Domain Name Transfer Problems
2nd February 2008 Very recently Merlin Webcraft dealt with the transfer of a domains IPS Tag from one domain name company to another. The whole event proved things could go wrong unexpectedly..
A simple IPS tag change took place and this process involves changing the IPS tag from the domain name company holding the domain to the IPS tag of the domain name company it was being transferred too.
The company iholding the IPS tag mmediately changed it to the name of the new company holding the domain, however when the domain was being transferred in, it failed. Panick for most would normally have set in, particularly those who use registrars with support ticket systems that guarentee to respond in 24 hours. This could mean 1 question and one response every 24 hours.
The client believed one of two things had taken place, either the import system of the new company had failed which the company naturally denied or someone had been watching activity for the domain and when the IPS tag was released they took control unlawfully. The resulting observation was this, the domain had been transferred into someone else' account on the same registrar, they now had control and could do as they pleased with the domain. The domain holder had no idea as to how to correct this particular problem as the company they were transferring the domain into were asking for the domain certificate as proof of ownership.
The client came to us with there problem, the new domain registrar was asking for proof of ownership and as with most people, they had no idea how they obtain that information.
Merlin Webcraft acted on their behalf, establishing contact with the new domain name registrar ensuring that nothing further could occur to the domain whilst this dispute over ownership took place. We quickly contacted Nominet, gained the client access into the domain account holder area where they were able to retrieve their certificate and prove ownership. Within an hour the domain had been placed within their control and the problem resolved. Knowing exactly what to do in case of mishap is comfort for our client.
It would seem that the domain being transferred to the new registrar had been registered and hosted with them previously. When the IPS tag was changed, the system of the new registrar assumed the domain belonged to tihs old account and automatically moved the domain into that account. It was not a system failure or unlawful behaviour from any other company, just a set of unfortunate circumstances.
They would have resolved this themselves but fortunately thnks to Merlin webcrafts experiences it was resolved sooner rather than later. | 
