Hosting Site failure

[jmhcs]

My web hosting site seems to have gone down. I now have my doubts whether or not they will ever be active again. I suspect not. Unfortunately, I had a case of the stupids and paid a year up front, not a good thing to do. The original company (Graphic RevolutionZ) we signed with sold the service to a company called 9 Online Hosting. The named servers for this site is

NS1.9OH.NET
NS2.9OH.NET

My question is: Does anyone know of a regulatory bureau that has jurisdiction over such things?? Although the amount of money lost was not that great, the principal of the issue tells me to pursue legal action of sorts if such is available. I do not like being taken.

Even a e-mail telling me and their other customers would have been more palitable than just turning off the site. It would have given us opportunity to find another host before much time had passed.

Any comments on this issue would be appreciated.:( :mad:

[qball]

My question is: Does anyone know of a regulatory bureau that has jurisdiction over such things?


Yes, common sense. You sure signed the contract, right?

Seemed like a good deal...

[rmanet]

You're pretty much out of luck - lot's of folks lost their ***** (including me) buying prepaid internet access, and the same happened alot with website hosting - you're just a "creditor" who's never going to get a refund.

Aassuming you have the website files backed up you really need to get the domain registrations figured out in order to get your domain moved to someone else - hopefully you kept yourselves listed as the various contacts, and that the e-mail you're using for those contacts are still intact.

Moving the domain is fairly easy but highly automated - if the hosting company is the primary contact it's gonna be a real pain to get it straightened out.

Your best bet is to find a good firm to host your site, then let them show you how to get everything moved.

[jmhcs]

Thanks for your comments. I have already moved to a new host.

It seems that the pre-paid services (hosting, internet) should be under some law that at least requires them to go through a legal process to dodge their obligations. Magazine subscriptions are under such rules as are insurance companies. They are required to set up a cash reserve to meet such obligations when things go bad. They cannot just walk away.

I will pursue this, not because the loss was great but because of the principal of the issue. I feel I was "robbed" of $100 as were many other subscribers to 9 Online Hosting. Someone should be held accountable.

If I make progress. I will post the results.

[rmanet]

To be honest, you won't find a regulator that will help you, and complaining to the BBB usually puts them on notice, and warns others.

I've been to small claims court 3 times in the last 20 years or so, it's surprisingly simple, ask for your money, make 'em pay your court and other expenses (including wages if you take the day off, etc.) and if nothing else you can then go after any accounts and/or even find a few individuals to pursue if they haven't protected themselves properly (most small firms incorporate but don't do it right - if they don't file legal notices, etc. sometimes you can get a judge to hold the owner or a principal personally liable).