Free Domain? Or Not!?

[rlhanson]

Have you tried doing a whois search and contacting the admin/tech contact directly?

I've had some luck by taking this route, but you have to be professional and not harassing or abusive.
Per whois agreement:

The data in this whois database is provided to you for information
purposes only, that is, to assist you in obtaining information about or
related to a domain name registration record. We make this information
available "as is," and do not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a
whois query, you agree that you will use this data only for lawful
purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this data to: (1)
enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that stress or load
this whois database system providing you this information; or (2) allow,
enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited,
commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail, electronic
mail, or by telephone. The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or
other use of this data is expressly prohibited without prior written
consent from us.

I'm sorry for the issues you are experiencing - not that it's much of a comfort, but there are many domains that seem to fall into the abyss with the SUPER deals offered all over the net.

KUDOS! to Glowhost for their ethical way of registering the domains!!!

[Websync]

andychev -

What ever happened with your domains? Were you ever able to contact the company?

[andychev]

Luckily it was just the one domain and the quick answer is no. The company in question either just ignored all my requests or there wasnt anyone there to reply.

In the end i lost the domain, i guess it just shows that the indusrty like most has its cowboys, you have to be careful. I dont belive this company is trading any longer.

It hurt like mad to loose it as i had built up a nice little business around it. The problems it caused were many including, changing every business account i had with the lost domains e-mail to a new one, new stationery, I lost my largest customer because of it (he lost confidence). All in all it wasnt something i would recommend!

The domain was lost in the end as i didnt even get a look in at re-registering it in my name. One of these companies that just hoovers up domains the second they come back onto the open market registered it.

This was all a year ago now. It was a hard lesson to learn especially as i have been in the industry for coming up ten years. At the time such a problem never even crossed my mind. I am much more careful now!

[andychev]

I have just looked into them a bit more, they used to use dns servers at securesite6.com, securesite7.com, securesite8.com etc etc these have all now been reregistered by other companies so in effect no longer exist.

hostelite has 41 domains set up on its server, i have whois'd a few of these and they all have different dns servers so have all jumped ship, im guessing a while ago now. The domains just havent been deleted from the hostelite server.

The funny thing is their uptime check out hostelite.com/uptime.html

you will notice that none of their servers have been up at all in 2007 and even before then they were down all the time. The really funny bit is when you click hostelite.com/status.html andit says everything is working fine!!!

[Websync]

The funny thing is their uptime check out hostelite.com/uptime.html

you will notice that none of their servers have been up at all in 2007 and even before then they were down all the time. The really funny bit is when you click hostelite.com/status.html andit says everything is working fine!!!

Yeah, when I checked them out last night they even had updated news for Oct. 2007. Looks like someone is working on the site!

I also noticed that your old domain is being used. Unless of course, I typed it in wrong.

Well, I hope you got the other 30 out.

To answer your question about transfers - It is always best to transfer out before renewal comes up. You would (or should) get a year added to your time anyway by the new registrar.

Really sorry to hear about all of this. It does help a ton for you to post about it though. Happens all too often these days and people need to be warned. I have also spoken with people who have hired web designers that registered the domain name in the designers name instead of the client and then held the client hostage for design business! There are a ton of scams out there. Buyer beware!

Good Luck with everything...

[Matt]

To answer your question about transfers - It is always best to transfer out before renewal comes up. You would (or should) get a year added to your time anyway by the new registrar

And for today's Triva...It's a great fact to know that you MUST request your transfer AT LEAST ten days before your domain expires, otherwise the registries do not process the transfer.

The other fun fact to know is that if you forgot to transfer your domain before the ten day limit, and were forced to renew with the old registrar, you have to wait 60 days AFTER the renewal date before you become eligible for a domain transfer of registrar.

My guess is they do this so you forget and keep on renewing with the same registrar over and over again.

[andychev]

I would have tranfered if it was in my name The main root of the problem is that they registered the domain in their name instead of mine in the first place so i had no right over the domain unless i took them through the courts to get the name changed.

[vijay7]

Nice..keep it up...