registrars and customer service?!

An anonymous reader writes: 2 years ago I decided to try another line of work and dropped out of the computer world. I shut down my servers and gave notice to friends and family to quit using my business email addresses. I assumed any domain names I owned would not be renewed and put back in the pool. Fast forward to present day where I realize once a geek, always a geek and I now want to get back into my old business. I figured my old domains were gone but took a peek anyways, only to find that my main business domain name is still registered to me through my old registrar.

I thought "great, I'll just contact them, pay them up for all the time I was gone, and it'll all be good". Man, was I wrong. This is the response I received from them:

Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately your account has been terminated, due to a violation of our Terms and Conditions (excessive non-payment). As a result, your data/domain(s) have been deleted/set to expire as appropriate. GIven these circumstances, we kindly ask that you seek services elsewhere, as our system will prevent you from doing so moving forward. We wish you the best in yoru future endeavors. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

I have 6 weeks until the domain is returned to the pool where we all know it will be snapped up in seconds. Why won't this registrar let me back pay them so my account is in good standing. I'm willing to put a valid credit card on file with them. The domain in question is a 5 letter .com, does that have anything to do with it?

I have not mentioned the domain name or registrar because I am not sure if slashdot would allow it, but I have no problem mentioning either.

Finally, I had already assumed my domain was gone. I had no idea what happened to it since the registrar was unable to contact me for the last couple of years because I unplugged my servers. I find it is still registered to me but I have no access to it nor will the registrar let me pay them up in full, nor even pay them in advance. The above letter was the first response I got from them. A little cold don't you think? What business would rather not take my money for the last couple of years and instead say good riddance? Is it possible that because this is a good 5 letter .com domain name, the registrar is speculating they can sell it for a lot more rather than let me continue to have it? Do I have any recourse?