My website address has changed very slightly.....it's now www.sew-it.uk.... whereas it used to be .biz I'm hoping this is a temporary fix and I can revert back to the original URL, along with all it's search history, in a couple of months. My email address is still di@sew-it.biz and please feel free to chat with me there or using my social media accounts. It's great to discuss sewing related things and offer advice.
I've had a very frustrating week spending many hours on WhatsApp and live calls to support at WIX and YELL(sometimes at the same time as that was the only way to get the 2 companies involved to speak to each other!). Eventually I found people that actually understood the problem and changing the URL was the best solution as otherwise the website would have been down for at least 60 days!
The best way to open my site will be to write www.sew-it.uk into your browsers address bar as it's almost impossible to find through a Google search.
The easiest way is probably to find my social media accounts where I've linked the new website address.
I'm sure that's enough info for most of you, however I'll try, with my limited understanding, to explain what happened. It's been a steep learning curve!
I've had the Sew-It.biz domain name for about 8 years. The company that hosted my website was bought out by YELL and it meant I could develop a much better website. YELL in the UK use WIX in the US to host their websites. Technically YELL own my website, I own the sew-it.biz domain name, and I am a contributor who can edit the site, but importantly there are things I have to ask YELL to do.
Naively, when I needed to pay the annual cost to keep my domain name I chose to transfer it to WIX, it seemed to make sense as they hosted my site. They offered a really good 3 year deal. Now this is the bit I can't get my head around. WIX don't allow YELL to assign a domain name owned by WIX to a WIX website!!!!!!
A week ago when I realised my website was no longer working I contacted both companies to find out why and to ask YELL to attach the domain name to my website. I spent 3 afternoons being passed back and forth between the two help lines(the one positive of this is they're easy and quick to contact at no cost to me), but the advice offerred was next to useless. Sometimes I was on a WhatsApp chat with YELL and a phone call with WIX at the same time as that seemed to be the only way to get them to speak to each other, with me as the intermediary. This was the first time I actually found people who began to explain the problem, by chance I'd found customer support staff at both companies with the relevant knowledge. At that point the only solution was to transfer my domain name somewhere else like Go Daddy......however there was a 60 day block on transferring a doamin name again(international law) that would mean my website being unavailable during that time.......... Loss of business, reputation and reliablity all come to mind...........I'm begining to say I've paid for a service that's not fit for purpose under the Consumer Rights Act....so I'm stuck between 2 different sets of legislation.
On Friday I spoke to WIX where the guy was a bit flummoxed when I politely said I'd been sold a service that rendered my business useless.....it was obviously above his pay grade! So I requested a call back from YELL and by chance I connected with someone who genuinely understood the problem and took time to read back through my call log.
What I learnt was that if I'd contacted YELL they'd have bought my domain name and assigned it to my website at no cost to me! I live and learn.
Adrian, the customer service guy, and Tiffany the domains specialist I'd by chance connected with the day before, came up with this temporary solution. They bought me the new sew-it.uk domain name to get my site up and running. At the end of the 60 day embargo on transferring my original domain name I need to contact WIX to release it for sale, at which point YELL will buy it along with all it's search history making it easier to find on GOOGle, all at no cost to me.
I'm hoping I have some leverage with WIX both to get my money back and to release the domain name......they knowingly allowed me to pay them for an onlineservice they couldn't provide with potential lack of earnings. Even with this solution it will have an impact on my business.
Thanks for taking the time to read this far, however it might just help someone navigate their way in the world of online companies. I've certainly learnt a lot and have a better understanding of the relationship between two companies that 'work together'. I also think it's possible to ask Customer support staff to pass me on to specific people ...............
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