Domain owned by me but attached to previous owner's Microsoft 365 tenant — support escalation required

Hi DomB96!,

I understand that you only want smcollective.com.au released from the previous owner’s Microsoft 365 tenant, while keeping your existing GoDaddy-managed business tenant unchanged.

I can help explain the support options, but I cannot access the tenants, verify your documents, or submit an internal escalation from this forum.

Since the usual support routes have already redirected you, I suggest the following:

1/ Ask GoDaddy to review the case for escalation to Microsoft.

Microsoft directs customers whose subscriptions are purchased entirely through a partner to that partner for support. Microsoft also documents a process for eligible CSP providers to submit support requests on behalf of customers. This supports asking GoDaddy for an escalation review, but does not establish that GoDaddy controls the previous owner’s tenant or can remove its domain association. See Microsoft 365 support options and Partner support requests.

You can ask:

"Please review this case for escalation to Microsoft as a domain ownership dispute. I recently purchased smcollective.com.au, but it remains associated with a previous owner’s Microsoft 365 tenant. I control the domain’s DNS and can provide purchase evidence. I am not an administrator of that tenant and am not requesting access to its accounts or data.

Please request investigation by the team responsible for domain ownership disputes, including Data Protection if applicable. The requested change is limited to removing smcollective.com.au from the previous tenant following Microsoft’s verification. My existing GoDaddy-managed Microsoft 365 tenant must remain unchanged."

Ask for the GoDaddy case number and, if escalated, the Microsoft support reference.

2/ If GoDaddy cannot arrange this, consider a separate Microsoft 365 business trial as an alternative contact route.

You can try creating a new tenant directly with Microsoft using its supplied onmicrosoft.com domain. Keep it separate from your existing GoDaddy tenant and leave smcollective.com.au unconnected during setup.

You can register for a new Microsoft 365 tenant by signing up for a trial subscription here: Microsoft 365 Business Plans and Pricing | Microsoft 365    

Once the new tenant is created, you can access the admin center and submit a support ticket from there, requesting to speak with the Data Protection Team on behalf of your original tenant.    

Important notes:     

• This new trial tenant will not give you access to any of the data or settings in your original locked tenant. It is solely a temporary means to contact Microsoft support.    
• The resolution time might be longer as you are contacting support from a different tenant.    
• Remember to cancel the trial subscription for the new tenant once your issue with the original account is resolved to avoid any unintended charges.  

Sign in with the new administrator account at admin.microsoft.com, then check Help & support > Contact Support. If available, submit the request above and explain that the new tenant is only being used to contact support about the disputed domain.

This is a possible way to seek assistance, not a guaranteed domain-dispute or Data Protection escalation process. 

Keep your purchase evidence, GoDaddy correspondence, and the exact domain error ready. Share documents privately through the support case and follow the investigating team’s DNS verification instructions. Microsoft will need to assess the claim before determining whether the domain can be released.

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