We've been dealing with a situation where our domain registration seems to have been auto-renewing for years, but we can't figure out who actually has access to the account. The public DNS records indicate that it's under private registration, and it's becoming an issue because we need to update our DNS records. The only account related to our domain that we can find only has access to a different domain. I'm wondering what steps we can take to find out who has access, especially if the access was given to someone who left the company ages ago.
5 Answers
I worked with a similar situation when I bought a small company. It turned out that an old admin had paid for the domain service for years, and after some back and forth with the previous ISP, we eventually got access. We learned a ton about the importance of checking domain registrations during acquisitions after that.
The best approach is to gather proof of ownership for the domain and reach out to the registrar to request access. They often require documentation to verify that you're the owner, so make sure you have that ready. It might take some time, but it's a solid step forward.
Yeah, while you’re waiting for that paperwork to process, you might want to try hitting the 'forgot password' option for former IT and marketing employees from the past 5-10 years. You never know, one of them might still have access and can help you out!
Try checking who had access to the payment info in the past. It could lead you to an account that has access. If you can track when the last payment was made, you can comb through accounts to find any related payment to the registrar which might jog someone's memory.
That’s a great idea! We’ll definitely look into the last payment dates and see if we can connect the dots.
Honestly, if it becomes too much hassle, I’d consider just setting up a new domain and email. Your customers can get the updated info, and you'll eliminate the headache of tracking down forgotten access details. Just make sure to cancel any ongoing payments with the old registrar!
Make sure to have your billing information handy when you contact the registrar. They should be able to assist you in recovering access with that information, since domain ownership often ties back to payment records.
That’s super insightful! It seems like a lot of the issues boil down to previous management not keeping track of these things. Definitely a lesson for the future.