domain question

jrochie

Hi guys,

firstly sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

a friend of my family has had a website running for the past 7 years. It is a .com address and has been registered through a company in another county. She got in contact with me last week about it as she wasn't happy with the price she was paying for the renewal of registration and hosting of the site.

I got in contact with the company and asked for access to the site and a price for just renewal of the domains. I supply hosting myself but didn't mention this to them, and also emailed them from a personal address as opposed to my business email. This was on Friday, and I've still got nothing back, and now the website has been taken down. My question is, if this guy decides to try and play hard ball and won't release the .com to us, what options do we have? I did a whois check on the domain and its registered in his name for another 12 months.

She could simply register another domain, but this one has been associated with her business for 7 years, has become established, and more importantly is also used as her email address.

Thanks

The Apprentice

Hmm

Its disapointing that u dont have backend cpanel access.. have u got backup of the site.. ? Im guessing not !

As for the domain name.. yes legally you can get it back if you can prove that it was yours and since u have a website and use the email address etc.. you,ll get it back with a bit of a fight.. ( legal letter ) maybe

Although its in another country, this might delay it..

As for the website, this could be gone for all time.. he could say that the site was not backed up and basically theres not much u can do.. U can try sue but as he is in a different juristiction you might not get anything more than a hefty legal bill out of it.

jrochie

Thanks for the answer, sorry I actually didn't make myself clear.

I made a back up of the site before it was taken down as I was slightly concerned something was going to happen, very glad I did now. I had asked for cPanel access when the site was taken down so as always the precaution was worth taking.

I wasn't clear on his location, he's actually in Cork and we are in Kerry so that should make it much easier. I have an address and telephone number so I'm going to call tomorrow to speak to him and see if he will be willing to do this the easy way!

The Apprentice

Phew.. well all is perfect there so. Just to iron out the little bits.

Although it was registered in his name it will have to be with a REgistered Regristrar.. Some of the named ones specifiically are , Blacknight, Godaddy, Namecheap, Domain Cheapsters but there are lots and lots of others. There is a possiblity its the above im sure blacknight on this forum could give input on getting a domain back to the rightful owner from an unscruplous reseller.
I do know it isnt a major thing just as long as you have proof that its your domain and that its your legitmate site etc.

The backup of the site is the easy part your new regristrar should be able to upload this in a matter of moments and running once the dns is transferred to the new regristrar ( basically whoever is taking over the hosting etc)

I suggest if its an irish domain talking to blacknight (plug) or one of the other top named irish ones. They should have it up at a minimum of two hours and maximum of 48 if its the correct backup if you get my meaning.

The backup is the major issue hear, if its correct it will take a few minutes and the dns transfer to the new host will take the maximum 48 hrs and thats it. Problem Solved.

And also for your cork reseller i would name and shame him for being such a "pleb"

Cheers

The Apprentice

I would offer to help with the hosting as im aware of the details of this but as your uploading a site as well im not 100% on that... The host will normally do it for freej.

blue4ever

Ok few bits I'm not too clear about:

Who actually owns the domain name, who is it registered to?

1) If its your friend, its simple (enough) get another hosting account and in the new account inform the Domain Name Server (DNS) of the new hosting location. No problems with email or anything like that - it "simply" points at the new address. Best to do it Friday evening or a low traffic point.

2) If the account is not registered in your friends name, then, sorry to say, you may as well start again with a new domain - allbeit with the old site design.

if it's situation 1) then there is a second step. Its call "Fcuk You" - to the previous hoster (naturally!) who closed your account. Its a step that people don't normally like to take - but its very important.

If that account was closed before the contract/expiry date and it affected a business - i'd take this further again.

Even if it didn't, I'd still be inclined to point the finger so that other companies don't fall foul of that scam.

mneylon

Without knowing who the domain is registered to or via whom it was registered it's hard to say with certainty what the best route is

As far as ICANN rules are concerned the WHOIS data is king.

Most companies selling domain names are resellers of a registrar and the registrar is responsible for their actions ie. if reseller X is in breach of ICANN policy then the registrar is obliged to resolve the issue.

jrochie

hi again guys,

just wanted to give a small update on this. Not an awful lot has happened since, I've been in contact with the company in cork about getting access to the site which I was denied because they hadn't received permission from 'the owners' ( their words). I then got the owner to send them an email asking for me to receive access. The site was taken down after I sent my first email.

She received a reply saying the domain had been renewed but the hosting had not and was deactivated, and would have to be paid for before access would be given. I again sent another email, this time saying that we were not interested in renewing hosting but would have no problem paying the renewal of the registration, and requested a new invoice with just the domain renewal price. I also said that we wished to transfer the domain and asked that any relevant codes be passed on after we had paid the outstanding balance.

This was on tuesday morning and there has still been no reply. I'm giving them until midday and I'll try calling then. I checked the WHOIS info on the domain, its been registered under the web designs business name. Now I know my friend has kept all the invoices going back to when the domain was first registered so I would imagine if it came to it she could send a solicitors letter and would probably have no problem getting access but hopefully it won't come to that. I'm slow to name the company involved for fear that they might be reading this and make things more awkward than they already are!

I'll give another update tomorrow when I know how things go.

Thanks again

VMotion

jrochie, do you know who is the registrar of the domain name? (they are obviously not) Your best bet will be going directly to the registrar with your story and supportive documents. They'll be most probably able to help you. Keep in mind that .com renewal shouldn't come at the price higher than €10.

Hope you'll resolve your issue soon.

IRE60

But you can name them on Friday and we can all send them a few mails?!

jrochie

This is turning out to be a real pain in the A$$!

Spent the whole day phoning the number on the invoice but it just rings and rings and rings! I've emailed every address I can find related to them but still not getting any reply from them!

The domain was registered with eNom, and the renewal price this cowboy is charging is €36! Its very frustrating to be honest. Whats my best way to approach eNom about it?

VMotion

jrochie, try contacting them here http://www.enom.com/contact.aspx
They will let you know where you stand in this fight and will support you through the resolution process.

mneylon

If the domain is registered with the correct details ie. not to the eNom reseller then you can raise the matter with eNom, as they are the registrar of record and are obliged to deal with the issue

jrochie

Well still no further along with this, their mysterious phone just rings out so that's no help. I contacted enom but gotthe response I was expecting to be honest, the domain is actually registered in the resellers name so they can't do anything, unless I was to get a court order.

I don't like naming this crowd but seeing as I can't seem to get in contact with them maybe someone here knows them, it's excl web solutions based in rochestown co cork. They also seem to run travelireland.org and the only email response I've gotten have been from a woman named clodagh. In the last couple of days the home page for their website has been taken down, and replaced with a new site coming soon message. The rest of the site is still there if you good search them.

Without being able to get in contact with them to try and sort this out, it's starting to look like legal proceedings are the only way to go about this, and myself and my friend are both slow about this because of the obvious costs and hassle that would be involved. She has a .ie address registered through your goodselves at black knight so we may just set up shop again at this address.

It's all been quite a pain but I really appreciate all the help and advice you guys have had for me. If I do get anywhere with it I'll let you guys know!
Thanks!!

mneylon

If your client has proof of payment for the domain name then maybe going legal might help ..

MrPicante

It's scary how many dodge players are in the market sometimes - don't get me wrong there are a lot of reputable guys but I am tired of the amount of times I hear people turning the screws on clients. A good name and shame thread would not go astray!

jrochie

well its still dragging on!

Got an email off the guy in question yesterday saying he had been away the past week and saying sorry for the delay. HE said the the domain registration had to be paid before it could be transferred and that he would contact my friend about it. All fine and exactly what I know needs to happen, all thought I find it strange him emailing me that when I had stated the exact same thing in the previous email!

Any how a few minutes later my friend rang him in a bit of a tizzy, apparently there was a bit of a shouting match on the phone over the whole thing, has this guy had tried to talk her into taking the hosting again! One of the things he mentioned was about a second domain she has registered, which is a variation of the spelling of the main domain. He argued with her about registering this claiming she needed it blah blah blah! That really annoyed me as while the domain has been registered for a few years, he never pointed it to anything! It has always just gone to a page cannot be displayed, the fool never even set up hosting or forwarded the domain! Any how for the at least 6th time he was again asked to just send on an invoice for the domain registration, which we are still waiting for.

This guy is the biggest pain in the a$$ i've ever dealt with, and I've dealt with quite a few! Oh and he never answers his phone!

Sorry I'm rather annoyed at this stage!

The Apprentice

Whats his name and address of place of business please,,,,,, ???

This is seriously gone beyond a joke, he.s extorting money out of you guys and i think you need help. You cant get him on the phone, ?? Turn up at his place of business and start asking the same questions with someone knowledable.

Turn up with your €20 to pay for the domain name and ure regristar details.. you can do it on the spot if he wanted to play ball.. if not consult your solictor as there is no other way..

Name and shame him please..

jrochie

So, finally, there is a bit of movement here. A new invoice has been sent on, and while it is extortionate and very expensive for a simple domain renewal, we have decided to pay so the issue can finally resolved! Just had a google maps search for the address, its a housing estate in Rochestown, Co.Cork. The same crowd also run a website called TravelIreland.org, which according to what my friend had been paying they charge over €300 to be listed on!

I'm actually a web designer myself, thats why my friend asked me about it in the first place. I have no doubt that the guy in question is an absolute conman, having looked at some of the other sites they have done, as well as my friends. In all seriousness someone doing a PLC course in web design would make much better jobs than most of their work. If my friend is anything to go by, he's been making quite a large amount of money from this business!

Anyway I think the invoice was paid today so I'm giving him a couple of days to pass on the transfer details. If he doesn't and I still can't get through on the phone then I will have to take a trip up to cork, and I'd imagine I'll be so pi$$ed off at that stage that the visit won't be pretty!