HostUltra Warning/Question

[Harlquinth]

Hi,

This post is partly a warning to try and prevent other people ending up in the same situation, and partly a question/looking for advice on what we can do next.

We have/had the website (including the domain name) for our organisation, East Surrey Museum, hosted with hostultra since the website was set up in 2006.

We are a charity, and as we are currently short on funding we have moved our web hosting elsewhere (someone offered us free hosting), to save having to pay the $50 in hosting we were previously paying with hostultra.

However, we did not realise that it would be such a hassle moving the domain name, eastsurreymuseum.org. The domain name had already auto-renewed itself for another year by the time we decided to move the webhosting, so we have paid for it until mid-march 2013, however hostultra refuse to change the details to let us transfer it, or let us continue to use the domain name now we have moved our hosting.

I've been reading a few other threads about hostultra on this forum, and other forums, where people have had similar issues. After reading this thread, http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/211032-warning-do-not-register-names-hostultra.html, where the person did manage to get back the domain name, I tried contacting enom (hostultra's registrar) to ask if they could help, however as hostultra have registered the domain name in their name, enom say they are unable to help us.

We have already registered another domain name, eastsurreymuseum.org.uk, which we are using, however it would still be nice to have access to our old domain name, if nothing else so that we can redirect it to our new one in case anyone hasn't updated their links and so that search engines can properly reindex us (especially since we have paid for the domain name for another year anyway!).

I tried submitting requests using the hostultra's support ticket system asking if they could change the details to allow us to transfer the domain, however I didn't get much of a response. They do say in one of the threads on their forums (forum.hostultra.com/showthread.php?t=11815) that they transfer domain names, however the posts I made when I replying to that thread were deleted, and when I try going to the forum, I now get the message:
"You have been banned for the following reason:
No reason was specified.
Date the ban will be lifted: Never"
Which isn't a very helpful reason, especially as there wasn't even any warning! (I did save a copy of my posts which are here, eastsurreymuseum.org.uk/misc/hu_thread.htm, if anyone wants a look - I thought I was quite reasonable in my posts, so I don't see any reason for deleting/banning me, except perhaps they're trying to cover up their incompetant/fraudalent ways!)

I don't have access to the hostultra ticket system anymore as we had to cancel our hosting before it was due for renewal, however I did keep a copy of the main ticket that I had open with them - I've put it at eastsurreymuseum.org.uk/misc/ticket_APK-159152.pdf if anyone wants a look. I sent an email to hostultra using the email address that enom told me to use (which is the whois email) asking about transferring the domain and the status of my ticket, so I'm currently waitng for a reply to that, and if there isn't any response to that then I may try contacting enom again to see if they have any other advice.

Apart from trying to spread the word about hostultra using reviews/forums I'm not quite sure what else I can do unless there's anyone out there who can help, does anyone else have any ideas/advice?

Thanks, Peter.

 

[maybemaybemaybe]

I'm in the same boat. I've a few sites hosted with them - some are working, but I can't access the cPanel or FTP to take a backup of the sites. Others are totally inaccessible. Unless Eric gets out with no charges I can't see the situation changing.

It may seem a bit extreme, but I wonder if it would be worth contacting the Irish police and seeing if they have any suggestions? They may be able to get someone he knows to sort it out. I also wonder if it's worth contacting cPanel and explaining the situation to see if they can temporarily license the server. I would even be happy to pay a month's license or something while we get the sites backed up.

 

[rycharn]

Asking cPanel if we could fund Host Ultra's license is an interesting idea. That might buy some folks some time to back things up. It doesn't help me personally, as I had hardly anything there as far as a website goes; I used my domain and Host Ultra almost entirely for email, and that's all "backed up" on my laptop. Getting control of my domain is my primary concern, but if by some miracle we were all handed over control of our domains, it's not enough for those of you who do have websites on a Host Ultra server.

What a mess this is.

I don't know if licensing cPanel would be enough to get the server(s) operational, but I would think that someone at cPanel could offer an educated guess. It's worth a try.

I don't think it likely that we'd get any sympathy from Irish police. Giving Eric access to his servers could result in an attempt to destroy evidence. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Host Ultra's servers are all now in the hands of U.S./Irish law enforcement.

 

[Pixikel]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Host Ultra's servers are all now in the hands of U.S./Irish law enforcement.

Agreed. I figured this had already happened which is why we're shut down, but some of you are still up and running so maybe I was wrong.

 

[rycharn]

Update on things from my end: I posted my situation on one of those free "ask a lawyer" websites. Even realizing that those sites are by nature designed to encourage litigation, the responses were optimistic.

One reply suggested a UDRP arbitration. Having already looked that up, it looks like that kind of arbitration is primarily for domain disputes relating to trademark infringement ("disney-dolls.com" for example). I haven't seen a UDRP complaint site that merely addresses mis-handling of the domain registration from the outset.

The other reply (from an Internet attorney) said that a lawyer should be able to persuade the registrar that the domain is mine. He (naturally) suggested I talk to a lawyer in my area, and he noted that many lawyers offer free consultations. I have found a lawyer nearby who handles Internet matters, and he offers a one-hour free consultation. He also has clearly posted an hourly rate of $175. I can't afford much, but I'm willing to get a free consultation and pay for another hour, maybe two, of his time, if he thought he could resolve the issue that easily, whether it's through arbitration or directly with the registrar. At the very least, I'm hoping for an hour of free guidance from an actual lawyer who seems to actually know stuff. Maybe he'll be able to point me in a direction that doesn't cost me much.

I think the fact that Host Ultra has essentially gone AWOL on us is also to our benefit.

 

[Pixikel]

Keep us updated, Rycharn. I doubt I'd have a case with anyone since I can't find an email receipt.

So... who are you guys going to use to host now? Trying to find a new company and there are so many now it's hard to know where to even start my research. I definitely want to go with a well-known company after this fiasco.

 

[Jlebeuf]

Keep us updated, Rycharn. I doubt I'd have a case with anyone since I can't find an email receipt.

So... who are you guys going to use to host now? Trying to find a new company and there are so many now it's hard to know where to even start my research. I definitely want to go with a well-known company after this fiasco.

Personally, I moved on since I doubted I would get control of my domain in a timely fashion. Instead, I just registered new domains and started moving accounts to new email accounts at the new domains. In the end I registered a .com through Namecheap since they offer $2.88/year whois privacy with the first year free. Then I opened a one year account at Siteground.com and registered the free domain as a .us since their whois privacy is $1/month promotional, $2/month regularly, and .us requires real registrant information anyways. Also, their complimentary domain is free with continued hosting and the control panel has options to set the registrar status (unlock it), set the nameservers, change the administrative contact information, and get the EPP codes. Basically, you actually own the domain and with a .us they CAN'T legally remove your administrative information. I then set the .com DNS records to redirect to the .us domain and the MX records to the Siteground nameservers. Finally, I 'parked' the .com domain through the Siteground cPanel which allowed me to create emails on the .com domain and it works just fine sending and receiving emails on both domains. I'm using the .us for professional emails (since the domain has real whois contact information) and the .com for bookkeeping type emails to compartmentalize websites/services ([email protected]). They have unlimited email accounts. If anyone is interested in Siteground I would be much obliged if you used my referral link to get yourself a year for the cost of a month and myself a free month added on: http://www.siteground.com/friends.htm?referrer_id=6949523

Keep in mind I only just started using Siteground so I have no time credible review of them yet. They seem OK from the limited week or two I have been using them, though.

Edit- If you go with Siteground and don't use my referral, remember to hit the back button when on the page asking for contact details and credit card info. This will drop the promotional price for one year from $3.95 to $2.95. Also, check WhoIsHostingThis.com for reviews. I almost went with another host until I saw multiple reviews about email issues because of the host's servers being flagged for spam. Some alleged that the host even passed the buck to the user and said they would have to pay for a dedicated IP to fix the issue. I forget who it was though.

Edit2- Siteground does have catch-all and forwarding (account and domain). The catch-all allows for discarding with/without error to sender, piping to a program, or forwarding to either the system account or a custom specified one. As far as I've seen so far it has all the features Host Ultra did with regards to email.

 

[rycharn]

who are you guys going to use to host now?

I'm using Bluehost with a couple of other domains. While Bluehost has impressed me in many ways, particularly its fantastic customer service, the one feature about Host Ultra that kept me around for so long was having a "catch-all" email account. Bluehost does not offer the "catch-all" feature. So I'm looking around. I was just on live chat with a SiteGround rep. Going to check it out further. I'm curious what others have to say.

 

[Jlebeuf]

Actually, I have the 'StartUp' plan from SiteGround so if anyone has any questions I can answer them.

 

[Pixikel]

Actually, I have the 'StartUp' plan from SiteGround so if anyone has any questions I can answer them.

SiteGround's reviews look really good for the price. Much better than the other ones I've been looking at. Is there a limit for parked domains on the StartUp plan?

The pricing for using your referral link is pretty sweet. I get the option of $9.95/yr for StartUp, $4.95/mo for the next one, etc. Domain registration isn't free using a referral link though; it's offered for $14.95. (Not a big deal for me since I already bought the domains elsewhere.)

 

[Pixikel]

Is there a limit for parked domains on the StartUp plan?

I figured I'd test their customer support and ask this question via Live Chat. Wow! I was 3rd in queue, had a rep in the chat within about 15 seconds, and he was super helpful and nice. Definitely a good impression.

If anyone else needs to know, you can have unlimited parked domains. After the promotional period you choose (in my case one year), you'll be auto-billed for the following 12 months at the standard pricing (though you may receive a renewal promotion).

Heading off to sign up now with your link, Jlebeuf. At least if I end up not liking them it's only $10.

 

[rycharn]

I was likewise impressed when I tried SiteGround's live chat last night. It was almost as quick for me, and the chap on the other end seemed personable and competent.

In searching a few forums, it seems SiteGround's tech support might be a little lacking. They're quick to respond, but not necessarily with people who really know how to fix stuff. I think if you can solve most of your own problems yourself, SiteGround is probably fine.

For my purposes (email and more email) I think SiteGround looks more than adequate, and (at least initially) it is at a price that far bests what I was paying Host Ultra! I can afford $10 for a one-year trial, even without a "free" domain name. (Although I'm now eyeing the .us version of the domain Host Ultra scammed from me. I might just pick that up for good measure.)

I just left a chat with "Kristina." I was "on hold" (with six chats ahead of me) for about twenty seconds before the chat window opened. I was greeted promptly, but actually answering my question took over another minute. They obviously open the chat window artificially prematurely in order to give customers an enhanced sense of immediacy. (I don't have a problem with that. It's effective, and they're still pretty quick.) In slightly broken English she confirmed for me that the special $9.95 price does not include a "free" domain name, but one can be added on for $14.95. Including a .us domain. Maybe not the cheapest price out there, but good enough for me.

I'm sold. Ordering later tonight. Thanks, Jlebeuf!

 

[Pixikel]

The only thing I've noticed about email that may affect you, rycharn, is that (unlike Host Ultra) the mailbox quota has a cap of 500MB. By the time I imported most of my mail at one of my addresses I was already at 50% capacity.

Maybe I'm just a mail packrat (I do a lot of photo editing and emailing), but I'm disappointed that the email accounts are capped.

 

[rycharn]

Good point, Pixikel. Fortunately, my emails are rarely size intensive. When I do hoard (and I do hoard) I store it on my laptop, not so much the server. I think I lucked out there, because I could have lost about four years of emails. :/

 

[Jlebeuf]

I appreciate the referrals, guys. A couple notes though, mark your calendars when the renewals are. SiteGround's TOS is to auto charge the renewal fee 15 days before the plan expires unless you cancel. Also, just like Host Ultra could have, anyone in or through the hosting provider with access to the physical storage can go through your emails if left there. One of the perks of private email is it being more difficult for a company or government to rummage through it. And I do have hoarded emails from my entire Host Ultra service on my laptop. Maybe I am an email hoarder but storage space isn't too expensive these days and having them on hand can be helpful at times... especially when they contain receipts.

EDIT- Also, you guys might post your referral links as well. No reason you can't pick up a few months from Googling passersby.

 

[kathyb]

host ultra

Well it looks like we're joining the ranks of Host Ultra SOLs. We registered with them in 2005 and starting this year have had all sorts of issues, including not being able to update our website since the cpanel link went belly up. Our domain name renews in November so I assume we have to wait until a month after that before we can purchase it back? Once we do can we access cpanel through another host to get back to updating our website? We also are a charity and not computer pros, so it's been a real learning curve - did the BBB complaint, contacted ICANN and enom, none of which were any help at all. We're in Canada and Host Ultra is registered in the US so legal help would probably end up being way more expensive than reasonable.

 

[Jlebeuf]

Well it looks like we're joining the ranks of Host Ultra SOLs. We registered with them in 2005 and starting this year have had all sorts of issues, including not being able to update our website since the cpanel link went belly up. Our domain name renews in November so (1) I assume we have to wait until a month after that before we can purchase it back? Once we do (2) can we access cpanel through another host to get back to updating our website? We also are a charity and not computer pros, so it's been a real learning curve - did the BBB complaint, contacted ICANN and enom, none of which were any help at all. We're in Canada and Host Ultra is registered in the US so legal help would probably end up being way more expensive than reasonable.

1) It depends. I believe the standard process is that there is a grace period of a couple days to renew the domain, then it goes into a period where the registrar gets to sell or do whatever with it, then at 30 days anyone can buy it.... I think.

2) The domain name and host are separate. Think of the domain name as just a human readable pointer to an address (which it is). When you bought the domain through Host Ultra it was pointed to their nameservers, I.E. yourdomain.tld -> ns1.hostultra.com, ns2.hostultra.com, etc. Your website was hosted on Host Ultra's web servers independent of your domain name. In fact, you could have accessed your website through YourUserName.hostultra.com (if I remember correctly). cPanel is a tool that is part of the hosting server and provides a user friendly interface to adjusting the server settings. If/when you move to another web host and they have cPanel, it won't be connected in any way to what you had at Host Ultra because it will be on the new host's servers. Unfortunately, unless you backed up your site or it was static and Google cached it, you won't be getting back into your site. But if it was static (such as all .html pages) I would suggest you search Google for "site:yourdomain.tld" (without quotes and tld = .com, .net, etc.) and start copying your content. You won't have images but at least you'll get text and layout.

 

[rycharn]

Hi, kathyb. Pleased to make your acquaintance, but at the same time I'm sad to see someone else join the group.

As you may have gathered from other posts, Host Ultra seems fond of using a registrar called eNom. Your domain was probably registered to Host Ultra through eNom. (Check your domain's whois details to verify.)

I'm still inside of my first 10 days here so I can't post functional links, so you'll have to decrypt this some.... You can find eNom's Terms of Service at eNom-dot-com/terms/agreement.aspx. Item #10 details how eNom handles domain expiration.

I'm no lawyer but the way I read eNom's TOS, when a domain expires, eNom gets to do whatever it wants with it. It may choose to simply release the domain to the public, but it is under no obligation to do so. If eNom thinks there is any value in the name, it will more than likely try to profit from it. It may pay the registration fee itself and then try to resell the name, either for a flat rate or by auction to the highest bidder. eNom could even legally register the name and simply sit on it, hoping for future value.

I'm distressed over what I found at this thread: webhostingtalk-dot-com/showthread.php?t=863015.

It looks as if eNom, either by itself or with the help of another party, has made a practice of turning expired domains into sites which link to porn sites. This practice would make you more likely to want to get your domain name back, and once they've created that greater demand for it, they can get away with charging you more for it.

Here's another tidbit I found: namejet-dot-com/Pages/FAQ.aspx

NameJet is one of several companies which are known as 'dropcatchers.' These companies buy up expiring domains for the specific purpose of reselling them for profit. The link indicates that "NameJet has the exclusive rights to auction expired domains from ... eNom." So if eNom doesn't pick up your domain, NameJet still might, and you might then be able to buy the domain back from NameJet. But be assured, NameJet will try to squeeze as much from you as it can.

In my case, I only used my domain for email. I had no web site, therefore no traffic. It isn't likely that my domain name is even Googled much. Checking a free domain appraisal site, my lost domain is worth exactly $0. My best bet might be to hope neither eNom nor NameJet wants it, and just wait for it to be released to the public. In your case, you are likely to have had some search traffic in addition to your actual site visitors. This gives your domain name some value. You might want a different strategy than I might.

I passed my situation through an "ask a lawyer" site, and I got back one reply that suggested I create an account through NameJet and ask that company to pick up my domain for me after it expires. In theory that might work, but as shady as dropcatching is by its nature, I'm concerned that telling NameJet to put the domain on a watchlist is just another way of saying 'hey, look

---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 PM ----------

Previous post was cut off. Continuing.....

In theory that might work, but as shady as dropcatching is by its nature, I'm concerned that telling NameJet to put the domain on a watchlist is just another way of saying 'hey, look — here comes a valuable domain,' signaling to NameJet that it can hike up the price and I'll still be likely to pay it.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if a company like that would "invent" another party which just happens to be interested in outbidding me for my domain, just to get the price even higher.

But I don't know. Maybe NameJet is completely legit, and this whole Host Ultra thing has made me extra skeptical. I haven't looked enough into that company or the whole dropcatching industry as a whole.

Lots of research still to do....

 

[Pixikel]

I appreciate the referrals, guys. A couple notes though, mark your calendars when the renewals are. SiteGround's TOS is to auto charge the renewal fee 15 days before the plan expires unless you cancel. Also, just like Host Ultra could have, anyone in or through the hosting provider with access to the physical storage can go through your emails if left there. One of the perks of private email is it being more difficult for a company or government to rummage through it. And I do have hoarded emails from my entire Host Ultra service on my laptop. Maybe I am an email hoarder but storage space isn't too expensive these days and having them on hand can be helpful at times... especially when they contain receipts.

I used to keep all email on my own computer but then my hard drive crashed and I lost it all. When I got a new hard drive I just did an Imap account instead of POP so that I didn't have to worry about that. Maybe I'll just swap back to POP and make a backup to upload more frequently.

EDIT- Also, you guys might post your referral links as well. No reason you can't pick up a few months from Googling passersby.

Sure! Here's mine: http://www.siteground.com/friends.htm?referrer_id=6950128

 

[kathyb]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I was able to save our entire website just by right clicking and saving the pages to my desktop. Not sure if that's normal but thank goodness in any case. So I've got all my website data saved and we didn't use host ultra for email so we're okay on that front. But I'm still confused as to how we go about buying back our domain name when the current registration expires. Who are we buying it from?? I'm also confused as to how the whole name registration works. If host ultra owns our domain name, who says so? Since ICANN and eNom both say they have nothing to do with it there must be someone else that we can complain to? Who actually is in charge of who owns what name and has it registered and where is this registry? Sorry for sounding so stupid and naive, but I really don't know.

 

[Jlebeuf]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I was able to save our entire website just by right clicking and saving the pages to my desktop. Not sure if that's normal but thank goodness in any case. So I've got all my website data saved and we didn't use host ultra for email so we're okay on that front. But I'm still confused as to how we go about buying back our domain name when the current registration expires. Who are we buying it from?? I'm also confused as to how the whole name registration works. If host ultra owns our domain name, who says so? Since ICANN and eNom both say they have nothing to do with it there must be someone else that we can complain to? Who actually is in charge of who owns what name and has it registered and where is this registry? Sorry for sounding so stupid and naive, but I really don't know.

Not stupid, maybe naive, but that's where everyone starts. The way I understand the whole domain name system is basically the top level registrars keeping track of who has what name(s) with ICANN policing them. Those top level registrars then let smaller registrars resell names from the top level to actual customers (though people can buy from the top level registrars directly for an obscene amount of money. Then associated with each name is a Whois record with an administrative contact, billing contact, technical, etc. When Host Ultra bought a name, they put their information in all sections of the Whois. Because of that, the registrar Host Ultra sold from (eNom for many) won't do anything for you because you aren't associated with the domain in any way (on paper). Now that Host Ultra is defunct, they won't be renewing domains anymore and those name will expire. When that happens, eNom (or whoever is the main registrar) takes ownership of the name for 30 days to auction it (themselves or through another party) or do what they see fit. After 30 days and if not sold to someone else the domain is released to the public and any registrar can claim it (sell it to a customer).

Unless you can get someone associated with the Whois contact for your name to work with you and contact the registrar themselves on your behalf you pretty much just have to let the name expire and try to reclaim it at auction or after it goes public. If your name is a nothing name, such as a very uncommon full name, I would just let it go public and buy it elsewhere through a reputable registrar with a good public relations record, instead of eNom for instance. In the mean time, I would suggest finding a new name and possibly rebuild your site/brand on that name maybe picking up your old name as just a legacy domain to redirect to your new one.

I would say the biggest thing to learn from this situation is this: a domain name is just a pointer to where your site is hosted. You can change hosts but whoever holds the metaphorical keys to your domain controls where it points so you need to make sure you are holding those keys. If a host screws you then you can just get another one, upload your site there, and point your domain to the new host. If a registrar screws you then they control your domain and your identity.