Register.com Ripoff?

bos

I was looking to register a particular domain. It's not available through Network Solutions directly but I looked it up in WHOIS and the contact details are Register.com's Unpaid Names Department. The domain expired this time last year but has still not been released.

Is this a case of Register.com holding on to the domain in the hopes of ripping off anyone who happens to want it in the future? Do I have to bid to get it off them through Afternic or is there a better/cheaper way? I hate the thought of having to offer them $200 for a domain that should be back on the open market by now.

mneylon

Normally registrars release domains after a period of time, but how long that is seems to be up to the registrars.
If the name is 'marketable' then it might be grabbed by somebody else before you get a chance. However, at the moment, bidding for a domain name sounds a little bit crazy.

Seanie M

I am resurfacing this post because I am in the same boat - though on behalf of someone else.

I did a website for a client, who wished to transfer their domain name, when expired, to a seperate host. The name expired on May 7th, but is still tied down to register.com. What rights do they have to do this? How can we go about trying to get it back?

I have attached a whois screenshot of the details. It says that it is to expire on May 7th 2007, but that was only new information a week ago - originally, it was May 7th 206.

Thanks for the help,

Seanie.

mneylon

You can't realistically move a domain after it has expired. You need to move it before it expires.

If the domain is withing 45 days of the original expiry you / your client may still be able to renew it.

Seanie M

Hhmmm... this was part of the problem. With about 3 weeks before it was due to expire, we tried transfering the domain. But, it was locked - this was turned off in the users account, but still no joy. Then, it formally expired, and now *poof*, its gone, yet a whois says its still locked to register.com. It should be available, but appears not so. There are no details left in the users account, which is still active.

So, as it standsm it appears even as if it cannot be repurchased anywhere. :mad:

Seanie.

mneylon

Have you tried ringing them?

Seanie M

No answer yet I'm afraid... Having to ring from overseas is difficult!

kjt

EDIT: I read the post wrong, deleted reply.

mneylon

kjt wrote:

Am I missing something?
Expires on.......
"Mon, May07, 2007"

It's standard practice to temporarily extend the domain name by one year to allow the registrant time to either renew the domain or not

Seanie M

blacknight wrote:

It's standard practice to temporarily extend the domain name by one year to allow the registrant time to either renew the domain or not

Sounds logical - help the registrant to force the registee to spend more money on the registrant! But to actually deny the original registee in the first place the option of renewing that name with a new registrant is not good practice, right? I have never dealt with register.com in my line of work before, and after this, I would not do so, nor recommend them to anyone else. Bad business.

Seanie.