Unlocking a domain

H

Host4AfricaAreCrap

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Hi

my site is currently hosted by Host4Africa. I raised a helpdesk ticket with them a week ago asking them to release my domain and issue me with an EPP code so that I can transfer my domain to a better ISP. They are ignoring my request by replying with silly time wasting questions, which I have repeatedly answered.

is there a way to get my domain ( it's a .com and not a .co.za) released without having to deal with Host4Africa?

By the way, they don't have a phone number or physical address. I am sure this is a done for their own self-preservation.

Thank you.
 
Hi there,

My first suggestion would be to do a whois on your domain and ascertain as to who they purchase their domains through and from there lodge a domain dispute against them.

Unfortunately without the EPP, and the domain's status set to unlocked, your only option is to go with my suggestion above.

If you need any help then feel free to send me a pm.
 
server-admins.net said:
My first suggestion would be to do a whois on your domain and ascertain as to who they purchase their domains through and from there lodge a domain dispute against them.
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+1

Good luck mate. Never fun to be left high and dry in that sort of situation.
 
Host4Africa are pathetic! I've had nothing but bad experiences with them.

And which ISP does not have a telephone number?!? It's ridiculous.
 
Thank you for all the replies and help.
It's now sorted. I contacted tucows and put in a compliance complaint. Host4Africa got their act together within an hour and unlocked the domain.

But, because the request was completed this month, despite me originating it on the 26 March, they are charging me again at the end of this month because their T&Cs require a calendar month's notice. I have sent them an email pointing out their unethical behaviour and not had a response. They make a good case for moving the rest of my domains away from them - the thieving bastards!
 
Glad its resolved!

Do your homework before investing money with any company, and it never hurts to pick up the phone and speak to them before you do business.
 
server-admins.net, I've followed the link to your hosting. You just may see a new customer in a few days time.
 
server-admins.net said:
Nothing out of the ordinary, compared to a few other hoster's AUP.
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You're joking right?

Extracts from your AUP:

First violations will result in a Cleanup Fee of R1500 and the customers account will be reviewed for possible immediate termination.
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A second violation will result in Cleanup Fee of R3500 and immediate termination of the customers account.
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The Customer who violates this policy agrees to also pay Investigation Fees of no more than R1500 per hour that Article Seven Internet Solutions personnel must spend to investigate any violations.
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Accounts which have been compromised due to weak passwords are subject to a penalty of R1000.00 per incident, excluding any investigation fees or third party amounts.
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In the event where Article Seven Internet Solutions is requested to investigate, or deems an investigation arising out of a week password a minimum fee of R1500.00 shall be charged to the account holders account. Should any investigation exceed an hour, the account holders account shall be charged at R1500 per hour.
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:wtf:
 
Apologies to the OP for the thread jack.

If you want me to defend our AUP by quoting other ISP's AUP's then let me know and I'll gladly do so.
If your intention is to sign up for services for the sole purpose of spamming, which affects all hosted on the affected server then I understand why you may have objections to our AUP, but you have not signed up for any services and have no history or dealings with us so this seems more like a deliberate slander attempt.

I assume that your next response shall include that we need to advertise with MYBB, which we have plans for and have been in contact with Cara for this purpose. The responses within this thread were never given to drive or attract any business but to offer assistance to some one who requested it.
 
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Captain Morgan said:
I would reconsider before going with server-admins.net. For starters, check out their AUP regarding "violation clean up fees"...
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Perfectly normal for an ISP to charge for spam clean-up fees. Almost all of them do (and should). It is a cost to the ISP as a result of an acceptable usage violation. The ISP should not have to bare that cost itself. Don't think it is necessary to slander server-admins as a result of a very common (and sensible) clause. Let's not derail the thread.
 
server-admins.net said:
Apologies to the OP for the thread jack.

If you want me to defend our AUP by quoting other ISP's AUP's then let me know and I'll gladly do so.
If your intention is to sign up for services for the sole purpose of spamming, which affects all hosted on the affected server then I understand why you may have objections to our AUP, but you have not signed up for any services and have no history or dealings with us so this seems more like a deliberate slander attempt.

I assume that your next response shall include that we need to advertise with MYBB, which we have plans for and have been in contact with Cara for this purpose. The responses within this thread were never given to drive or attract any business but to offer assistance to some one who requested it.
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Is it a problem for you to get some constructive criticism?

I'm not trying to "slander" you. I'm just questioning the high clean up and investigative fees.

While I agree that spam is a problem, I cannot see how the high fees justify dealing with it. While it might prevent people to sign up with the intention to send spam, what about if a client's website gets compromised? Or your servers get compromised?

And how can it be justified to invoice a client R1500 an hour if a website gets compromised due to a "weak password"? I would think that in practice servers are configured in such a way that damage caused by hacking is limited as far as possible to the compromised account?

@ OP:

My apologies for going off-topic for a moment, but keep in mind that an AUP forms part of the terms and conditions of hosting companies, so it's important to know what you are agreeing to before signing up.
 
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chopsky said:
Perfectly normal for an ISP to charge for spam clean-up fees. Almost all of them do (and should). It is a cost to the ISP as a result of an acceptable usage violation. The ISP should not have to bare that cost itself. Don't think it is necessary to slander server-admins as a result of a very common (and sensible) clause. Let's not derail the thread.
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I completely agree with you. But isn't R1500 an hour a bit overkill?
 
Captain Morgan said:
Is it a problem for you to get some constructive criticism?
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Absolutely not, how ever your delivery of criticism was not constructive by any means.


Captain Morgan said:
While I agree that spam is a problem, I cannot see how the high fees justify dealing with it. While it might prevent people to sign up with the intention to send spam, what about if a client's website gets compromised? Or your servers get compromised?
Click to expand...
Let me try justify these fees for you. For a second imagine that your website is compromised due to negligence on your part or your developers part and it sends out 200 000 emails to hotmail users. Microsoft black lists our IP's and during this time we and our clients suffer as a result of not being able to conduct business with anyone within the Microsoft network.

The time spent on clearing spools, rotating smtp IP's, isolating the offending website, removing IP's from RBL's all add up quickly
Captain Morgan said:
And how can it be justified to invoice a client R1500 an hour if a website gets compromised due to a "weak password"? I would think that in practice servers are configured in such a way that damage caused by hacking is limited as far as possible to the compromised account?
Click to expand...
I justified the presented fees in the previous statement. We employ multiple methods to curve and prevent spam, these include bruteforce detection to prevent weak password compromises, we do implement a "strong password policy" to try curb weak passwords, we do have comprehensive spool monitoring on all mail servers to ensure that when such incidents may arise that we are able to tackle the problem prior to it escalating to an incident presented within my example.

Within the past 4-5 years only two clients have been held liable for spam runs in which these clients deliberately sent out spam. 9/10 we are able to prevent such issues which happen on a weekly basis.

Our aim is to prevent spammers from using our services, not punish those who land up falling victim to anothers deliberate attempt at exploiting their accounts / websites.

Perhaps if you had taken the time to ask about our AUP prior to gunning us down in public then the misconception of slander could have been avoided.

@ OP:
Captain Morgan said:
My apologies for going off-topic for a moment, but keep in mind that an AUP forms part of the terms and conditions of hosting companies, so it's important to know what you are agreeing to before signing up.
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Agree 100%
 
froot said:
You again? Eish.

server-admins.net has been nothing but decent on this forum, and everyone speaks highly of them [you don't count].
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Thanks froot, glad to see that there are more than two people on here that have noticed the repeated incidents between Captain Morgan and ourselves.
 
Captain Morgan said:
I completely agree with you. But isn't R1500 an hour a bit overkill?
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Taken from a major competitor's website:

"###### reserves the right to charge the customer of the account used to send any unsolicited email a clean-up fee or any charges incurred for blacklist removal. This cost of the clean-up fee is entirely at the discretion of ######."

Which do you prefer? :wtf:
 
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Captain anti-server-admins said:
I would reconsider before going with server-admins.net. For starters, check out their AUP regarding "violation clean up fees"...
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Oh look its Captain anti-server-admins at it again

What seems to be your issue with server admins? Something personal?

After reading through this and their AUP I dont see anything out of the ordinary

Taken from another competitors AUP

First violations will result in a Cleanup Fee of R1500 and the customer's account will be reviewed for possible immediate termination.
A second violation will result in Cleanup Fee of R3500 and immediate termination of the customer's account.
The Customer who violates this policy agrees to also pay Investigation Fees of no more than R1500 per hour that Web Something personnel must spend to investigate any violations.
 
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