Out of a domain, and in a pickle

*andyrew* · 10-23-2012, 07:40 PM

Hi, All.

Sometime in the past year (I think), my trusty registrar 000domains was bought by dotster.

Just the other day I got an email telling me that my domain had just expired. So, I go to log-on (which is when I found-out that my registrar had been eaten by the bigger fish), and I could get no further because of a block for lack of payment for Domain Privacy; an option to which I neither requested, nor agreed.

I called a service rep and he was glad to submit a ticket to take the DomPriv off the account.

So--to make a short story long--today, I got a ticket notification which said (in effect) that my domain had expired, and was in Redemption. All I had to do was pay USD160, and it would be mine, again! Or, wait until it is out of (r)edemption, and snag it up as any other could do.

Wow...that seems like a really great deal...

Needless to say, I ain't payin' the 160, and I'm not gana register anything further with dotster. *grr*

The whole "What's A Good Registrar?" meme has been rehashed well-enough (to good effect), so I'm not going to go there.

What I would like--if offered--are some thoughts on how I can best-manage getting my old, or new (or other) domain re-synchronized with my existing hosting plan here at FQ (which is the one, solid rock I plan to cling-to).

I may very-well be able to get andyrew.info back, but I also have splifingate.net (registered with domain.com, iirc (which I may have made an IRO, or DSM-IV, or whatever it may be called secondary to andyrew.info (I can't really remember))).

What will the email from peoples and businesses I gave the andyrew.info do when it's sent? Bounce? Be redirected?

Hosting is a part-time adventure for me to doodle with the Internets, but adventures should be mostly enjoyable <s>

Every time I read the boards, here, all I see are excellent responses and recommendations.

Hats-off to those who made it to the end, here.

Thank you.

**Bob** · 10-23-2012, 08:13 PM

Your best bet, as far as your account here at FutureQuest goes, would be to write us at the Service Desk, Service@FutureQuest.net. Usually best not to discuss account specifics in the Forums.

However this Knowledgebase Article discusses some possibilities in situations such as this, regarding the domain name associated with your account.
http://Service.FutureQuest.net/kba301

Based on what I have seen in the past few years more and more Registrars are resorting to the practice of Highway Robbery for expired domains and, word to the wise, make sure you keep up with your Domain Registrations and renewals.

-Bob

**Kevin** · 10-23-2012, 08:39 PM

Also, it is a good idea to not mention such domains publicly. The more people who go to your domain name while it is on their server the more active and therefore interesting it appears to them. Therefore the more they figure they can sell it for.

As far as email goes once they take control of the DNS it is up to them. They can bounce the email, use it to collect addresses for spam, even reply with advertisements.

*andyrew* · 10-23-2012, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob

...this Knowledgebase Article discusses some possibilities in situations such as this, regarding the domain name associated with your account.
http://Service.FutureQuest.net/kba301

Based on what I have seen in the past few years more and more Registrars are resorting to the practice of Highway Robbery for expired domains and, word to the wise, make sure you keep up with your Domain Registrations and renewals.

-Bob

Ah. So, it's so.

Before, I was wise; after, I will be wise.

In between I am otherwise.

Thanks Bob.

*McDuff* · 10-31-2012, 03:42 AM

Been there, done that., more than once.

In one case, a less important site with both a .cz and .com address, the .com domain expired (which redirects to the .cz). After a few emails with namecheap, I just sat quietly like a mouse in a house full off cats, hoping nobody would be interested, and repurchased it after it became free for $9.

With the linked case, it was our main site with 5 IRMs below it. They wanted $260.

I swallowed deep, cut back on the curses and coughed up the dough once they lowered the amount a bit. Philosophically put it down to "lessons learned", even when we could not afford the final $ 130. Just could not and did not wanted to afford the risk of ending up without website or having to pay even more.

Good luck

*andyrew* · 02-15-2014, 06:37 AM

Just a quick follow-up (bit past the cusp, but, well, closure, and all).

I basically went with another registrar, and paid about USD50 for their Rottweiler-script that watched/waited/grabbed the domain when it came-up as available.

Evenly-enough, the domain was not coveted by others as much as I had feared (e.g., "as if").

Painless, for the most part.

"Registered Since" was *cough* updated, in course, but that would be the most of my worries.

Over a year in (somewhere close to 450 days since resolution, as the Old Thread Warning reminds me) and all seems to be well.

May it be that all others would keep Bob's sage advice close in-mind (as I have) for productive continuity.

Regards, Andyrew

*kitchin* · 02-22-2014, 07:22 AM

Which company was it with the Rottweiler script?

I've been switching over to NameCheap - it really cashed in on that political controversy a few years ago to brand itself as consumer friendly. For the most part it is, with two exceptions:

1. After years of almost never getting spam at my registration email address, I now do. I don't know why spammers ignored me before. I've used that address for GoDaddy, NetSol, Gandi and Dotster.

2. You get a mysterious email from Enom (Namecheap's provider) for domains registered after Jan. 1, 2014. There's no mention of Namecheap in it, and the confirmation link it wants you to click is some other domain. Naturally people are suspicious, and don't want to click, a failure which will result in their domain being suspended after about 30 days. This is a new ICANN rule, so you can only blame the registrar for the very clunky implementation. I thought Enom was the quality registrar?

By default there's an upsell for domain privacy, but I can live with unchecking that box. They have to make money somehow, the price is rock-bottom.

By the way, Dotster, which FQ used to resell, has been bought by another company. New web manager, looks better, works worse.

*andyrew* · 03-07-2014, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitchin

Which company was it with the Rottweiler script?

name.com ("dba" 'Argo Technologies LLC')

The dba thing caused me some doubt, initially, just after I signed (as wary as I've been, I increasingly am more so with each day (for reasons such as this, and others of which you highlight a few, below)), but the seas have been calm, and I get what I need, so what's to complain?

Quote:

I've been switching over to NameCheap - it really cashed in on that political controversy a few years ago to brand itself as consumer friendly. For the most part it is, with two exceptions:

1. After years of almost never getting spam at my registration email address, I now do. I don't know why spammers ignored me before. I've used that address for GoDaddy, NetSol, Gandi and Dotster.

2. You get a mysterious email from Enom (Namecheap's provider) for domains registered after Jan. 1, 2014. There's no mention of Namecheap in it, and the confirmation link it wants you to click is some other domain. Naturally people are suspicious, and don't want to click, a failure which will result in their domain being suspended after about 30 days. This is a new ICANN rule, so you can only blame the registrar for the very clunky implementation. I thought Enom was the quality registrar?

By default there's an upsell for domain privacy, but I can live with unchecking that box. They have to make money somehow, the price is rock-bottom.

By the way, Dotster, which FQ used to resell, has been bought by another company. New web manager, looks better, works worse.

I still have a few on domain com, which iirc ate dotster, which also ate the little guppy 000domains (of which I was a customer) back when I had convinced myself that it would always be possible to stick entirely with smallish, more-personal companies.

Will soon transfer-out everything to (I suppose) name/argo, as they don't overload my inbox (seven emails in 1.5 years, three of which were at the beginning of the sign-up process), don't break the bank, provide consistent service, and are generally hands-off . . . kind of like another company with whom <cough>FQ</cough> we both seem to have some degree of familiarity <s>

No real way to know which registrar is a good fit without trying one on for sizing.

Of course, I'm in the high 15 millions Alexa Trend arena with this little hobby of mine, so it's not like there's a distinct mission, or that it's critical, etc., &c.

Regards, Andyrew

*johnfl68* · 03-08-2014, 03:16 PM

I tried out hover.com (a Tucows company - Canada) a few years back, and have since moved all my domains there. Have no reason to consider anyone else.

They have very reasonable prices, no charge contact privacy, great customer service (the rare time I needed it), and are't pushy about things.

They give plenty of reminders when a domain is coming up for renewal, and offer automatic renewals.

Other than the renewal emails, there are a few "how are we doing" or new product/service emails, but nothing at all overbearing.

Anyway, just throwing that out there.

John