Chasing Your Domain Name

If you have bought a domain name to use on the web for business or personal reasons, you have undoubtedly seen what looks like a bill for renewal.

We are not singling out any one company yet, although there are three on our radar now. This "bill" is actually a renewal notice, and like the telephone "slamming" of the 1980s (when shady phone salespeople would switch your service to another carrier after deregulation), this is simply a scam. We try to look at things from a businessperson's point of view to be fair, but there is no good reason for this kind of program.

The envelope looks official, and is addressed to the person listed as the domain's administrative contact. Sometimes, there is a flag on the envelope to evoke officialdom. There is always a very professional, very business-like font and notice. If you don't read every line carefully, you might just think the letter is your registrar's notice.

Guess what? We have used four different registrars, including two of the nation's biggest, in the last four years. Not a single one ever sent us mail. They sent email -- that's how they communicate, being Internet companies and all.

Here is what will happen if you renew your domain registration through the mail with one of these companies:

1. You will lose your original registrar and switch to this new company.
2. You will be offered services you don't need like "domain submission".
   
3. You will overpay. You will overpay a lot.

This last point is especially troubling. In an offer we received at Consumer Help Web this week, we were offered the opportunity to renew one of our domain names for $35, and we didn't even have to send money now. That's lovely, except that our domain registrar already bills our credit card automatically, all our domains automatically renew and the wholesale cost of a "dot com" renewal is just over $6. We pay $6.99. Prices up to $9.99 are fine. After that, someone is making too much money for what is essentially a commodity.

So if you get a solicitation in the mail for a domain you bought to show of your family's photo album or write a blog, ignore the mail and contact the company you used to register your domain. Chances are good that you have already signed up for automatic renewal. Then take out your financial calendar or budget (you do have one, right?) and enter the domain renewal as an item 30 days before it is due to expire.

Sometimes the mail brings bad things. Domain renewal offers are one of them.

Labels: domain renewal, scam

posted by George Bounacos at 7:52 AM |