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Domain Held Ransom

by GuerrillaIM
16 replies
My domains are being held ransom by my previous host.

They want to charge me £100 to be able to manage the DNS of my domains, or £100 transfer fee to move domains to another registrar.

They say the transfer fee applies to all domains that have been registered with them for less than 2 years.

It's just coming up to 1 year and the domains are coming up for renewal. I was wondering, seeing as I am the domain owner, can't I just renew with another registrar and dodge the transfer fee?

I'm not sure how it would work and I don't want to risk losing my domains in the process.

Any ideas?
#domain #held #ransom
  • Profile picture of the author Crew Chief
    Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM View Post

    My domains are being held ransom by my previous host.

    They want to charge me £100 to be able to manage the DNS of my domains, or £100 transfer fee to move domains to another registrar.

    They say the transfer fee applies to all domains that have been registered with them for less than 2 years.

    It's just coming up to 1 year and the domains are coming up for renewal. I was wondering, seeing as I am the domain owner, can't I just renew with another registrar and dodge the transfer fee?

    I'm not sure how it would work and I don't want to risk losing my domains in the process.

    Any ideas?
    Amazingly, there are still a few registrars that charge for transfers, I believe Doster still charges and if I'm not mistaken PacNames, which used to be TotalNIC still won't allow transfers away from their company. There are other registrars with some off the cuff policies as well.

    That said, if you waited until you have less than 60 days to renew, most registrars are not going to let you transfer anyway. In that case, it's pretty much case closed. You have to hit that transfer button prior getting to the 60 day renewal window.

    What you are going to need to do is go back and carefully read their TOS line-by-line. If they are not one of the registrars that prohibits transfers and if they don't charge for transfers and if you are still outside of that 60 day renewal window, you should be good to go.

    Giles, the Crew Chief
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  • Profile picture of the author Doug Slaton
    I've got a couple domains with Pacnames and they want big money for a transfer (last time I checked anyway). They did drop their prices thankfully so I've just sucked it up and stayed. Too funny, they suck at letting go but they don't have all the upsell crap that Godaddy and others have for renewal or getting a name in the 1st place.

    If your domains are making you money then I'd stick but if not then you could let them expire and jump on 'em when they become available.

    The timeline on expired domains is pretty straight forward so you should have a clear idea when they would be available again. Or you could use a service that watches domains.

    Either way, good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author ncmedia
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
      Originally Posted by ncmedia View Post

      I know a couple Russians who can s..... . . ..

      Jus' kiddin'. I always wondered how this worked with dodgy/2nd tier registrars. Are YOU listed as the owner/technical contact or are they? If your name is under the ownership wouldn't you simply be able to bypass them anyway as you get the transfer notifications to that email? Or do they have to manually release them?

      I would leave just out of principle, pay them and share your story like you're doing here.
      Yeah, this is my thinking exactly.

      I'd rather pay £100 to leave them than £100 to stay as they are a terrible company. But the way I see it (often different from the rest of the world) is I own the domain (my details on registration) so I feel there should be a way for me to just register elsewhere.

      I only have 10 domains registed with them, all my other domains are with namecheap and 1&1 which I have no problems with so ideally I would move the domains to one of these companies.

      Looks like I might have to just grin and bear it.
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      • Profile picture of the author James Campbell
        File a complaint with ICANN, or the other registries if it is a .biz, or other.

        File a complaint with the parent registrar, (example: if it were namecheap then you would file a complaint with enom)

        What they are doing is against many policies at ICANN and they could face some pretty stiff repercussions due to these violations.

        Hopefully that helps.

        James


        Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM View Post

        Yeah, this is my thinking exactly.

        I'd rather pay £100 to leave them than £100 to stay as they are a terrible company. But the way I see it (often different from the rest of the world) is I own the domain (my details on registration) so I feel there should be a way for me to just register elsewhere.

        I only have 10 domains registed with them, all my other domains are with namecheap and 1&1 which I have no problems with so ideally I would move the domains to one of these companies.

        Looks like I might have to just grin and bear it.
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        • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
          Originally Posted by James Campbell View Post

          File a complaint with ICANN, or the other registries if it is a .biz, or other.

          File a complaint with the parent registrar, (example: if it were namecheap then you would file a complaint with enom)

          What they are doing is against many policies at ICANN and they could face some pretty stiff repercussions due to these violations.

          Hopefully that helps.

          James
          Most of them are .co.uk so its NOMINET that handles registration, but there are a couple of .coms.

          Where can I find information about these policies?
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  • Profile picture of the author enterpryzman
    now you know why I NEVER take the free registrations with hosting.
    Enterpryzman
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    • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
      Originally Posted by enterpryzman View Post

      now you know why I NEVER take the free registrations with hosting.
      Enterpryzman
      Yup, I've seen this a hundred times.
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    • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
      Originally Posted by enterpryzman View Post

      now you know why I NEVER take the free registrations with hosting.
      Enterpryzman
      They were not free. I paid for the domains ontop of hosting.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelAppleton
    I always just go with GoDaddy because of this. I was held once before and vowed to always stick with GoDaddy.

    Your best bet would be to renew, sit out the next year and get your free transfer and save stumping up $100.

    Be sure to check out the next registrar before transferring.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Buy domains at Godaddy, Namecheap, Moniker, even Fabulous (they're expensive). Don't buy domains through a dodgy hosting company even if the domain is free. As you can see, free doesn't really mean free. It means that you have no real control over your own domains and unless you continue to pay the ransom, they can do anything they want with your domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author vstar00
    In the words of my man Ari Gold

    "I would make a scene of biblical proportions. I would lie, scream, beg, borrow and steal. If that somehow didn’t part Amy Miller’s legs then I would call racism and I would yell for all to hear: “you’re really gonna fire my poor black client off the show he CREATED? I’m callin the NAACP, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and the ghost of my man – MALCOM X!”
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  • Profile picture of the author aritrim
    Did you get those domains as FREE when you signed up?
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    • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
      Originally Posted by aritrim View Post

      Did you get those domains as FREE when you signed up?
      No. I signed up for a hosting package with unlimited traffic and databases so bought a few domains to have in the package but the price was a 2 year special offer. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Annoying thing is each domain costs £12.99 to transfer away but I can buy a .co.uk from 1&1 for £2.49.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luis Medilo
    Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM View Post

    They want to charge me £100 to be able to manage the DNS of my domains, or £100 transfer fee to move domains to another registrar.
    Wow... 100 pounds so that you can manage the DNS? That's just too much in my opinion. Godaddy and other reputable registrars will let you change the DNS for free. That's why I always study and review every service that I sign up for, especially if I pay for it. You never know if these guys will add hidden charges.
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  • Profile picture of the author benkin
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author djemerald
      Thats incredible! is that in the fine print. I use Godaddy as I see a lot of other people do . If you can get through the OTO & upsales, you can do fine , I just keep scrolling and sign out .
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      DJEmerald

      "professional writing priced right "
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