I am trying to re-register a domain name that I used to own. I tried a while ago to transfer registrars from NetSol to Register.com. Now NetSol claims that the domain name expired in the middle of the transfer and that I can't re-register it.

Yes, I have already read the many posts that say that when a WHOIS says "Domain not found locally, but Registry points back to local DB," my domain name will soon be free, but this is not the case. The WHOIS says that the "Updated Date" is 05-nov-2001, and it is now April 2002, almost 6 months later. The domain name is STILL not available.

I opened an account with SnapNames.com and paid the $69 to increase my chances of getting the domain name when it comes out of the holding pattern, but I feel like this may never happen. My client says that they will not pay me until they have ownership of the domain name. This snafu is also preventing me from obtaining an SSL certificate for the domain name.

Is there anyway to expedite the domain name expiration? I have read several places that the domain name should be deleted from the database 6 or 7 days after you start seeing the "Domain not found locally" message, but it has been like this for months. Who can I call to complain to? Network Solutions is absolutely awful and has given me the run around since August.



:flamethr: Network Solutions

This indication that the domain will be available in 6 or 7 days from when it gets into this condition at NetSol is bunk. I've tried to tell people that before but the other experts continue to say it's gospel. Sorry.

NetSol often experiences corruption in their whois database.

NetSol has no domain dropping policy.

If you will PM or email me the name, I'll be happy to see if I can dig up anything for you to work with.

You may just be stuck waiting however. There is really no one to talk to other than NetSol support or ICANN, and ICANN is not likely to help you.

-t

When you say that netsol won't let you re-register the domain name, do you mean with register.com or even with netsol itself?

Netsol holds expired domains for as long as 6 months or more before releasing them.

I had to wait 6 months and 3 days for mycompanyname.com :bawling:

Regards.

This indication that the domain will be available in 6 or 7 days from when it gets into this condition at NetSol is bunk. I've tried to tell people that before but the other experts continue to say it's gospel. Sorry.

6 or 7 days is bunk, cause it is 5 or 6 days.
the witt, hundreds of thousands of names drop from netsol and they pretty much follow a rule. Yes there is no rule as to when they are scheduled for deletion, but once they are scheduled they usually drop within the 5 or 6 days.
Yes there are exceptions, when for some reason or another they dont drop within this timeframe, but this is an exception which is not very common.

5 nov 2001 and 20 nov 01 appear to be dates where a lot of domains simply did not drop. I have no idea what the reason was, perhaps a technical glitch in the system. Yes, there are lots of names which just appear to be stuck, but they are an extremely minute fraction of those that have been scheduled for deletion and have actually dropped.

thewitt, Perhaps you should write to snapnames with your ideas that this 5/6 day rule is "bunk" This deletion process is listed on their website. They make this statement based on experience of trying to acquire thousands of names, but you dismiss it as "bunk", based on no personal experience, and siting an exception to the rule.

bababooey,

network solutions will usually never offer up any answers on anything, their customer service usually consists of cutting and pasting a standard reply. Perhaps a phone call may get you a response.

Have you tried emailing snapnames and asking them if they have any idea why this name just got stuck.
Another thing you should consider, is that snapnames is NO gurantee of getting the name if it was released. If it is a popular name, someone else could get it before you, if and when it ever is released.

Originally posted by hostjet
thewitt, Perhaps you should write to snapnames with your ideas that this 5/6 day rule is "bunk" This deletion process is listed on their website. They make this statement based on experience of trying to acquire thousands of names, but you dismiss it as "bunk", based on no personal experience, and siting an exception to the rule.
I call it like I see it.

-t

The funny thing is, the domain name is still functional and we are currently using it. The name server entries are still pointing to the correct name servers, so people can still hit the web site.

As a back up, I am registering the .org version of the domain name. I don't think there is a chance that anyone will try to register the domain name unless they are trying to steal it from me. It is for an adult school and the domain name is [CITYNAME]adultschool.com, so it is pretty unlikely. Also, the site has had less than 10K visitors since its creation, so it's no major portal by any standard.

I _have_ called Network S:angry: luti:angry: ns, and they were VERY unhelpful. The woman that I spoke with said, "We can't do anything, but you can e-mail registrar@netsol.com and they can help you." I said, "Well, why don't you just transfer my call to that department?" and she said that would be impossible. I also asked how this magical department would be able to help me if everyone at NetSol has access to the same information, and she didn't have an answer.

hostjet, do you know of any other domain names that have been trapped since Nov 5 and Nov 20? I would be interested to see what some of these domain names are.

I contacted Register.com and their tech support said that the transfer was initiated, but then for some reason, it was transferred back to NetSol. He couldn't elaborate.

Should I contact the Better Business Bureau or would going down this road be fruitless? On the plus side, my client agreed to approve my latest invoice and said that she will trust that I will obtain the domain name and trnasfer it to them when complete.

whtpost,
Neither NetSol nor Register.com will allow me to register or re-register the domain name. I think that NetSol would be the proper company to contact regarding this, since the WHOIS lookup still says that Network Solutions is the current registrar. Believe me, if I could just pay $35 to get this headache resolved I would! ;)

NetSol farms out their phone support to a third party - and I believe they are even located outside the US. They would not be able to forward you to the person who can answer your question at NetSol... thus you get the email address answer.

It's worth trying at any rate.

-t

my advice is that while you work the issue out with netsol, buy the snapback feature of snapnames for the domain if the name is really important to you. The odds of getting the domain back through snapnames in this case (long domain name) are probably very good to excellent.

hostjet, do you know of any other domain names that have been trapped since Nov 5 and Nov 20?

i have sent you a message with an example.

even though a name may not sound popular, if it has good placement in search engines, the speculators may go after it.
I would keep hassling netsol, it would help your case if you could show proof that you were the previous registrant, and not trying to just acquire an expired name.

Originally posted by thewitt
This indication that the domain will be available in 6 or 7 days from when it gets into this condition at NetSol is bunk. I've tried to tell people that before but the other experts continue to say it's gospel. Sorry.

-t

My recent experience would say that it's not bunk. I've been watching DietNews.com for the last few months and exactly 6 days ago it went "Domain not found locally". Unfortunately even though I was checking it 2 or 3 times a day someone else grabbed it through IARegistry.com. I have noticed that half the domains I've been watching and drop get grabbed through IARegistry.com. I'm wondering if they have some kind of special access to the database.

Perhaps my experiences in this are not normal, but I've had half a dozen domain transfers fail when they are in this state, and they have stayed in this state for weeks if not months before we've been able to get NetSol to clean up the database entries and renew then eventually transfer the domain.

However I admit to not being a domain speculator, so perhaps I'm only seeing those domains that no one is trying to buy outright when they drop. I don't watch dropping domains for a living. I register/transfer and renew existing domains, which are often near or even past their existing registration periods.

-t

Originally posted by thewitt
I don't watch dropping domains for a living...

-t

Neither do I...just a hobby :D I don't think anyone could make a living as a domain speculator...at least not anymore...