NSI = Not So Ideal
Written: Dec 07 '01 (Updated Dec 07 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Hmmm... they sometimes get it right
Cons: Waste of valuable time and resources
The Bottom Line: Thank goodness there's a choice now so you don't HAVE to use NSI!
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| lisaffire's Full Review: Network Solutions.com |
I've been using the services of Network Solutions (recently taken over by VeriSign who has done very little if anything to solve the previous problems) for a year now with the company I work for since we have at least 400 domains (not an exaggeration, we're a web site development company) registered through NSI. In the beginning of the company's history there were no choices in domain registrars and NSI reigned King and customer service didn't matter. Now 7 years later, we're still dealing with them and from what I gather talking there's been no improvements, if anything, they've gotten worse.
So, what's so bad? Their customer service. Since they're a service company you'd think that would make customer service a high priority since service is their game. You go online and either search the Whois records to see if your name is available or play the hit and run "game" of see if NSI has a name you're interested available for registration. The Whois feature does work very nicely and gives updates to changes made (if you succeed in making them) within the 24 to 48 as promised. Initially registering a name is an easy process that doesn't take much time or effort. It's the renewal and change to information processes that blow so badly.
The only saving grace to their renewal process is the discounts for renewing over the greatest period of time allowed. I've done a lot of research on other registrars and NSI does have the greatest savings over a 10 year renewal period. With the hundreds of domains we have, these savings can add up quickly over time. Renewing is another matter. It can be done online and now that VeriSign has revamped the site and the bugs have been worked out, renewing is quite simple, however, I have been charged for duplicate renewals that I did not authorize.
One renewal in particular, I had received a duplicate notification of renewal... I know I did not submit the renewal more than twice, so I figured, fine, it's a bug, however that also replicated a duplication to the credit card account we use for renewals. Aha... so, okay, I'll contact customer service. I hit reply on the duplicate notification (since finding a customer service number on the site is nearly if not completely impossible - and I've been told by others in my company that even if you do have their number, prepare to sit on hold for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time) and explained in detail their faux pas. I got a lovely auto responder that they received my request and didn't hear back for 3 or 4 days. They gave me a lovely form letter on how to properly renew (which I had done) and didn't address one detail of my email. So I hit reply again and said "no, you got it wrong" and went through the rigamaroll of explaining again (leaving the entire email history intact) again, an auto responder and again the SAME exact response 4 days later. I give up, at this point, we'll dispute the duplicate charge with the credit card company and let them fight it for us, obviously NSI doesn't care.
Managing your domains is supposed to be easy enough online as well. I have a personally bought domain name that I had to update my name and email address for since I had gotten married. I sent in the request (be prepared to be confused) and received instructions that I thought I fulfilled but apparently haven't as it's been a month and still no changes have been made. Personally, I'm looking to shift my own domain to Register.com (they have a decent deal to get 3 free webpages with my domain - right now I pay $14.95 to have my site hosted through NSI, which I'll get to in a moment) and my boss has me looking to get all our domains registered elsewhere as well.
His biggest gripe is the time and resources lost in keeping up with the administation of all our names. As a name comes up for renewal, we get a mailed out invoice... in one day, we've received 25 of these invoices, all mailed out separately, I would think that's quite a waste of paper and postage for NSI. Highly inefficient, if you ask me. There's no way that we've found to have our domains consolidated and handled so that perhaps we have to deal with renewals on a monthly or quarterly basis rather than with every single stinking domain name. We track our domains with spreadsheets as well as through our accounting program so we don't miss any renewals as well, because believe it or not, we've already gotten "Final Notice"s and "Deactivation Notice"s without EVER having received an initial invoice.
When you register a domain you're offered enhancements and if you don't already have a site, since NSI doesn't offer "free parking" I decided to use their web site hosting option, which is through Imagecafe.com a subsidiary. They let you build a site easily enough, but tweaking it to what you really want is impossible.. (you get more options with Geocities.com or Tripod.com which gives greater creative control and is free), you pay $14.95/month for a 5 page website that includes an email account with 3 name option. Register.com offers a 3 page web site free with registration of a domain.. makes my decision rather easy.
All in all a very disappointly frustrating experience.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lisaffire
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Location: Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 206
Trusted by: 50 members
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