old MSP won't give up domain name
-
It's surprising to me that the registrar didn't give up the domain, really. Was the letter to reclaim sent on letterhead? Is this a reputable registrar?
-
@Grey said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
It's surprising to me that the registrar didn't give up the domain, really. Was the letter to reclaim sent on letterhead? Is this a reputable registrar?
That's the process I have been through in the past. Letter on company letterhead. The registrar is bluehost.com
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
I am employed because people that are great lawyers, architects, engineers, etc, don't know what a domain name is.
I told the owner to ask for the password to the domain name before I took over and the MSP sent him a list of users accounts and passwords for their windows domain. I told him to go back and ask for the password that will let him update his website and he wouldn't provide it. At that point the owner asked me to take over.
This is a matter for lawyers, as you the new MSP have no affiliation with the old (besides replacing him). The client owns and pays for the domain and is ransoming the business.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
I am employed because people that are great lawyers, architects, engineers, etc, don't know what a domain name is.
That's not an IT job, that's a business consultant job. You are there because they are not managing their businesses correctly. So your role isn't MSP here, it's "doing the CEO's job".
-
@Mike-Davis the end result here, even if you are in a tight spot (idk their personalities), is to meet with a lawyer. It may be a hard sell because everyone freaks out anytime you hear the word lawyer, but this is a matter of legal wording and what the law has to say about who owns what. If you aren't willing to do this just move over to a new domain. I think either way its going to be difficult though.
-
@momurda said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
Why isnt the owner of the company dealing with this?
He goes to their place of business, demand they do what they are supposed to do, preferably while customers or potential customers are there. Make noise, more noise, and more noise. Stand outside front door saying how bad these assholes are and what they are doing to him. All those customers walk away and the msp loses more money.
Letting people steal from you(even if it is imaginary property)? Letting people hold your business hostage? Really unbelievable the owner isnt doing anything about this himself.Yeah, none of this is related to IT and none of it is stuff that can be handed off. This is the most core thing the company could possibly have to deal with. If you are outsourcing your core management... you aren't a viable company.
-
@JaredBusch said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@momurda question the sounds of it they are not stealing anything
Agreed. While possible, it sounds far more likely the owner decided to not do his due diligence (you had one job to do Mr. CEO) and never took ownership of his company's identity.
-
@momurda said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
Not actually stealing domain name, at least not yet since it was renewed through old msp recently. Still unacceptable. Still dont know why the owner is handing this off. Probably because he cant do anything for himself and is used to having other people wipe his own ass. My point about disrupting them is still valid. The owner should be handling this. Not an IT guy. It really sounds like the owner doesnt actually give a shit, or not enough to do something himself. Which means @Mike-Davis shouldnt either, but probably does because of professional pride.
Even if the owner hands it off, it would be to a lawyer or business adviser, not someone in IT.
-
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
That's not an IT job, that's a business consultant job. You are there because they are not managing their businesses correctly. So your role isn't MSP here, it's "doing the CEO's job".
OK, so I'm a CEO consultant. I don't care because I help people and make a living at it by knowing stuff they don't. My business is doing very well because there a plenty of guys out there they tell owners things like "that's not IT's job" and leave the owner hanging.
Please encourage IT guys to do this. It's great for my business.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
At that point the owner asked me to take over.
You should have said "no", there is no IT work here and nothing for you to do. The owner is putting you on the spot to be liable for something you have zero connection with.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Grey said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
It's surprising to me that the registrar didn't give up the domain, really. Was the letter to reclaim sent on letterhead? Is this a reputable registrar?
That's the process I have been through in the past. Letter on company letterhead. The registrar is bluehost.com
But in the past, you were dealing with the owners of the domain, right?
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
That's not an IT job, that's a business consultant job. You are there because they are not managing their businesses correctly. So your role isn't MSP here, it's "doing the CEO's job".
OK, so I'm a CEO consultant. I don't care because I help people and make a living at it by knowing stuff they don't. My business is doing very well because there a plenty of guys out there they tell owners things like "that's not IT's job" and leave the owner hanging.
Please encourage IT guys to do this. It's great for my business.
Most IT guys should NOT do this. It's huge liability and if you look on places like SW, the vast majority of IT have zero clue about business and would do huge damage to the businesses and be legally responsible. In this case, you are taking on risk if you do anything but hot potato this back to the CEO. There is literally nothing you can do here, and I mean that. Any action you take could contribute to him losing his company's identity and you might be who he sues for it.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
My business is doing very well because there a plenty of guys out there they tell owners things like "that's not IT's job" and leave the owner hanging.
No one can "leave him hanging" when he hires IT staff and wants them to act as lawyers. Would you call it "leaving him hanging" if he asked his plumber or electrician to act as his lawyer and they refused?
-
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
But in the past, you were dealing with the owners of the domain, right?
In the past it was pretty much the exact same thing where the email address was inaccessable, but the address and everything matched the true business owner. The last time it happened, it was a non for profit where someone registered the domain name with an @aol.com address. Years later they wanted to move to google apps and couldn't access the domain since the guy forgot the password and they had no way to do the password reset since the email address didn't exist anymore. Letter on company letterhead faxed to the registrar did the trick.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
But in the past, you were dealing with the owners of the domain, right?
In the past it was pretty much the exact same thing where the email address was inaccessable, but the address and everything matched the true business owner. The last time it happened, it was a non for profit where someone registered the domain name with an @aol.com address. Years later they wanted to move to google apps and couldn't access the domain since the guy forgot the password and they had no way to do the password reset since the email address didn't exist anymore. Letter on company letterhead faxed to the registrar did the trick.
In that case, though, it was a third party email (AOL) and not a clear ownership and not going to an active, owned email account. So while I see the similarity, I don't see it as close enough to be applicable here. That's a lost email account situation where the email was a non-identifiable company,
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
That's not an IT job, that's a business consultant job. You are there because they are not managing their businesses correctly. So your role isn't MSP here, it's "doing the CEO's job".
OK, so I'm a CEO consultant. I don't care because I help people and make a living at it by knowing stuff they don't. My business is doing very well because there a plenty of guys out there they tell owners things like "that's not IT's job" and leave the owner hanging.
Please encourage IT guys to do this. It's great for my business.
It is not IT's job. So telling the truth is what should happen. You should offer advice because you're more skilled than IT , But it is still not an IT job.
-
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Grey said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
It's surprising to me that the registrar didn't give up the domain, really. Was the letter to reclaim sent on letterhead? Is this a reputable registrar?
That's the process I have been through in the past. Letter on company letterhead. The registrar is bluehost.com
https://hostingfacts.com/hosting-reviews/bluehost/
If the MSP was being paid as much as you said in the other thread, they were making serious bank and doing fuck all.
-
@JaredBusch said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
That's not an IT job, that's a business consultant job. You are there because they are not managing their businesses correctly. So your role isn't MSP here, it's "doing the CEO's job".
OK, so I'm a CEO consultant. I don't care because I help people and make a living at it by knowing stuff they don't. My business is doing very well because there a plenty of guys out there they tell owners things like "that's not IT's job" and leave the owner hanging.
Please encourage IT guys to do this. It's great for my business.
It is not IT's job. So telling the truth is what should happen. You should offer advice because you're more skilled than IT , But it is still not an IT job.
Right, the most important thing that the CEO can know right now is that you are powerless and he needs an attorney.
-
@Grey said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Grey said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
It's surprising to me that the registrar didn't give up the domain, really. Was the letter to reclaim sent on letterhead? Is this a reputable registrar?
That's the process I have been through in the past. Letter on company letterhead. The registrar is bluehost.com
https://hostingfacts.com/hosting-reviews/bluehost/
If the MSP was being paid as much as you said in the other thread, they were making serious bank and doing fuck all.
Which is what it sounds like his impression of the CEO's skills would lead to. Although, let's be fair, this conversation has costs hundreds of dollars of time from IT pros alone. If the MSP spent 15 minutes a year dealing with that account, they'd be losing money.
-
@momurda said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
Not actually stealing domain name, at least not yet since it was renewed through old msp recently. Still unacceptable. Still dont know why the owner is handing this off. Probably because he cant do anything for himself and is used to having other people wipe his own ass. My point about disrupting them is still valid. The owner should be handling this. Not an IT guy. It really sounds like the owner doesnt actually give a shit, or not enough to do something himself. Which means @Mike-Davis shouldnt either, but probably does because of professional pride.
This is definitely a glass tower type is position you have. Not saying it's entirely wrong, but geez, how many people know that they should maintain their own domain name registration? If you're not IT, probably not many.
Here's where I sit back and allow Scott to provide a list of things that fall through the cracks just like this.
