Web host stole my domain name!

14 years ago

I'm sorry to hear this happened.

To anyone reading this thread -- ALWAYS use a separate domain registrar and webhost. Something like this might happen. Or the host just might go bankrupt and disappear. Always keep 'em separate to help protect your domain and content.

As for your questions...

Originally Posted by webwriter

1. Do they have a right to outwardly say that MY domain name now belongs to them?

First off, check the terms of service -- what did you agree to? This will give you some indication of how difficult it might be to get your domain back (or whether that's even possible). Some hosts just register a domain name with their info (so, technically, THEY own the name and not you).

Again, check the TOS... then you can go from there.

I hope you can resolve this.

Becky

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notsospecialed Banned 14 years ago

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- PeterGarety 14 years ago
  
  Usually it happens when you purchase hosting together with ready made websites. I had such experience about a year ago with FreeSiteSignup.com. It was a very hard battle to get the domain back.
  
  What you need to do is to ask them whether you can renew the service together with your domain. Once it is done, tell them that you want to change your domain name registrar. If it is not against their rules (Make sure to check terms and conditions before, as maybe they explain the terms, how long they keep the domain) they will allow you to do that. Once it is finished, just close the account with them.
  
  This is how I got back my domain. However, I would never do that same again, as there is really no point to spend time for a domain name. Just pick other one, which is similar to yours.
  
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IMStudentforlife

14 years ago

Originally Posted by webwriter

I had what I thought was a pretty good domain name ..... until I lost it when I requested a refund from the web host company. In today's email, the company stated that since I "demanded" a refund from them (which I received), they get to keep that domain name.

I never heard of anything like that before and wondered if I could get it back anyway.

There was never any talk about their reassigning that domain name back to me. They merely said that it now belonged to them and that's it.

So my questions are:

1. Do they have a right to outwardly say that MY domain name now belongs to them?

2. Could I get it back, and if so, what should I do?

What is this reason it was lost? If you paid for the domain name and it was registered your name then its yours.. unless the funds did not get through to them... But if they hijacked it, then contact a lawyer.

But it all stems from how you "lost it" in the first place..

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Kay King 14 years ago

I agree - there aren't enough details.

If you opened a web host account and then purchased a domain immediately - your demand for a refund was probably seen as a demand for total repayment of both. The use of the word "demand" rather than "request" leads me to wonder how rude the demand was and whether it was clear what you were demanding.

The domain should show as available in a few days and you may be able to re-register it.
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customertools

14 years ago

If the whois information has your name in it, it's your domain name. They do have the right to charge you for the domain name if they gave it to you free with a contract.

What host was this?

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Kim Standerline

14 years ago

If they bought it for you, but then gave you the money back, then surely it belongs to them, (Or am I missing something here)

Having said that, I'll reiterate what's been said, you should always seperate your hosting and domain names

Kim

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deaddogdesign

14 years ago

Who did you use? Are you talking about buying your domain from one company and then hosting it somewhere else. How could they possibly take it? In the case that you bought your domain and hosting from the same place is it possible you paid for them together? If you got a refund then maybe they did them together.

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mawhitney

14 years ago

I didn't know they could do that, but I guess it makes since if the domain name was packaged with the hosting. I suggest purchasing domains from a separate provider like Registrar, NameCheap, or GoDaddy.

To your success,
Mike

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AmyBrown

14 years ago

Is this the same domain as in your previous thread regarding hosting? If so, where is the domain actually registered?

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webwriter

14 years ago

Originally Posted by AmyBrown

Is this the same domain as in your previous thread regarding hosting? If so, where is the domain actually registered?

Yes. The hosting company was justhost.com. When I first signed up with them for hosting and a "free" domain, I was unable to access the cpanel and sent them an email. They responded after awhile with three web adddresses that did not work. So we went back and forth, until I became disgusted and asked for a refund. They ignored my polite request.

I then called them and waited a little over ten minutes for them to answer. The customer rep's heavy accent was very difficult to understand and I had to ask her several times to kindly repeat what she said.

Asking for a refund shouldn't involve such a hassle.

Thanks
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TheRichJerksNet

14 years ago

Originally Posted by webwriter

Yes. The hosting company was justhost.com. When I first signed up with them for hosting and a "free" domain, I was unable to access the cpanel and sent them an email. They responded after awhile with three web adddresses that did not work. So we went back and forth, until I became disgusted and asked for a refund. They ignored my polite request.

I then called them and waited a little over ten minutes for them to answer. The customer rep's heavy accent was very difficult to understand and I had to ask her several times to kindly repeat what she said.

Asking for a refund shouldn't involve such a hassle.

Then nobody stole your domain, it is their domain and not yours..

James

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Kim Standerline

14 years ago

I'm sorry, but I fail to see where they have "stolen" your domain

You asked for a refund (for whatever reason), they gave you one, (however reluctantly), therefore you haven't paid for anything. Ergo the domain now belongs to them!!

Email and ask them to sell the domain back to you, it might cost you a tad more, but then that depends on how much you want it

Regards
Kim

Originally Posted by webwriter

Yes. The hosting company was justhost.com. When I first signed up with them for hosting and a "free" domain, I was unable to access the cpanel and sent them an email. They responded after awhile with three web adddresses that did not work. So we went back and forth, until I became disgusted and asked for a refund. They ignored my polite request.

I then called them and waited a little over ten minutes for them to answer. The customer rep's heavy accent was very difficult to understand and I had to ask her several times to kindly repeat what she said.

Asking for a refund shouldn't involve such a hassle.

Thanks
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R Hagel

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Jimnopks

What happen to the op?

Becky is mssing in action.

So much good advice, but aparently Becky moved on.

Are you referring to me? Cause I'm not the OP.

webwriter...

Consider for a moment if you bought a BMW, which gives you free oil changes and maintenance. Let's say you sell the car after a month and buy a Mercedes instead. Do you think the BMW dealer is going to give you "free" oil changes on your Mercedes?

Nope.

However, a question: did you pay for the domain registration fees or allow them to deduct those fees from the refund? Because if you didn't demand a FULL refund -- if you pay the domain registration fees -- it sounds like they'll give you the domain.

In other words, like Kim said, you could possibly buy it back from them.

From their TOS:

Guarantee

As we explain in this paragraph, we offer you an Anytime Money-Back Guarantee on all shared hosting plans. And here is how our cancellation policy works. It is very simple. If you cancel your account we will provide you with a full refund for the remainder of your term, excluding any setup fees that were charged when you signed up, and excluding domain registration fees. (Even if you received your domain for free through one of our promotional plans)

The domain registration fee we incur on each domain registration is $20.00. So all refunds are subject to a $20.00 registration fee charge, but you will own the domain name afterwards. The only way to cancel your account is by emailing our billing team at billing [at] justhost.com NOTE: If you sign up in GBP pounds sterling then domain registration charge we incur is £14.95

Please note: Any account upgrades to hosting services such as additional domain registration, Priority Support, Just Host Directory, Daily Backup, Dedicated IP, Domain Privacy, Private SSL certificates, Search Engine Submission, Platinum Upgrade, Visitors 2 You and Shell Access are non-refundable. In addition, we do not offer refunds on dedicated server plans as they are month to month and there are no contracts involved.

But on the flip side, they said you were rude. So maybe that truly DOES negate everything because they mention rudeness in their TOS:

Just Host also reserves the right to cancel your account with 72 hours notice should an event occur in which proper evidence exists that a customer was exceptionally rude or vulgar in communications with our staff.

cheers,
Becky

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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

Or maybe it was a deal that is offered by many hosts: buy a hosting package and get a "free" domain.

Of course, the price of the free domain is already calculated in the price of the hosting

And it is, usually, a discount price for them.

The problems with such deals arise when the host (or their registering mechanism) doesn't ask for your details to be recorded by the registrar and, instead, they "make it simple" for you... registering the domain in their name.

The fair thing would be that if you want the domain name - subtract the retail price from the refund amount and keep everybody happy.

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TheRichJerksNet

14 years ago

I love how people go running saying they stole my domain name... First of all I agree with Kay you sure do leave out a great deal of details...

This makes me wonder why ... I can almost bet the host had a free domain name with hosting. Then you demand a refund and you think you can get a free domain name. Sorry life don't work this way, they registered the domain name and it is theirs to keep legally.

No offense to the OP but sure looks like to me you just wanted a free domain name and then cry about it later saying it was stolen. I could be wrong but by the way you demand a refund as soon as you purchase hosting must lead someone to think that something smells fishy..

James

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rlharding

14 years ago

Am I wrong or isn't this what GDI does? You pay for the domain name but don't they keep it if you cancel your hosting?

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

If the domain is included in the cost of the hosting, then they can keep it is my guess. It's not a good idea to ever have your domains and hosting together. When I open a hosting account and have to have a base domain to open it, I use a junk domain that I have no interest in at all and don't ever put anything on it. All my real domains are registered elsewhere.

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sylviad 14 years ago

When I bought my domain through my host, they used their own money to pay for the registration which later was charged to me. That money is gone because you cannot get a refund for a registered domain, as far as I know.

If you asked for a refund that included the cost of the domain, then where does that leave the host? They would be out that registration fee. It will depend how they've set up the process, but there must be a way for them to take over domains registered through them when the customer gets a refund.

Do check the Whois for your domain and see who it's registered to. If it's yours, you'll have to go through your host to get it transferred out of their hands. They cannot refuse to do this for you IF you paid for it.

My domain expired last year and my host quickly put it up for sale. Fortunately, I was able to get it back before they sold it. If you want yours back, you just might have to fork over that registration fee. Then, you can instruct your host to transfer the domain to whatever registration service you plan to use in future.

Sylvia
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fredjr1978

14 years ago

This is why I always tell people to pick a domain registar site that you really enjoy doing business with...for me it is GoDaddy.com

Then if for what ever reason you need to change hosts, you dont have to worry about losing a domain name. If a host ever offers a free domain name with purchase I NEVER take it. If there is a domain name that I want, I got to GoDaddy.com

Please take this as a lesson, and for those that have not made this mistake yet, please learn from this mistake and dont make it yourself.

So sorry about your trouble.

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Dennis Gaskill

14 years ago

If the domain name was given to you as part of a hosting package, I don't think you have a very legitimate complaint. If that was the case, since you canceled immediately, you're asking them to operate at a loss for your benefit. I wouldn't let someone do that to me, would you?

That may not be what you wanted to hear, but maybe you'll like this better...why not just contact them ask them to sell the domain to you? Chances are they don't really want it.

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Ashley Skuse

14 years ago

Why did you request a refund if it was a good domain name? Slightly confused here.

And yeah, always use GoDaddy from now on, it's good to keep all your domains on there so that you'll never lose control of them.

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Istvan Horvath 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Ashley Cooper

And yeah, always use GoDaddy from now on,

Or maybe not. I mean GD is not IM friendly and has a very messy UI compared to others.

You will find more votes here for namecheap.
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TheRichJerksNet 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Ashley Cooper

And yeah, always use GoDaddy from now on, it's good to keep all your domains on there so that you'll never lose control of them.

Obviously you have no idea how many domain names godaddy has taken off people illegally...

James
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Marakatapolis

14 years ago

I use DreamHost. I specifically emailed customer support a last year and asked this very question and they said if I pay to register a domain, I OWN that domain name and I can transfer it or do whatever I want with it.

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Jimnopks

14 years ago

What happen to the op?

Becky is mssing in action.

So much good advice, but aparently Becky moved on.

My suggestion would be to contact them (preferably by phone) be real sweet, give them a good reason why you canceled (not crappy service) and offer to pay them for the domain.

Just in case you come back, what was the good name? Maybe you can find an even better one.

Jim

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whawk57

14 years ago

Whois lookup and Domain name search
If its not on your name then forget it. Check the dates too.

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seasoned

14 years ago

It IS illegal, in the US to say FREE, unless it is free, but they probably had a twist like "free with", or an asterisk. That is STILL misleading, but you would lose here. This is a THIRD PARTY transaction! THEY had a cost! It is unreasonable for you to think they will EAT it!!!!!

And technically, the owner is the ADMIN contact. Domain registrars are SUPPOSED to set themselves up as the TECH contact, so they can change the DNS, etc.. as needed. Tech contacts can't do things like transfer the domain name, etc... BUT, if you get a "FREE" name, you can BET they will set themselves up as admin ALSO! So it was/is THEIR domain!

Steve

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Jay Dalton

14 years ago

Hey, sorry to hear about your unpleasent experience but it sounds like you have fallen victim to deceitful truth. Whilst this is sore to take, they probably have'nt done anything wrong. The best advice I can give you is always register with seperate organisations for your domain name and hosting package. Because a free domain name for life often means a free domain name if you stay with that perticular company for life. The name is a mere loan given to you on the basis that you will continue to pay you monthly subscription charge for the foreseeable future.

hope this helps

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Web host stole my domain name!

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