How can I save my domain?
 

I have an old domain I am not using but the email is important... I have got it from a friend, client and he used to renew and whatnot, i don't even have access to it, I mean his registrar.

Today I'm getting an automated warning from Domain Name International" which reads:

The following domain name(s) will expire in 5 DAYS:

Domain Name, Expiry Date
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com, 2008-05-07

********IMPORTANT*******
If the domain name(s) are not renewed during the next 5 days, they will stop working! This WILL affect all email and websites that use the domain. PLEASE RENEW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to avoid disruption to your service.***

Any suggestions? I emailed the guy but we haven't chatted for months. He told me he has 3 jobs, he is pretty busy and he has to run as always. It was last december.
The domain is hosted my webair. I tried to sign up for a free account at domainnameintl.com but for some reason I kept error messages. I cannot even call them not being able to speak.

The Icann registrar is Tucows.

Actually this is my only non-free email...

I emailed to them, tucows gave the registrar, http://www.domainnameintl.com but not sure how long they reply :(

They have a phone # but I cannot speak.
Registration Service Provider:
Domain Name International,
760-588-4194
http://www.domainnameintl.com

It will be hard to do anything unless you either have access to the registrar's control panel to renew the domain, OR if the email you were sent has a renewal link in it that lets anyone renew the domain. What I mean is the domain gets renewed but the current owner retains ownership.

Otherwise you'll need the owner of the domain to do something. Probably too near the expiration date to transfer it to you at this point, but he could either renew it, let you renew it, or let someone else renew it for you.

Without knowing the domain name I can't look up anything to see what other options you might have.

Thank you Simon.. :(
They emailed me now only.

Judy like Simon said it's to late to transfer the domain.
If you have your friends phone number PM it to me and I'll give him/her a call and see if they will let me renew the domain for you.
The domain I used for most of my emails expired and was snatched up while I was in the hospital and it was a real pain in the ass changing my email address with all my sponsors/contacts. I wouldn't wish that on anyone

Thanks Pat and Simon :)

I cannot speak for 2 yr know so I don't have his phone #. All I have is the phone # of the registrar, the tucows reseller. It is not a problem that the domain is in his name, I don't even use it, only the email.

I can imagine what you went through and hope I can avoid it.. I do hope my friend is ok and will post in this thread or gives me what's needed to renew it.

Thanks again.. Simon tries his best tomorrow. He is a real nice guy.

Just a call...

They have a phone # but I cannot speak.
Registration Service Provider:
Domain Name International,
760-588-4194
http://www.domainnameintl.com

Simon is offline.

it's only 4:51 AM here Judy, I'll make those phone calls for you in a few hours

I'm around too now. :)
Catch me or Pat, whoever is around. We'd just need to get some information for the call, and would be good to have you in icq when we call them in case they have any questions you could answer.

Done, thank you.. I'm trying avoiding pain killers but I have a very bad day today Pat... and I am always messing time zones, I am hopeless :)

We are lost... we tried everything so far but no luck. If there is someone on the board who is a registrar, please help.

Oh and thank you Simon..

Okay... I've been trying for the last hour with no luck to contact the folks at DomainNameIntl.com -- which I think may be just a website and voicemail at this point. Also tried contact Tucows since they're the underlying wholesaler. But no easy way to do anything there. Phone #s only give you recorded info saying talk with your registrar.

SO... This is a SHOUT OUT to anyone who runs their own domain registration business --> Can you post in this thread so Digi can talk with you about the options she has at this point?

Big Question: Can you renew a domain you don't own, and if you can, how do you do it? Not make any changes I mean, just pay for the renewal.

The only other thing I can think of is posting your friends nick, maybe someone will know him

If you can pm me the domain name let me see what I can do

Tucows is pretty good, I've had to go over hosts and registrars head to the source a couple times, not that I waned to, no choice. It is a pain to get through to tucows, I believe I called the tech support or something just to get to a human and get transfered, with some very nice talking.

Like I am much help in this situation..:)

I did.. thanks :)

I know who the guy is (your friend that did the registrations for you) and Im trying to raise him on icq - will let you know as soon as I can get through to him

I also emailed the guy - at least I hope its the same guy since his company addy is the same as your whois for your domain :)

Thanks...

I am a Tucows reseller and registrar. FWIW, the easiest way to handle these expires is to first pay the existing registrar for a 1 yr renewal. Even though you might not be able to get the confirmation email, most gateways/registrars will accept payment from a gorilla as long as the credit card is honest. That simply buys you time to work out the transfer of the domain afterwards.

You cannot transfer a domain within 30 days of its expire date (ICANN rule, not Tucows). So you have to first protect it by renewing it - then you can work on the details of transferring contact or ownership without "renewal adrenillin" running up the back of your neck.

Just an opinion...

Thanks.. I thanks everyone their help, especially Simon's calls. Just got an email from Tucows and all's well if ends well :) It was the tip of Baddog to start a transfer on Monday and it worked. Yippie |loony|

Glad it worked out.

I should have never thought of that. |waves|

OK...here's the deal: I've been hosting and renewing digifan's domain for free for years out of our friendship and my desire to help her...and I am quite happy to continue to do so. Unfortunately, around the time the renewal was due, I had contracted a very bad lung infection and ultimately was treated for pneumonia. I was pretty much stuck in bed for 2+ weeks, 4-5 days of which I had a running 103 degree fever. So I haven't even been on my computer for 2-3 weeks to check emails.

I am really sorry to have caused digifan any stress over the domain, and certainly didn't want to cause any trouble for anyone else, but there was never any danger of her losing her domain, since it's been on auto-renew for years and never would have expired. I even had the renewal date written in my date book to be safe (although I would have ultimately relied on the auto-renew, since I wasn't in any shape to consult the date book anyway).

I certainly can't blame digifan for being worried, since I doubt she ever knew it was on auto-renew, and I would probably be pretty concerned myself given the same knowledge and inability to contact the controlling party.

Anyway, sorry for all the fuss guys, and sorry for the stress dig...but really we were safe all along, and the situation was beyond my control.

Thanks my friend.. that registrar email confused me, you see a copy of it in the first posts.

I know...I'd be just as stressed out if the situation was reversed. Again, I'm sorry for the worry...

Wow, one of the rare good endings to a registrar problem. |bananna|