Transferring Domain Names

Warning Be Careful How You Transfer Domain Names.

In June of this year I transferred a domain name from one.com to the new registrant at www.namecheap.com.

Normally when a domain is transferred the new owner updates his contact details and ‘hey presto every thing is hunkey dorey’. However to my shock and horror and feeling extremely unwell after the ordeal today some 7 months later I get a notification to my email address saying there is a problem with renewing the said domain name that I had transferred.

You have to hear me out. Now considering I am not the legal owner of the domain name I should not be getting renewal notifications, so I hop on the chat widget to try and resolve the issue. I must first say I tried logging in with the email Namecheap used to send me the notification and it said “no user found”. I thought maybe I could just reset the password and renew the domain on behalf of my client but that did not work.

The problem is my client does not want the domain name to drop and apparantly he is not the legal owner of the domain name but the website designer is.

The plot thickens as I will explian….

Once I started the chat I was told that my email was not associated with the domain.

So my question was “why am I getting renewal reminders”?

To be honest I think it is a scam as the legal owner would have their contact details on the system, yet Namecheap seem to have mine but will not give me access to the account.

Seeing as I have not given Nampecheap permission to use my email which I have never before communicated with them using it, I can only think they have it from Nominet as how else would they have my email considering I never shared it with anyone?

This email may I add is not my business email but my private one, which I used originally when I registered the domain with one.com however many years ago.

Now get this they will allow a third party meaning me or my client to renew the domain name. (Secret Santa).

They wrote in the chat:

If you agree with these conditions, you will need to create a seperate account with us at https://www.namecheap.com/myaccount/signup/ and deposit the amount necessary for the domain renewal in this case ($9.58/year). You can use this guide while adding funds: https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/232/7/how-can-i-add-funds-to-my-namecheap-account

Now this is the bit that is mind boggling when I transferred the domain in June I sent the details to my client who passed it on to his web designer who I assumed registered the domain name but did not update my client’s contact details.

So that means my contact details must be on the system but I have no access to my details which is a violation of GDPR policy.

Namecheap continued to say:

“The Regsitrant email address is not listed in any Whois databases for this domain”.

Remember I transferred to domain so I am no longer the registrant.

According to ICANN:

To transfer your domain name to another registrant, you can initiate a change of registrant by contacting your current registrar. Your registrar will then ask for your confirmation via a secure mechanism (which typically will take the form of an email to the registered name holder). You must provide your confirmation within the number of days set by your registrar (not to exceed 60 days) or your transfer will not proceed. Once your registrar receives confirmation from you, they will process the transfer and notify you and the new registrant once the transfer is completed.

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/name-holder-faqs-2017-10-10-en

This is a farce, a total shambles and how can they not have the current registrant email as their client if they do not have his email?

He would have had to have an email to set up an account with them?

I believe they are scamming and may in deed get two lots of money one from the registrant and one from me.

It is impossible for them not to have the domain name owners email address as he would have had to use it to login into his account.

The legal owner of the domain name which is a well known Brand has not had his name updated so he appartantly is not the legal owner but instead the web designer is the legal owner who for some reason cannot be contacted.

I will be contacting Nominet in the morning to explain what has happened and will either get the Brand owner or myself to renew the domain name, but I have never heard about a ‘Secret Santa Funding‘ on any registrar.

I would like to know if this has happened to you?, please leave your comments below.

I will not be using this company ever and will not be recommending them to any of my readers or clients.

Final Thoughts.

I am not going to mention the Brand Name to keep his details private but this is a word of warning if you have a web designer manage your website, he must show in a contract that says the domain name belongs to you and the brand owner (you) can use this piece of paper to give to the registrar if things go belly up.

USE ESCROW FOR ALL YOUR TRANSFERS AND LET THE NEW OWNER KNOW THAT THERE ARE TRANSFER FEES. It is better to pay the little extra for a transfer and have everyone safeguarded than end up with a web designer cybersquatting your domain name.

All you need is to let the web designer to change dns records so that your website becomes live. You do not need to give ownership details.