Registering a domain name (for example, www.yourwebsite.com) is usually a simple process. You go to one of the companies that provide the registration service, pay a small fee, and in a few days the Web site is live around the world.
One of the companies many people recognize is GoDaddy.com, they of the risqué SuperBowl advertisements, is one of the companies that provides this service. Another one is Network Solutions. I always liked Network Solutions, because I trusted them as an established company. However, they have apparently been engaging in some shady business practices recently.
According to a number of articles that have recently popped up on the Web, if you used Network Solutions' free service to check if a domain name was available, they would also reserve that domain name. The result? By using their free service, they found out you had an interest in a domain name, and they would reserve it, thereby forcing you to purchase it from them.
At BEST, that's really shady. At worst, that is fraud and punishable by all sorts of bad things. Is it really fraud? Three days ago, someone filed a lawsuit against them.
Link to early article
Article about Network Solutions being sued
3 comments:
I use GoDaddy, they are cheap and their customer service is tops. Also with GoDaddy when you get their newsletters, look in the very last paragraph, there usually is a coupon code for 10-20% off next purchase (and you can give this code to a friend).
Network Solutions cost of a domain isn't cheap, GoDaddy charges around 10 bucks.
Word of advice, someone I know registered a domain with Yahoo cause they were offering 1.99 purchase of domains. Problem was we never could find a contact number or how to point the domain's DNS over to the Go Daddy server. Godaddy offers 1.99 domain purchases with a purchase of another product (and you can use the coupon code to save on additional product purchase.
The only good use I ever had for Network Solutions was years ago it was considered a 'penny stock' which I bought cheap and sold high in a very short period of time.
Sue,
You're right on Yahoo - I've heard similar things about how people have nightmares with them. They really go out of their way to lock you in, which is another unethical business practice. Seems like these companies would be best served by charging a little more and doing business the right way, but that's just my 2 cents.
Network Solutions tried their best to not let me transfer a domain. Well they'll be trying again in a few months.
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