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Previous web designer holding my clients .com domain name

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baggiesmad

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Sep 23, 2014
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Hi all

A client of mine has a .com domain name which was registered by the previous web designer.

We've started a domain transfer within GoDaddy and we now require the AUTH code to complete the transfer. No here's the issue! The domain has been registered in the web firms Name and address for all contacts and refuse to release the domain name.

Is there anything we can do to transfer the .com away and change the Whois to the correct details?

Any help would be great

Thanks
 
Godaddy should contact the other registrar and ask for the transfer, once done then it should drop in to your account.

If the domains is with godaddy (under their control) then you might need to use another registrar.

If they don't play ball then you can contact the ICANN and dispute the domain ownership (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en) but it's very expensive.
 
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As it's registered in the designer's name there isn't much you can do without their co-operation, it's theirs until they choose to release it. Is there a reason they're refusing to release the domain? Name and shame them if they're in the wrong!
 
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Is there anything in the t's and c's of the designer's contract with your client ? Sometimes the designer will stipulate that the client is merely renting the domain from them and should they cancel they will not own the domain. If there is nothing stating this then agree that the gaining registrar should try in the first instance and then consider the ICANN Dispute Resolution Service if not (depending on how much they want the domain).
 
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I think you can scare them and maybe with the truth behind you

It might be worth a legal letter

Saying along the lines of they are holding on to your clients domain name which they registered with ill intent and that unless they release it from date ABC it is your intention to seek damages against them

You have to and should offer nothing more than a fair amount for the transfer but in their favour so that there are no issues

So if they say it is going to take them an hour of their time at £100 and hour then pay it

I would not waste time on the being nice but go in very serious and very straight and with short time scales
 
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Thanks for all your feedback.

My client has paid for the website and has no outstanding balance with the old designer. He has come back to us since asking for a £75 +vat to transfer the domain out but the original contract states that they don't charge to move domain away! We have replied back stating this but they've gone quiet again.
 
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Pay the money, move the domain, then go legal to get the money back!
 
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We get these situations from time to time, when people move their sites to us.

The only solution is a phone call to find out why the previous provider is being obstructive. It is almost never that they are just being obstructive for no reason. But if it is, a clear explanation of how it plays out can get them to budge.

Talking, not emailing, is how these things get resolved.
 
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Your choice is to pay the £75 or take them to court to get the domain name released. I know which one I'd choose.

Doesn't matter what the contract says, if they won't release the domain name then you either have to pay up or take legal action.

And don't forget, your client owns nothing. They have zero rights to the domain as it's not registered in their name. Even if they get it transferred, the developer with still be the registrant not your client.
 
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One other way that work is to hire some Negative Marketing guy and post negative reviews about the web designer, if he has a company then have some articles written about it containing bad reviews. Then show it to the designer and say i will invest more and more into this. This way the designer will feel he is also loosing something in the long run.

Also, show him that you are also getting sued because of this, that way he will believe that you could take strong action as you are also in trouble also.
 
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Rakesh Yadav said:
One other way that work is to hire some Negative Marketing guy and post negative reviews about the web designer, if he has a company then have some articles written about it containing bad reviews. Then show it to the designer and say i will invest more and more into this. This way the designer will feel he is also loosing something in the long run.

Also, show him that you are also getting sued because of this, that way he will believe that you could take strong action as you are also in trouble also.
Click to expand...

Blackmail ??
 
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Rakesh Yadav said:
One other way that work is to hire some Negative Marketing guy and post negative reviews about the web designer
Click to expand...
You mean something like:

Rakesh Yadav of web-designindia.com is the worse web designer in the world. Do not trust him to do anything, he will make such a bad job of building your site you will cry.
 
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or maybe i am trying to help a guy who is getting blackmailed by a web designer, which many in my field do and i am not afraid of giving this information because i never do that. I did not know there are all saints here.
@fisicx You actually did the negative marketing there just to prove your point without any harm done by me. I can imagine what you will do to your clients if you get issues.
 
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If some company don't do what they have said in their contract and you write about it somewhere, then how is that blackmailing? Don't you write negative reviews about bad products on amazon or any other website.
 
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It's because the review will be false. People write negative reviews on Amazon because they are unhappy with the product. Your suggestion was to employ someone to create negative reviews. This is wrong on so many levels and may well result in litigation.

The guy isn't being blackmailed by the web designer. He is just being asked to pay for a service.
 
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A service for which he said no charges will be applicable in contract but now asking for £75 +vat, don't you think he is doing it because he knows there is nothing his client can do and his business depends on it, this sounds blackmailing to me.

If this person would have be an amazon seller then client can write negative review himself, but as he is a web designer there is no place for that. He has to hire some marketing guy, i said to write negative but that simply means to tell people what he is doing which is negative.
 
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£75 +vat is a drop in the ocean compared to how much time you would waste chasing this.

Yep they probably do it to ever client they have but your moving away from them now so pay and forget about it.

This is why I always have my clients buy their own domain names.
 
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He might have said he would transfer it for free but not that he would sell it for free the £75 maybe how he values the domain
But as said before all this dragging on just pay up and take it as a lesson learned about reading the small print and understanding exactly what was stated a very cheap lesson
 
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We deal with domain transfer/ownership issues everyday and they're not always down to individuals.

Without naming names, some of the bug US registrars have their own, let's say, underhand practices to block domains from being transferred out.

Speaking personally. In this case I would recommend your client pays the £75 to get ownership of their domain.

Do you know what they plan to do if they dont get the domain?
 
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