Archive for the 'registrar' Category

NameCheap.com convenient ‘errors’

Published January 30th, 2010 in domain registrar, registrar and icann. 1 Comment

Did you ever when you transfer a domain from one registrar to another it continues to appear in the control panel of the old/losing registrar?

I have many domains and my modus operadi is to login to the control panel of every registrar that I use once every quarter. I display the domains in order of expiration and then renew those I want to keep, and let the others drop.

I just visited NameCheap.com and did that, however… here is where it gets messy… I then logged into my other favourite registrar GoDaddy.com and some of the domain names I have their seemed familiar.

It turns out I had transferred them from NameCheap to GoDaddy last year. A WHOIS confirms that GoDaddy is the current registrar. So what were those names doing in the NameCheap.com control panel a year later? and if NameCheap.com don’t control those domains then did I just flush USD 9.99 or similar down the river?

I must contact NameCheap.com, but alas the catch with these registrars is their Support Departments are staffed by people who only have first names and never understand a question. Perhaps they are machines, they pick up on keywords, and fire back stock FAQs.

The best I can hope for is a refund, and not to change their systems going forward. But as a mere customer why should I worry about their systems, I only need to worry about my wallet.

NameCheap problems

Published June 23rd, 2009 in bad business, held to ransom, ransom and registrar. 0 Comments

I rarely use namecheap.com to register domains anymore. They have a nice clean control panel but everytime I want to register a domain I end up using GoDaddy instead because their price is usually USD 1 cheaper.

So I only login to namecheap to unlock domains and get EPP codes so that I can transfer to GoDaddy. I’m not sure if its incompetence or a strategy but for the third time this year a domain I have with namecheap has ceased to appear in their control panel. That means I cannot unlock it and I cannot get its EPP code. So I can’t leave namecheap!

I’ve contacted their customer support, but because there is only 45 days left that human being will certainly know why I want to modify the domain! Will he/she drag his or her heels?

This is a textbook example of a problem so complicated that it will never make headlines.

Getyername.com Problems

Published May 3rd, 2007 in gtld, registrar, domains and uncategorized. 6 Comments

Getyername is another “who are they?” registrar I had the misfortune of getting an account with when I bought a domain via SnapNames. I just logged in to change the nameservers, but after pressing Submit the cookie-cutter site returns and an error

There was a problem with some of the details provided. Please look below for the messages in red to see what the problem was.

However there are no messages in red, and there shouldn’t be because my new nameservers are valid.


Rather then even contacting Getyername support I just decided to transfer the domain to another registrar. Ah the pleasure of “walking away”. Since my experience with EasySpace, and Yahoo, and considering I manage hundreds of domains I have little time for bad registrars.

Continue reading ‘Getyername.com Problems’

1and1.com Problems

Published May 2nd, 2007 in problems, sucks, registrar, domains and uncategorized. 1 Comment

1and1.com is a US based domain reseller that uses the ICANN registrar SCHLUND+PARTNER AG. They are selling the gTLDs of com,net,org,info for an amazing low USD 5.99.


That beats GoDaddys USD 9.17 - which is GoDaddys actual price, they might advertise something lower but in reality once you reach the checkout you’ll find they add the ICANN fee and your promotion code you were relying on won’t work.


So, a domain for USD 5.99, cool. I had to register one straight away! But yet today, two days after pressing the Submit button on my credit card details, the domain is not registered. For any other product that might be acceptable but not with domains, as while they are drinking coffee, or whatever they do in the 1and1 office, someone else could register the domain, at any second. A search reveals that 1and1 used to only accept customers from the US and UK, now they will accept customers from anywhere, but I guess that manually process the credit card numbers.


1and1 are thus added to my Registrar blacklist, where they join EasySpace. Continue reading ‘1and1.com Problems’

Domain Registrar Retention Tactics

Published March 30th, 2006 in locking, registrar and uncategorized. 0 Comments

I’ve previously mentioned the difficulties I encountered when trying to transfer my domains away from Yahoo Domains. In summary they wouldn’t tell me the AUTHorization code. So I couldn’t transfer the .org, .biz and .info domains I had there, and I could transfer the .com because I did have access to the admin-c email.


Fortunately I know about domains and so knew the avenues to explore and eventually extracted the code. However I wonder how many others simply renewed at Yahoo Domains being unable to transfer.


One cannot say for sure whether or not Registrars use the AUTHorzation code as a customer retention technique, even if it is the case the Registrars would never say it publically.


Another technique I have just encountered is an error prone WHOIS server. Every time you transfer a domain the winning registrar does a WHOIS on the losing registrars server in order to find out the losing registrants admin-c email. This is an automated process. I need to transfer a domain from a registrar called NameScout, but their WHOIS won’t talk.
img

Checking server [whois.crsnic.net]

Checking server [whois.domainsout.ca]

Results:
We are unable to process your request at this time. The whois informationis unavailable for this domain for one of the following reasons:

(1) Too many simulataneous connections from your host;
(2) The domain you requested is not with this Registrar;
(3) You have exceeded your query limit;
(4) Your IP address has been restricted;
(5) Whois data is not available for this domain - check back in 48 hours when our server is updated;
(6) Access has been restricted to ensure operational stability;
(7) A system error has occurred;
(8) The time limit for your request has expired;
(9) The IP address provided is not valid or the host specified by the IP address does not exist;
(10) There is an error in what you have inputed or requested;
(11) An unknown error has occurred;
(12) The domain is not currently registered;
(13) The domain you requested contains invalid characters;
(14) The domain you requested is too long;
(15) The domain you requested begins or ends with a dash;
(16) The domain you requested is a third or fourth level domain;
(17) You did not specify a domain name.

What a poor error message, what is the solution? Well I queried from another IP range just in case mine was dirty, but still got the error. I emailled service@namescout.com, but apart from the autometed rightnow.com reply I heard nothing, interestingly the emil doesn’t appear in the rightnow.com interface when I login, sounds like someone in NameScout pushed it under the carpet, remember the only reason I’d want the WHOIS to be fixed is if I intend transferring away, thus they have no incentive to act. But opinions aside, the net result it I can’t transfer the domain! I won’t use the word ransom because they haven’t asked for a bounty but it stinks. Continue reading ‘Domain Registrar Retention Tactics’

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