Hospitality boss says losing website address has 'massively' affected business

A Douglas-based hospitality business says it's seen a dip in trade after its established website address was transferred to another company.

Refuge Bistro & Bar, on Athol Street, is calling for an urgent review of the way .im domain disputes are handled.

It comes after the company lost control of refuge.im, which it had owned since 2021, despite paying a renewal for the domain to the service chain managing it.

It was then transferred to another party outside of the UK. 

Operator Robert McAleer said: "We paid for the domain to be managed and renewed, we had clear evidence of our use of the Refuge name, and we still lost the domain.

"We are a local business not a domain expert.

"We relied on the people managing the domain and now we are left trying to explain to customers why our established web address no longer belongs to us.”

He told Manx Radio it's a 'deeply frustrating' situation:

Chris Naylor is from TechCentre Group and is assisting Refuge Bistro & Bar.

He said: "This raises a serious issue for every Isle of Man business using a .im domain.

"If a local business can lose a domain after payment has been made and still be told the dispute process cannot help, then the process is not giving enough practical protection to real local businesses."

Chris told Manx Radio this issue raises wider questions about Island protection of domains:

Refuge Bistro & Bar has temporarily moved to refuge.co.im.

It’s asking relevant authorities to review the case.

Manx Radio has invited the Isle of Man Government to respond.