How To Deal With Dubious Practices Performed by Domain Registrars
I've had some issues with domain registrars in the past weeks.
Network Solutions is one of them, simply refusing to supply EPP codes to transfer a domain to a different registrar. E-mailing me to call support in the US. Sorry but I don't feel much for increasing my phone bill by calling overseas. Numerous times I contacted them to get my EPP code to transfer the domain, tickets remained unanswered for over a week. Too absurd for words.
Till I started to leave feedback instead of opening a ticket, I received a response in a matter of hours that it would be forwarded to the appropriate department and they would get back within 24 hours max. I waited another 72 hours, again nothing.
Back to the feedback field where I threatened with legal action, and filing complains at sites like BBB, Pissedconsumer, RipOffReports. Within 48 hours I had my EPP codes.
ps: Network Solutions charges nearly 8 euro for whois privacy and around 30 euro for domain renewals, hence my urge to leave them asap.
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Enom Central, another one, I requested EPP coded a few months ago, received them, used them and received the message they were invalid. Due to the system they use to send them some symbols/letters from the EPP code are translated in asci code like #%25 or something similar. I decrypted them, still they didn't work.
I re-requested the EPP codes and tried again for a few days in a row, nothing worked obviously, I got tired and gave up and decided to contact support about it at a later point.
Till I received an email two days ago saying my domain had expired, a strong PR4 domain that's worth a few hundred dollar. To release it I had to pay an absurd renewal fee of $39,95 for one single year.
No idea why these registrars ask such amounts when a registrar like Namecheap only charges around $10 for a domain renewal.
Having learned from my previous experience with Network Solutions I started to threat with legal action right away, and also pointed them at previous communications about non working EPP codes.
Within 24 hours I received the correct EPP code, despite the domain being expired they unlocked it for me, and now it's sitting pretty in my Namecheap account.
Note:
It's clear domain registrars like to play a game with you, especially the heavily over priced ones, they make it as difficult as possible for you to transfer your domain and even go as far as providing false information / EPP codes, or at the very least EPP codes with a catch (for example EPP codes that aren't accepted by most registrars due to special symbols being used), this has nothing to do with security at all, but purely build in to make it as difficult as possible in the hope you give up. EnomCentral go's as far to send EPP codes that might not work for two mentioned reasons and Network Solutions is so tricky to ask at the transfer page whether you want to lock the domain (which results in a failed transfer, just in case you didn't know, as domains need to be unlocked while transferring them).
Solution:
They know they are wrong in so many ways so the most effective solution is to threaten with legal action right away. Tell them this is the final email you send them and that further communication will go through your attorney.
Don't get me wrong, I tried it through the regular channels first, asking it in a polite way, it lead to nowhere, only when I threatened to sue them all doors opened instantly.
Pathetic but if that's how it works with these over priced malpractices of theirs than use that to your advantage.
Network Solutions is one of them, simply refusing to supply EPP codes to transfer a domain to a different registrar. E-mailing me to call support in the US. Sorry but I don't feel much for increasing my phone bill by calling overseas. Numerous times I contacted them to get my EPP code to transfer the domain, tickets remained unanswered for over a week. Too absurd for words.
Till I started to leave feedback instead of opening a ticket, I received a response in a matter of hours that it would be forwarded to the appropriate department and they would get back within 24 hours max. I waited another 72 hours, again nothing.
Back to the feedback field where I threatened with legal action, and filing complains at sites like BBB, Pissedconsumer, RipOffReports. Within 48 hours I had my EPP codes.
ps: Network Solutions charges nearly 8 euro for whois privacy and around 30 euro for domain renewals, hence my urge to leave them asap.
--------------------------------
Enom Central, another one, I requested EPP coded a few months ago, received them, used them and received the message they were invalid. Due to the system they use to send them some symbols/letters from the EPP code are translated in asci code like #%25 or something similar. I decrypted them, still they didn't work.
I re-requested the EPP codes and tried again for a few days in a row, nothing worked obviously, I got tired and gave up and decided to contact support about it at a later point.
Till I received an email two days ago saying my domain had expired, a strong PR4 domain that's worth a few hundred dollar. To release it I had to pay an absurd renewal fee of $39,95 for one single year.
No idea why these registrars ask such amounts when a registrar like Namecheap only charges around $10 for a domain renewal.
Having learned from my previous experience with Network Solutions I started to threat with legal action right away, and also pointed them at previous communications about non working EPP codes.
Within 24 hours I received the correct EPP code, despite the domain being expired they unlocked it for me, and now it's sitting pretty in my Namecheap account.
Note:
It's clear domain registrars like to play a game with you, especially the heavily over priced ones, they make it as difficult as possible for you to transfer your domain and even go as far as providing false information / EPP codes, or at the very least EPP codes with a catch (for example EPP codes that aren't accepted by most registrars due to special symbols being used), this has nothing to do with security at all, but purely build in to make it as difficult as possible in the hope you give up. EnomCentral go's as far to send EPP codes that might not work for two mentioned reasons and Network Solutions is so tricky to ask at the transfer page whether you want to lock the domain (which results in a failed transfer, just in case you didn't know, as domains need to be unlocked while transferring them).
Solution:
They know they are wrong in so many ways so the most effective solution is to threaten with legal action right away. Tell them this is the final email you send them and that further communication will go through your attorney.
Don't get me wrong, I tried it through the regular channels first, asking it in a polite way, it lead to nowhere, only when I threatened to sue them all doors opened instantly.
Pathetic but if that's how it works with these over priced malpractices of theirs than use that to your advantage.