’s not their problem and I have to deal with it myself. They only collect the money, nothing else. They don’t have any responsibility. They can’t issue a refund, because it is against their policy. They can do nothing, it is up to me to stay awake at 9am Pacific Time (yes, surprise, some people live on the other side of the planet) and deal with this issue myself.
Ok, I can deal with this issue right now, but what prevents them to take away my domain again? Quietly, as they did just now? How can you trust someone like this? No notification, no contact to clarify the issue. Just like that — the domain is blocked.
For me the damage wasn’t so bad, it was a new mail account and I didn’t have time to use it anywhere. But what if that would’ve been your main mail domain? You will miss all the new incoming messages. What if that would’ve been a website for your business? You will start losing money because your website won’t be available.
There is no trust for .xyz domains, I recommend to avoid it at any cost and select something more trusted instead, like .com or .net.
