Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Sep 01 2004
Network Solutions Needs More Time
There seems to be some difficulty with this domain right now. We had registered it with Network Solutions a couple of years ago, and this year we decided to move the registration when it came time for renewal. But we didn't realize that Network Solutions would not let go of the domain registration for 60 days. (Their policy does state such a waiting period on new registrations, but not on transfers when a domain name has expired.)
Of course, we never intended it to come to this. Somehow the request we made for a transfer was not complete by the time the name expired, even though we did it a week or two ahead of time. So, Network Solutions said they would have to hold the expired registration for 60 days. We can't find anything in the agreement that says they would do that if it expired. In fact, their agreement mentions words such as "deactivated" and "deleted" in the event of expiration. We had to pay a fee to them to register the name for another year so that they would release the name (which belongs to us, the customer). It's rather a confusing process that we had not run into before. The Network Solutions customer support people were polite, but firm, on the phone. It isn't their fault that they work for people who hold a domain name hostage. We're not very happy with Network Solutions right now, as one can imagine.
But, success in life does depend on learning from difficuties one enounters. I've been reading more about this whole thing in an effort to prevent future woes, so I've been spending a good deal of time this morning at the ICANN web site. I still don't know if what Network Solutions did is correct procedure, but I do believe it is unfortunate of them to force us to renew for another year with them before we can transfer the registration to another registrar. The whole thing simply got bogged down in process, and now the new registrar, which is SBC Yahoo!, is attempting to do their best to set things in place, but has had some difficulty doing so, because of the holding of the registration by Network Solutions. SBC Yahoo! customer support people have also been very nice on the phone. But we have ended up being charged (by Network Solutions) for another year of registration for a domain which we are going to go ahead and transfer to SBC Yahoo! anyway. And I have a feeling that our other domain names will follow. Is the ill will created by all this worth it to Network Solutions? I wonder. We all know that a dissatisfied customer tends to tell a lot more people about a transaction than a satisfied customer.
I wanted to mention this for anyone considering a transfer. Be sure to do something with your domain name well ahead of the supposed expiration date of your current registration. A few weeks is apparently not time enough for the old registrar (at least in the case of Network Solutions) to get back to you and arrange to release the registration. If we have been inconvenienced, maybe we can at least save someone else a little hassle.
I'm being very polite here. Have you noticed? Thank you. More to come. I guarantee it.
posted at: 08:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
There seems to be some difficulty with this domain right now. We had registered it with Network Solutions a couple of years ago, and this year we decided to move the registration when it came time for renewal. But we didn't realize that Network Solutions would not let go of the domain registration for 60 days. (Their policy does state such a waiting period on new registrations, but not on transfers when a domain name has expired.)
Of course, we never intended it to come to this. Somehow the request we made for a transfer was not complete by the time the name expired, even though we did it a week or two ahead of time. So, Network Solutions said they would have to hold the expired registration for 60 days. We can't find anything in the agreement that says they would do that if it expired. In fact, their agreement mentions words such as "deactivated" and "deleted" in the event of expiration. We had to pay a fee to them to register the name for another year so that they would release the name (which belongs to us, the customer). It's rather a confusing process that we had not run into before. The Network Solutions customer support people were polite, but firm, on the phone. It isn't their fault that they work for people who hold a domain name hostage. We're not very happy with Network Solutions right now, as one can imagine.
But, success in life does depend on learning from difficuties one enounters. I've been reading more about this whole thing in an effort to prevent future woes, so I've been spending a good deal of time this morning at the ICANN web site. I still don't know if what Network Solutions did is correct procedure, but I do believe it is unfortunate of them to force us to renew for another year with them before we can transfer the registration to another registrar. The whole thing simply got bogged down in process, and now the new registrar, which is SBC Yahoo!, is attempting to do their best to set things in place, but has had some difficulty doing so, because of the holding of the registration by Network Solutions. SBC Yahoo! customer support people have also been very nice on the phone. But we have ended up being charged (by Network Solutions) for another year of registration for a domain which we are going to go ahead and transfer to SBC Yahoo! anyway. And I have a feeling that our other domain names will follow. Is the ill will created by all this worth it to Network Solutions? I wonder. We all know that a dissatisfied customer tends to tell a lot more people about a transaction than a satisfied customer.
I wanted to mention this for anyone considering a transfer. Be sure to do something with your domain name well ahead of the supposed expiration date of your current registration. A few weeks is apparently not time enough for the old registrar (at least in the case of Network Solutions) to get back to you and arrange to release the registration. If we have been inconvenienced, maybe we can at least save someone else a little hassle.
I'm being very polite here. Have you noticed? Thank you. More to come. I guarantee it.
posted at: 08:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
