Free Domain Name?

[Ludite]

Hi!

I recently chose a web hosting package (won't say who!) going for a 'Free Domain' package. Everything went well and I expected to receive some form of notification regarding name, etc. I asked a friend about this and he looked on the Internet for me. He found that the name I chose was now registered under the name of the company that offered the package! I would hardly call that a free offer! I contacted the company and they said that this was usual procedure throughout the web hosting business. Is this true? Is there anything you can do to change a name once it has been registered?

Ludite

[WebEdit2]

Good questions - anyone else been caught out like this?

[ElCaballo]

Change web hosting companies and ask them to transfer your domain. Ask the new hosting company to register as you as the admin contact - i.e. as the owner in advance.

Makes sense though. They pay the money, they own the domain. You get what you pay for G.

[WebEdit2]

But surely there's an assumption with a free offer that you get everything you'd normally pay for?

[NS-Icon]

Hi Ludite,

Generally the procedure for most hosting companies that offer free domains is to register the domain on your behalf, those which do this correctly usually put the clients details first and only the hosting company as the administrative / technical contact as they have registered the domain for you and are paying for it, this is what makes it free.

Other companies also provide you access to a control panel allowing you to make changes to the domains name server entries, but generally this should not be provided to a client as a free domain name is usually included as part of a hosting plan, and for the reason the client should only be hosting with the hosting provider and not another provider. If the client does wish to host elsewhere then of course he/she should be charged a fee to do so as the domain is no longer then free.

So maybe you could contact the host and request they add you as one of the contacts for the domain they have registered for you, this also helps if your name is listed should any legal issues arise.

Best of luck.

[country-tyme]

I would assume that if it is free hosting with free domain name, that they hope the client will upgrade to a paid account sooner or later. If it is paid hosting with a free domain name, then sometimes the host will register with all contacts pointing to them and if client wishes full access to domain, it should be handed over. Read the hosts faq, domain registration pages (fine print...

In conclusion: Never assume anything!!! Read the fine print, ask questions!

[HostStarter]

- Try to ask for what you think with them again.
- if not, Try to refund.
- if not, Try to get some discount.
- if not, Move to another one.