Are you sure it is you?
There was once a client who contracted our services to build him a new e-commerce site and to rescue his domain name from the previous host. The host was one of those companies who sold their services by phone only, claiming to be everything this small business owner needs when it came to his business online.
Not knowing too much about web sites and how it all works, he figures this is a job best outsourced. He’s right about that. Unfortunately the company chosen was not. Long story short, the site was built, it had a lot of limitations and the bottom line was, it’s not what the client wanted. He had paid a lot of money for a useless web site in his eyes. He was done with them but they weren’t done with him.
When he inquired about transferring domain names, they simply told him it would cost $30. Now, $30 is not a big amount, but those of you who have worked with web sites know that it doesn’t cost anything to transfer a domain other than a few minutes of administrative time. They were holding his domain name – his brand if you will – hostage.
By now, he’s so angry that he wasn’t going to pay it whether it was $1, $30 or $100. Lucky for him the old domain was not established and instead of arguing and hoping to swipe the domain on back order which is hit and miss, we simply went for a new domain and started fresh.
This is sadly, not uncommon. Many businesses have web sites they invested so much money, time and effort in but when you check the records, they don’t have control over the domain. Don’t let it be you.
Here’s the thing. It is OK if you let your web designer handle all the ‘technical’ stuff of your web site down to the domain. Especially if you truly trust them. But, I’d advise that you at the very least demand that the domain be under your control. It’s no different than your office. You can allow people to come and work in it, designate staff as contact for different departments but at the end of the day you must be the one holding the keys to your office.
To check your own domain’s details, visit Whois.net, and enter your domain name to look it up.
Like staff, web designers come and go. You may have a superb relationship with them now and in the past but things change. Either the relationship goes sour, they decide they are no longer interested in that business, they sold the business, your needs change etc. Having control over your domain is crucial for your branding and business overall. Do not let any one convince you that the domain has be controlled by them or it won’t work. It is just not true.
Ideally, you should be able to log in to a control panel, where you can manage the details of your domain. If you do not have this or are told you cannot do this, chances are the host or designer has registered the domain under them. In this case, your best bet is to tell your host/designer you want the domain transferred to you. Get an account at a domain registrar like GoDaddy and request a domain transfer. This will add another year to your domain and ultimately get it in your control 100%.
Do not wait till there’s bad blood between you and your host/designer because they can always reject your transfer request and still hold your domain hostage.
Good thoughts Lynette,
Often in the heat of things we forget critical things so yours is a timely reminder.
Also when you have multiple domain names an internal register can really help.
This can be better than relying on an outside source to do the renewals.
Another good and sensible article that makes perfect sense.
However, I personally wouldn’t recommend GoDaddy as a registrar- many people seem to have problems with their service, their customer service is often vague at best, and their website is a confusing navigational labyrinth, that even I, a seasoned web user has trouble using easily.
My personal rule of thumb is that I don’t use a service that has another site devoted to trying to keep people away from using it, like http://nodaddy.com/
Moniker, however, is a good service that is easy to use and has friendly, prompt customer service.
I have my owm domain name but I have not already faced the problems you are writing about here
I recommend the same to all my clients of my Web Business. I’d rather they have their own control of the domain, so that this type of dispute never happens. I have no reason to hold them hostage for their domain. The effort and making the client angry just isn’t worth it. The only time this could happen is when you get a client who refuses to pay online with a credit card so they want you to grab the domain name for them. They gladly pay a bit more if they don’t have to do anything with it. Still at that point, the registration info should be in the clients name, and the technical contact should be in the Web Designers Business Name.
Great article. We need to make more people aware of who or where they are buying their domain names. I just hate to see when that sort of thing happens to people that really just had no idea how to go about it.
We have a CMS (UGAL) that is used by hundreds of small businesses for their website, each using their own domain name. I understand your point, but for practical reason we prefer to own and manage the domains on behalf of our customers. It is much easier than having to explain CNAMES, MX or A records to customers. Having control over the domains will be very helpful should we decide to change our colocation provider (ie a new set of IPs).
We could achieve the same and offer DNS hosting, but DNS hosting being a free service with most of the registrars, there is not much value that we could add.
Note that we do not charge any fees for customers who want to leave with their domain name. That’s the part that does not make sense I think.
Hostgator (www.hostgator.com) held my domain hostage recently. They cancelled my account for not paying, I didn’t pay because they wouldn’t automatically deduct from my PayPal account, and they would double my hosting fee everymonth for being “late” when they wouldn’t bill me until the last second. Definitely a predatory hosting company. Then, even though they were no longer my host, they re-registered my domain name “automagically” and I had to pay them to give it back to me. To make it worse, they forced me to sign up for their “provider’s” domain management service and implied that I had to pay them another $10 or so to do the transfer. It took me over a month to finally get my domain transferred. I actually live in Houston, the same city in which Hostgator is located and seriously comtemplated making a personal appearance but decided against it. They really really suck bad.
Hey all, thanks for the response. Everyone has good points and reasons if you’re a designer. I understand the point about being too technical for a client to understand but there is no law that says you can’t set things up for them after they have ordered the domain for themselves. After all that’s what you’re already doing for them isn’t it?
But whatever method you choose, holding a client’s account hostage (when a client is in good standing) is just very nice.
Hi Lynette,
good post – two additions from my side:
a) never register your domain trough your hosting company – you have more flexibility when you run into trouble with one of them.
b) when registering a new domain, I always save all the whois data in a pdf for future reference. Expiration dates (or renewal dates) are entered in my calendar as anniversaries,so I never miss a payment
Owning a computer consulting firm, I see clients who let their IT guys register the domain under THEIR name! That is just crazy. Always register the domain to the business or business owner.
I have owned an IT company for 8 years and see this ALL the time, I have posted a link to this article on my website because I agree more people need to be made aware of this problem.
Eric Gossler, in my opinion there is no precedent. domain names be it .com , .net or .org are all up for grabs and whoever get it first occupies it.
You get lucky if they decide or forget to re-register when the times comes.
It seems to be its just a scare tactic.
If you have your receipts showing when you registered it, your fine!
Tell them to make you an offer for the domain name, if they want it so badly!
Hope that helps.
Wish I knew of a quoted resource for you…
best of luck!
I had been providing graphic design services under the name “Imagehaus” since 1992-93. I registered the domain name, imagehaus.com, about a year before a competing company a few states away registered the .net name and trademarked the company name itself.
For the first five years after I registered the domain, I ran a storefront that sold both printing and graphic design. A short time ago I closed the copy shop services and refocused on the design services. Since then, lawyers for the .net company are now claiming copyright infringement and are demanding I relinquish the domain.
Is there any precedent for such a demand, or are there any services available to address these situations?
@Los Angeles PC Repair I’ve seen stuff like that too. Kinda scary because one person can literally hijack your online business.
@ Iman Diaz Thanks so much for the link and helping respond to Eric.
@ Eric Gossler I agree with Iman here. I’m not a lawyer and this should not be considered legal advise, please do consult your attorney on legal matters. But since you registered the .com it’s yours. especially in the situation where you’ve registered it before they started using it as a trademark they should know at the time they registered the .net that the .com was taken and such issues will arise in the future. Like Iman, I agree it sounds like a scare tactic.
I’ve seen this a lot many people disputing over domains get a lawyer to send emails to intimidate the registered owner. If they want it, offer a price. If you don’t want to let it go and want to stand your ground, hiring an attorney is the best advise I can give you.
Lynette, you are mistaken a little when say that transferring of domains is free of charge. You are right partially. Let me explain… There are registrators that allows to transfer domains without any additional payment and there are thos who take fee because they lose the client. It is something like forleit. Well… what about first registrator that I mean before.. There is on nuance too. It is possible that you will pay some amount for transfer (but it will be payment for domain renewal). Pay or no is depends on domain register/renewal date. As I remember if you want to transfer domain that you just purchase you will pay renewal fee untill 35 (or 45) days pass from date of purchasing. Also it is correct when 35 days remain till regular renewal.
Dart Vader, thank for so detailed explanation. You did this very clear. Yes, you can do transfers of domains free of charge after 45 days after purchasing of it and before 45 days to next renew. If you do this in aforesaid intervals you will need pay additional renew payment.