Being a newbie to the web as of 3/2012, I signed up for a hosting package.. As is common with hosting packages it included 1 "free domain" with my sign-up.. I have continued with this hosting provider and have been "content" as my sites load and I have access to cpanel and so forth even though I have discovered their services to be sub-par when learning more about what other hosting providers offer.. until recently being hit with a bombshell.. When my hosting came back up for renewal recently.. I informed them that their prices where too high and that I would have to leave them for a competitor.. I was happy that they offered to lower their price for me to stay competitive. Until, just the other day I see that even though they gave me a more competitive price.. they added on some bogus charge.. "Daily Back-up" (04/14/2014 - 07/13/2014) I have been seriously pissed about this charge because I deem it to be fraudulent as these were not at all the terms we agreed to in the least.. After realizing this fraudulent charge I have certainly decided this is not an entity I will continue doing business with in the least.. THIS IS WHERE THE BOMBSHELL HITS!! I now realize that i will need to transfer my domain to another registry. I go into my account to see what options are available.. only to see an "invoice saying my domain is "renewed till 3/2015 but to also see an "expired" text at the bottom.. When I go to whois.. I see this domain "has" expired and is still in the enom reactivation period.. even though i have already paid for its renewal. I have no way to gain access to my premium domain with this company besides contacting them directly, which I am now afraid to do.. Honestly.. to say the least, I am seriously pissed about this, as I am sure you can imagine as I have big plans for this domain. This is a well know name in the industry.. I am fully willing to sue the hell out of these fraudulent bastards if possible or at the very least blast SCAM all over the internet.. so no one will ever do business with them again.. But first I don't know what to do about this.. what is the best course of action to re-gain control of my domain I am wondering if any of you know a decent way if at all possible, how i can still secure my domain before it goes out of reactivation.. And see no one falls into this trap again. Thank you everyone..
Contact them. You have no reason to be afraid: their opinion of you or you of them is irrelevant to this situation. You've paid for renewal and your domain hasn't been renewed - simple as that. They MUST renew it, since that's what you paid for.
Yes you are correct.. i suppose there are regulations that help prevent domain holders from having their assets stolen.. Its just that if this company haddnt tried to rip me off for $79.99.. Felt like i was being scammed. I never would have even considered this domain didn't get renewed or checked that it did for that matter and the domain would have just gone on and become available. Guess that shows a good lesson to never trust anyone and to always check for yourself if you want to know for sure. Still though pretty negligent. I take my domains very seriously. I can make $79.00 back easy.. I may never be able to get this domain back.
CoolHandle.com Ever heard of em? Would not recommend using them right now.. Am using Arvixe now and they have been pretty stellar.. very happy with them so far. Shame cause I think they used to be a decent company. Was going to start posting some bad reviews about them but the net is already loaded up with them.. Most are all within the past year or so it appears.
UPDATE: I did get me $79.99 back, which wasn't the biggest concern even though it sure does kinda piss ya off a bit.. scandalous. Was afraid to contact my domain registar at first cause i just didn't know what they were trying to do.. letting my domain expire even though i paid for the renewal.. i mean mistakes happen but honestly all of this stuff should be automated anyway.. no? Isn't that the beauty in the biz of of hosting and domain renewals? I contacted enom about this issue since the provide the reseller package... they said all i can do is try and contact the host and/or file a complaint, so i did both.. To be Honest it was seriously traumatic to see my domain was pending general availability.. and still is.. it could become active at any point now cause enom didn't even know when it would be re-released. Fortunately they were able to tell me that it was still in redemption period under my name. Still waiting to hear back from hosting/domain provider. Can't icann pull the domain if its been stolen from you?