What do you think of this?

[wot]

First post no names, as am are asking those involved to respond before I take it further.

I sourced and then "registered" a premium name with -------.com.

It is not real time so knew I had to wait for final registration.

Received confirmation from ------.com that the process was ongoing and I needed to supply documents which I did by return.

Turns out that ------.com is a reseller of x-------.com a very well known registrar so the docs were sent directly to them as requested.

Waited one day and then checked and the name was still not registered so I emailed to five different accounts that were related to ------.com and x-----.com and asked what was happening.

About 2 hours later I checked and the name was now registered in the name of x------.com so felt quite comfortable and waited for it to hit my -------.com account.

Today ,being the next day, I get an email saying that the name had been registered by a third party and they would credit or refund my registration fee.

Not so unusual perhaps? This was, the name was registered in the name and company of the very well known CEO whose company was supposed to be registering the name on my behalf,just a short time after I sent the email asking what was happening!

This occurred between the 26th and 29th of this month.

Your thoughts?

 

[wot]

i think name and shame is the one way to really get scammers attention, of course you need to be able to back it up

Read the full thing on my blog and tell me what you think.

 

[DnEbook]

logging off for the night but i will have a look tomorrow

 

[DnEbook]

yep, does seem suspect

 

[wot]

My god these people are dumb!

Sent me this today when I asked for a refund

"Dear Sir,

Unfortunately, the domain was registered on behalf of the client whose application was submitted to our system sooner than yours.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Regards,

Only Domains
www.onlydomains.com"

Had to point out to them that it was their boss Tony Lentino who registered it one day after they had received all my documents.

 

[DnEbook]

contact icann

 

[Kate]

I don't think Icann can intervene since it's a ccTLD. But you can get the .id registry involved.
A reseller/register should never ever register a domain name on behalf of a client, while putting themselves as holder of the domain. End result: they legally own the domain, not you.
They are either dishonnest or incompetent, or both.
So who's the mysterious client ?

 

[wot]

I don't think Icann can intervene since it's a ccTLD. But you can get the .id registry involved.
A reseller/register should never ever register a domain name on behalf of a client, while putting themselves as holder of the domain. End result: they legally own the domain, not you.
They are either dishonnest or incompetent, or both.
So who's the mysterious client ?

They are not even saying I have anything to do with the domain now.

It even says on the OnlyDomains.com interface that the registration was declined and there is a credit on my account.

Very simply the owner of OnlyDomains.com & Instra simply took MY domain.

Certainly unethical, probably dishonest and possibly illegal?

But Instra is a huge company and Lentino is very rich, apparently one of the main backers of Dotcoms file sharing Mega.
Perhaps sufficiently arrogant to think he is above it all?

 

[verbster]

It seems that unless there is an enforceable law against what they do and an authority to actually enforce it, these guys are weasels and will do whatever they can get away with. it's the same old shit, isn't it?

 

[jamesosix]

f'ing scumbags mate!

 

[Viqta]

I am always wary of this, even though I'm still new. I actually did some research on this issue before starting out. There was a particular reseller I tested that told me all rubbish names I entered to bait them were already registered. Then I knew these people are not to be trusted.

 

[DnEbook]

i heard similar stories about early .it domains and avoided them, however as this is a new extension there is no history to make an informed decision.

 

[wot]

i heard similar stories about early .it domains and avoided them, however as this is a new extension there is no history to make an informed decision.

Nothing to do with the extension this is 100% OnlyDomains.com/Instra.

I have registered .id with other registrars with no problem.

 

[DnEbook]

The fact that it is not instant worried me, that is my point regards to what i had heard about .it and the complications that seemed to occur
~
have you had a reply from domaingang?

 

[wot]

The fact that it is not instant worried me, that is my point regards to what i had heard about .it and the complications that seemed to occur
~
have you had a reply from domaingang?

Understood.

But, I just registered another one with a "trusted" registrar half an hour ago and it now resolves to my designated parking page so basically everything from OnlyDomains.com etc crew is bullshit!

The only criteria with the "trusted" registrar I use is that I must submit copy of id and proxy form within 30 days.

Nothing from Domain Gang.

 

[DnEbook]

What about rick schwartz ……….name and shame site ??
~
At the end of the day it may just be for your satisfaction i guess

 

[equity78]

Put a post up on thedomains.com for you Wot thedomains.com/2014/09/03/the-curious-case-of-weather-id/

 

[wot]

Ta

Put a post up on thedomains.com for you Wot thedomains.com/2014/09/03/the-curious-case-of-weather-id/

Ta muchly.

 

[DnEbook]

i would even like the domainsherpas to discuss this 'strange happening' contact them as well

 

[wot]

And now a classic piss off!

"Hello Sir/madam,

Thank you for your email.

The customer of ours who owns this domain name has opted for whois privacy that is why Tonys information is currently listed on the domain until the whois privacy details are updated.

Please understand that the domain is not registered to us, as you can imagine we would have no use for that domain being a domain name company not weather reporters.

If you wish to contact our legal department over this matter please feel free to contact[email protected]



If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact us,"

Incidentally, when I was searching for potential registrations I am fairly sure I never found one in privacy!

Anyway, done to death now- CAVEAT EMPTOR