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Recovering Domains from Negligent Registrars?
Mousit asks: "I am curious on how fellow Slashdot readers have dealt with negligent and unresponsive registrars. For a few years or so now, I've been using Jump Domain as my registrar for the domains I own and maintain. This was originally by choice, but for the last year or two it has been by force. I lost a domain to them early last year when I attempted to renew it and the automated process failed, putting it into a 'pending' status in wait for 'manual intervention' as the message told me. This intervention never happened, support tickets about it were never answered, and on top of it my money was never refunded. The domain simply lapsed, expired, and nothing was done about it. Have others experienced similar problems with Jump Domain or any other registrar, and what did they do to recover their domains? Is it even possible? Short of getting a lawyer, the options seem rather slim when a registrar decides to simply ignore you and eat your domains (and your money)."
"Attempts to transfer my domains to other registrars failed for nebulous reasons which were always attributed to Jump Domain's fault and never satisfactorily explained, at least for the .com domains. Since I can't get JD to answer their support tickets, I have never been able to obtain the EPP codes needed for transfering .org domains. I am effectively trapped in Jump Domain's service, and I am losing domains one by one. The story is currently in repetition, with two more domains now stuck in "pending" status. Support tickets are again unanswered, and this time I even have a couple telephone numbers. One simply rings endlessly, while the other answers with a machine for Jump Domain Hosting support. My messages there have gone unanswered. One domain has already lapsed into expiration as of Saturday, the other will go this Thursday.
It's worth noting that Jump Domain used to be a reseller for TUCOWS, but they appear to have been dropped. They are now reselling for the sometimes infamous eNom instead. Considering even TUCOWS couldn't get a response out of JD during the previous lost domain episode, I'm not surprised they had to change. I have contacted eNom but was summarily told I need to deal with Jump Domain, and was given no further help from them."
It's worth noting that Jump Domain used to be a reseller for TUCOWS, but they appear to have been dropped. They are now reselling for the sometimes infamous eNom instead. Considering even TUCOWS couldn't get a response out of JD during the previous lost domain episode, I'm not surprised they had to change. I have contacted eNom but was summarily told I need to deal with Jump Domain, and was given no further help from them."
From my experience, it's quite effective if you find another registrar to take over the domain hosting. They're in the same business, and will go the extra mile to secure new clients.
Most of the time it's because we don't know what/where to ask, that's why you need lawyers to defend even the most obvious case.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Sorry to hear about your plight, but unfortunately usually the only option left when the company does not respond is to seek legal action. I'm hardly a lawyer, but you might be able to recoup some of your legal costs by suing the company for them, but might not be such a good idea against today's armies of corporate lawyers.
This sort of thing is exactly why I only use domain registrars and hosting companies that either have independent, positive feedback or ones that my friends use. One should always do their homework before going into something like this.
My other Sig is
I'd say someone just forgot about it.
For context, click Parent.
If you pay by credit card and the service is not delivered, dispute the charge. More likely than not, they'll make good on it at risk of losing their merchant account from repeat complaints.
Have a lawyer write them a letter, send it certified.
.. tell them you intend to sell their reseller account. At the very minimum this will get the attention of somebody at those respective registrars.
Explain in the letter that they either need to respond to you in writing how to transfer your domain name or you will be taking them to small claims court for the amount of the domain, along with the value of your time ($100/hr). Explain you would like to solve this amicably.
If they respond - you win!
If they don't, then take the letter to a judge and get a judgement against them.
If they show up - you win!
If they don't, You also win!
File the appropriate paperwork to the court and let them know you intend to place a lean on the companies assets.
Now, write Tucows/e-Nom a letter explaining that you have a court order to liquidate their assets.
Ask if the account is in good standing and if it has any values (your attorney will be able to put this into legalease for you)
If it doesn't -- hire a company to seize and sell their reseller account and liquidate their assets, then you buy it on eBay! Whoohoo! Now you get your domain back and you've got your own registrar. Hurray!
ps> if all this seems like too much work, then try finding another tucows reseller who can contact somebody at tucows to get the domain transferred to them. Tucows sucks, but they suck less if you're a reseller.
Data Center:
Lee's Summit, MO
Note: For security reasons, we cannot disclose it's exact address.
Now of course, anyone who knows Lee's Summit (I used to live there, still pass through it regularly) thinks of this place, an old AT&T plant, now turned over to a number of smaller businesses. Note: I'm of course not suggesting anything happen here, as I have friends and family working in that building (no, none for jumpdomain, if you must know).
Now, I know a "data center" can also mean just a small office with a bunch of machines shoved into it, but despite that city's recent growth, I still don't know of any major location for a data center to live in Lee's Summit. If it's not there, then fine... keep the address quiet, fully understandable. However, if it *is* there, then their obfuscation is sort of like saying "I've hidden it in a 100 foot tall green statue of a woman in NYC, but I'm not telling you what it is, for security reasons" - sort of pointless.
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I have to second this one, I work for a fairly large (top 30 ish) registrar that used ot go through tucows if your having an issue and JD is not responsive get tucows to step in. Elliot and crew generaly do a good job.
No sir I dont like it.
I live in Blue Springs. The 740 W 40 Hwy address is a UPS Store (was a Mailboxes Etc.) I can't remember what is at 1700 W 40 Hwy. This search shows several businesses in the plaza. No Jump Domain is listed.o usenumber=1700&street=W+40+Hwy&city_zip=64015&stat e_id=MO
http://www.411.com/10668/search/Reverse_Address?h
I can drive by tomorrow.