A couple weeks ago I got something in my inbox that I dread getting each year: the domain renewal reminder for jjb.cc. Why do I dread this email so much? Well you see, I am registered for this domain with Network Solutions.
directnic.com, a much more reputable company than Network Solutions [a friend tells me that directNic is sleezy too; see the whole story here], will also register .cc domains, and for a full $10 less per year, but unfortunately does not accept transfers. I write to them every year, begging for a, err, Solution®, but alas, they appologize and tell me that a transfer is not possible.
So, reluctantly, I just went through with renewing with Network Solutions, and decided to share with you the sleezy experience that Network Solutions makes out of the simple act of domain registration renewal.
I start out by logging into my account. As a paying, existing customer, I am brought to a dashboard filled with useful and intuitive tools for managing my resources and account information a full page of advertisements:
I select the domain renewal page from the menu, and am immediately offered a “private registration” feature to keep my personal data “secure”, which costs $9 a year, presumably per domain. What they are really offering is a WHOIS privacy/proxy service, which they can provide at a sunk/negligible cost, and Dreamhost and other registrars provide for free.
I decline this “service” and continue to the next page. I am met with more advertisements, this time for web hosting.
I decline web hosting and am met with a page full of even more offerings. This page is really packed with sleeze. Web forwarding for $12 a year per domain? “Search engine submission”?? Paying extra for TLS acces to the mail server??? Wow.
Moving on to the next page, I am relieved to finally be presented with the price structure for the actual domain renewal.
First I would like to again point out that the 1-year price is a full $10 more than directnic.com, which is by no means considered a bargain registrar.
Second, I would like to give Network Solutions kudos (!) for giving a rebate for multi-year registrations. This makes sense, as the multi-year registration is something that saves both the customer and the registrar time and resources, and allows for guaranteed cash-flow projections on the side of the registrar.
Third, please do not fail to pause and appreciate the last item in that list. Network Solutions if offering to register my domain name for 100 years. One-Hundred Years. Thank you, Network Solutions. In the year 2100, when the world economy is completely restructured, when the web, domain name registration system, and even the internet do not exist in any way shape or form as they do today, I will rest assured that jjb.cc is registered for 7 more years.
I select 1 year (maybe, just maybe, directnic or someone else will offer .cc transfers next year!) and continue to the next page. Hooray, nothing but a credit card form. Let’s get something done! But what’s this? Network solutions remembered my credit card information from last year, and filled it in for me. I deleted the information in the screenshot below, but note that the form offers me no option for my credit card information to NOT be remembered.
I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that it is possible to later go back into my account settings and delete the stored credit card information WRONG! There is no way to have Network Solutions forget my credit card information!
Sigh. I fill in my payment information and submit the form. It’s been a rough journey, but the end is in sight. The form goes through, and I am met with what the progress visualization tool at the top of the page refers to as the “order complete” page, which of course Network Solutions considers to be an appropriate venue for a feedback screen thanking me for my purchase and directing me to useful documentation and support resources one last page of advertisements!
Hey John,
I have experience with DirectNIC. You don’t want to use them. Google “noldc” or “kenyatech” to find out more.
Without going into details, my experience was nightmarish and I NEVER got my domains back.
OMG, you hit the nail on the head with this post. Network Solutions website and customer service are HORRIBLE!
I’m trying to transfer a domain they currently host over to Dreamhost (great hosting service, btw!) When asked why I’m not receiving the confirmation email that Dreamhost is sending to the ($9/year) “private registration” address NS has listed in WHOIS, Network Solutions support is saying a) it takes several days for them to filter email, b) it may be getting marked as spam, and c) I need to disable “private registration” to do the transfer.
I.e. I’m paying them 9$/year to do a crappy job of forwarding email, and in the process make it impossible to transfer away from their service.
Part II of this saga (for anyone who cares)…
Network Solutions has officially screwed me. I talked to their support reps yesterday about how to resolve the above issue. They said I should update the WHOIS information and make it public. In response to my, “Are you sure??? I really, really don’t want this account locked!” (they have a standing 60-day lock on transfers when contact information changes), they said, “No, go ahead, we can remove the lock after you’ve updated the information.” So a bit reluctantly, I updated the information as instructed.
Do I even need to give you the punchline? Yup, when I called them back today, “Oh, we’re sorry, sir, there’s a 60-day lock on transfers for that account. There’s nothing we can do.”
Do not ever, ever, ever use Network Solutions. They are either completely incompetent or just plain dishonest.
Thanks for sharing, Broofa.
I HATE NETSOL as well. They are HORRIBLE … absolutely the worst. They are fine until you need service … then, you can count on a four to ten day run around at the least.
You submit a request then a day or two later you ALWAYS get an email back telling you to call them. It’s a computer on a delay … I sent a customer request in asking what their web address was and here’s what I got back …
——– EMAIL FROM NET SOL ———
Dear Valued Network Solutions Customer,
Thank you for contacting Network Solutions Customer Service Department. We are committed to creating the best Customer experience possible. One of the first ways we can demonstrate our commitment to this goal is to quickly and efficiently handle your recent request.
However, we will not be able to resolve this issue by e-mail. Please call Technical Support, at 1-866-391-4357 within the U.S. and Canada or at 1-570-708-8788 outside the U.S. When you call, please reference the following Service Request # 1-33xxxxx.
—————————-
THEY SPENT MORE TIME talking about how great they are in this email than they did to answer the damn question.
What a horribly self promoting and arrogant bunch of SOB’s. I have 10 domains with them for five years and I have had it. I’m moving to GoDaddy.com … at least they get things done when I ask them.
Stay as FAR AWAY from NetSol as you possibly can … if you have a problem, you’ll spend weeks getting it fixed. I think only four people work there and they are playing XBox all day or something.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS HORRIBILE COMPANY.
I used to work for Network Solutions and they tell you that the customer doesn’t know what they want and that you have to continually upsell them every thing, the practices they use are shady at best to try and get a customer to open their wallet and fork over their dollars. Example:
Customer Service: How about I add web hosting to your account only 11.99 a month when you sign up for a full year?
Customer: Sure!
Customer Service goes ahead and adds taht as well as the search engine optimization into the account, they get to the final screen.
Customer Service: Okay with this package you’ll be able to have your web site up and running and be seen in the search enginers, total cost is *whatever* the cost is.
This is encouraged and rewarded, for this type of behavior. Its sickening which is whY I had to leave there.
If you want to get it out of the way and have the remove the lock demand that you are going to go to the BBB they will transfer you to the ‘corp’ team and make sure you get what you want.