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  1. #1
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    Just one of those days

    A local business owner here decided to move their hosting and domain from us to a new startup in the area. The first thing the new startup did was to change the domain registration to all his own details (we warned the owner not to allow that). A while later, the business sold, and the new owner and the startup didn't get along (I believe he asked for a bunch of cash), so the startup kept the domain, even though it was the actual local businesses name.

    I noticed recently it no longer went to the website he'd made, instead showing a GoDaddy hold page, and a blurb that it was expired as of May 21 and likely for sale or headed for auction. GD's release/drops are unlike most others, with around 2 weeks to pay after expiry or it's another $80, then into a quick auction phase and finally last chance auction if there's no bids. It drops on day 42, if no one is interested.

    Sure enough, first thing July 2 the whois changed, showing no match in the database. I'm thinking, "great, I can grab this back for the local business". Any attempt to register says it's not available. Thinking this is done in batches at GD, I try every hour, same result. At noon, I sit down at my desk to try once more, and just as I do the power goes out here, all over the area. We have a backup gen, but the roadrunner connections are down the road and fall over when that happens.

    45 minutes later it comes back, I quickly try to register....taken.
    So much for that.
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  2. #2
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    I'd not provide an advise on what you'd do during the power failure as it really looks to be one of those days for you. What options do you guys have now. I guess it is not a good idea to contact the one who took the domain and ask them to sell it, is it? What I have learned from all these years into dot-com business is that an online brand could be created around different TLDs. Few years ago one of the registrars we use shut down our main domain (due to one number missing in the ZIP code) name and we switched everything to .us TLD. When we got it back we switched back to the .com.
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by HostColor View Post
    I'd not provide an advise on what you'd do during the power failure
    I wasn't aware I was asking for advice, but I'm not following that?
    What options do you guys have now. I guess it is not a good idea to contact the one who took the domain and ask them to sell it, is it?
    This wasn't something we were asked to do, we were simply trying to do a local business a favor (which may have gained their business, I'll admit). I'd imagine if they weren't willing to pay the startup anything beyond the reg fee, they'd be disinterested in paying this person as well (who would likely ask for far more).
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  4. #4
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    Why didn't you tried back ordering?
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  5. #5
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    The business owner wanted to do exactly what he wanted. At lot of people are like that. If that means completely ignoring basic advice about keeping control of one's own business domain name, well, you can't fix stupid. I've come to realize that the hard way myself. All you can do is move on and possibly pet a puppy. Puppies may not be that bright either, but they are too much fun to be annoying.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by mkjmkj View Post
    Why didn't you tried back ordering?
    Ever try that with GoDaddy? These are the guys that stated they'd "negotiate with the owner" after the FAQ on their site stated the owner no longer had access after x number of days, which had already passed. Basically, they said they'd negotiate with themselves, it looked like.
    In general I've tried backorders in the past (with other registrars), and not once did it get me a name, it simply spent ~$70 with no return. Since the new owner wasn't aware of the name, I gave it a try manually. Fate said no.
    Quote Originally Posted by bumpylight View Post
    The business owner wanted to do exactly what he wanted. At lot of people are like that. If that means completely ignoring basic advice about keeping control of one's own business domain name, well, you can't fix stupid.
    It was the old owner that did that against advice, but the new one should have done something on purchasing it, and when the startup stated it would cost money to get his own domain back, he should have contacted ICANN or at the least GoDaddy. His loss, I suppose.
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by bear View Post
    A local business owner here decided to move their hosting and domain from us to a new startup in the area. The first thing the new startup did was to change the domain registration to all his own details (we warned the owner not to allow that). A while later, the business sold, and the new owner and the startup didn't get along (I believe he asked for a bunch of cash), so the startup kept the domain, even though it was the actual local businesses name.

    I noticed recently it no longer went to the website he'd made, instead showing a GoDaddy hold page, and a blurb that it was expired as of May 21 and likely for sale or headed for auction. GD's release/drops are unlike most others, with around 2 weeks to pay after expiry or it's another $80, then into a quick auction phase and finally last chance auction if there's no bids. It drops on day 42, if no one is interested.

    Sure enough, first thing July 2 the whois changed, showing no match in the database. I'm thinking, "great, I can grab this back for the local business". Any attempt to register says it's not available. Thinking this is done in batches at GD, I try every hour, same result. At noon, I sit down at my desk to try once more, and just as I do the power goes out here, all over the area. We have a backup gen, but the roadrunner connections are down the road and fall over when that happens.

    45 minutes later it comes back, I quickly try to register....taken.
    So much for that.
    If I was you I would expose the new startup as the fraud they are. Naming the domain name to his own, is stealing. Its illegal. If your customer paid for the domain its his domain name and per ICANN rules the registrant should be him, not the hosting company, not the web designer, not the new local startup...

    Webmasters usually donエt understand they are doing something illegal since a domain name is property, its a digital property and they are just putting it under their own name which is stealing.

    Customers should be informed about this as well.

  8. #8
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    I had informed the customer at the time, spelling out she was basically handing over ownership. Maybe she thought it was sour grapes over her leaving, or the startup told her I was lying; who knows? The domain is gone, the new owner doesn't get to have it. Had it been in the old owner's name still, it probably would have turned out differently.

    Not sure it's illegal, since I wasn't in on the discussion, but it's certainly immoral and potentially illegal how it progressed from there. If it was my domain, I'd pursue it.
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  9. #9
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    iirc, godaddy will null the whois for a while, during an auction.

    if it started in their expired domain auctions on the 2nd, it is still there.

    don't just check to see if it is available for registration. check the auction system.
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  10. #10
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    It was in the startup's name, but all GD's "redemption" info until the 2nd, which was the 42nd day. That day it was "not found" in the database until just past noon, when it eventually had someone's info in it. I only spotted this a week or so earlier, so might have missed the auction, but I did check as soon as I learned of it. The name never appeared in either the early full auction or the "last chance" one that follows.
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