transfering domains - charging ££

[alphanumeric]

I currently have a client with another company that did a "special offer" about 12 months ago, its coming to the end of the term and he wants to move the site over to me.

He origenally paid £99 for the site and hosting, however he will face abill this year for just under £400 and is the same each year. They have just charged him £50 to renew his .co.uk domain, and want £99 to change the name tag, ie transfer it out.

Looking at nominet i could get this done for £10

Has anyone ever done this to get out of paying stupid transfer prices? Or shall i just tell the client pay and run?

[webhostuk]

Hello,

Thats correct ..pay and run away is only option..as you client might have not read their TOS with the offer he purchased ...and its your clients mistake for which he will have to pay this year if he wants the domain. Tell him he has no option now ...and be smart for the next purchase.

[consultant]

This is one of the big issues with hosted ecommerce!

Although there are some 'ethical' suppliers, several tie you down with cheap deals and price you out of moving!

My advice is always make sure that:
- you read the terms
- you can get a backup of/access to all of the files and data
- the hosted service can be moved (this rules out several bespoke systems)

[alphanumeric]

it aint evan e-commerce it a 4/6 page html site, with more javascript than content.

it amazes me that a company can justify that kind of charge for a 5 min job. They also apparently have 15,000 happy customers :S

i Kind of guessed he would have to pay, infact i allready told him this, but was hopeing to give him some good news.

thanks
Dave

[cmjs3]

I'd call Nominet and ask if it's possible for them to do the transfer for £10 plus VAT. £99 to transfer out is a rip off.

Nominet are quite helpfull and you can actually speek to them as well. I dealt with them when a registrar disappeared once and it was an easy thing for them to sort out.

[Dominic Taylor]

You can do the £10 +VAT change through Nominet's website by logging in here (https://secure.nominet.org.uk/auth/access-your-account.html) :)

Sneaky charges for transferring domains away are ridiculous in my opinion; if a client is leaving why do you want to frustrate them even more?!

The companies who charge such silly fees are also usually those who sell everything at much higher prices in the first place so it's not even as if they're covering costs. Go figure!

Of course this charge would have been in the TOS so shouldn't be unexpected, but that doesn't make it 'ok' even if it's perfectly legal.