Dear all, 5 years ago, I've purchased a domain from a hosting company for a duration of 5 years. I've just realised my domain is about to expire in 2 months time and wish to extend it. I tried to transfer it to godaddy but it was then I realised the domain is not registered under my name and I'm not the authorized owner. Worst case, I'm unable to contact that hosting company. The website is down, the support ticket has changed to a gmail account and there isn't any reply from the hosting company for 2 weeks. I've tried to reach godaddy and the domain registrar that hosting company registered with to help with the transfer status but there isn't much they can do with it. I'm boiling mad with this and the website will have to be down until the domain is free for registered again. Even backorder it can't help to solve the problem immediately. Do you have any suggestions for this? thanks
Only one: seek legal advice. Your situation is a common scenario, and one that's not that well-known by most domain registrants.
Dave, Thank you for the time taken to help and advice. The hosting company is not from my country of stay, do you happen to know how can I approach legal advice on this matter?
It is most likely the hosting service is just a domain name reseller, so it might be helpful to find out which registrar the domain name is registered at. Using http://www.allwhois.com might help you get the necessary data. See if there is any inkling that your name is mentioned anywhere in your Whois Details. If there is, you might still have a chance with the registrar. Do you still have any emails or correspondence with this defunct hosting company in regards to your domain name ? It may be use as evidence to prove that the domain name is yours. Write to the domain name registrar with the evidence, it may or may not work but it is worth the try. I don't like the tactics that these web host take by offering free domain names and registering them under their name thus holding you hostage over it. All the best.
Thank you eddy. Doesn't keep the emails.. The registrar is Spot Domain LLC They are not responding to my email enquires. I paid for the domain, it isn't even free in the first place. I'm boiling mad with this incident, I dislike people that are so irresponsible with their work. It's a valuable lesson learnt.
Technically speaking, when a registrar folds, the domain name are transferred to another so the customers would not suddenly lose out on anything. Spot Domain LLC is Domainsite.com http://www.domainsite.com . If the domain name is registered in your name, ie you are listed as Owner, Financial Contact and so on, you should be able to get your domain name back.
The core problem is, as I mentioned, it is not registered under my name, it is registered under the hosting company who did the registration on my behalf. Thanks for the advice.
Forgot about that. If you paid for the domain, it should be registered in your name. Sadly such web host do exists. I hope Domainsite can assist you but from what I see, the chances are slim. Would be easier if the domains are in your name. Are you able to access the hosting account for the site ? Maybe what you can do is to register another domain name with say GoDaddy. Then the current site, have it redirected to the new domain name. Also add the info on the website and if you can notify your surfers, tell them about the new name. Do that soon so that it gives you ample time getting people to be familiar with the new URL. Hopefully the issue can be resolved and if not, at least you are not dead in the water.
What's happened is very unfair and unjustifiable. I've to bear the consequences of someone's irresponsibilities. They should have at least drop me a mail telling me they are not in operation anymore and asked me if I want to transfer the domain away? I'm sure I'm not the only one affected unless I'm the only customer they have in these 5 years. Sigh... I believe such people will get their justice. Thank you for the suggestion. That's one of the way I'm looking into and also...the only way I can get back that domain now is to backorder it.
I know that a domain name when expired will go into a 3 month or so long redemption stage before it is made available to the general public. I am not sure if the domain name would be active during that redemption stage though. If it is not, it could be bad for you.