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We are trying to transfer my mom's domain registration from a web hosting service. My hubby and I used them for years and they were fine for a long time, but in the last few years we had continuous problems with servers going down and customer service pretty much disappeared. We were able to move all of our sites (including my mom's) to another web hosting service. We got all of our domain names transferred, though they were a pain about it and it required several requests. My mom had renewed hers for two years, so she was there for an extra year.
She sent in a request for her EPP key and got the response that they would have to ask management. We waited and nothing happened. A few weeks later, we asked again. No response. At that point, they didn't respond at all and totally ignored us. We found out that the place was a reseller for eNom, so contacted them and asked for their help. At this point, a month has passed since the original request for the code and the clock is ticking since the domain expires a week into August. The response from eNom was that they'd contact the other place and ask them to send the key. They asked my mom to give them 48 hours to respond. So, 48 hours pass and nothing, so we asked again for the key. They said again that they wanted to ask the other place for the key and for us to wait 48 hours. We replied that we'd already waited 48 hours and that it'd been a month, when ICANN says that they must provide the code in 5 days.
eNom also asked my mom to set up an account with them, which we did -- supposedly so they could transfer the code to her in that account. Now, it felt like eNom was giving the run around and trying to drag this out past the expiration date. Next thing, they ask my mom for her driver's license or passport number, saying that they had to verify that she was who she said she was. Her contact info, including the email address for correspondence, matches her domain registration exactly. I have never heard of something like that. She doesn't want her info given to them.
This is ICANN's policy about domain transfer:
"Registrars may not employ any mechanism for complying with a Registered Name Holder's request to obtain the applicable "AuthInfo Code" that is more restrictive than the mechanisms used for changing any aspect of the Registered Name Holder's contact or name server information."
We replied back that they couldn't ask for more info than was needed for changing contact info or name servers. I've never seen anyone require a DL or passport for that. After a bit more back and forth, they then asked for a FAX of the driver's license of passport, saying they had to verify her identity.
Have you guys ever heard of such a thing? We've had websites now for nearly 10 years and I've never seen such a run around about a simple domain name transfer. Are they within their authority through ICANN to ask for this additional info?
Thanks for any help. My mom and I are both terribly frustrated. We're thinking if she does give them this info, they won't give the EPP key anyway.
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