My domain name has vanished??

[Hedgie]

I have my domain 'merseydistribution' registered with 123-reg and it was renewed back in the middle of October for a further 2 years.

The site was up and running fine until went to check it this evening and found this....

www.merseydistribution.co.uk

I have logged in to my 123 account and the domain is not in my list of owned names? I double checked the payment and it was renewed and payment taken from the bank.

When I check the WHOIS it says suspended pending payment ? HUH??

 

[Faevilangel]

Check the who.is on the domain:

merseydistribution.co.uk

Registrar:
Webfusion Ltd t/a 123-reg [Tag = 123-REG]
URL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 13-Oct-2009
Renewal date: 13-Oct-2011
Last updated: 28-Jun-2011

Registration status:
Renewal required.
*** This registration has been SUSPENDED. ***

Your domain hasn't been renewed for some reason, log into your 123-reg account and check the status of the domain.

 

[Hedgie]

Check the who.is on the domain:



Your domain hasn't been renewed for some reason, log into your 123-reg account and check the status of the domain.

Thats just it, the domain isn't in my domain list ?

 

[Faevilangel]

Thats just it, the domain isn't in my domain list ?

The domain is in suspended status so may not show. You should have had at least 3 emails reminding you to renew the domain. You might have to wait for the domain to become available publically to renew it, or nominet may allow you to register it at an inflated price.

 

[Hedgie]

But I have paid for the renewal?



123-reg invoice number: 123-007259340
Payment reference number: 12963602
Tax point date: 2011-10-18

Invoice to:





Username:


Please note that this invoice has been paid. Please do not post a cheque.
Description Net merseydistribution.co.uk : Domain Renewal £5.98 Net total £5.98 VAT total £1.20 Total £7.18 The payment details used for this purchase have been stored on your 123-reg account. To ensure continuous service for your 123-reg product we will use these card details to automatically renew all 123-reg services associated with this account in the future unless cancelled in line with 123-reg's cancellation procedure.

www.123-reg.co.uk, Webfusion Ltd, 5 Roundwood Avenue, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1FF
Registered company number: 05306504 VAT number: 927 1292 22

 

[Faevilangel]

But I have paid for the renewal?

Ring 123-reg in the morning as the domains should have been re-registered. Only 123-reg or nominet can help you with this.

 

[Hedgie]

Ring 123-reg in the morning as the domains should have been re-registered. Only 123-reg or nominet can help you with this.

OK, thanks.

Flippin pain though as I am trying to work on the site but it wont let me view the changes....ahhhhggghh.

 

[Dominic Taylor]

You should be able to access your Nominet account at www.nominet.org.uk to renew the domain right away if needed but if not you could edit your Windows hosts file to give your PC a DNS entry for the domain so you can still work on it - add an entry pointed to your hosting company's server IP (they'll be able to tell you what it is)

 

[cloudware]

You can edit a local 'hosts' file to trick your browser into using the correct IP address rather than the dummy one it is redirected to, until the domain is refreshed.. This will allow you to see your website whilst working on it.

Assuming you know the IP address of the server where your website is hosted you can do this...

On windows, edit c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (on unix, edit /etc/hosts)

and add

a.b.c.d www.merseydistribution.co.uk merseydistribution.co.uk

where a.b.c.d is the IP address of your web server

Save the file and try browsing again (you may need to restart the browser if it has cached the old DNS)

Hope this helps

Regards,

Keith.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

123reg lost me a 12 year old domain. they took the money and didn't renew the domain. I spoke to them and as a show of goodwill they gave me my money back. Luckily I managed to grab the domain back but it could have been bad. Their T&C completely protect them as well (as do most registrars T&C's)

 

[Subbynet]

Their T&C completely protect them as well (as do most registrars T&C's)

It's worth noting though that many companies place clauses in the T&C's which just won't stand up in court.

Mind you, it will cost you to find out.

 

[Hedgie]

Phew. Thanks all.

Site back up again. Spoke to 123 this morning and they apologised as they had not informed Nominet that the domain had been renewed.

Just glad its not an ecommerce site as that could have cost me in sales.

 

[Deleted member 159588]

123reg lost me a 12 year old domain. they took the money and didn't renew the domain. I spoke to them and as a show of goodwill they gave me my money back. Luckily I managed to grab the domain back but it could have been bad. Their T&C completely protect them as well (as do most registrars T&C's)

I've just had a similar experience with 123reg, although this time it's gone very wrong.

Someone else has registered my domain and it's now on the market for $2050, which is far too much for me to pay for 123reg's mistake.

I registered the domain for future use and on logging in I found that it had disappeared from my account, though I renewed it in April this year.

They have refunded my renewal fee, but I don't see how that's a 'show of goodwill' - they lost the domain by their mistake, so they should get it back for their customer.

They have not even accepted responsibility and try to quote conditions to escape responsibility, though of course these conditions will not stand in court. I should not need to check with a third party to make sure they did their job, when a fairly simple automated script in their system could do that!

I hope it's not too expensive, but I guess I don't have any other options than court (small claims / sheriff court) when it comes to this?

If anyone knows of any way to recover a domain in this situation other than paying $2050 or court, I'd really appreciate the help!