Former Host Kidnapped My Domain

Hi there,
I hate to start out my new membership here with a negative situation (and long post, sorry). But this is one I'm stumped about.
A couple of years ago, I paid a budget shared hosting company for a domain name registration, plus hosting that I paid for by the month, but never got around to using. I was planning to use it sometime before I graduated from grad school, so I basically just wanted to park the domain for future use and have it ready to go when I graduate.
A few months ago, the company I was with decided to "get out" of the shared hosting business. They sold all their small accounts to another ISP. The way they announced this to their customers was via email: "I'm getting out of the business, selling to this other company, you'll be their customer starting in 30 days", etc. This email mentioned that all parked domains would be transferred over to the new ISP, and that doing so would be part of the responsibility of the new ISP. So far so good, but I didn't make sure that my domain was transferred at the time, I just assumed that it was.
So now I'm about to graduate and I decided to make my parked domain active. Turns out it's not with the new ISP, but still with the old one. I emailed the old host (who is still around) asking them to transfer the domain. Their email back essentially said, "It's great to have you back as a customer, we're happy to make your account active again, thanks for your business" -- and came along with a separate email saying that monthly charges to my credit card had already resumed.
So I emailed back and said that no, I didn't want to re-open my account, what I wanted was for the domain that I'd paid for, for two years, to be transferred to the new ISP, as promised.
They cancelled my re-opened account -- great.
They cancelled the renewed hosting credit card transaction -- great.
But they didn't transfer my domain. Now they say there is "nothing they can do" because I "don't have an account with them anymore".
Running whois on my domain name gives the original hosting company as all three contacts. They say they have no control over the domain and "can't" release it to the new ISP. The new ISP says because the domain is registered to the old hosting company, they "can't" transfer it over.
Does anyone have advice about how to get my domain name -- bought and paid for -- back under my control?
TIA
J

If you reopen your account can you get the domain back? If so, reopen acc enough so you can transfer your domain to another registrar, like namecheap.

That's a bad situation; since like you said all thier information is on the WHOIS. I would have to agree about reopening the account (and then asking them to change the WHOIS to your information) so that you may transfer it out.





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Jonathan Hawkinswww.BIHIRA.com • Mabuhay

Have you contacted the new provider? They should be the ones you are contacting. Let them know the old business owners are trying to get you back as the customer, and withholding the domain name.





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chances are that your old provider was a reseller of some registrar. whois.domaintools.com can help you determine who it is that they resold for. Contact that registrar and ask them for assistance in getting back the control over your domains.





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Thank you for the domaintools link. Interesting information to be had there, it appears.

Welcome to the forum. What I'll say next might not be palatable, but I'll be honest.
Based on what you described, unfortunately you don't really "own" the domain name anymore. And because you cancelled your account with the host, also unfortunately they have no further obligations to you.
I'd go with what Mysteerie and bager said about "reinstating" the account with them just so you can have access to the domain name. One possible kicker, though, is will the host allow you to change its records to reflect you as its "owner" by then.
If their online control panel or process won't let you do so, they might charge a fee to "transfer" or "sell" it to you if you ask them to give you the domain's ownership somehow. They're within their rights to do that even if others feel otherwise.
All in all, ask them how much to reinstate the account and how to ensure the domain name's listed under your name in WHOIS. If it entails additional costs, at least ask them how much so you can factor those into your decision making.
The only time one might have some "rights" of some sort is if they're in paid standing with that provider, although their online contract or TOS essentially states what both you and they can't and can do. It so happens the TOS or so puts them in a stronger position, though.
Good luck, and feel free to check back with any updates on your issue.





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However often helps to mention company name on WHT and making sure that they see it... After all, it's not bad to warn people which company registered domain for you, but keeped ownership.