Ok, here is the situation.

I was already a www.namezero.com customer,
I had a domain with them and went to register another.

Of course this time, after realizing your information is easily accesed through a "who is" search, I decided I did not want my real information online. All I wanted was a tad of privacy, seemed innocent.

I register and decied to give them my real address since I figure they check that with the credit card company. Someone told me to always make sure your zip codes match with your billing address. So the only "fake" thing I gave was a phone number. I did something generic "740-111-1111"

I figured who would care about that, it's probably a real number anyways.

So I place, my order for 5 years! and it looks good, goes through, all done.

I get busy with life and a few days later check my credit card statement online. I see charge for $99.99 for the 5 years and then later on a refund of $99.99 !!! I think wow they messed up and I got the domain for free! ;)

WRONG! I check the e-mail I used to register and see an e-mail from them saying my domain was hijacked because of security issues and all that. That my credit card was refunded (I don't even understand why they would do this when the transaction went through to begin with)

So naturally I am completely pissed, but I try and stay calm and e-mail back a huge appologetic letter saying I just did not want my phone number on the internet, here is my real info, etc.

E-mail gets returned.

I do a who is search to get their info. I call the number listed.
Nothing.

So I figure, well i'm busy right now anyways, I'll just rebuy the domain.

Well domain comes up as taken everywhere.

I figure well, maybe it takes 30 days to renew records, etc.

Well as of today it has currently been over 5 weeks since this situation!!! Domain is still taken, registered with namezero and my fake info and there seems to be nothing I can do!!!

So I guess I am looking for any help besides short of getting a lawyer and suing these bastards, or how long will it take before the domain is up for grabs again??? 60 days? 90 days or the full 5 years I originally purchased it for!!!!!?????

thanks,
J.Hileman@prodigy.net

I doubt you will be be able to get the domain back, especially if it is a good name. One thing I'm sure though, is Namezero will offer no help. I had a similar situation before, trying to transfer my domain from them to a different registra. They did respond to my emails (I'm a 'pro service' customer, meaning I paid them for the domain), but the help give is all irrelevant, telling me things I don't need like what is DNS, how to forward a URL etc.. They never really read what you actually want. My suspect is that their support staff may be paid on a 'number of support questions answered' basis, so they telkl you something of no use, and you have to ask them again and again so they earn again and again.

Needless to say, I stopped paying for my domain with them, hoping it would expire and I could re-register it somewhere. There is nothing I can do. It's been almost a year since the domain expired but its still being 'squatted' by Namezero and it could not be re-registered anywhere.

damnit! I mean the domain is nothing popular I don't think it would have value to anyone else but me, but it is valuable to me! It's something special. In fact I would go to the trouble of getting a lawyer to get it back if anyone here things it would help. coux, thanks for the help though, atleast now I know waiting it out with them will not be an answer. :(

I don't have a ton of money, well really none at all, but I really want the domain. Hopefully if I threatened a lawsuit would they give it back? I did pay for it after all, they canceled the order and refunded my card after that happening. Bastards, this has me so upset. :(

Sounds precisely like namezero's business plan and modus operandi.

The only way you will get the name is to pay their asking price and even then you will be victim to all their terms and conditions. I have found no name of sufficient value to offset the aggravation of dealing with them.

They had a name of value only to me. However, it was not their pricing (although that was high), but rather their terms that led me not to purchase it. They still have it 15 months later. And, before they sell it to me, they will just have to keep it.

Sorry for my ignorence here but I just do not understand how a company can do this???

This has to be illegal.

I mean it cannot be okay for you to go to a company selling domains, you buy one, they charge you for it, then the next day refund your card and hijack it! If that is the case how does anyone get any names registered are there any reputable places out there??

But seriously that is my real question now, can they legally do this??? God if anyone reading this is a lawyer please respond!!
Hell I may be interested in hiering you just to get it back and go with a different company. Like I said this domain has no value to anyone else but me, something personal.

No doubt this is a sad tale but maybe also a salutary one - the registrar (good or bad) asked for specific information to be supplied to complete the sale.
The purchaser gave false information (false telephone number) - as such I do not blame the registrar for withdrawing the sale. If you are asked for specific information and you lie, should you expect the one offering the goods to have faith in you?
Just my 2 cents worth, but valid I think.

hm and if i pay with my credit card and buy a domain name for a friend of mine, so he is listed for all contact`s as he actually own's the domain name , does this make all entry's false?

Threaten legal action like my friend did and send them a "cease or desist" letter. It actually worked for my friend and simply got the nameservers changed so that it would work like we had actual control over the domain :-D

jt

thanks for all the advice. grandad, yes, it's true I gave them a false number but you have to understand your info is posted all over the web after that. A simply who is search and anyone can have your address and phone. I'm sure you can appreciate wanting to have a tad of privacy in this day and age.

I gave them the information they needed, a valid billing address.
To me that should be good enough, but that's just my opinion.

darkhunter, I understand your reasons, but that does not necessarily make it right!
Have you been able to contact them and ask them why they cancelled the sale? Maybe the 'phone number was the problem, maybe there was some other problem - or maybe they are just doing what gives them some sense of power!

Well the only way to contact them I see is by e-mail, to which got returned to me!

The e-mail came from their billing department.
I replied, it got returned.

So I send a shorter e-mail from their web site to which
no response has been gotten.

I see no phone number anywhere to call them.

I did a who is search on the domain they stole and there was a number for them listed but if you call it you get a recording to go to the web site and they hang up!!! :(

Looks like you have to be a "Plus" member (whatever that is) in order to get any response - weird! If you don't upgrade you just get online FAQ's etc!

http://www.namezero.com/support/helpcenter/email_support.jsp

Sadly though I am a "plus" customer LOL *so much for the plus*
As I originally said I was already a namezero customer and sadly I had just renwed my domain with them before this whole situation so I am stuck with them even after all this.

It was when I tried to recently buy another domain with them that this happened. I logged on with my original domain and password as a plus customer and send an e-mail asking about the new domain, but never got a response.

Here's a little known fact about namezero:
They don't own their registry. Network Solutions does.
Provided that you used the correct administrative e-mail address, you can have it transfered away from namezero trhough any OpenSRS Registrar. Not sure of otheres. I deal exclusively with OpenSRS. Total time for the proccess takes about a month. If you didn't use the correct e-mail address, there's always 5 years from now. :)

To keep your personal info private, you can do what I did.
Get a PO box. I told the post office I would be using my online name to protect my personal information. * Note that if you get a po box to use as a business, your information used to obtain it is public, but if you get one for personal use it isn't, at least in my state. Because I hadn't yet registered the dba, they considered my po box personal, and let me use my online name. Check the laws in your state if this is a concern to you.
Then I regsitered my online name as a dba using the po box address so its all legal.
So when I registered my domain names, I use my po box, now and all my snail mail spam goes there, and not to my residence!
Oh as for the phone number, my phone is also in my online name, so I used it, but I don't get a more than usual amouint of solicitations. "Do you take credit cards? No? Do you want to?" mostly.

Amazing the number of domain name scams I get sent to me when they are close to expiring. Companys I never even heard of send me forms all filled out where all I have to do is send them money (of course it always $29) to renew. In fine print it says that using this form to renew will automatically transfer the regitrar from my current one to them.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the help.
It took a lot but I got my domain back under my control :)
This fourm is wonderful! ;)