Hi All,

I have been quietly reading this list now for the last 2 years now, and
finally I have a situation that has developed with IRA that is worthy of
posting here.

We registed a new .com.au for a client in Sept 2000

 IRA send out a renewal notice to our client in Sept 2001 and the client
paid it - $215 for two years - this was part of their "get a free .biz
domain name promotion"

That was the last our client heard from them.

Apparently, the payment was processed, but the renewal was not. Seems like
their billing and payment systems are in order, but the rest might be flaky.

Ends up that the domain name was not reviewed as we thought but actually
deactivated between Nov 2001 and Feb 2002, until we realised it was not in
the AUNIC records.

Our client was lucky the name was not re-taken by someone else during that
time, and we re-registered through webcentral when we set up the hosting
environment. Webcentral is now the admin contact for the domain name.

I have called IRA, and they have confirmed that they received the payment
back in Nov 2001.

During that same conversation, they also asked me for the Admin Key to the
domain name, and requested that we email it to them ASAP.

I suspect that the person at IRA I spoke to knew that there was something
seriously wrong about this, and has asked for the ADMIN key to update the
ADMIN registry with their details, (and remove webcentrals details).

I have not as yet persued a refund, but am collecting my information before
I proceed.

The other consideration I have here is the risk factor. Who do you think
would be liable if the domain name was re-registered by someone else during
Nov 2002 and Feb 2002. My client is a large commercial entity who would have
spewed if this had occurred. I am dissapointed that the IRA could have
created so much risk for our clients. If this has happenned to me, I wonder
if there are any other cases like this.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what the best path for resolution is.
Ideally, I would like to obtain a refund for our clients' sake, given that
they have just had to re-register their (previously registered) name.

I look forward to any constructive comments.

Jim

> ]
> ] IRA send out another invoice to our client today - $251 and a request
for
> ] the Registry Key (which I have thank God and the client doesn't). So I
check
> ] the expiry date at INWW and its 24th Aug 2002.  That's right, this year.
IRA
> ] never renewed the registration.
> ]
> ] Called IRA and they say sorry about the second Invoice - "we must have
> ] doubled up" and they go on to say they need the Registry Key before the
> ] renewal can take place.  I say, "Not on your life are you going to get
the
> ] Registry Key", and they say they "cannot renew the domain without it".
> ]
> ] I ask what happens about the $251 already paid - we'll accept a refund
and
> ] they so, "Not likely - that was part of the terms and conditions.  Just
> ] provide us with the Registry Key so we can renew the domain".
> ]
> ] So I say I will get the client to contact the ACCC and they so, "That's
> ] fine".



----- Original Message -----
From: David Keegel <djk&#167;cyber.com.au>
To: <dns&#167;lists.auda.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: [DNS] Interesting IRA


> While this is bad news for the client, there is a silver lining for
> the industry.  A case like this seems like a pretty straightforward
> one for the ACCC to look at: supplier has offered a service, client
> has actually paid for that service (Sep 2001), service has not been
> delivered, and supplier has apparently refused to give a refund.
>
> Can you please make absolutely sure that the client does actually
> complain to the ACCC as quickly as possible.  The ACCC can only
> do its job based on the information it has at hand.
>
> Unfortunately (for the industry) this case is complicated by the
> fact that the domain can't actually be renewed through Melb IT
> until 60 days before it expires (apparently 24th June 2002).
>
> But it definitely sounds like something the ACCC needs to know
> about, and which hopefully might provide ACCC with a basis for
> action.
>
> ] I have a new IRA story from one of my clients today. It's unbelievable!
> ]
> ] We registed a new .com.au for our client in Aug 2000
> ]
> ] IRA send out a renewal notice in SEP 2001 and the client paid it - $251
for
> ] two years - this was part of their "get a free .biz domain name).
> ]
> ] IRA send out another invoice to our client today - $251 and a request
for
> ] the Registry Key (which I have thank God and the client doesn't). So I
check
> ] the expiry date at INWW and its 24th Aug 2002.  That's right, this year.
IRA
> ] never renewed the registration.
> ]
> ] Called IRA and they say sorry about the second Invoice - "we must have
> ] doubled up" and they go on to say they need the Registry Key before the
> ] renewal can take place.  I say, "Not on your life are you going to get
the
> ] Registry Key", and they say they "cannot renew the domain without it".
> ]
> ] I ask what happens about the $251 already paid - we'll accept a refund
and
> ] they so, "Not likely - that was part of the terms and conditions.  Just
> ] provide us with the Registry Key so we can renew the domain".
> ]
> ] So I say I will get the client to contact the ACCC and they so, "That's
> ] fine".
> ]
> ] BTW, a check to see if the client received their .biz (WHOIS at IRA
site)
> ] revealed it is 'available to register'.
> ]
> ]
> ] Chas Cleland
>
> __________________________________________________________________________
>  David Keegel <djk&#167;cyber.com.au>  URL: http://www.cyber.com.au/users/djk/
> Cybersource P/L: Unix Systems Administration and TCP/IP network management
>
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