I’ve been a NameCheap customer for 13 years. I’ve also helped out an old college club paying for a .com they use (that is registered to me under my name, address, and phone number)…

The incoming club leader was persistent though, and called NameCheap support. He convinced them the domain registered in my name and address really belonged to his club, and with no verification or validation whatsoever, NameCheap changed my password, and changed the email address associated with my account. All because someone simply asked nicely on a phone call. Meanwhile in the background, someone advised the new club leader who I was and we were able to connect and get things transferred over. Ultimately I was happy to give them access or even ownership if they wanted (student club turnover being what it is, it’s likely a domain doesn’t get renewed and gets gobbled up by a squatter, which is why I was keeping it current for them). But NameCheap had no way of knowing any of this. As far as NameCheap was aware, this was a personal account of mine. They demonstrated they were perfectly able to pick up a phone and call me (to verify my initial support ticket) but when someone calls them and says “but I really want access to that account” they don’t bother? I’d hesitate to even call this social engineering. It’s clearly a massive vulnerability. I’ve already moved a dozen of my most critical domains out of NameCheap after seeing just how easy it is for a third party to completely take over a NameCheap account: just ask nicely. It would be nice to have a nonprofit registrar so jumping every few years isn't necessary. They're not necessarily better or worse than any other provider (I'm assuming support is good and local but I've never needed it), but they're based in Melbourne - so if push comes to shove I can physically go over there and speak with them directly. I'm not expecting something for nothing, we all need to eat. I'm happy to stay within any limits or even have no free tier at all. I just don't want the fear of waking up to a sales email one morning demanding I suddenly fork out more then I earn in a year off the project for an enterprise plan because I've exceeded their undisclosed thresholds.