Domain Name Rego Problem

[trakka]

Hoping someone can help.

We registered a domain (.com) with an Australia domain register early last year.

We received an email for the receipt and was told that we would receive email notification when officially registered in our name.

We received that email the next day or so from them advising that it was registered and was ours for next 2 years.

So since then we have registered the business, had a logo designed, had stationary etc made up etc etc And the website is being built and hopefully launched in the next month or so.

Today we went back to domain register to register another domain for a future business (once again .com) and we logged on and domain discussed above wasn't listed with the rest of them. So we send them an email asking for them to add it (with attached copies of their notification it was ours etc)

I have just received an email back saying sorry - we stuffed up and it wasn't actually available when we went to register it for you. They have offered a refund of the domain registration fee.

And of course the alternative names that we had discussed at the time are no longer available.

What recourse do I have? I have spent thousands of dollars and now can not use the name/domain?

Anyone with any experience of what I can/should do to try and recover the costs?

ETA if they had notified us straight away that is was no longer available - then no problem I understand that from the time they accept our payment to actually registering someone else could of beat them, but that didnt happen.

[Highstream]

Unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do. You would have to read their terms and conditions of trade for registering a domain names.

Because the domain is a .com, it's TLD or top level domain. These can be purchased and auctioned with relative ease. Have you considered perhaps using a .com.au domain name? These are a regulated domain name and you have to justify that your entitled to use it, this might make the name more readily available. Intaserv have these domains available for $27.95 for two years.

If you would like to pm me the domain name I can have a look who the registrant is if you want to contact them directly to purchase it.

Cheers,

[trakka]

Richard

Thanks for your reply.

The problem is although I am based in Australia the company is actually registered and trading in the US. So com.au isn't going to help. Also the com.au version of the domain is already gone, so are the alternatives that I liked when I started the business.

I don't think that is reasonable that they blantantly made an error that is going to cost me $1000s to fix and they are not accountable for that at all. I think it is pretty reasonable for me to act on good faith that they did as stated and act accordingly. Their T&CS are standard saying that they can't be accountable for any liability for anything - however I know that you can't say that in your T&Cs and then be negligent etc and cause problems without recourse.

And if I do contact the current owner how much do website domains sell for on the open market so to speak?

Tracy

[chris_king435]

Hey,

It's unfortunate to hear this. Unfortunately, HS has said, there isn't a lot you can do. What i would do is;

- Check to see if it's an actual website using the domain name now, or if it's just one of those parking sites.

- Check the whois data and contact the site owner to see if they are willing to sell it to you. If they are a squatter, don't seem to keen to buy it otherwise they'll try and charge you more. (if you don't know what a squatter is, it's someone who buys domains to resell)

- If they try and rip you off, then try and contact the owners of the domains you liked and see if you can buy one of them.

If you aren't sure about what i've said, feel free to PM me the domain and i'll have a look into it for you.

Cheers,

Chris

[Samith]

If you have the emails that the registrar sent you to confirm the domain registration, the email to say they are sorry and the invoices for your costs to develop the website, then you can seek for legal help, provided the registrar is Australian based. But first let the registrar know that you are going to seek for legal help. One of the clients I worked with had a similar problem, what happen was registrar registered the domain name for themselves instead of the client, cheap domain affiliates.

[jasonm]

Not sure if there is any truth to it but I have heard of some sites that let you see if a site is available, and when you enter your preferred site they go off and register it for themselves then squat on it and demand exorbitant prices if you want to buy the site.

Could just be an urban myth but......

[The Internet Bloke]

Originally Posted by Power Protect

Not sure if there is any truth to it but I have heard of some sites that let you see if a site is available, and when you enter your preferred site they go off and register it for themselves then squat on it and demand exorbitant prices if you want to buy the site.

Could just be an urban myth but......

No, Not an urban myth.

It's called "Domain Tasting, and Network Solutions and other registrars made a practice of doing this for a while.

The practice is not as common now, because doing this is not free for the registrar any more.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_tasting

cheers,
Eric G.

[The Internet Bloke]

Originally Posted by trakka

I have just received an email back saying sorry - we stuffed up and it wasn't actually available when we went to register it for you. They have offered a refund of the domain registration fee.

Ouch. I really feel for you.
However, this sort of thing happens and the terms under which domains are issued means that there's not a lot you can do about it.

It's too late for you in this case - the horse has well and truly bolted.

To anyone else who has registered a domain, go to www.domaintools.com and make sure that the domain has been properly registered to you.
Or connect it up to a web host to ensure that it is working.

(If it's an Australian domain, go to www.mywebname.com.au for registry enquities)

regards,
Eric G.

[soliddata]

Originally Posted by The Internet Bloke

No, Not an urban myth.

It's called "Domain Tasting, and Network Solutions and other registrars made a practice of doing this for a while.

cheers,
Eric G.

Interesting stuff Eric, you sort of think these big companies don't do this kind of thing and get a bit disappointed at times don't you.

Kev

[redford]

Hi there, I am small business owner but actually specialize in domain name recovery. I may be able to help you www.webip.com.au or contact me on info@webip.com.au and let me know the details of your case and I will give you a compliamentary frank assessment on your situation.

Cheers,

Ed