Help, my website is being held to ransome

[itwasadarkandstormy]

I commissioned a website back in September of last year. Really simple, classy etc. I've had to chase and chase the designer for any information on progress, developments and delivery. I eventually got fed up two weeks ago and said I was terminating my service with him.

He published the site later that day - such a bodge job I'm truly embarrassed to be associated with it. I have asked him to change the nameserver details and send me the website in a zip file. Cue ransome...

WIBU to contact Trading Standards as his basic T&C's make him liable for NOTHING?

Well yes you would be unreasonable, because if the Ts and Cs say nothing then there's nothing to hold him up to.

How do you mean, he's holding the site to ransom? Is the domain name registered to your name?

Yes it is - but he refuses to 'give' it back

Why do you want it if you don’t want to be associated with it?
Or do you mean just the domain name?

What an arse he is. So he has control of the hosting account he bought the domain from, and won't point the domain anywhere else?

There's not much you can do unless you get legal about it which would cost.

Can you buy a similar domain yourself? So a .org or .biz or .whatever?

If the domain is in your name (just held by his registrar) you can get it back through nominet.

I want my website done properly. I'm embarrassed by what he has produced. But, after 7 months, I have no faith in him ability to 'fix' it in a timely fashion

Then first of all you get the domain back and stop pointing it at his bad work, so off to Nominet for you. Never done that though so I don't know what it involves or how long it will take.

Thanks for the nominet heads up. I'm on it....

Who owns / pays for the domain?

What work has he been paid for?

As the owner of a established web design agency, this happens to people with depressing frequency sadly.

It's very easy for people to start a web design business from their bedroom, call themselves professional and then disappear when they can't deliver.

They then frequently reinvent themselves under a different name and repeat the process.

Assuming it's a .uk domain and you are the legal registrant which you can check here

www.nominet.uk/whois/

Then Nominet are very helpful at getting control back of the domain for you - usually costs £12 + VAT

Sometimes rogue designers can quietly change the registrant details to their own so I hope that's not the case here.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Thanks for the messages - all the work has been paid for. I looked at nominet, and it is saying the domain is still with godaddy, but it isn't. Should I go ahead and change it anyway?

Are the nameservers set to Go Daddy's ?

Do you have any email accounts associated with the domain?

I would think that the nameserver is actually pointing to his hosting platform, nominet just hasn't updated itself yet.

Nominet is instant (we're a registrar) so any changes are reflected immediately on their site although it can take up to 24 hours for them to be picked up by DNS servers

How complex is the site? I'm a graphic designer myself with mid level web design skills (can't do complex coding), so if you need something new with a quick turnaround I'd be happy to help.