Ask HN: how to deal with "zombie" registar | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: how to deal with "zombie" registar

6 pointsjusob6 comments

I have a domain registered with PlanetOnline (http://www.planetonline.com/)for a couple of years. My domain name (.mn) expires on 04/31. I renewed it on 03/31 (Got the receipt), but the renewal did no happen. It appears that PlanetOnline is not really in business anymore: e-mails bounce back, phone support does not work, support/customer pages do not work or are down, etc. The only reason my domain is still with them is that the transfer out did not work.

What do do in that case? I remember ICANN taking over failing registrar, but I'm not sure how it works for .MN. Any advice to keep my domain name?

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PlanetOnline has had their accreditation revoked since the middle of last year[1]. Since this is a .mn domain, the NamesBeyond notice would not apply, however this is approximately the time which they ceased doing business. Assuming you have valid whois information which can be externally validated, you may wish to contact the registry[2] directly and explain the situation.

You will almost definitely make no progress with Planet Online.

[1] http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-27ju... [2] http://www.nic.mn/

i contacted nic.mn on their website and Facebook, but I haven't got any reply from them

I'm guessing you've tried all of the obvious phone numbers and email addresses?

http://www.planetonline.net/contactus.php

  Sales at 1.877.264.4032
  Tech Support 1.818.592.2999
  Customer Service 1.818.532.5510 or 1.866.662.4176
  Accounting at: 1.818.532.5000 Opt 5.

$ whois planetonline.com

   Billing Contact:
      Planet Online
      Linda Hablian
      20501 ventura blvd. Suite 148
      Woodland Hills, CA 91364
      United States
      Phone: +1.8185325213
      Email: lhablian@gmail.com

Yes. This is a robot answering with different options. Depending on the option choosen, it hangs up, or says "wrong number". No way to reach a human, or even to get on hold. I sent an e-mail and voice mail to the WHOIS contact as well.

If nothing helps another option is to register the domain in somewhere like GoDaddy, not because of their "great" service but just because they offer a service to grab the domain as soon as it expires. Then you can wait for it to expire. After the domain will be at GoDaddy you can easily transfer it to another registrar. Risky but might be the only choice.

Chances are that PlanetOnline is a reseller for .mn, not a registrar. Look in the WHOIS information for the domain; the real registrar will probably be listed there, and you should be able to contact them to take control of the domain.

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