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!
