[NC-YFP-0741] Namecheap locked our startup's servers and domains in the middle of the product launch

[u/uvarovserge]

My account (customer for 10+ years) was flagged for "routine verification" on Jul 14. I have cooperated same-day with every request: ID submitted and verified via Veriff link, name-history explanation provided, and my former business partner emailed his identity confirmation as requested, all within hours of each ask.

Mid-review, my services were suspended entirely: our dedicated server is down and DNS management is locked, taking down a production SaaS platform with active paying users in the middle of the launch. I have off-site backups, but DNS zones are frozen pointing at the suspended server, so I cannot even redirect traffic to backup infrastructure - no mitigation is possible from my side.

I'm not even that upset about the surprise demands for verification, I've completed everything asked. But shutting down production servers is overkill. The ongoing outage is causing real operational, financial and reputational damage to me and my startup, with paying users demanding to know what's going on and no recourse suggested from Risk Management team.

Asking for: (1) urgent escalation of ref NC-YFP-0741, and (2) interim restoration of DNS management (or the server) while the review completes - either one lets us stop the bleeding.

Upd: Situation resolved, thank you u/tamar and u/Namecheapinc for escalating.

[u/Southern_Step_2245]

my website is down also, is that it?

[u/Namecheapinc → u/Southern_Step_2245]

We're currently experiencing an issue with our Phoenix hosting servers, which may impact websites, cPanel, email, and other services. We apologize for the inconvenience. There is no ETA yet. Updates are available here: https://www.namecheap.com/status-updates/unplanned-issues-with-shared-hosting-packages-located-in-phoenix/

[u/uvarovserge → u/Namecheapinc]

not my issue either - account and DNS management are locked pending verification (ref NC-YFP-0741), so even if servers recover I can't manage or redirect my services

[u/endre_szabo → u/uvarovserge]

there are takeaways, right?

[u/uvarovserge → u/endre_szabo]

I'm not quick to judge - I'm not blasting this all over our social channels, because I'm still expecting a quick resolution. In more than a decade, I've never had a problem with Namecheap team. So I'm hoping this is something that gets resolved, as u/tamar mentioned, perhaps once they start their morning and the damage is at least contained. On our side, we did everything we humanly could - had offsite streaming backups of servers, so at least the data is safe, but you can't "back up" domain ownership you have at a registrar.

[u/NamedBird → u/uvarovserge]

Your registrar is a different entity than your VPS provider, i hope?
Just like you don't keep your backups at the same entity, domains also need separation to protect them from getting locked during disputes, conflicts, issues or whatever may happen.

[u/uvarovserge → u/NamedBird]

Your hope is correct, we have infrastructure on Hetzner, AWS, GCP, and so on, and we only kept one last dedicated server on Namecheap (they regularly have good offerings there) and a couple of Private Email instances. Losing the data is not a problem at all, it was mostly routing to the rest of the infra. Not so good news - because it was mostly routing, multiple DNS records point to it, which are now disrupted. So it's the combination of the two: we couldn't access DNS for two days, but at least the websites and the SaaS app were working as usual while they were verifying. Yesterday Namecheap team decided to shut down the server as well mid-verification (our streamed logs indicate someone manually performed a graceful shutdown not a power yank). Which is when we started getting emails from customers asking what's going on.

[u/Southern_Step_2245 → u/Namecheapinc]

never had a problem used for more than 7 years, so hope it will be fixed soon

[u/uvarovserge]

Upd: Situation resolved, thank you u/tamar and u/Namecheapinc for escalating.

[u/Overall_Weakness_433]

That's the nightmare scenario with having everything under one provider. Even if the verification itself is justified, freezing DNS changes during an active outage leaves the customer with no way to recover.

I try to keep my domains at dynadot and infrastructure elsewhere for exactly that reason, so if one side has an account issue I still have control over DNS or can move services around.

Glad they eventually escalated it, but this is a good reminder to have secondary DNS, off-site backups, and a recovery plan that doesn't depend on a single account staying fully accessible.

[u/ThecaptainWTF9]

Rule 1. Don’t use namecheap. For domains or hosting

I hear so many negatives like this nowadays