I hosted my site with one of Nigeria hosting company sometimes last year. But due to some reasons which borders on my not being satisfied with their customer care, I decided to host the site on another server. When the expire date was fast approaching, I decided to renew only the domain name. Unfortunately even after paying the necessary amount involve, the company refused to renew the domain name. After several mails to them, they replied one of the mails stating that my domain name can only be renewed if I host with them. Dear webmaster, is this the normal practice. The domain has already expired and the company neither renew the name nor refund my money.

It is not fair enough. No hosting company should do such from my own point of view. You can either choose to host or simply register your domain name. If you didn't enjoy their service then why not go for another? That is the simple thing to do. You have the receipt to the payment you made to them right? If yes, then follow the due process to get things done legally as to get your refund. I hope you understand what I mean. If you don't know how or don't feel like it, check the forum for a list of web hosting companies and get busy doing your thing again.

This is normal if you pay your renewal Domain name every year regularly and somehow you were not satisified with the Nigerian hosting service long before your renewal Domain name has expired, then you have your right transferring your ownership of Domain name not even yet expired to another Nigerian hosting service. NO PROBLEM!!!

Only you knew what is your primary DNS and secondary DNS (it is called nameserver(s)) from existing Nigerian hosting service to be transferred to new one you already opening to set up.  Your existing Domain name will AUTOMATICALLY transferred to new Nigerian hosting service the next 48-72 hours ACTIVATED.

I talk about manually set up existing Domain name transfer from old hosting service's nameservers into new hosting service's nameservers. There are automated Domain Registrar Transfer Request to be filled out by the ownership of the Domain Name electronically. Some takes by phone request! Some take by written letter authorization request.

Once Domain name completely transferred to new ones, you still eventually lost everything data files (index.html, forum folder, image folder, etc.) from old hosting service you want for new one unless you have your own back-up data on either local host system or CD or other external media storage such as USB memory stick, whatever you have.

But according to your posting, you said that you have not paid your existing Domain name last year---already past due unless you make payment in full. Not impossible to get your Domain name back on NON-PAYMENT CLAUSE by existing Nigerian hosting service.

I am so sorry!!! Good luck!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a Nigerian myself but i know lot about hosting service procedures in the USA- - -HOW IT WORKS from my experience over 15 years. I myself am hosting reseller for USA customers only, take care of multiple subdomain hosting service including domain name transfers client want me to do the job.

Some Web Hosting Companies set prices that are unrealistically low for domain registrations based on a flawed assumption that all customers will purchase a hosting product alongside it. When a customer desires otherwise, they resort to arm-twisting tactics or outright blackmail in some cases. That is why it is not advisable to signup to any hosting provider that does not grant you unfettered access to your domain authorization code.

Since your domain name has expired already, you have no choice but to play according to their rules.

Here are the steps I advise you to take:

1. Signup to their lowest Web Hosting package (if you were previously on a higher scale).

2. When they activate your hosting account and renew your domain name, login to your domain area and have your nameserver changed to that of the Web Hosting provider of your choice.

3. About 3 months or thereabout after your domain renewal, request for your domain secret code (if you don’t have it yet), then proceed to transfer your domain name to another domain service provider.

well i don't really no what to say you should have read their term of service well i doubt if they even have one mind you am not saying that their right for their action i have been registering domain for the past five years and i have been able to transfer my domain to any other host when i want to you should look out for features that will benefit you when searching for hosting comany

Thanks for your concern. What actually made this more annoying is that there is nothing like that in their in term of service. You can check that at www.abimco.com . The site actually expired on 24 may 2008, www.kayceenet.com but I had already paid the full amount necessary for renewal prior to the date. All I want is just to get the name back

Oh i see your site, www.kayceenet.com has been violated with your webhost service, abimoco.com's terms and condition (same as Private Policy) despite of you already paid in full on your domain name/host renewal. . .BUT, BUT, BUT.

It means you did not follow their term and conditions not allowing any spams you upload your site.

According to your webhost service, abimoco.com's terms explains clearly at below:

NOTE

Abimco WebHost has Zero Tolerance for the use of our services for any illegal activities online. see: http://abimco.com/term.htm

You also have the responsibility to ensure that your clients comply with this policy, as you will be precariously liable for any default. It wont be an excuse that the sub account on which the illegality is done belong to your client.
Non compliance with this policy will lead to the immediate termination of reseller account without warning or refund.
WE ARE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO ENSURE THE CRIME FREE CYBER WORLD:: JOIN US!!!

Contents
All services provided by Abimco WebHost may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any Nigeria (or any other country) law is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, material that is threatening or obscene, or material protected by trade secrets and other statue. The subscriber agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Abimco WebHost from any claims resulting from the use of the service which damages the subscriber or any other party.

Examples of Non-Acceptable Contents or Links
[list]
[li]Pirated software[/li]
[li]Hacking programs or archives[/li]
[li]Warez Sites[/li]
[li]Illegal MP3's[/li]
[li]Spamming Software[/li]
[li]VIP Poster[/li]
[li]Proxies[/li]
[li]Adult/pornography sites[/li]
[li]Fake site/phising [/li]
[/list]

That is a Custom "Suspended" page that also lists non-payment as one of the possible reasons for your ordeal.

Your domain appears to have been renewed.

uspry1, I dont know where you get the idea of spams. Abimco never complained that the site was being used for illegal activities. what happened is simply the issue of not renewing my domain name. Try to get the gist.

syskay, How are sure that the domain name has been renewed and if so, how will i move it to another server.

kelechiodo:

uspry1, I don't know where you get the idea of spams. Abimco never complained that the site was being used for illegal activities. what happened is simply the issue of not renewing my domain name. Try to get the gist.

Because I entered your site, kayceenet.com that prompted on my browser. See snapshot below what I see there.

I have been using abimco web hosting services for the past three years and have not come by this kind of situation. I don't know abimco to be the kind of person you are portraying him to be. When the entire server went down sometime last year, I called him on several occassions and he was able to give me concrete information on what was wrong. Even after the down-times, he personally called me to inform me that the server was up again. He also gave me good responses whenever I had anything to rectify with him anytime.

Talk things out well with him and I know he can be able to do something to help you, if possible.

Christ Jesus, where did you get that Uspry1. Please can someone else get to the site because all I have been seeing for the past days and even till today is

uspry1 is right. I see the same thing here. You are blocked because of some illegal activities from your domain.

---

OmniPotens, I am not trying to potray him in any any way, but when after sending several mails and nothing is being done about it, only for you to receive this message
Hello sir

Sorry for the delay in responding to your mail. You paid n1500 only, but the total cost of the renewal of both hosting and domain name is N3500, we will renew both hosting and domain after the balance of N2000 is paid. Thanks for your patronage.

Regards

Abimco

I tried as much as posible to explain to them, but nothing concret came out of it.
For Uspry1 I am still wondering where you get your image from. Please tell me the browser you used. Is there any other person that got the same result as Uspry1, I want to know.

@kelechiodo

Don't you see what @OmniPotens has seen the same thing as I see.

My browser is MS Internet Explorer 7. I copied & pasted your site, kayceenet.com on the empty URL address box and it prompted like this I mentioned my previous posting.

I do not make up! That is what I saw and snapshot for you as a proof.

There is something here. From the onset, what did you pay for? Was it hosting alone? I understand that hosting comes with free domain name as usual. Was this what you were running on before you finally wanted to renew only your domain name?

This will make things clearer here. If you paid for a hosting account and got a free domain name and finally want to switch to only domain name renewal then you should inform him (abimco) so that he will understand your need.

OmniPotens,
if you are an Abimco agent you should let me know, maybe you will pass my message to them. I have rechecked the site using internet browser and ff and nothing has changed. Your attched file has nothing to do with my site. I have opened it and it has no bearing whatsoever with www.kayceenet.com so stop the act.
Only I know what I am losing by this abimco's action. But no problem, I have decided that if they continued to hold on to the site, I will be left with no other option but to look for another name even though all the links with the websites I designed will be lost but no problem, everything is just to the glory of God

Uspry1, please click at the site that I posted, I believe you copied the wrong site

OmniPotens, please try to understand me, I never paid for the hosting alone at the initial time, I paid N5000 last year, N1500 for the domain name and N2,500 for hosting on their personal pack. It was never a free domain and this year alone I paid for only the renwal of the domain name. Abimco understood me perfectly as you can see from their mail.

@kelechiodo
I already did clicked your site you mentioned above, it still look the same result as i did copied & pasted the link.

No difference! Stop feel guilty saying that i copied wrong site.

This is correct site, www.kayceenet.com or http://kayceenet.com that your webhost, Abimco.com took over giving you a suspected site.

uspry1, what you are saying is still baffling people that are with me here. I even click the site you pasted and I still see the same thing. We have using different computers but the same result continue to appear. I just hope you are joking

I ain't joke! Serious matter! I can record my webcam to enter your site, it will prompt a suspected site.

That's fine you do not believe me! Wish you the best luck!

My desktop pc is HP pavilon with upgraded motherboard, 2GB CPU processor, 160GB hard disk drive, DVD-RW drive and 2MB Broadband connection. McAfee Total Security Protection package including Site Advisor (to detect any phishing sites).

I myself am web developer with web hosting reseller. By the way, i do not live in Nigeria! Not a problem!

See below:


     Linux Web Hosting in Nigeria See Details      

Starter
20MB
N2,500 + 1500 (domain)
 

Personal
50MB
N3,500
 

Bronze
100MB
N6,500
 

Silver
200MB
N10,500
 

Gold
500MB
N12,500
 

Platinum
1000MB
N15,500
 

Super 300GB N30, 000    
Mega Unlimited   N40,000    

You paid for the personal plan right? It comes with a domain name attached to it. You didn't pay seperately for domain name then a hosting account. Is what I said correct? This is what I could understand from what I saw at the Principal's website.

@kelechiodo

Guess what, I left my house to a nearby neighbours place to verify this stuff and I see the same page. I guess you have to check well. Moreover, if you were not a client of abimco, we would not be seeing a suspension page from him as this

http://abimco.com/suspended.page/

Man, I think you have to get the solution to this whole thing yourself because you are not of the same viewing opinion as me and uspry1.

I clicked the following site: http://kayceenet.com and it prompted showing picture below. Same thing, no difference from my previous posting where i copied/pasted "www.kayceenet.com'!

You can see the clear URL address on following picture below:

1. Abimco should clearly state why he is suspending the page because he listed amongst other things issus with blling which to me is the case here.

2. Kelechiodo has not done anything wrong by wanting to renew only the domain name since he cleary paid for he domain initially, so the domain name is not a free one.

3. Abimco should renew the domain name as requested by the client as it is not compulsory for a client to host with any service provider.

4. Kelechiodo should understand that it is perfectly normal for people to see the suspended pag even though he cannot see it as he may be viewing cached web pages on his machine.

5. Abimco should be able to clear his name as he is using this forum to advertise his services and the email Kelechiodo reproduced is indicting to me.

@ topic,

Peope should be careful and vigilan to avoid arm twisting and unnecessary misunderstandings with service providers.

@ Afam
Take a lot at the image below so you can help ask Kelechiodo if what is there on the personal plan was what he paid for. It will help find a solution to his problem.

Hi,
Personally I see no reason why the company should violate your hosting right unless there's something you are not telling us. If you have not done anything outside your contract agreement, I would implore you to take legal action and of course you need to let the house know what kind of company is doing such or do you have any skeleton in the cupboard? .

take legal actions my friend is you know you av no skeleton

After carefully examining your subsequent posts, it now appears apparent that this is a typical case of poor communication. Your web host appears to be using a billing solution (clientexec) to administer your hosting and domain accounts.

Now, it appears that a bill (invoice) of N3500 has been generated for you. Paying N1500 will leave an outstanding of N2000 as your pending due. Calling them some months before your invoice was due to be generated, to request for a change of your subscription to "domain name" only is the ideal thing you should have done to avoid such an imbroglio.

The appearance of the suspended page indicates that your domain name has been renewed. Your isp’s cache has not been updated; that is why you are still seeing the former page.

Thanks for your concern.
OmniPotens, I paid for the personal pack N3500 and extra N1500 for the domain name.
uspry1, regard less of what you are seeing, the point remains that Abimco never told me that my site was being suspended till it actually expired. The site you saw may have started existing from yesterday. It appears that as syskay said the domain must have been renewed. My consern then is shifting it. Once more thank you all, but if worse comes, I will have to look for another name.
Out of curiosity though, uspry1, why did you change the subject title. Not that I am complaining, it is just out of curiosity. You are actually doing a great job in moderating this forum.

@ kelechiodo
The simplest thing you should do here is to establish a better communication between you and the hosting company. When you both understand each other well then this whole thing will be a forgotten issue. Just try to make him understand you well; that is the point and he in turn will state his points clear to you. Next will be the solution, and you are back to your business as usual.

OmniPotens:

@ Afam
Take a lot at the image below so you can help ask Kelechiodo if what is there on the personal plan was what he paid for. It will help find a solution to his problem.

I am sure he has made it clear that he paid for a domain name and I believe that was the plan without a free domain name attached to it.

And the email from the company clearly stated they would not renew until a web hosting package was renewed.

This is wrong by all standards and it is this type of problem that is bring all sorts of bad names to the web development industry.

What is wrong is wrong, there is no middle ground here.