[albedoa]

I was always told that Namecheap does not engage in this practice.

It's a single data point, but I instructed a client to search for domains on Namecheap last year since they were undecided. I just didn't want them to use GoDaddy, and I warned them why. They settled on a domain but registered it months afterwards. It was still available.

[benhurmarcel]

I have the same story with Gandi. Searching for a domain (several times even, on a .com) and was still available months later.