Please help - One.com is holding me hostage!

[Allysin]

I have transferred a few dozen domains to One.com over the course of last year (biggest mistake of my life). I will leave some with them and renew those (pay them). I may let some go (cancel) and I need to transfer 6 out. I've contacted them and asked for the auth codes for those 6 domains but what appears to be happening is - when I transferred all of my domains to One.com - they transferred them under the anonymized PRIVACY WHOIS = they have that name, address and Email of the Whois Privacy user as the owner of my domains. Now, when I ask One.com to unlock the 6 domains and send me the auth codes, they claim they are unable to do this as it goes to something like [email protected] (different Email addresses based on which registrar the domains were transferred from).

I've opened a ticket with them but they simply answered the following:

Greetings!

We need proof of your domain from your former provider so we can update whois as per our hostmasters. This will fix your email address in whois.

Please don’t hesitate to reach us again by replying to this email or by opening a chat message here at https://help.one.com/hc/en-us
Best regards

Has anyone have to deal with this? I mean that's total nonsense to tell me to 'give them proof of my domain from my former provider'!

I plan to file a complaint with ICANN but these domains expire on Monday (February 27th) and there is no telling what One.com is going to do if I don't pay them the predatory renewal prices they are asking for. I mean - they can't possibly think that the loosing registrars will provide me with any kind of 'proof'. What kind of crazy is this?

 

[forge]

Can you not change the contact(s) information yourself for those domains?

Generally that is readily done (at most registrars) provided the domain isn't expired.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Greetings!

We need proof of your domain from your former provider so we can update whois as per our hostmasters. This will fix your email address in whois.

Please don’t hesitate to reach us again by replying to this email or by opening a chat message here at https://help.one.com/hc/en-u
Best regards

Has anyone have to deal with this? I mean that's total nonsense to tell me to 'give them proof of my domain from my former provider'!

Never heard of anything like this.
If you are in a pinch, and they are about to expire, would you consider transfer back to Porkbun? At least perhaps they could provide One.com with previous evidence of the transfer and previous ownership?

What you may not want to get into is the need to do renewals with One.com prior to the transfer, if that kicks in on Monday?

Sorry to hear that you are having such difficulty with what should be a simple process.

 

[Allysin]

Can you not change the contact(s) information yourself for those domains?

Generally that is readily done (at most registrars) provided the domain isn't expired.

No - in order for me to change the contact information, they wills end some kind of a confirmation Email to the Email address they have on record which may be something like [email protected]

 

[Allysin]

Never heard of anything like this.
If you are in a pinch, and they are about to expire, would you consider transfer back to Porkbun? At least perhaps they could provide One.com with previous evidence of the transfer and previous ownership?

What you may not want to get into is the need to do renewals with One.com prior to the transfer, if that kicks in on Monday?

Sorry to hear that you are having such difficulty with what should be a simple process.

I would happily transfer back to Porkbun but I don't think there is a way, is there? (since they will NOT send me the authorization codes)

 

[forge]

https://help.one.com/hc/en-us/articles/6707215203473

 

[Allysin]

What is the normal process when you transfer a domain that is under Privacy Whois from one registrar to another? I would think that the Real Owner's information gets passed along in the transfer process? And if that is the case, how come these fools put the Privacy Whois on the domain record as the Owner Information?

 

[forge]

Yeah, the info should have changed to whatever your default is at one.com.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I would happily transfer back to Porkbun but I don't think there is a way, is there? (since they will NOT send me the authorization codes)

You're absolutely right, that they can't send you the authorization codes. Only your current registrar can do that. But if they were the ones you transferred from, perhaps they would help sort this mess out? The Porkbun customer service has received much praise here on Namepros forum.

Your situation is very puzzling, and hopefully some of our old timers here have some suggestions. Regardless of whether privacy is on or not, the registrant of record should be able to obtain the authorization codes and use them.

 

[Allysin]

OK - things have taken a turn for the worse! (I didn't think that was even possible!). So finally, I resigned to paying them for the renewals. I have 4 domains that expire today, 2 more on March 1st and 2 on March 9th. Altogether, I have almost 40 domains with them and they all come up with:

• Redacted for privacy:
  some of the data in this object has been removed.

This appears for all Contacts on all of my domains with them:

- Technical
- Administrative
- Registrant

And they will NOT even let me renew the domains!

The interesting part about all of this is - they made me sign and send back to them a 'Domain Transfer form' for all of those domains before they would even initiate the transfer:

DOMAIN TRANSFER
The undersigned hereby requests one.com to transfer on my/our behalf the following
domain name under the .agency domain

Domain.extension

Registrant:
Full name: Allysin XYZ
Country: United States
Address:
Zip & City:
Phone:
Mobile phone:
Email:

In connection with the transfer of the above mentioned domain, I request the following
services to be set up through one.com: 0 GB web space.
I the undersigned hereby agrees to the above mentioned and that the usage of
the above mentioned domain name does not violate the rights of a third party. All prices are
exclusive VAT.

I have filled out and signed these forms for each of the domains I transferred to One.com.

Surely, this must now be stupidity on their end as they don't even want to take my money! They removed the domains from my Control Panel days before expiration (probably because I asked them to turn off auto-renewal) and now they said the only way for me to renew them will be to start a brand new One.com account with them for each and every one of those domains BUT I will need the authorization code which they are still sending to Email addresses such as:

[email protected]

Surely, this is not normal behaviour? I filed 2 complaints today with ICANN:

1. For the fact they don't let me update/correct the Owner information on the domain

and

2. Because they don't let me transfer a domain out.

I wonder if I should file a 3rd complaint about the fact they don't EVEN let me renew the domains?

I spent most of my day on chat with them today to no avail. They insist the previous registrar MUST certify that I am the domain owner! Finally, the person on chat says an invoice from the previous registrar might be enough to do this. I have screenshoted all the invoices I found in the Porkbun Control Panel but there are domains that came from other registrars as well and these people have no clue (he tried to tell me a specific domain came to them from Name.com which wasn't true at all! That specific one came from Porkbun).

He then made me fill out this form for each domain:

https://one-docs.com/forms/change-email-address-domain.pdf

And upload a copy of my passport.

I feel like this might require a lawyer really but I just can't afford one. I mean never in my wildest dreams would I think I would ever find myself in such a horrible horrible situation!

And the person I chatted with only submitted 4 of the domains to their Domain department (to change the Owner from Privacy to me) and would not submit anymore until they do it because he says they could ask for more documents! Like what? My mother's blood type and my future firstborn child???

This is beyond bad and I am so so frustrated with all of this! (I can't even sleep at night because of this).

What other steps can I take? Would submitting a 1-star Trustpilot review help or would that piss them off even more? Are there any other agencies I can complain to? Any other steps I can take? I'm just completely at their mercy and it feels awful.

Franky, ICANN should take their domaining license away! There is so much wrong with this company!

Would someone please help me find contact information for the CEO, COO, and other executives at One.com? I feel writing a letter to them might get things corrected for me. Please understand everything I am doing is 100% legit - this is in no way my fault whatsoever! They are the ones who screwed this up.

 

[Allysin]

Can you not change the contact(s) information yourself for those domains?

Generally that is readily done (at most registrars) provided the domain isn't expired.

This is not possible as One.com sends out an authorization Email (for the change of Contact info) which goes once again to something like [email protected].

 

[bhartzer]

Are they domain names all in your One.com account? OR logged into your account at Joker.com (which is one.com or owned by one.com)?

If you own the domain names, and they're in your account at the registrar, then you should be able to change the contact details--which would then require that the domains be locked for 60 days.

Since you're trying to transfer them over to Porkbun.com, then honestly I would just call Porkbun and get them on the phone, tell them that you want to transfer the domains to them. They should help you through this, especially if the email on the domain is privacy@porkbun email address.
Talking to someone on the phone is the best option.

 

[forge]

This is not possible as One.com sends out an authorization Email (for the change of Contact info) which goes

...into the big blue yonder

Really sorry, all I can say is get away ASAP (by whatever means necessary) as well as from 1&1 -- the horror stories are almost legendary. I have some experience with the latter entity but I tread very lightly and cannot be more specific. I stay clear of their domain "services", however.

I hope that somehow you can resolve your numerous registrar issues.

 

[Allysin]

Are they domain names all in your One.com account? OR logged into your account at Joker.com (which is one.com or owned by one.com)?

If you own the domain names, and they're in your account at the registrar, then you should be able to change the contact details--which would then require that the domains be locked for 60 days.

Since you're trying to transfer them over to Porkbun.com, then honestly I would just call Porkbun and get them on the phone, tell them that you want to transfer the domains to them. They should help you through this, especially if the email on the domain is privacy@porkbun email address.
Talking to someone on the phone is the best option.

@bhartzer Sorry - I didn't explain this correctly. I am 100% on One.com. The interesting part is that all of my 40 domains with them have the REDACTED FOR PRIVACY as all the lines for all Contacts and have an Email address of the Privacy anonomizer service based on where the domains came from (for example [email protected]). Now, what happens is this:

- they have removed some of the domains days before they expired (on February 27th) from my account at One.com (probably due to the fact I asked them to remove auto-renew or who knows why really)

- then they told me to open a new account for each of those accounts and register them again (with One.com) but for that, I would need the auth code they sent out to the privacy Email address

I've been speaking to them about this via chat for many days (prior to February 27th) but I'm not really getting anywhere. They've started authenticating me on chat via sending an Email to my Email address that I have on file with them which works but only to turn over my requests for unlocking and auth codes to their Hosting Team who don't seem to be doing much at the moment...

I would be happy to change my Contact info from the REDACTED FOR PRIVACY to mine and renew my domains with them but this is also not possible because they will send a Confirmation Email to the Whois Privacy Email for the Verification of the Request to Change the Contact info so it's really a catch22:

During change of ownership of the domain domain.extension essential information will be sent to [email protected]. This information is required to complete the change of ownership. You must therefore make sure that you have access to this email address before you continue.

 

[Allysin]

...into the big blue yonder

Really sorry, all I can say is get away ASAP (by whatever means necessary) as well as from 1&1 -- the horror stories are almost legendary. I have some experience with the latter entity but I tread very lightly and cannot be more specific. I stay clear of their domain "services", however.

I hope that somehow you can resolve your numerous registrar issues.

You are so right about 1&1 also. I think after dealing with those 2 registrars, I'll be ready for a mental hospital!

 

[DomainBoxio]

sounds very sketchy

 

[ArielT]

Hi,

An idea, what if you ask them to turn auto renewal "on" again? Maybe it would cause the domains that have desappeared to appear again?

 

[Allysin]

Hey you guys - get this:

I have gone through filling out the change of ownership form and on the 'Confirm change of ownership' page it says:

I accept to pay the change of ownership fee amount of 12.00 USD.

These people are going to make me pay $12 per domain (if it goes through at all) to change the details of MY domains from the totally screwed up where everything says:

Redacted for privacy
and it doesn't even have my Email on any of my domains (it has the Email of the Privacy service) to my own details! So that is 40 x $12 = $480 out the window for THEIR screw-up!

I used to think it was just a mistake, an oversight on their end... but now I think it is 100% clear that it is INTENT! I mean think about it:

- there are 40 domains that came from at least 3 different registrars

HOW is it possible that they are all screwed up with the same 'Redacted for privacy' EVERYWHERE on each and every domain???

I honestly think this is the definition of a SCAM and I wish someone would shut these people down as I'm sure they will burn many many other innocent people!

Is there nothing in the domaining world that can be done? I mean ICANN will probably just say - it's up to them what fee they charge for what and I don't know how I will ever be able to proof that they screwed this up!

I don't think leaving negative references on Trustpilot will make a difference honestly.

It's just so sad that companies like this are allowed to operate and scam people in this way!

 

[bhartzer]

OK thanks for explaining it all. You need to get a real person on the phone, and stop dealing with chat. Obviously the people on their chat are lower level employees (or it is outsourced) and they don't know what they're doing.

If the email address on the domain name does NOT go to you then that is a direct ICANN violation, as the email MUST go to the website owner. Period. Otherwise, it is a violation of ICANN rules for invalid whois data and the domain could be deleted. So, that's something that you could bring up with them.

One.com is actually owned by Joker.com, so if you cannot get a resolution quickly I actually recommend going directly to Joker and see if THEY will fix your issues (again, phone only and don't use chat). I would also open a support ticket with them, list all the domain names, and how you would like all of your whois privacy information turned off on all domains. You would also like the auth codes for the domains immediately. You should also email [email protected], who is the customer support manager there as well.

Regarding the $12, are you certain that that's not to transfer the domain and just to update your contact details on your domain name?

 

[DomainNature]

And I was thinking to move my secret domains to this guys, no way, stay away from one.com crooks.

 

[Allysin]

OK thanks for explaining it all. You need to get a real person on the phone, and stop dealing with chat. Obviously the people on their chat are lower level employees (or it is outsourced) and they don't know what they're doing.

If the email address on the domain name does NOT go to you then that is a direct ICANN violation, as the email MUST go to the website owner. Period. Otherwise, it is a violation of ICANN rules for invalid whois data and the domain could be deleted. So, that's something that you could bring up with them.

One.com is actually owned by Joker.com, so if you cannot get a resolution quickly I actually recommend going directly to Joker and see if THEY will fix your issues (again, phone only and don't use chat). I would also open a support ticket with them, list all the domain names, and how you would like all of your whois privacy information turned off on all domains. You would also like the auth codes for the domains immediately. You should also email [email protected], who is the customer support manager there as well.

Regarding the $12, are you certain that that's not to transfer the domain and just to update your contact details on your domain name?

@bhartzer - Thank you for your thoughts on this. They are based out of Denmark and even though they take customer orders from all over the world, they do not have phone support in English. The interesting part is - they have an office in London:

https://www.one.com/en/about

But when I asked them if I could go up there and talk to a real person about my issues, they weren't able to tell me whether that's even possible. I looked on Google Maps at the office location and it seems as if it was just a mailbox so that they could say that they have presence in the United Kingdom.

You said:
"If the email address on the domain name does NOT go to you then that is a direct ICANN violation, as the email MUST go to the website owner. "
If that's the case, then that's awesome! This would surely help my fight with them. Would you be able to point me to an ICANN page where this is written out so that I can refer to that in my communications with One.com?

Thank you for your [email protected] contact - I will utilise this for sure!

Are you certain of the connection of Joker owning One.com? The reason I ask is - I looked up on the official ICANN website and One.com is listed here as a stand alone accredited registrar:

https://www.icann.org/en/accredited...r=o&page=1&sort-param=name&sort-direction=asc

Regarding the $12 - I don't believe One.com charges a fee to transfer a domain. There is, however, this when you try to change any domain details in the One.com Control Panel:

 

[Allysin]

I have now gotten the following Email from them:

The request to update the domain email addresses are declined since a Change of Ownership form is required for each domains. This form can be downloaded from this link below:

https://one-docs.com/ownerchange/general-owner-change.pdf

If you look on the bottom of this form, it says:

By signing this document, I hereby declare that I have read and accepted the terms and conditions mentioned on www.one.com and payment of €12,00 + VAT for handing over the domain. The Current Owner also hands over all rights and commitments for the web space, including the domain (only if the box is checked), to the New Owner.

Surely, anyone would agree with me that I shouldn't have to pay over 13 Euros to change the owner from me back to me? I have always always been the owner of these my domains!

 

[GoodKindName]

One.com is pain

 

[Allysin]

According to a support person on the ePik chat - I was meant to remove the Whois Privacy prior to my transfers to One.com. Is this true? And if so, why aren't customers advised of this in the transfer process? Not everybody lives and breathes domains...

 

[Allysin]

Hear all what they told me on chat recently:

....No, and its not possible for us to send it to any email address. All AUTH IDs are always sent to the current domain registrants email address.

If you are unable to access the current domain registrant email address, you need to fill out the Change Email Address domain form below and submit it to our Contact Page for immediate processing with a copy of the valid ID of the current domain owner, and either one of these: company stamp, company letterhead, or registry excerpt since the domain is registered as a company.

Form: https://one-docs.com/forms/change-email-address-domain.pdf

Contact Page: https://help.one.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

I don't have a company! They must be referring to the Whois Privacy Company...