I found a cheap hosting plan with free domain registration and I jumped on it, and now I am afraid that I set myself up to be scammed.

I am not thrilled with the uptime of my host, but I don't know how to change hosts and keep my domain. I have also come to realize that they can very well use the ownership of my domain as leverage to jack up my rates and still keep me as a customer. I really need to keep my domain. Is there any chance that my host will sell me back my name at a reasonable rate if I choose to change hosts?

Thanks!

Have you asked your current host about transfering ownership of your domain so that it 'belongs' to you? Are you 'certain' it belongs to 'them'?

If you are listed as the admin email contact for the domain in the whois record, you can most likely transfer it away now. If not, you'll have to go back and talk to your host.

-t

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Have you asked your current host about transfering ownership of your domain so that it 'belongs' to you? Are you 'certain' it belongs to 'them'?

I have not approached them yet about transferring ownership.

I did a "whois" on my name, and my hosting company shows up as the registrant.

Registrant can be them...who is listed for admin? You or them? Thats what matters!

Regards.

Originally posted by WebHozt
Registrant can be them...who is listed for admin? You or them? Thats what matters!

Regards.

They are listed as the admin. I have emailed them about transferring ownership, and I am hoping that they will be nice about it.

Thats bad!

They shouldnt be doing that!

When I register domains for clients, I ask them, if they want tech or billing contact as them. But admin is always them!

Regards.

That is bad. The host should only be the technical contact.

Unless you really trust your host very much or you are a relative.

ALWAYS register the name yourself. Sorry to all you hosts out there that are on the up and up, but doing it yourself avoids complications and misunderstandings later on. Not to mention that you can get a name today for only 8 or 9 bucks.

Yes for me it's definitely a rule of mine to keep domain registrations out of my webhosts hands too.

It makes it much easier for me in terms of the fact I've had very bad luck with hosts, as well as the fact it appears to be cheaper. :cool:

Thanks for the replies.

I emailed my host late last night and still have not heard anything 24 hours later.

I guess I have learned my first big lesson. If I can't get my domain, I guess I will register the .com (right now I have the .org) and start directing traffic that way.

Originally posted by braindead
I guess I have learned my first big lesson. If I can't get my domain, I guess I will register the .com (right now I have the .org) and start directing traffic that way. In some ways you lucked out. Even though .org may be more suitable for your site, .com is the acknowledged default. Run, don't walk and register the .com RIGHT NOW! In the case that your host does the right thing and transfers the name to you, you'll have both. It never hurts to own the .com of the domain.

Good luck.

I think you screwed up. But their might be a way out. Did you read your host's terms. In the terms does it say that they retain full ownership rights of the domain? If it doesn't say that then you can probably get your domain.

Agree with Abu...

Apart from that, especially to those who said dont get the domain registered through the webhost...

What if the webhost has a real-time registration setup, and the user is walked through the process of entering their own whois contact details etc. Just like a normal domain registrar would!

What is your opinion on this? Still bad?

Thanks! I would be extremely interested to hear your opinions.

Regards.

Originally posted by Abu Mami
ALWAYS register the name yourself. Sorry to all you hosts out there that are on the up and up, but doing it yourself avoids complications and misunderstandings later on. Not to mention that you can get a name today for only 8 or 9 bucks.

Where can I find a place for 8 or 9 bucks?

The place I'm with right now charges 9.95. They keep me as the admin and put themselves as the tech and billing person.

My big screw up was logging in and buying a domain for a client. Yeah they put me as the Admin, but that's ok cause I'm close with the family anyways, but for the comany name, address, etc... they put in my companies information. (crap crap crap!) I know it can be transferred, but it's a huge pain in the arse to do it.

Live and learn I guess... :)

Day 3 and still no response form my host--of course there is no actual phone number on their website, so I am stuck sending email that they are probably not even reading.

I have read through the terms and do not find anything regarding ownership of my domain. Hopefully this willwork in my favor.

I am looking into registering the .com, but I was warned against using a "discount" domain registrar because they "sell your information". Can you guys give me some insight on this? I read through the privacy policy on godaddy, and it looks like I would be ok, but I really want to get it right this time.

Thanks for all your help!

It is probably 2Mhost.com that promotes to offer free domain names when you register for their cheap plans with VERY BAD customer and tecnical support.

They don't have the knowledge to run a webhosting business, nor to keep their servers running.

Getting hosting from 2Mhost.com with a free domain is like getting in for a lot of trouble and no support whatsoever.

So watch out for the scum.

who is the host who holds your domain?

when i register domains for customers it is in their name ,and they receive login details to access their own domain
if your host has not done this ,then they do it on request for you

My hosting company finally responded to me (after a very unfriendly email) saying "your domain information has been changed", and that it all.

It seems to me that to truly have control of my domain, I need the login information with the registrar--and I don't even know who they used. Can someone please gude me as to exactly what information I need to get from them?

Thank you for all of the help and advice!

You can find out the Registrar by doing a whois on your domain.

If you are the admin contact email, you can most likely transfer your domain to another Registrar - where you know you'll know the username and password...

If your domain transfer fails because the domain is locked at the current Registrar, you should be able to get them to unlock it if you are the admin contact as well.

-t

Another good site to get info on the domain's registrar is at www.nsiregistry.com (http://www.nsiregistry.com) .

Well, I'm sorry about your problems with the domain. I don't get this though. I do register domains for my customers as a service (I charge $5 extra) so they don't have to use their credit card again, don't need to change DNS etc. Many clients with no experience about the web buy themself 1 hour for this extra $5 I assume. I use RegisterEngine.com (RegisterFly) so I can transfer the ownership with no extra cost to my clients if they request this in the future.

The company you are talking about are "digging their own grave", and that's good news for some of us.