1and1 99 cent domain transfer...BEWARE !

[smallhagrid]

I had a little domain with a little site that I kind of wanted to keep and it's domain was up for renewal...

But I wasn't wanting to pay the $15/year fee - so I looked around a bit.

I found that 1and1.com was doing a 99 cent promo - and yes - I've seen warnings about them, but I thought 'how badly could they screw up a domain reg ?!?'.

Very badly, I found out after all.

Unlike other registrars, their transfer took a week to start with.

After it was supposedly done nothing worked - no settings could be changed for the nameservers or anything.

Wasted loads of time & energy trying to get 'support' only to be told, 'sorry, our site is broken and we'll have to escalate your request to our higher level support'.

(This from someone who barely spoke english, of course...)

Here's their tricks:

1. ALL their different reps barely speak english and can actually DO nothing.

2. Their domain services ONLY work if you also buy their hosting (I had my own hosting).

3. They effectively steal/hijack any domain they transfer and you're stuck with them for at least 60 days.

4. If you can reach an english-speaker they will keep you on the phone to try and upsell you rather than allowing an order to be cancelled.

5. If you get your order cancelled they charge you anyways.

And finally:

If you do cancel a domain transfer order with 1and1, your domain is lost.

(As mine has now been...)

My learning here is that 1and1.com is the worst of the worst - that is just what I learned from this.

(Of course YMMV.)

[0veR]

Well it sux to be you :D

[davmil]

Ditto. Same experience with their "support." It's closer to anti-support. But if you think they're bad, wait until you deal with billing and byzantine setup and configuration.

Avoid. Go Daddy's the same money and works pretty well for most user's needs.

[eurobyn]

one.com (for me the best there is)