Yell web design and domain registrant

[Grimsby]

I thought web designers putting the domain names of their clients web sites in their own names was long gone, however it seems that Yell are still doing it.

Anyone know on what basis yell are doing it, has anyone had any issue getting the domain away.

 

[Faevilangel]

I am guessing yell registered in their name? if they did then you have to ask them to transfer to you, but if it's in your name but they are the "registrar" then you can ask any other provider (123-reg) to transfer to their platform for you. All registrars agree to move domains to another registrar when asked without issue unless they are owed money.

check who the owner of the domain is using http://who.is - you shouldn't have any issues transferring away but if you do then there are ways to force Yell's hand but can cost you a lot of money.

 

[Grimsby]

Yell registered the domain in the name Yell at their own address, so I guess they legally own it.

They never said that was the case to the poor business who cant switch provider.

 

[Paul Norman]

This another thread with a moral.

And the moral is this. Always say no to Yell.

 

[Faevilangel]

Yell registered the domain in the name Yell at their own address, so I guess they legally own it.

They never said that was the case to the poor business who cant switch provider.

that is common with yell unfortunately, best you can do is ring them and see what they say about transferring as they are the legal owner and would have to change that. NO WAY should they be registering in their name, they should only be listed as the registrar not the registrant

 

[Grimsby]

It does get worse, as far as my potential client is concerned Yell will NOT remove the site and will leave it up until the contract end. You really have no control over your site with yell

 

[Faevilangel]

This another thread with a moral.

And the moral is this. Always say no to Yell.

yep, unfortunately they have a trust factor with those less technical and sell their crappy website "seo" as a way for a business to "thrive", got a client paying them hundreds per month to be top of their keywords on the yell website ....

 

[Faevilangel]

It does get worse, as far as my potential client is concerned Yell will NOT remove the site and will leave it up until the contract end. You really have no control over your site with yell

i know far too well how bad yell are, you can try putting in a transfer request through someone like 123-reg and see what happens, but I wouldn't hold out hope they will allow it.

 

[Matt Wilkinson]

If you've got an invoice from yell mentioning a charge for the domain and you can prove you paid the invoice then you are the legal owner from the point in time you paid the invoice. An invoice is a legally binding document, much like a contract is. You'd still have to pay anything outstanding bound by other contracts with them to terminate early.
so i'd ring them up citing this, and threaten the subsequent legal events and costs if they do not agree, speak to a supervisor - the usual crap. And in future choose any web business but yell.flaming.com! such as my business

 

[Alan]

A lot will depend on the terms and conditions agreed at the time the website was set up.

Until about 4 years ago, Yell specifically stated they register the domain name, its theirs and you can't have it.

About 4 years ago, Yell websites became Hibu, but their sales bombed as know one knew or 'trusted' the brand, ( to UK small businesses just another web site provide ) - However Hibu T&C state they register domains on your behalf as a reseller of domains.

Hibu rebranded back to Yell in the UK, but as far as T&C goes I believe the 'registered in your name' is current.

The real moral of the story is read the T&C's.

So many people don't actually read them, or ask questions about parts they don't understand.

One easy thing to check ( .co.uk .uk domains), is even if the domain is registered in the name of Yell - they may well have the contact email as the client - easy to check create a free nominet account in the clients email - if the domain is listed - bingo you have control ( all beit nominet charge £10+VAT for a tags changes & £10+VAT for registration details per 'batch' of domains )

I seriously doubt Yell would resists strongly handing back a domain, given Hibu's current T&C, but I guess they would use it as a retention technique to at least resist. So ask, and if they say no, demand, and if they say no and it is a dot co dot uk threaten them with a nominet dispute, OK if you went through the full process it may cost you a couple of grand http://www.nominet.uk/domains/resolving-uk-domain-disputes-and-complaints/
but I doubt Yell would have the appetite

 

[Xtm_Mike]

I'm a web developer and have lost several clients to Yell. I believe they offer a website and SEO service when you take out their listing packages or something...

Recently I lost a local cleaning company as a client I was told "Yell will be doing all of my website and SEO now" ... Yell has basically copied the website I done, made it worse, removed all responsiveness so it no longer looks good on mobile (a BIG negative with Google), removed all the area targeting I done resulting in loss of rankings in various areas.

I believe the client is struggling to get the website updated now, they have even forwarded content to me and asked me to update it for them - I believe they're confused about what they have signed up to...

I digress a little, i've not worked with Yell directly but in my limited experience i'd recommend avoiding using them for any website stuff.

 

[Faevilangel]

I am the opposite, I get clients from Yell as there websites look like crap, perform like crap and have shoddy service

 

[Paul Norman]

I am the opposite, I get clients from Yell as there websites look like crap, perform like crap and have shoddy service

Likewise. We get business from unhappy Yell customers regularly. And the tale of woe is always the same - utter incompetence, massively expensive, and borderline illegal behaviour - such as hogging your domains, which no decent website company would ever do.

 

[Faevilangel]

Likewise. We get business from unhappy Yell customers regularly. And the tale of woe is always the same - utter incompetence, massively expensive, and borderline illegal behaviour - such as hogging your domains, which no decent website company would ever do.

I have had to fight with customers to buy the domain themselves as they expect me to buy for them but once i tell them why I won't own their domain they normally do it

 

[ryedale]

As others have said, we've had to battle Yell countless times to get client sites back. One of the worst ones out there to get a domain back of.

Think the only one that was worse was BT when they used to register names for clients.

 

[nish]

I know its a old thread but had to ask...
There is a statement on site done by Yell saying that they own the content and images, is that their property and customer can not use them for a new site?

 

[iDigLocal]

From our experience if you talk to Yell they will transfer the domain name. But... the take home is never use yell.

We get a lot of clients from yell.