[ga] The race to the bottom continues...

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

So many reports of horrendous registrar service...
here's yet another one from a recent post to CircleID:

[excerpt] Check out this scenario, which I have
personally experienced, and from my discussion on
other domain forums, seems to be a common problem: 

1. You win a bid for a domain name on Pool.com that
cost you $2,000. 

2. You find out the domain is owned by
domainmonkeys.com (not a fake name, truly? I?m not
kidding.. it?s a registrar) 

3. You try to remember to transfer the domain out
after 60 days, and if you do, you find there is no
easily obtained EPP code. In fact, you can?t find a
domain management page that even allows you to UNLOCK
your domain. 

4. Let?s say you forget to transfer your domain out
from domainmonkeys.com and 11 months goes by. You
might expect that 30 days out, the registrar will send
you a renewal notice or two. No renewal notice is
sent. 

5. Let?s say 14 days from your domain expiring, no
?renewal notice? is sent to you from
Domainmonkeys.com. 

6. Let?s say that one week before your premium domain
is set to expire, no renewal notice is sent to you
from Domainmonkeys.com. 

7. Let?s say that on the day your domain name is set
to expire, Domainmonkeys.com does not send you a
renewal notice for your domain that you paid $2,000
for a year earlier. 

8. Let?s say that 30 days later, you start getting
renewal notices from Domainmonkeys.com. However, the
renewal notices require you to fill out an attached
document that asks for your credit card info,
including your CVV code, and a lot of other
information you might feel uncomfortable providing.
The email from Domainmonkeys.com states you MUST RENEW
your domain for THREE YEARS at $14.95 and pay a
?reinstatement fee? of $40. You realize that your
domain has expired and is heading into the RGP?days
from being resold in auction. 

9. Let?s say you think ?what a scam, I?ve been forced
to pay over $80 for a domain that I could have renewed
if I received renewal notices even 14 days before its
expiration?.  Some people might say ?you should have
transferred it out?and you say ?see # 3 above?. 

10. Let?s say you fill out the form, scan it to a jpg
file, and try to send it to Domainmonkeys.com?s
support email address, using the exact links provided
for you to do so. 

11. Let?s say that the link they provided bounces your
email back as ?undeliverable? 

12. Let?s say that you try two other email addresses
for Domainmonkeys.com, and those emails bounce back as
?undeliverable? 

13. Let?s say you leave a message on their voicemail,
and another email appears from a NEW email address
from Domainmonkeys.com, and you again reply with your
document and your credit card info. (sending documents
that can be stored or printed with your credit card
info PLUS your CVV number is dangerous). You?re
nervous at this point. 

14. Just to follow up, you finally FAX your credit
card info to the fax number provided in order to
secure the renewal of your valuable domain. The fax
comes back as ?UNDELIVERABLE?. 

However, lucky for you, the last email address
provided worked, they got your credit card info and
charged the renewal fees to your card. You were able
to save your domain and it only cost you $84.85 and
hours of time and infinite frustration. 

There are about a fifty registrars/resellers out there
right now that we all can say fit the profile of the
above scam process. This occurs because there is a
lack of a uniform system of required proper and fair
processing of domain names by registrars. I?ve already
received almost a hundred responses from domainers
complaining about this very same thing --- but many
weren?t as lucky. Some registrars don?t sent out
anything at all to remind you to renew your domain
because they know they can resubmit it on the auction
block and make more money in the resale of the domain.
This is actually more common than you think. 

So if you buy your domains from an expiring domain
company at an auction, be sure to set some sort of
ALARM program up to beep you after 60 days to start
transfer efforts if you don?t recognize the registrar.
You may still have to jump through flaming hoops to
get your domain transferred out, but at least you?re
10 months away from actually having the registrar
recapture the domain and resell it through the auction
sites. This type of activity just makes the domain
industry look like we still don?t have our sh*t
together. And you know what? We don?t. 

Just a heads up. 

Anyone can contact me for discussion about this at
http://www.dnforum.com?my handle is ?successclick? 




 
____________________________________________________________________________________
It's here! Your new message!  
Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.
http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/