If you were able to make your way to this page here, you will have realized on your own that www.frenchiflyable.com has moved back to where it started years ago: http://frenchiflyable.blogspot.com/
I'm angry about this but I have given up. I can't spend my life fighting virtual windmills. I have spent literally hours and hours if not days trying to get my website back. At first I couldn't even access the fifty odd posts and articles I have written. I thought I would end up losing everything.
I consider what happened to be treacherous, unfair, and devious!
One day in January I logged on to write a new blog and couldn't get in to my account. Every time I went on my dashboard or tried to type my address on google search I was forwarded automatically to a server called godaddy.com which informed me my blog was no longer mine but I could purchase it for the right price. Much to my chagrin, I paid godaddy.com $50 to get my domain back, but to no avail. They wanted more and guaranteed nothing in exchange. They spewed a bunch of technical gobbly gook which I had to devote much of my precious time to decipher. In the end it meant nothing. Really, this unfortunate experience could easily have become a money trap, me paying to get back what is already mine! NOT! I sollicited help from experts, technicians at goggle, chatted with godaddy, visited helplines. In the end I could do nothing about it. It was beyond me. It was driving me insane.
Now I've let go. I really need some zen Buddha. Hooommm. I have accepted that my domain has been lost forever.
I am especially fuming about the way it happened. Apparently in December the subscription I bought from google expired. No one informed me of this, told me I had to renew it, let alone give me advice on where or how to do so. No, not everyone on the net is a systems analyst nor computer programer not even a geek. I bet this is the case for most blogs. This enabled godaddy to seize my domain, yes, legally seize it, sever the connection with my blogger dashboard, and take it away. The gall! I eventually found out my posts still existed on blogger, they just were not linked with any site. Thus, my decision to go back to blogspot. It's a longer address to find, but I think I'm safe here. If I ever get frenchiflyable.com back I might change again, if not, I am here to stay. Godaddy.com can go _____ themselves. Internet thugs!
Honestly what hurts the most is losing contact with the friends around the world that have supported me and with whom I have been in contact through my blog. We developed a genuine rapport and I learnt quite a bit from them all. When they access my site from now on they will only see a blank page with a link to godaddy saying the site does not exist! There are also numerous connections all around the net with links to my old site. It's hard to update them.
All of this has left a sour taste in my mouth, towards the web community, google for letting it happen, and especially godaddy. I know now there is no protection at all on the net and no courtesy can be expected. Unfortunately, it'll take me a while before I build confidence again. My advice to you is beware, keep copies of what you post online, backup and backup again, and especially get an e-mail address from your virtual friends so you can have another way to reach them when godaddy.com or the likes attack again.
The moral: Once bitten twice shy!
Posts
I am coming to this post late, I just found you via the Expat Blog site. First, may I suggest that your longtime readers and friends will be able to find you, probably, when they Google "frenchiflyable"? It is certainly a unique word so it should show up in Google high on their hit list.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I came to Expat Blog looking for Americans living in France because I am planning to move there, very early next year. However, I am retired so I will not be looking for a job, nor will I be a student or someone marrying a French person - what that means is, there is almost NOTHING on the internet to give me help and advice! So I visit Expat Blog from time to time hoping to find someone knowledgeable and friendly. I like your blog, I'm going to bookmark it, and follow along hoping to learn.
Third - I have my old domain name "parked for free" at GoDaddy.com - I don't remember doing that, but I know I did when I decided to give up, at least for the time being, on maintaining the blog. I do have one on Blogspot (http://3outsidetheskinny.blogspot.com/ - I provide that just to demonstrate I'm a real person and not trying to sell anything; you need not visit the site if you're not interested. It's been December 2011 since I posted there, anyway) currently, and if I lose the old one I don't really care. But I appreciate your post about how under-handed they are. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
Terry, I'm sure you'll have a lovely time in France. Going with your eyes open is empowering but I'm sure you won't regret it. I think you only will need a visa. If you're retired, don't need a job and have money, they'll welcome you. Thanks for your encouragements on the blog. I'm still angry about the godaddy business. It's so underhanded to just steal a domain name and take it away with no warning. Talk about rudeness! I think I'm safer with blogspot. I hope so at least. I'm keeping a back up of all my posts though.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I found your blog, my wife and I have "move to France for at least a year" on our bucket list.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your experience with Godaddy, but unfortunately that seems to be the norm. I recommend Namecheap to everyone. In the past I've let domains I registered on Namecheap expire, only to change my mind months later. Not only was I able to renew the domain, but all of my data was still waiting for me once I renewed. Namecheap is also very good at sending reminder emails out weeks before the domain expires.