Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850 • Hacker News Board

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#31

Post by primitivesuave » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:49 PM UTC

rhizome wrote: post #15

wil421 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their leadership team must be grasping at anyway possible to gain revenue.

Here they are: http://www.web.com/aboutus/leadership.aspx They have a Chief People Officer.

After quickly glancing over their credentials, it seems like the underlying problem is that the key leadership is entirely business people while the people with actual training in CS or engineering handle smaller responsibilities like "Online Marketing". In today's world of developer-friendly SaaS, they're doomed.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#32

Post by llamataboot » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:50 PM UTC

Has to be other HN readers who have gotten similar emails if this is true (I know their twitter support person confirmed it is real, but the price seems completely outrageous to be true). Looking forward to the first person with 200 domains registered there to write here that they got auto-enrolled for a cool 100k a year?

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#33

Post by bjitty » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:52 PM UTC

I'm glad to see he's transferring to hover.com. I moved my domains there a little over a year ago and couldn't be happier. I didn't have issues with NS but had a lot of issues with Register.com doing shady things like this.

Hover.com is about first domain registrar I've used that didn't feel shady as far as milking every last dollar they could out of me. Trying to up sell, etc.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#34

Post by chewxy » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:52 PM UTC

I'm so glad I cancelled my Network Solutions account 2 months ago. I discovered they were still charging me for a domain I no longer was interested in. Unlike most other domain name registrars, they actually auto opt-in for automatic renewal.

Pissed me off to no end. To cancel, I had to :

1) Find out that you cannot delete your domains or let them lapse. Gotta call them.

2) Call them. They will tell you to send an email instead

3) Email them at deletions@networksolutions.com.

4) Get a confirmation email, which you have to call in to verify.

I ended up cancelling my account after 4 phone calls.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#35

Post by llamataboot » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:53 PM UTC

bjitty wrote: post #33

I'm glad to see he's transferring to hover.com. I moved my domains there a little over a year ago and couldn't be happier. I didn't have issues with NS but had a lot of issues with Register.com doing shady things like this. Hover.com is about first domain registrar I've used that didn't feel shady as far as milking every last dollar they could out of me. Trying to up sell, etc.

namecheap is also great IMHO

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#36

Post by sifarat » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:54 PM UTC

is't it the registrar we are talking about, who would register a domain name himself, if you search it using their website. Only to find, you would have no choice for 5 days except to register it with them or wait for 5 days to register with someone else. 'douchebag' is seemingly an innocent word for this kind of business.

>Back in December, the domain registration and hosting company tested a new system that would automatically register any domains searched for by users of its site. That system went live last weekend, meaning users doing a search found the domain they wanted became unavailable and held by Network Solutions shortly afterwards.

link: http://www.geek.com/news/controversy-surrounds-network-solut...

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#37

Post by mey » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:54 PM UTC

eigenvector wrote: post #2

Using your stored CC info to auto-bill you for an unrelated product that you never consented to be billed for is quite likely in violation of their merchant agreement with the CC processor.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/regecg.htm They would be in violation of this above Regulation for banking. Chargeback through your bank would be the quickest way to both get your funds back and penalize them. If you want to make it a federal case that is also an option.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#38

Post by michaelhoffman » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:55 PM UTC

llamataboot wrote: post #19

michaelhoffman wrote: post #16

How many domains are we talking about? It's one thing if it's $1,850 for one, another if it's 100 domains at $18.50 each. Not that I'm defending Network Solutions' horrible business practices here.

First sentence of the article: I got an email from Network Solutions — where I still have two domains, originally registered in the ’90s

Wow. That's insane.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#39

Post by notahacker » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:56 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #23

eigenvector wrote: post #2

Using your stored CC info to auto-bill you for an unrelated product that you never consented to be billed for is quite likely in violation of their merchant agreement with the CC processor.

If it isn't, the chargeback rate they're about to have should do the trick.

I hope they lose more than their merchant account for this, (better: their status as a registrar, with their executives winding up in a US court)

Who approved this and were they insane?

The most ludicrous thing about it is that being Network Solutions is basically a license to print money (with industry-leading margins) because of a large legacy customer base who aren't aware or simply don't care that they've been the most expensive, rather than the only game in town for years. So you provoke them into caring? It's like being a casino that steals from your customers. At gunpoint.

Re: Network Solutions Auto-Enroll: $1,850

#40

Post by brianzelip » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:59 PM UTC

I've begun taking over volunteer webmaster duties for a non-profit beekeeping association (made up of non-technical >= middle-aged folks) with domain reg and hosting through network solutions. I spent an hour on the phone with NS getting to the bottom of some things and got pretty appalled fairly quick. If the org hadn't renewed their setup with NS a month prior to my stepping in, I would have canceled everything on the spot. In addition to a couple other points, they charge double what godaddy charges for a .us domain. (~$40 vs. ~$20).