Need advice in dealing with a deadbeat web host

[Polishwonder74]

Here's my situation: A friend of mine has had a website hosted by this company Webgeneral since '99, and all of a sudden she can't log in to FTP updates to the webpage. Strangely the page is still up, but her FTP login seems to be either goofed up or erased.

That's all fine and dandy, but she can't get any e-mails answered, and the el cheapo web host didn't give her a phone number to contact. Up until now, there hasn't been any problems at all, but now that there is, we can't seem to get the slightest bit of tech support via e-mail.

My questions are: Does anyone know of a good way to try to find their phone number? It's not indicated anywhere on their website. If she decides to scrap these chumps and get another web host, is it possible to just get a new host and have them change the DNS registration to point to the new server, and just stop paying the punks at the old place?

The website in question is:
http://www.taylorstackandfield.com/

The WHOIS info for that site is:
http://www.networksolutions.co...&_requestid=637558

The website of the deadbeat web host is:
http://www.webgeneral.com/

The WHOIS info for them is:
http://www.networksolutions.co...&_requestid=637622

Any advice you got for us would be VERY helpful. She's sent quite a few e-mails to them asking for help and hasn't heard from them at all. There is a mailing address in the WHOIS info, but still no phone number. What else can we do?

Thanks for reading, fellas.

:beer:

 

[skyking]

does she control the network solutions registrar account? If so, she can just leave them and start new.

 

[Polishwonder74]

Yeah, that's what I'm asking. It seems like we'll never be able to get in touch with the old host, I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not that's a legal option (to have Network Solutions remap the DNS stuff to point to a new host and quit paying the deadbeats at webgeneral).

 

[skyking]

OK, if SHE registered the domain, she owns it plain and simple. If she got a package from the deadbeats, then she is kinda screwed. NEVER get a packaged domain registration/hosting plan!!

 

[JackMDS]

Taking into consideration current prices few $$$ per year should NOT be part of the equation in choosing a Hosting Service.

If you buy a Domain make sure that it is actually yours and that you can host the domain on any server of your choice. I.e. some inexpensive domain vendors make their income from insisting that your server has to be on their fee for service Hosting system.

Do not buy a Domain that does not provide you with On Line Domain Controller.

If there is No online Domain Controller you are at the merci of the support practice of the Domain Vendor.

What is a Domain Controller?

It is a link to a page in the site of your Domain Vendor that allows you (with an adequate password) to control on line all the aspects involving your domain
Including, Ownership, Hosting DNS, etc.

Since it is available Online you do not need to contact the vendor's support system to make changes to your domain settings.

Quote from: http://www.ezlan.net/myip.html

 

[Polishwonder74]

Thanks, JackMDS. So I gather that the important thing here is really to get the scoop on the domain registration. And as far as I can tell, it was Network Solutions that did that stuff, and getting them on the phone is no problem at all.

Now does that make sense to you fellas? She had a customer back in '99 whom she paid to put this website together, the customer obviously went with Webgeneral, who probably took care of the DNS registration. Why would the company Webgeneral have Network Solutions do the DNS stuff instead of doing it themselves? (Pardon me for being a total n00b) I suppose that it's entirely possible that her web designin' customer went to Network Solutions to register the domain name, and then went to Webgeneral separately for hosting.

 

[JackMDS]

In the US there are about 40 Official Registrars appointed by the corporation that controls the Internet affairs.

The official Registrars tend to be more Expensive (E.g. Network Solutions $35 a year).

Resellers provide most of the discounts. They buy on our behalf large amount of Domains and thus get better price. However, they are not in control of the system, and can disappear at any time.

When you buy a Top Level Domain (TLD) name from the reseller, make sure that you know who is the actual registrar (e.g. Netsol, ENOM etc.).

There are seven Generic Top Level Domain, aka gTLD.

.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org

As well as "sponsored" TLDs aero, .coop, and .museum

And "unsponsored" TLDs biz, .info, and .name

The above can come for any country on the planet.

TLDs with two letters (such as .de, .mx, and .jp) have been established for over 240 countries and external territories and are referred to as "country-code" TLDs or "ccTLDs".

Your Domain name is actually with the official registrar, if one of them will go down it will ICAN job to find a solution.

ICANN-Accredited Registrars

If you buy a TLD from a reseller, and the reseller goes down you can have a variety of troubles since you are not privy to nature of the deal between your particular reseller and the official registrar.

If you buy or rent one of the ?tricky? lower level domains, you probably will loose it if the reseller ?disappears.?

If you care about your creation do not base your decision on few $$$ a year.

When you buy a domain from a reseller, wait few weeks, and enter the domain name into WhoIs engine to make sure that the domain is registered with an official registrar under your name, and did not stay in the hand of the reseller.

WhoIs engine

E.g., I bought my domains from a reseller but WhoIs search shows that my domains are registered with enom.com, which is an official Registrar. That means that the domains are officially mine.

Let say you bought a Domain from NameCheap.com

If Name Cheap uses eNom.com for registration, and it is in your own name, it means that your domain name is secured for the foreseeable future.

As for price you are secured for the first year, if next year NameCheap is gone, or decides to raise the prices dramatically, you will have to take further steps.

Which mean that there is a possibility that your site will be down for few days until it is resolved.

So be informed and be Careful, and you would be Happy Web Master.

:sun: