My registrar complaints part 1: register.com, dynadot.com, moniker.com

Some people say that I complain a lot. Maybe they are right but most of the times I have a reason to complain. I am a very active domainer and developer meaning that I buy domains, sell domains, push domains, transfer domains, unlock domains, request auth codes, update whois, update nameservers, bid on auctions and a lot more every single day. When I try to do simple tasks like these and every single time I encounter an error I get frustrated. I don’t have to contact support and wait for days to update whois on a single domain.

Here are a few of my complaints from a 24 hour span last week:

register.com:

I tried to transfer away a domain name I won 11 months ago. I wanted to unlock the domain and get the auth code. After agreeing to terms and clicking continue 3-4 times I got this message:

Your request for an Auth Code has been received and your information will be validated for security reasons. If your request is approved, you will receive your Auth Code by email in 4-5 days. To cancel this request, please call one of our Customer Service Representatives at 1.877.318.7563. Thank you.

What do you mean by IF my request is approved and why the hell do I have to wait 4-5 days for???? I had to contact support, contact register.com twice using twitter (the only helpful response) and then send an email to finally get that auth code after 5 days. Thank god I haven’t won a lot of domains in auctions that are registered in register.com. And it is no wonder nobody uses register.com any more. I am sorry but that is the truth and if these people don’t fix these problems soon then they are closing down, sooooon. Thumbs down.

dynadot.com:

Dynadot is a very good and stable registrar that I use lately. One day their very useful invoice function was gone. I was given instructions on how to get an invoice but all I ended up getting was an order receipt that is not the same as an invoice. I complained that my tax office will not accept an order receipt and that I needed a proper invoice with an invoice number. Fortunately the invoice function was back online within 24 hours. Dynadot actually worked on my issue and finally fixed it within an acceptable time frame. That shows that they listen to their customers and proactively respond to customer’s requests. Thumbs up.

moniker.com:

I renewed a domain name by accident. I asked for a refund and they said they can’t do it. It’s their right but I don’t have to like it and I don’t. It’s my fault but they didn’t try to do anything. Instead their website is down all the time not to mention all the other problems I have constantly that have reduced my domains there at 5% of what I used to have. Moniker is a separate article coming soon. It’s the first time in 10+ years that I have asked this. You be the judge of this…

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

Sold.Domains

About Konstantinos Zournas

I studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science in London, UK and I am now living in Athens, Greece. I went online in 1995, started coding in 1996 and began buying domain names and creating websites in 2000. I started the OnlineDomain.com blog in 2012.

6 comments

  1. Register.com is disgusting. Dynadot.com is probably my favorite registrar right now. If I get a name that ends up at Moniker.com I transfer it as soon as I can.

  2. Moniker actually did refund my money a year ago when I informed them I did not wish to renew three domain names…..then out of the blue and without notice charged me for the (expired and then magically renewed) same three names last month! I have informed them of the error and demanded a refund, and for the last week have received several emails from customer services alleging they are “working on” my “issue.” While they have been unable to accomplish a refund of less than $30, they have been perfectly able to start sending me spam email ads again.

  3. Register.com and Networksolutions.com are very cunning. When you search for a domain, it shows you what domains are available. But they never show you the price of the domains, probably until a very late stage in the payment system. They are hoping some silly people will just go ahead and pay for it. They are doing this because their domains are substantially more expensive than others and they don’t want you to discover this early on.
    As a rule of thumb, avoid purchasing domains from Domain Registrar who do not show you the list price at the very start. Because there might be something tricky about it.

  4. Stay away from Moniker.com, they’re hopeless. Search for ‘The new Moniker – love it or hate it?’ or ‘Rick Schwartz, bye bye birdie’. Their transition to their new platform was an unmitigated disaster and revealed that they have zero interest in their customers. Customer ‘support’ was non-existent for two weeks during the transition. Domains were set to auto-renew even if customers didn’t want it, and at one stage it was impossible to unlock domains to transfer out. Multiple users had to put blocks on their credit cards and reportedly domain names were lost during the debacle. Nothing but platitudes the one time that the CEO surfaced.

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