That sounds like a nightmare, but I wouldn't let that experience sour your opinion of Google Domains.

I actively avoid Google products, but Google Domains is an exception. They make limited upsell appeals, their pricing is straight forward, and if it's available, they include privacy protection with the annual cost.

And they are clear about the lack of privacy protection for .us domains. This text appears when checking out: "Privacy protection is not supported for .US domains."