Network Solutions, a.k.a. Satan's Minions
Written: Feb 24 '01 (Updated Mar 21 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: None.
Cons: Price, No customer service. Hideous horrible interface.
The Bottom Line: Use ANY OTHER registrar but this one.
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| pippadaisy's Full Review: Network Solutions.com |
You have absolutely no idea how thrilled I was to discover that there is an entire section here devoted to Network Solutions, nor how overjoyed I am that this review won't be buried in a pile of dot-com reviews. Because I need to spread the word that Network Solutions is a tool of Satan. Yes, you read me correctly. Network Solutions is run by the Dark Lord himself. And I have proof.
You see, I have a history with Network Solutions that goes back quite a ways, and I have incontrovertible proof that this entity masquerading as an actual place of business is nothing but a storefront for the Devil.
Not convinced? Well, let me lead you through the four levels of hell right now.
1. Register Your Domain
First you will find that Network Solutions charges the absolute maximum of $35 per year for your domain. No promotions, no discounts, no breaks. So what you say? They are a reliable name with years of experience, not like these other up-and-coming registrar companies?
Well, read the fine print. If you register your domain with Network Solutions but don't HOST your domain with them (for an additional exorbitant fee, of course) your support is cut in half. 24/7 support is allotted only to those hosting with NSI. Host your domain at any other hosting provider (if you dare...) and you get to contact them about any problems between 7 AM and 9 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday. Problem on a weekend? Satan has you wait until Monday for resolution. Great for your business, right?
2. Attempt to Update Your Registration
So you have been daring (read foolhardy) enough to actually register a domain with NSI, and now find that you now have to update the information. Either you or your company are physically moving, you need to change a contact, or (heaven forbid) you are changing hosting providers. Get ready for some fun!!!
Not only do you have a huge chunky form to fill out, they will forward a form with essentially the same information to the email address listed on the contact information. You then have to change one line (and this information is not only esoteric but seems to change from request to request from my experience) with little to no directions, but you have to email it back from the exact same email address they sent it to.
Make a mistake? Enter the wrong letter? You will receive no notification of your mistake. Just business as usual for Beelzebub here... nothing has changed. This of course, leads us to...
3. Attempt to Contact Them Via Phone
Oh, this is where things get HILARIOUS. Since I'm pretty sure they use the same help desk as the Capital One card, the entire help desk is staffed by those fortunate enough to be in the Prince of Darkness' upper echelon of aides. My first encounter with them occurred after attempting to change information as listed above in #2. Having not been notified that my change was not accepted, I was then attempting to change the information when the contact email address no longer existed. Yes, my provider was bought out and @servtech.com became @verio.com.
Mind you, this is just entertainment for the cohorts of the Evil One. They are unconcerned with the fact that an email address CAN PHYSICALLY NO LONGER EXIST, as the request MUST COME FROM THAT EMAIL ADDRESS. There are no exceptions.
I spent over 5 days on the phone with these people (not on a toll-free number at the time, mind you) and finally FORGED company letterhead (I actually have no company) to get a written authorization to alter the information to them.
Since then I have attempted two more information updates with them. Neither has been completed, although they did do HALF of one of them. No idea why they couldn't make it all the way through, but to ask them requires another huge form and I am running out of blood with which to sign my name to another document.
4. Database Updates
Everything that NSI does hinges on the dreaded database updates. Nothing changes on your account until the database has been updated, but at the bottom of every domain record, you can view the last time the database was updated.
Now, when they update the database, not only will any changes you may have tried to make in Levels Two and Three (above) not be in there, but other changes as mandated by Leviathan himself will have been added.
My last "update" has disabled my domain entirely. My website is disabled, and all my email is bouncing. Why, you ask? Some "helper" updated my record to show that my domain has not been registered since April 2000. Now, that is pretty entertaining, because for all rights and purposes, that domain should have been disabled ten months ago, not yesterday as apparently happened.
My frustration had reached its apex, and I decided to go re-register the domain at register.com and just count the lost $35 for the next year as a savings in grief and aggravation as the plaything of Satan, but no, it still shows the domain as registered to me, so I can't even get the domain.
Of course, I attempted to contact NSI, but it's the weekend. No support for me! Well, unless I sell my soul, but I'm not ready to do that quite yet.
My Bottom Line
I'm sure I'm not going to be able to fit my final thoughts on NSI in the 30 words below, so I'll add it in here. I currently have three domains registered. Two are through NSI, and the third is with Register.com.
The two with NSI are recurrent problems. The third has been a dream. Register.com has a web interface. Have to update information? Fill out a web form, enter your username and password for the account, and *poof* you are updated in less than 5 minutes, including logging in. I don't need to worry about that domain, and as soon as my other two domains expire, I'm going to register them through Register.com to save myself my constant face time with the Devil. I'm just not up to the task.
To be honest, I was shocked that even one person had recommended them. Forget that they were a monopoly. Forget that the courts had to step in to get them to share the WHOIS database with the other registrars. They are just a horrible company to try to do business with, with absolutely no regard for customer service.
Update
Because I know that some of you are waiting with baited breath to hear what else this entity is capable of, I attempted to contact NSI with the problem of the "unpaid" domain. After being routed through three help desks (over 40 minutes) I was told that they had no record of payment. They insist that they sent two additional invoices last Fall (which arrived at NEITHER of the two addresses they have for me), and that they would "research" the payment. I told them not to bother, and just to delete the domain.
Hah! Beezlebub spit on that! I can't DELETE a domain that hasn't been paid for. Yes, that's right... I MUST KEEP THAT DOMAIN. Now it has been 11 months since they say they didn't receive payment, and the domain is STILL THERE. "It will deleted at the next billing cycle" they claim. So apparently, without paying, I got a free domain for a year. Isn't that just PRICELESS?
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
pippadaisy
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Reviews written: 1086
Trusted by: 177 members
About Me:
Divorce seriously cuts into the amount of time for reviewing.
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