[thelist] domains and easyspace

[Robert Gormley]

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 14:56:50 -0000, "Sales @ Lycosa" <sales at lycosa.co.uk> wrote:

> introduced high charges for moving a domain away (£50 + VAT per domain
> !!), and my customer wants to move all his domains away from them

> What is the chance of allowing these 6 domains to expire, then pick them
> up later? What are the waiting times for the various tlds before coming
> back into the public domain?

As per Dan... something's gotta be done, soon. I believe that once they lapse, they are held for either a month or perhaps even three months, unable to be re-registered until then, and then they'll be first come, first served.

And these guys look even worse... from a quick glance at their site, they're looking for 100 quid per domain to reactivate a lapsed domain - and if what you're saying is right, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to hit you up for that even beyond the technical 'lapsing'.

That being said, it /should/ be an automated process. What you could try - although some disclaimers here about legalities and ethics - though a counterdisclaimer that I was also under the belief that there should be no charge for leaving their custom. You're not in a contract with them, you paid a fee which covers registration. As they have received, in advance, that fee, they cannot keep that domain by financial 'extortion'. You could try changing / removing the billing details for one domain and then beginning the transfer process from your new registrar in, not from Easypspace out. With some stroke of luck, it might be an automated process whereby you get sent a confirmation email, and then it's done, whereas if it's initiated from the Easyspace end (which isn't really an initiation at all, due to the transfer process - I wouldn't be surprised if it's an 'attempt to capture a fee for deletion of record'), you might be slugged with the fee.

The timeline is ugly, because you'd have a good case to argue with Consumer Affairs - as I said, domains aren't leased, you purchase an exclusive right to them for a period. The registrar is paid in advance, and these guys are basically trying to charge you a fee to stop them renewing your registration - i.e. pay us to renew, or we'll make you pay us to leave.

Good luck!

Robert