Back in July I bought a domain name from someone, which I'm going to use for a business project. I paid well over $1000 for the domain name with an international bank transfer.

The owner of the domain name agreed that he would transfer the domain to me as soon as possible (back in July). He sent me a signed agreement that he would do this as soon as possible.

I initiated the domain transfer rightaway (in Enom) which sent a validation email to the email address that was (and still is) listed in the WHOIS details of this domain. After one week I received a notification that the transfer had been cancelled, so I initiated it again, I assumed that the seller forgot to accept the transfer. After a week the same thing..

So I email this person him that he needed to accept the transfer, but he told me that he hadn't received anything. After I asked Enom what was going on it turned out that the email address listed in the whois details wasn't in use anymore, and the selling couldn't get that email address back anymore.

Anyway, I called this guy as he didn't answer my emails for over a month, and it appeared that he barely speaks English at all. He said something about that he forgot it - ok that can happen. He told me he would arrange it as soon as possible.

Another month later - I had tried initiating the transfer two times again, but nothing.. And the whois hadn't changed at all either. Until now I've been calling him every two weeks, and every time he keeps on telling me he'll arrange it as soon as possible, and that he'll let me know the details by email. Last time I called him I explained that the transfer system has changed, and that right now all he needs to do is to get rid of the transfer lock, and to give me the transfer code. Again he told me he would try to do that as soon as possible, but when I checked today, still nothing.

Now I have already asked my bank whether I could get my money back if I would want to, and showed them the signed agreement and the bank statement which proves that I have paid him. They told me that if I could show them that he still owns the domain name, I could get my money back easily.

However - that is not what I want. I want that domain name, no matter what. I'm wondering if there's anyone with a similar experience, or someone who knows how I could get the domain name, by filing a complaint with ICANN or something like that.

It is a .com domain name - I prefer not to share the name publicly until I own the domain name.

Any help would be much appreciated

Thank you,

Apoc,

I already had a similar situation. Easy to solve, Hire someone on WHT who speaks the same language and live in the same country than your guy. Then ask him to call the guy until you get the domain. Try to offer him a commision if he can resolve the situation.

I can find someone for you if you want. I have a lot of experience dealing with this sort of situation :)

Hm that's actually not a bad suggestion - the thing is: the guy who's selling this name does seem to understand what I mean though - afterall, he's the seller, he knows what he's supposed to do but he's just not doing it.

Anyway, if you can find me someone who speaks German and English fluently, I'd definitely appreciate that. I needs to be someone who's reliable though.

Cmon now guys. You think he he doesn't know how to do this after accepting $1000 for a domain name?

I am sorry but your being jerked around and are getting screwed. The problem as I see it is if doesn't have access to the domain name via the email address on file how would he be able to release the lock? I know there are ways but your dealing with a dude overseas who has your $1000 for months. Get legal involved. You are going to need it.

Don't mean to be a pessimist but your getting screwed plain and simple.

coolraul has a point there. In fact I believe Apoc posted because that's what he thought as well.

The guy simply doesn't want to release the domain. It's not rocket science and it doesn't take hours to do it. He has no excuse. It seems to me that you should be glad if you manage to get your money back.

Does he still have hold of the domain?

If I were him, I would sell the domain to another guy, transfer it to him ASAP, and you wouldn't be able to get your money back then...

Now that's a freaky thought. :D

well He can always call the registrar and remove the lock just verifying the CC information and etc.
Just take your money from the bank as soon as possible. Then you can contact him and tell him that as soon as he transfer the domain you'll send him the money

His desire to release the domain is certainly questionable, but I think hiring a guy that speaks his language and communicating with him directly can still help a lot, especially if he's explained the potential legal consequences of accepting payment then reneging on an agreement.

GeorgeC,

Exact. I think it is better than sending him a legal letter. In fact on internet law is scaring nobody.

Here is the solution :

Visit : http://www.elance.com/c/search/main/lSearch.pl?mode=search&stage=results&domain=profiles&catid=100&rid=XD6X&sk=&keywords=german&avg_fb=-1&num_reviews=-1&countries=&btnGo=+Search+

You will see a list of german translator. Choose one located in Germany there is a few and ask him to retreive the domain for you. You can even post a project on eLance asking people to retreive your domain, you will be surprise by the number of professionals who will be interrested by this job. I don't think it will be expensive.

Good luck!

Originally posted by Apoc
... it turned out that the email address listed in the whois details wasn't in use anymore, and the selling couldn't get that email address back anymore.
Lesson 1: ALWAYS communicate with the e-mail addressee listed in the whois. ;)

well.....if you hire someone from the same country...this won't help. If he contacted the person and explain him everything - than it seems he do not want to give it. The only option is taking back the money (if this is still available) and then they can talk each other (even with a local person

but make sure to get your money

@Apoc

my main language is german!
i can help you if you like.
just tell me what to write this guy, no problem.

Hehe, I'm sure it will work! What's better than a German to talk to another German. I think a phone call would have a bigger impact! The guy will realize that you are serious about getting this domain.

Good luck!

Coolraul: he's not overseas for me, he's in the country next to mine, I'm in the Netherlands. If thinks really get out of hand: I do have his address so I can just drive over there if it really gets tha bad.

As for claiming my money back or taking legal steps: I don't think that will help much. $1000 is a fair amount of money, however this domain name is of much higher value to me (it would be useless for most others though - it just has to do with branding our name).

Raqsoft: the problem is: he doesn't read his email - even though he keeps on telling me that he'll answer his email as soon as possible whenever I call him. Are you in Germany, and if so, would you be willing to give him a call to explain why I need the name urgently, and that I'll claim my money back if he doesn't transfer the domain name rightaway?

By the way: I've dealt with many situations like these before, the trouble in this case is that there doesn't seem to be any authority which can really force him to hand over the domain name (without paying a lot of money), or is there? Is there an agency of ICANN (or something), which would be able to force the domain transfer if I'd show it to them?

Again, I still don't really have the feeling he's intentionally doing this, I think he just doesn't have a clue. By the way: he does have access to his registrar because he's setup a forwarder with his registrar to solidrack.com right from the start, but I just need ownership of the domain and I don't need it to be forwarded to my domain name.

It just can't really imagine what he's doing.. he keeps on telling me to email him, and I've emailed all the info to him for like 50 times by now, and if I call him again after a week asking why he hasn't responded to my emails he tells me he's often travelling or something, as if he couldn't have come up with that earlier.

Raqsoft: I'll get in touch, hope you can call him.


Thanks everyone for your input.

Make sure the guy has the domain in his possession and its him who is listed in the whois.

Yeah he is, that's not the problem.

Northtrex, that is a good idea.

I'd just like to say that I've hired someone today to take care of that, and the seller seems to understand the situation a lot better now.

I'm just hoping this will pay off, the problem is just that the seller doesn't seem to understand the urgency of this matter.

Thanks for all the responses!

Good luck to that Apoc! :)

Good Luck, Apoc... If he drags his feet too much, you might want to bring out the big guns and mention the word "fraud." I'm sure in most countries a $1,000 transaction where nothing of value is delivered would be considered criminal fraud. The threat of time behind bars might make him see the urgency of the situation.

Of course, try being nice first. ;)

Apoc

Sorry to hear of your problems

This won't help for your current situation but it might help others so I'm going to post it. Our sister corporation has been a domain registrar company for 6 years and things like this happen more often than you can imagine.

It's always best to use an escrow company to handle important transactions such as this. The escrow company has legal power and obligation. They hold the money until the domain has be relinquished (and vise versa).

I hope your hired hand can help resolve this to everyones satisfaction ... good luck *crossing fingers for you* :)

Yeah I know Vic, however I had had contact with this guy for about 6 months as we negotiated about the price (and I didn't need the domain urgently at the time), and I thought bringing in a third party would only cause more hassle. Usually that would be true, but noone would predict that someone like this would take THIS long to take care of something like this. It seems like there is some progress now though, however I won't be reluctant until I actually own the domain.

4solutions: I am considering that, but I'm convinced that this guy means no harm though. However if it turns out that the conversations with our German 'translator' don't help either, I guess it's my only option.