Transition of domains from de-accredited registrar begins.
The wait is almost over for Parava Networks’ customers who haven’t been able to access their domain names in a couple weeks. As I write, domains are being transferred to Tucows’ Hover.com.
Parava customers need not contact Hover yet, as they will receive an e-mail with instructions later today when the process is complete. Customers will go to a special URL on the Hover site to claim their domain names.
Hover is extending two price breaks to Parava customers. First, it will honor Parava’s $10 pricing for all renewals. Second, it is giving these customers free access to Hover Pro Tools, which usually costs $99. Hover Pro Tools is a feature set that makes it easier to bulk manage domain names.
The company won’t be able to honor any special arrangements that customers had with Parava, as Parava has not been forthcoming about these arrangements to Tucows. However, customers that had special arrangements may e-mail help (at) hover.com to discuss such deals.
Later today, a special F.A.Q. will be available online at about.hover.com/paravafaq.
David J Castello says
Question: What was the initial attraction for anyone to register their names at Parava?
As we all know, domain names are assets and can be extremely valuable assets, so why would anyone register their names with this company in the first place? It is my understanding that some ultra-premium names were registered with them. Doesn’t make sense why anyone would take a chance like that unless they had a vested interest in the company.
Andrew Allemann says
David, if you look at the whois record on some of those valuable domains and you look at the address for Parava on the termination letter from ICANN, you’ll notice a similarity.
I also think Parava used to be good at grabbing expired domains.
Chris says
We enjoyed an excellent working relationship with some of the techs at Parava. We knew that for anything we needed, help was but a phone call or email away, and an individual who was on a first name basis with our staff would be able to help. The customer service to us was always immediate and enthusiastic.
I’m disappointed that we’re being directed to Hover. We’ll be departing to another provider with a true reseller arrangement (like we had before) as soon as we get our login. Looks like we’ll move to Enom.
Grant says
Hover? This isn’t even an option. We’ve got hundreds of domains and a reseller account that we had integrated in our website to sell domain names. Also, we bought credits 100 domains at a time for a LOT less than $10 that Hover is “graciously” offering… much less the $15 for the next year? That’s crazy. Nobody in their right mind will stay. What’s more, I have just spent over 40 minutes on hold trying to get somebody to talk to me at Hover. That’s the exact wrong thing to do to a new customer. I’ll get my domains unlocked and make my move someplace else.
enoss says
for anyone with reseller or bulk needs we are happy to deal with them one-off. just let us know.
Chris says
enoss… let who know? Email address? Phone number?
I spoke w/ Tyson in support a short while ago and he was very friendly and expressed an honest desire to help find the right fit (whether that be w/ opensrs or Hover). I’m skeptical that either is going to be a perfect fit for our needs but I’ll hold judgment for now while things are sorted out properly at the gaining registrar.
The challenge for us will be that we really had a good deal going with Parava. It’s unfortunate they didn’t take care of their own business. The pricing was exceptional (far under the $10 advertised – we had a similar deal to Grant). The support guys there were first rate all the way. Apparently, upper management, not so much…
Justin Godfrey says
Has anyone been able to administer there domain names yet?
@David, I’ve always wondered this myself…
enoss says
@chris for now simply a bounce me an amail with a bit of info and I will get it in the right hands (enoss AT tucows.com).
@justin not yet. we were just allowed to commence migrating the names in the last couple hours and there are a bunch of different registries involved so it will take a bit. not long though. we have done these before. we are also working to see that the registries are good about names that are bumping into date problems.
Ross Rader says
@grant, @chris – Your names are moving to Tucows. If Hover isn’t a great fit for you, just drop me a note and I can help you with a move into our OpenSRS reseller system – the original, and still the best (but I’m biased of course). Hover is a great option for end-user registrants. We’ve got great bulk management tools and some pretty cool features, but none of this will be helpful or appeal to a reseller. OpenSRS is probably a better home for you.
If you haven’t emailed Elliot already, just drop me a note to [email protected] and I’ll pick up the ball for you.
Chris says
@David & @Justin – Parava wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time, things were really pretty good there. Towards the end, the techs really tried their best but it seems management didn’t give much help. Apparently, as we have learned, the owners didn’t have a lot of reason to work very hard. But from a pricing standpoint, $7.35 domains didn’t suck.
Now I’ve been in touch with a rep at Hover and also @enoss from Tucows. We’ll see what happens. I’m confident that either we’ll be able to find something that is a good fit in the Tucows “family” (open-srs or Hover) or if not I have had some preliminary conversations with another prominent provider who was very encouraging. Obviously, it’s less trouble not to have to transfer everything to yet another registrar so I’m personally hoping that it works out w/ Tucows for the selfish reason of not having to be bothered 😉
Justin Godfrey says
@enoss
could you keep us updated here when we can expect to receive logins?
Ross Rader says
@justin – .com and .net are being imported in the AM. We will be sending out credentials shortly afterwards. Expect them to come to your admin contact email address.
/ross
D says
I don’t understand how anyone can be writing any praise about Parava. They were such a scum. I know many people lost valulable domain there because it was impossible to transfer it away. I bought not long ago domain from Aftermarket, they wanted push, I knew about this Parava scum so rejected, wanted transfer. After 1 month trying to get the domain away they gave up, scratched the auction and had to give me money back.
Albany Lawyer says
I have (or had) about 30 domains with parava (domains410.com). It was easy to use and they didn’t pepper me with ads. I have a few domains with godaddy and the ads never stop coming.
Andrew Allemann says
I think everyone should keep in mind that part of the reason Parava was able to offer low prices is because they weren’t paying their fees to ICANN.
Jonathon says
Only my .org’s got transferred. What happened to me .net’s and .com’s?
Jonathon says
Good news. Hover called me 2 hours ago in reply to an email I had just sent, and they told me that Parava had somehow (without me knowing) set up 2 accounts for me. Hover had transferred one without being aware of the other. (Parava didn’t help them in the transfer process.) Anyway, it seems all is now rectified.