SWITCH Warns .CH Registrants To Beware Aggressive Tactics From Registrars

SWITCH, the .ch registry, is warning .ch domain registrants to beware of registrars aggressively touting for business now that SWITCH is getting out of the registrar business.

SWITCH say they have received an increasing number of reports from their clients recently that registrars and internet service providers are urging them to transfer their domain names immediately, in some cases using aggressive tactics. Clients are apparently being told that they might lose domain names that are not transferred.

SWITCH is advising registrants that are their clients they do not need to take any action whatsoever until SWITCH contacts them in writing and asks for the transfer to be carried out.

SWITCH will write to clients at the earliest three months before their subscription ends prompting them to transfer their domain names to a registrar of their choosing. It will send the first such letters out from the middle of January 2015 for domain names expiring at the end of April. Letters for domain names expiring at the end of May will be sent out from mid-February, and so on. The final letters will be sent to clients in mid-December 2015 for domain names expiring at the end of March 2016.

Some registrars and internet service providers ask clients to enter their user name and password on their website or a printed form so that they can carry out the transfer immediately. Please be aware that doing so gives them complete control over your domain names. Anyone who has the user name and password can make all kinds of changes to a domain name.

SWITCH is advising their clients to wait until they prompt them and then carry out the transfer within the three-month period before the subscription expires.

For more information, SWITCH advises their customers to contact their customer service staff or consult their FAQ.