Registering companies who have failed to carry out renewal instructions

[pRizla]

I thought it would be useful to start a thread mentioning cases where a company has failed to carry out renewal instructions for which they have been paid.

This experience has happened to me in the past, and I think this is a good place to warn about it.

My experience was with easyspace.com, who after taking the money from me to renew a .com domain in 2005 failed to renew it, allowed it to expire and it was subsequently re-registered by someone else before I noticed.

It took a lot of persuading, and some threats of legal action (after taking advice from my local trading standards office), but eventually they bought the domain back for me.
I think it may have been harder had I not been a UK resident dealing with a UK company.

After this experience, I think it is advisable to double check when renewing (whoever the registration company is) that the renewal has been processed. Especially since most companies try to get out of such a failure in their t's & c's.

The contract that they have entered into to provide a service when taking payment (a contract, which in my case they failed to honour) may not necessarily oblige them to do more than just refund your payment.

I invite others to post comments of their experiences with companies failing to honour a renewal (I'm sure there are some), because this is an issue that could result in the loss of your on-line business etc. and I think people should be informed.

[Jim2Macs]

Many people I've heard swear never to register a domain with your hosting provider, to register it seperatly with a place like eNom. I've always said there's no reason why they shouldn't register it with their host. Never really cared one way or the other, just felt it shouldn't matter. This has been based on the way we do things, always concidering a domain name very important for the client and always making sure to renew/register/transfer/etc. for the client.
However due to what appears to be more and more posts like this I've changed my thoughts awhile back. Transfer your domain name to a good, solid place (like eNom or whoever), that way YOUR in control of it. If and whenever you change your host, you simply login to your domain control panel and make the changes for it to point to your new host.

[Martie]

Interesting pRizla, informative thread ;)
At least you did get your domain name back. Im glad, good for you!

There are many horror stories on several forums where various hosts have been known to "hold" their clients domain. Its not pretty.

Speaking from a hosting companies point of view though:
I always try to encourage potential, current clients to register their own domain name. Many newbies feel they cannot do it but once they see just how easy it is to do then its fine. I will admit Ive guided some step by step just through a registration...then most feel so silly that it WAS so simple to do.
When you offer hosting though you just about have to offer domain registration. Alot of clients we've had experience with like it because we add their reg. fee right into their hosting signup fee so it ends up only being the one charge on their cc. I still try to recommend they register it on their own though.

We currently charge $25 for yearly reg. fees. We keep our rate higher BECAUSE we've been stuck with domains that "clients" did NOT pay us for. This is similar to what you went through but in my case it was US that were out the reg. fees, plus a useless name.
All hosts are different though....some of those major BIG co. wouldnt care about "guiding" a client through domain registration. :-))
Were QUITE abit smaller....more one on one assistance.

[Hostnetric]

I have always kept all my domains registered at the same registrar. I found it to be one more convenient and two much safer considering the experiences that I have had with some companies. The problem though is not so much hosting providers who provide domain registration, but poor hosts who do this. This only speaks of the overall quality of service that they provide. In the original post though it may simply have a glitch or an oversight on their part and very well may be the only time that this happened. It is hard to say obviously, but ultimately I believe that keeping all my domains under one roof where I trust the customer support and systems is the best route at least for the domains that I own.

Good Luck!

[Jeff - Exceed]

Couldn't imagine how awful it would be to lose a domain, a lot of hard work just goes out of the window.

It's best to choose a well established and reputable provider for registrations such as namecheap, godaddy, enom or directi. This will avert any future issues.

[Hostnetric]

Couldn't imagine how awful it would be to lose a domain, a lot of hard work just goes out of the window.

It's best to choose a well established and reputable provider for registrations such as namecheap, godaddy, enom or directi. This will avert any future issues.

This is true. I choose my registrar based on the fact they gave great service on my first Domain I hosted with them and everyone since. Also the fact that they were an ICANN accredited domain registrar and not simply a clone reseller. Not that it is bad, but I wanted more personalized service and I have gotten exactly that in my registrar of choice.

[wickshosting]

Most systems (including ours) are automated to ensure that the domain renewal takes place in advance (up to a month in advance if the invoice is paid). I assume that most hosts have something like this implemented, so if you had paid to renew the domain, I would assume it was a glitch in the system.

I encourage everyone to always double check that their domain has been renewed at least a week before it expires. However, even if it does expire, it goes into a redemption period where you should notice it not working for 30 days and have the chance to renew it (albeit at a higher price) before someone else registers it.

[MelodyAnn]

Most systems (including ours) are automated to ensure that the domain renewal takes place in advance (up to a month in advance if the invoice is paid). I assume that most hosts have something like this implemented, so if you had paid to renew the domain, I would assume it was a glitch in the system.

We have been in this same situation - although we are an ICANN accredited registrar and any time someone renews a domain at our site, it is automatically renewed - we have acquried customers from other places who used third party and reseller domains, which we are now responsible for. Clients pay us to renew their thrid party domain, we have a system in place to renew it - and yes, that system has failed on occasion, with the other company not receiving our renewal notice or just plain not renewing the domain when we ask.

I'd just encourage everyone to ALWAYS register your domain in your own name with a good email address you will always have, so you get notices. There is nothing wrong with buying a domain through a reseller, but do be vigilant about your name - you'll get notices from your reseller asking you to pay, and once you've done that, YOU should check a WHOIS until you actually see your domain's expiration date updated. Things can fall through the cracks for even the most well-intentioned reseller, so follow up on your own, and if it doesn't appear renewed, ASK. Never be afraid to ask.