Sponsored Links

Unable to change nametag for expired account

Hi:-)

I feel I am being held to ransom by my web hosting company and wonder if there is anything I can do about it.

I have a domain that I have had for several years with Streamline.net. I have paid by 2 yearly renewal. I deliberately removed my credit card details from them as I wanted to shop around to change to a more user-friendly service at the end of my current 2 years.

My account expired a week ago (Jun 24). I have phoned them today to try to change my nametag to my new hoster. However, Streamline have said that they cannot change my tag while the account has expired. As my account has been on a 2 yearly renewal, they won't let me renew in any other way (even though £1.99 per month to new customers), and insist that I have to pay £113 for a 2 year renewal before I can change my tags.

I am reluctant to do this, but they tell me that this is the only way I can renew my domain name.

Are they acting within the law here, and is there anything I can do other than try to give them as bad publicity as possible?

Thanks

Alan
 
Much as Bricktop has said, most UK type domains are ultimately governed by Nominet and any co.uk issue should be easy enough to resolve. I'd also suggest checking your ex-hosts domain terms as they offer a lot of related information:

http://streamline.net/about-us/terms-and-conditions/domain-names/

This suggests to me that, since they're not registering the domain in their own name (but they will put it in yours), you should be able to go to the related Registra (i.e. Nominet) and get the tags changed.
 
Sponsored Links
But the domain has expired - generally when that happens domain name companies will charge a large sum so the customer can get it back.... I had a domain with 1&1 which expired but they didn't renew it (but they had the right details) - cost me £50, which they later agreed to pay back.
 
Thanks very much for the helpful info.
The domain is a co.uk address, and I have registered it with Nominet back in 2001.

However, when I have just logged on to Nominet, although my domain name is listed with me under my account, the 'registrar' is listed as Streamline.net, and it appears that they have re-registered it for a further 2 years from when it expired on 24/6/09, so it is now registered with them until 24/6/11. Is there nothing else I can do about this other than pay Streamline the exorbitant £113 they are asking for for another 2 years service?

Thanks

Alan
 
Further to my above posting I would also like to thank Mark J. I have looked up the Streamline.net T&C which suggest that they should only re-register the domain if I have paid the fee, which I have not. I deliberately removed my credit card details from them as I had no intention of renewing (I wanted to use a hosting service offering subwebs, which they don't).

I can't find anything suggesting that they can automatically renew, and charge me for, re-registering my domain name when it expires.



1.3 The domain name registration period for .uk and .mobi domains runs for two years from the date of registration. For all other domains, the domain name registration period is one year. After the initial registration period has elapsed, renewal of Your domain name registration may be made upon payment of the renewal fees by You to Streamline.Net;
 
change the domain's nameservers to that of a hosting company elsewhere (ie. ns1.hostingco.com & ns2.hostingco.com) - then you can create sub-domains and so on, but keep streamline as the registrar (but host the site elsewhere)
 
Sponsored Links
Sorry MrJ, don't quite understand what your posting means! I don't know what you mean by the domain's 'nameservers'.

However, having looked further at the Nominet site I think I can change the registrar via Nominet for £11.50, which I am happy with. It looks as if I can do this online, as the domain is already listed in my name with Nominet, but Streamline are registered as the registrar. It appears from Nominet's website that if Streamline cannot or willnot allow transfer of my domain, that Nominet will do it for me for £11.50.

Thanks

Alan
 
To explain nameservers, Streamline have somethin in their support pages for domains being pointed to them to use with their hosting products;

http://www.streamlinesupport.net/index.php?page=show&id=88


And getting back to the £113 fee... did they re-register it for you because you wanted them to because they let it expire? The following explains the redemption period that your domain feel into after it expired since they couldn't renew it for you as they had no payment details;

http://www.streamlinesupport.net/index.php?page=show&id=108

The page explains that when in redemption, the domain can be renewed for £100 + normal fee.


You should know when a domain is in redemption only the registrar that you registered it with (Streamline) can make the domain registered again, and once the 30 redemption period is up, anyone can take the domain.
 
Thanks Mr J:-)

I think I understand that!

Difficult to know what Streamline have done, as none of it is with my consent. My domain registration expired on 24 June 09, so is still within the 40 day redemption period. In fact they didn't notify me that it was due to expire. They did send me a standard reminder (posted below) that my credit card details had expired. They did this a couple of weeks or so before the expiry date, and I was unable to access my control panel following this, as I couldn't get to it until I renewed my credit card details.

It appears that they have re-registered my domain for 2 years.

The £113 is their standard charge for 2 years of hosting including FP extensions. They haven't given me a breakdown of what the charges are for, and also they don't send a bill in advance telling you what will be charged to your card. I think it includes 2 years at their standard rates and £25 per year for Front Page extensions. They have told me that I can't change my contract type to monthly or yearly from its present 2 yearly until I have renewed my domain (by which time it is too late!).



Main account domain name: xxx.co.uk

Your credit / debit card on your Streamline.net account has expired. In order to continue normal service of your website and email, please update your credit or debit card on your Streamline.net control panel as soon as possible. Updating your card takes just a few minutes and is easy to do:

1. Log into your account at http://control.streamline.net/ or by clicking the "Customer login" link on the Streamline.net website.
2. Select "Update Billing Information" from the left-hand menu.

Thank you

Streamline.net
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6024)
  2. BT (3639)
  3. Politics (2720)
  4. Business (2439)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2144)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1899)
  10. 4G (1814)
  11. Virgin Media (1763)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1405)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules