Psylo Posted January 15, 2012 About two years ago I 'bought' a domain name and had hosting through a US company, all this cost me something like $50. This is set to expire, and the cheeky bastards think they are going to 'auto-renew' the services for $200.00 per annum. I havent been using it, as I didnt go ahead with the business I intended, but it's a great name and I would like to use it down the track (Im considering doing professional performance art in 2013, and it would be perfect). What I dont understand is... do I own the domain name ? If not, can I continue leasing the domain name for a very small fee through some other company, to hang onto it ? Or.. am I obliged to keep it with the company I started it with ? I dont really need hosting at the moment, but if there was a complete package out there for <$50 p/a for both the domain and the hosting, then I would consider it. I have a com.au of the same name, but Im going to forfeit that in favour of keeping the .com . Melbourne IT.... well fuck, theyre exhorbitant in their fees, and anyway I feel Im quite safe with the name that it wont be onsold, due to the legal requirements of .com.au domains reflecting trading names. Just not too up on the tech side of life Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obtuse Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) You have to be really careful when purchasing a domain name. i know of people hwo have 'bought' domain names for their business, then been stung with huge renewel fees because in reality they didnt own it. sucks badly if you based your business around it. Check your legal documentation, But also check to see if the re-registration notice if via email is actually from the same company. And if you received a letter in the post it is most likely fraudulent. There are some really dodgy practices praying on people who arent IT savvy. If it were me though, and i did legitimately own it, as you should, i would transfer it to another web host and give those bastards the boot for obviously trying to scam you. If you dont own it, sorry, you can either go along with their scam, or see if you can use the .au variant although it will cost more it will still save you money. But you are not obliged to keep it, and my advice is to move the domain name if you can, or purchase another but wiht slight variation. .com.au instead of .com (better for business i think anyway, but you have assure the domain registration authority for the .au, that it is your legit business/activity name) really have to be careful with some web companies, they may appear a good deal, but gee they can sting you later on. All the best with it, Cheers, Obtuse. Edited January 15, 2012 by obtuse Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted January 15, 2012 I will consider your words, and ask the question about domain name transfer. Any recommendations ? I wont be wanting to keep the .com.au, becuase as I said, Im quite confident its going to be safe unregistered. As for the .com host Its not a scam as such, (well apart from them trying to jack the price to $200 - which they have already counter offered at $71.00, and I still told them to go fuck themselves out of principal) but I just dont like their liberal policy on automatically charging my credit card if I specifically dont respond. Its happenned before with "Premium Support" and it was a lot of time, stress & arguements to get my money back. This host I speak of is siteground.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
at0m Posted January 28, 2012 I, personally, love namecheap.com. They're cheap, anti-GoDaddy, anti-SOPA/censorship, cheap, great service, cheap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted January 28, 2012 At0m, prices are really good there. Do you know if you need to pay monthly webspace as well if you are only interested in registering a few URL´s? I´ve the feeling that the yearly fee isnt the problem with my hoster but that i need to pay 3 bucks a month just for hosting the whole package. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted January 28, 2012 you could also check http://www.melbourneit.com.au/ when i was working for an ISP they were the people we went to. whatever happens, make sure you reregister before the name expires. i've never hosted a domain name before so i don't know, but talk to some people before it expires. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
at0m Posted January 28, 2012 Melbourne IT is expensive and a few of my mates have run into issues with them (especially related to transferring from them). @Evil Genius, nope. You can "park" it. I'm not entirely sure how much (if anything) that costs but it shouldn't be much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted January 28, 2012 thanks atom, good hosting prices for me, with a site that will probably never be used (due to my laziness in development) ... $4 a month suits me fine. Apparantly I can transfer my .com away from siteground with no charge. Melbourne IT SUCK, price wise. Im letting my .com.u domain name with them expire, and keeping the .com . As I sid, its extremely unlikely someone else wil grab the aussie domain name anyway, they would have to have a registered business name reflecting the domain name, and its not a series of words that people would put together in the mainstream world Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted January 28, 2012 Thats awesome, At0m. They are way cheaper than my hoster. I pay something like 150 euro bucks a year for about 20 URL´S that i wont get to use in the next months or so anyway. They mostly charge 1 buck a month per URL. So theres definately some money to be saved here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chnt Posted January 28, 2012 i wanna know what your website is TELL ME CUNT! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distracted Posted January 29, 2012 is that domain even registered? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
