They will not give her the domain registration information so that she can transfer it to another Australian registration company and change the DNS. The whois info has her name and company but the contact email is to the hosting company that registered it for her so she has been unable to have the password sent to her.
The domain was originally registered 5 years ago and matches her legal business name so I would think she has a legal right to control the domain and where it points to. If the people who registered it for her won't give her the password or change the email address in the whois is she facing expensive legal action to get it back?
Thanks
Caz
2. Be certain there wasn't any deal accepted at the time of registration involving hosting+domain that, by contract, would cede control to the host unless certain terms were fulfilled.
3. Ask the registrar to state - in writing (email or letter) - exactly why they refuse to cede control of the domain and/or by what right they are asserting control.
4. After you get the facts straight you can either contact a lawyer and ask the lawyer to address a letter to the registrar/host (or whatever else the lawyer believes is the right course of action) OR you might bring the matter to the attention of the central licensing registry and ask that they investigate the matter OR you might ask your proposed/new registrar to intervene on your behalf (since they should know the rules that apply).
Any other suggestions?
Then contact that partner registrar and explain the circumstances. Hopefully that registrar has
a mechanism in place to transfer the domain to their systems so you can manage it with them.
Otherwise, only legal options can possibly help him/her.
I did check if the domain was registered as a package (no) and that she was the owner of the business that is listed in the whois (yes).
I contacted the company listed in whois as the registrar. They told me that the company that registered the domain for her was one of their resellers. They asked for her to fax (on company letterhead) a request to change the email details for the registrant contact and also request to become a direct customer.
Hopefully this is all we need to do now and I can change the DNS in the registrars control panel.
I'm curious now about what is the correct procedure when registering a domain on behalf of a client. I have always forwarded the domain info to the client except where it is a "free" .com as part of an annual package, since my packages have a full 30 day money back guarantee and these domains are all registered under one godaddy account with myself as the registrant. I have always assumed that if the client owes me no money and requested to transfer their domain to a different host I would just set up a new godaddy account and move the domain into it for them then send them the details to access it and a bill for my cost as set out in my terms and conditions. It's never happened and now I think they are quite vulnerable to disruption to their business if I was an unreasonable person since I have full control of their domain.
With a .com.au domain you may not advertise them as "free" and except where a customer is truly clueless or unwilling to do it themselves I point them to an Australian registrar to do the registration.
If I do it for them they are always billed seperately and forwarded the log in details for the domain control panel and listed as the registrant.
Something I must look into more..
Thanks again!
Caz
