After the launch of the new site, it came to our attention that the "old & unused" domain name was still receiving traffic, so the old designer was contacted and asked to transfer the name back to the site owner.
You can imagine the clients surprise when he writes back say that he doesn't see why he should release the domain to her. He then went on to tell the client that domain names are sold for up to $10,000 and that he would be more then happy to consider a reasonable offer for the name.
The client calls me in a panic and decides that she is ready to concede defeat to this guy. I calm her down and explain that we will get the domain name back and teach this guy a lesson in the process.
So after a quick phone call to my lawyer, the client and I sat down and drafted a reply to the old programmer explaining to him that because he acted as her agent in obtaining the domain name, he had no legal right to request money for it outside of reasonable administration costs associated with the transfer.
We also let him know that his actions in the matter would be viewed by legal authorities as extortionist in nature and subject to both civil penalties and criminal prosecution.
We ended by telling him that he had 24 hours to reply or we would turn it over to the lawyer for further action...
We sent the email out to him at 9:00 PM, by 10:30 the next morning he replied that he had authorzed the domain transfer request.
I can not tell you how good the outcome of this has made me feel.
Personally, I have absolutely no respect for little twerps like these that get all snotty because the client is leaving and then decide to play BS games.
In my experience 99% of the time they are rank amateurs that cobble together sites with bad quality graphics, M$ FrontPage, and a few lame JavaScripts that they grabbed off someone else’s site. They take a check and don’t offer any follow-up support to the client and then act all surprised and indignant when the client decides to leave. It is these self-proclaimed "professional web designers" that give us all a bad name.
Well, this one just had his world all shaken up. He knew that the client had little knowledge of the Internet, let alone Domain Name dispute policies and he figured that she would just fork over $1,000 to get the name back.
Sorry Charlie...
Believe me, We were fully ready to sue this guys sorry ass to the tune of $500 a day in lost sales plus punitive and court fees. I had also advised the client to proceed with criminal charges as well which she was fully ready and capable of doing.
Lesson 1: Don’t be a jerk, if the client leaves be a professional and POLITELY turn over the domain name and any other digital assets to the new company.
Lesson 2: If the old webmaster wont release the domain name, don’t back down. Get a lawyer, and in some cases call the authorities. It may take time and money, but there is a ton of legal precedant in the favor of the site owner that will protect you.
This may not work in all cases, so it is best to contact an attorney who is knowledgeable in this area.
i.e. Be a professional
This is just one of those issues that I am tired of dealing with. It comes up from time to time and it is rarely a good situation.
We need more people like you to let domain owners out there know there ARE options.
