Lycos closedown problem

We have a domain - xxxyyy.co.uk which was registered with Freeola and the registration is up to date (recently renewed). The designer/manager was hosting all of his sites through Lycos who are now terminating their hosting services and he has decided to move all of them to Strato in Germany.

The following email was received. We have access the account at Freeola - nothing appropriate. The Nominet site says we need to deal with Freeola ... - any ieas on what we need to do?

No, answer yet from Freeeola.



****************************************************************

On the 62018012 you assigned us to transfer the domain xxxyyy.co.uk to STRATO AG. For this to happen, a change must be made to the IPS-tag at the registration body for .uk domains, Nominet. This change can only be requested by the former provider of the domain.

**********

IMPORTANT
Request the current provider of the domain xxxyyy.co.uk change the IPS-tag of the domain to that of our domain registrar, Cronon AG. For this purpose, please provide the current provider with the following IPS-tag:

CRONON-DE

****************************************************************

From Nominets Website

In reply to:

---

How can I change my registrar?

In the first place, you should contact your current registrar and ask them to move your domain name to the new registrar. In most cases your registrar will agree to move your domain name and process the change using our automated system. This will not incur a charge from us, but your current registrar may charge you for doing this, depending on the terms of your contract with your registrar.

What if my registrar can't help?

95% of cases involving a registrar change are made without any problems. However, sometimes your existing registrar may refuse to move your domain name to a new registrar. In this case, we can help you by making the change for you. However, this will not cancel any existing contracts between you and your registrar and you are still liable to pay any fees owed to them.

How can Nominet help?

If you want us to make the registrar change for you, you will need to log in to your account and select the 'registrar change' service. Please note that this service will cost £10 plus VAT.

---

If Freeola are unwilling to do it, Nominet can, but may charge you...

Edited by deleted (Mon 02-Feb-09 11:39:30)

But why do we need to change registrar? Currently it is Freeola and the site is hosted by Lycos. Are Strato saying that we should move registration as well as hosting to them?

Ahh, I get you, if you are happy with Freeola then there is no need to change registrar. If you wanted to change you registrar then that is when you change the IPS-Tag. Sounds like Strato want to become your registrar too. At a guess, I would say it depends on what contract was taken out with them for them to say this. Then again they may just want more business from you...

The person who does the website has several that he manages and I understand that most may have had Lycos as registrar but one or two were initially registered through others - such as Freeola. Strato have an offer to Lycos customers and most are easy to migrate across as both registration and hosting can move from Lycos at the same time. But as ours is only hosted, it seems to have created a problem for Strato as they want registration too.

If I do that, will it cause any problems in a15 months when the registration needs renewal?

In general, it is better to keep domain name registration and webhosting separate. And for the webhosting only use accounts with short cancelation periods. This way, if the webhosting company has problems (they frequently tend to get overcrowded on shared hosting servers) you can easily switch the web hosting company and then simply repoint the DNS settings to those of a new web hosting.

I had a problem with a .org.uk domain with Freeola I bought the name from someone who hosted it with Freeola as the registrar and I wanted to move it to Heart, Freeola wanted £10 to transfer it so point of principal I filled the paperwork and paid Nominet to change it myself so Freeola wouldn't get their tenner took about 2 weeks for it to happen but it did go through, paperwork was a pain in the bum but worth it

Problem is not really Freeola and I'll pay their £12 (+VAT) charge, but with Strato who are taking most of the former Lycos customers. It seems as though I don't need to change it, but in the end it would just be simplify life. And as a business expense, with reclaimable VAT, it is not much at all.

edit

Nominet now charge £10 for changing details.

Edited by MHC (Mon 02-Feb-09 15:41:51)

I know Nominet charge £10 to change the details but id rather pay them than be held to ransom by the registrar

Why both moving the domain registration? Just change the nameservers to Strato once Lycos has moved the hosting over.

A group I admin for has just escaped from Lycos hell. My God they were useless.