HostOnce - Have you heard?

[Patrick1010]

Interesting to listen this history. But fact is: Gary was registering the domains of his customers under his company name and keeping the domains locked so the real owner was not able to access or transfer it. So he was cheating his customers from the scratch.

[NCAppraiser]

According to Gary when he was registering them with DotRegistrar the customer had access to all of their information. Something happened wither when he sold HostOnce or when DotRegistrar was bought/sold/renamed to Domain.com. I had changed my information on the DotRegistrar site right after the ownership transfer and it was switched back without my knowledge. I had never checked it until I started looking to transfer.

[bigbadjohn]

I too had my site with HostOnce and I have been contacting them since the middle of June with no success. My domain was originally registered with DotRegistrar (sp) which is not Domain.com.

A little history on HostOnce. The company was purchased by the owner of a local ISP, Carolina Online(Gary Carr) in 2006. All operations were moved to his office in that year. If you look for the most part the reviews from 2006-2008 were decent. In 2008 Gary sold all of his internet services, ISP, webhosting, etc. When all of this HostOnce junk started he tried to contact the individuals he dealt with when he sold the company. All of the numbers he had were disconnected. He told me that there was nothing he could do but I could file a comlpaint with ICANN to try and get my domain.

My domain expires in November so I might get lucky and be able to get it back without having to scrap all of my real estate signage.

Good Luck then! Seems I was lucky as I thought my name was with them, but turns it wasnt, it was with Dotster. Guess the lesson learned here is spend another few bucks and buy different extensions of the same name and ensure its always yours. Re- buying your own name when it expires, search on 'back order domain', like this: http://www.********************/wiki...backorder.aspx

[SussQuatch]

Interesting to listen this history. But fact is: Gary was registering the domains of his customers under his company name and keeping the domains locked so the real owner was not able to access or transfer it. So he was cheating his customers from the scratch.

Sadly, this definitely appears so. I'm registering a complaint with ICANN in order to recover my domain name. The process is rather cryptic with all of the policies in place, but once done I'll be able to move on. I have no desire to establish another DNS when I've legally paid for my present one up until February of 2013.

[SussQuatch]

As to the gigabytes of files I've had on HostOnce since 2002 (?)... they're gone I'm sure unless the firm gets back online and does the right thing!

[thebluecomet]

As to the gigabytes of files I've had on HostOnce since 2002 (?)... they're gone I'm sure unless the firm gets back online and does the right thing!

As with Sussquatch I've been with Hostonce since 2002 and have tons of files, etc. that may be lost. The last address I had from them was in Teaneck, NJ. If anyone needs it, please reply and I will post it here.

I am going to hold out hope things get fixed. If anyone has news, please post it ASAP!! I really would hate to lose 10 years of work.

Bob

[dklynn]

I really would hate to lose 10 years of work.

Others, please take that as a warning (at great personal cost to thebluecomet) to always keep a set of master files offline. I do my testing offline and those files, when they're uploaded, become my master set.

Regards,

DK

[ServerStorm]

Others, please take that as a warning (at great personal cost to thebluecomet) to always keep a set of master files offline. I do my testing offline and those files, when they're uploaded, become my master set.

Regards,

DK

!!!! Very important to listen to DK here. I also recommend having a GIT repository of your project stored on GITHUB or your own secure offsite reposity. This makes it easy to keep versions of your site and to grab the most recent version with a simple command.

Steve

[thetapeworm]

Hi, new member who found this place while on Google looking for clues about Hostonce - I don't really have anything to add other than I'm like many others who seem to have lost what they had hosted and the domain name (and associated email addresses) they thought they had registered wasn't actually registered directly to them.

I'm been with Hostonce for 10+ years (I'm UK-based and they offered a great unlimited hosting package back then that nobody here could match) and seen a huge shift in service and a fair few blips between fully working and completely disappeared, it's a shame it's happened and I'm glad mine was just a hobby site rather than a business, I feel for those of you who have lost more than time with this fiasco.

Anyway I just wanted to be amongst others going through the same thing so here I am

[ServerStorm]

Welcome to SitePoint thetapeworm and thanks for sharing your experience. We look forward to you coming by more often

Regards,
Steve

[GS340]

I filed a complaint with ICANN and would like to know if there is anything I can do. I've also talked to the Registrar. DOMAIN.COM, LLC and they've can't help either. Any other thoughts? My domain is set to expire SEPT 6, 2012 and my site has been down since early JULY.

Thank you.

[ServerStorm]

GS340 unless you can afford to sue the people that defuncted Hostonce then you are out of luck. By putting a claim forth it may cause them to 'try' to get your files and open transfership of the domain; however it is likely the owners have filed for bankruptcy which means you will have no to very little ability to recover any of it as the bank is managing the company and has likely seized all hardware - including those used for hosting yours and others sites -; they may have even scrubbed the drives so I'm afraid that you don't have much hope.

You may be able to get your domain back by following the advice found in post 22.

Although it is too late for many of you, PLEASE if you HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, register YOUR OWN DOMAIN NAME THAT YOU CONTROL, then BACK UP YOUR CURRENT WEBSITE. Back up your site anytime you make changes to it. Don't experience this Pain and spend money on a stable host - there are some out in the hosting universe - if you don't know which ones then just ask.

[LI Mike]

How did transfer the domain and change the DNS if you can't login to your control panel?

Well glad to say, I'm online again! Yippee!!

But not with hostonce, who still haven't replied to over 6 emails. I signed up with the above host I mentioned, changed dns servers, uploaded the site, and am live as we speak. The host is very good for free, no ads/banners etc, and as I haven't tested every part of their service yet I wont be rushing for paid hosting, if they do the job, why bother! But as said, I havent tested all their functions yet

Hope this info helps someone else out there who suffered from hostonce...

[Cpl Pro]

Rats.. I can't beleive that Hostonce is acting in this fashion... Over 10 Years of good service with latley some flaws, I thought that they got hit by the Virus of July .. but it seems it is deeper than that. Previously their contact number worked in the USA 910-402-4678 But do not try it now it is busy 100% and as mentioned contacting them is impossible with all the complaints Domain.com should do the right thing and remove all their information ( as it is deceptive and still bringing in Money = FRAUD )... I contacted The authorities in Australia along with BBB or equivalent and them Aussies did not even bother the courtesy of a reply... The WWW consortium is not doing anything about this so guess what..? This seem to be a good way to make some quick money...!! No one takes responsability and I'm sure they got their money otherwise they would at least say I'm sorry and possibly aid in recuperation of Websites lots of creativity sweat and tear's.. I REALLY CAN NOT UNDERSTAND IT.... AS I SAID.... They did respond well for over 10 Year's as they have not acted correctly Only condemnation and trouble is what they deserve... an explanation or excuse could give a person a sense of well at least I'm sorry for you or some such.. but no explanation WE ARE THINKING THE WORSE OF YOU HOSTONCE.COM . I pray that you work your problems out and be able to respond tho the Community that you was serving.! I will go to another Provider.. but before that would like to thank such community for all its information allowing for me to follow up opn this.
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[Robert Lacey]

Reading this thread, I have a couple of questions if anyone can help me. I too had a domain registered with HostOnce, which I'm trying to get back, but I appear to have run into a problem.

The form that has been linked to in this thread requires me to provide legal proof of company registration - but my domain is one used in a personal capacity rather than linked to a company. Sure, I could go through the process of registering a company just to be able to provide a number, but that's an expensive proposition.

I've tried contacting Domain.com via the form that you can fill out on your website if you're not an account holder (without handing them some money I don't seem to have any other way of contacting them), but they've just ignored my messages so far.

My questions:

Does anyone have any contact details for Domain.com that will actually allow me to talk to someone?

Does anyone know if there's a separate process for trying to reobtain a domain name if one doesn't have an incorporated company through which to do it?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[TechnoBear]

Hi Robert Lacey, and welcome to the forums.

I notice you're located in the UK. If your domain is a .***.uk domain, then you could try contacting Nominet for assistance. I was involved in a situation a few years back where a web designer died suddenly - and his clients discovered their domains were registered to him and not to them. I wasn't involved directly with Nominet, but I know they were helpful at the time.

[Robert Lacey]

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm afraid it's a .com address .

[ServerStorm]

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm afraid it's a .com address .

Hi Robert.

You could contact domain.com to via their transer form process. Although you don't meet the 'classic' corporate requirements you can still demonstrate enough to likely make this process work.

In the transfer form consider the following:
1:

Prepare a link to your Whois record.

2a:

You can find the address of HostOnce

2b:

You can state the relationship to HostOnce

2c:

There is fairly significat proof that HostOnce no longer is servicing their domain registration customers. It is unlikely that you'll be the first self (non) corporate registrant that is attempting to get their domain; therefore if you can show reasonible grounds that you are legit and should have rights to the domain then it has better opportunity to work.

2d:

You will state that you keep the account in good standing that you use this in a way to promote and deceminate your information, as they are unwilling to answer the phone, emails, or information accessed via web forms, they have blocked your right to continue operating this domain when when you reach the renewal anniversary date on 2012/08/14

2e:

Although, this is important, you may first try doing 2a to 2d and Domain.com may sufficiently understand your situation an not require a not document notarized.

3a:

You are not a company or registers so it should be OK that have a letter from yourself requesting the transfer. Make sure that this letter is set up like letterhead to show some effort to arrange it within their requirements something like:

John Doe
111 Parkville Ave, Unit 5, Bath, BA12AZ
<: telephone number here :><: email address here :><: website address here :>

3b: A copy of your Drivers License
3c: A copy of your Utility Bill

It cannot hurt to try this, and at least it will open a line of communication with domain.com.

Steve

[Robert Lacey]

In case it helps anyone else, I spoke to the Domain.com Support team on the phone today, and they told me that it was okay to submit a statement saying that this was not a company, in lieu of the company registration documents.

I shall of course report back if this turns out not to be true when they examine my submission in a couple of weeks' time.

[Robert Lacey]

Mind you, I now need to phone them again to discuss precisely who they will accept as a "public notary or equivalent" signature; will be a tad irritated if I end up having to spend £150 on a signature...

[ServerStorm]

Generally a Judge, Lawyer, Notary Public (least costly) or Public Official are all able to provide notifications. Good Luck

[Robert Lacey]

Yeah, the trouble is that in the UK, a notary public is far more expensive than a sollicitor, because they only really handle official international stuff. So I'm getting quoted £150 for a signature.

[ServerStorm]

Yeah, the trouble is that in the UK, a notary public is far more expensive than a sollicitor, because they only really handle official international stuff. So I'm getting quoted £150 for a signature.

Wow $50.00 CND for the same thing here.

[dklynn]

About 6 months ago, I got a Justice of the Peace (NZ's standard notary service) for NZ$ZERO. As NZ is modeled on Oz/UK, give the local JP a try.

Regards,

DK

[Robert Lacey]

Mmm. After a conversation with them over the telephone, they appear willing to accept a solicitor's signature (the equivalent thing in the UK). The confusion seems to stem from the wording of the form, since there is such a thing as a notary public in the UK, but it serves a different function.

Oh well. Will get the solicitor to sign it and hope that Domain.com don't just take my money and deny the application.