My main domain is up for renewal. 5 Years ago I spent 70 bucks or so with register.com for registration fees.
Since register.com still is charging a whopping $35 a year (down to ~$16/yr if you register for 7 or more years), I was looking for alternatives. My other domains are registered with GoDaddy.com, who are still not the cheapest but reasonable. I start the transfer process, get half a dozen emails to my domain contacts from GoDaddy, but don't hear anything from register.com. This morning I search through their site, and there is literally no mention of how to transfer a domain away from register.com (surprise). Eventually, I find the FAQ entry to obtain the "Auth Code". I need to call them. ok.
*ring*
*ring*
[cheery voice] "Hello, can I interest you in our content services?"
- No
"ok, how can I help you today"
- need auth code for domain transfer
[voice even cheerier] "ok, I put you right through"
*ring*
*ring*
[guy voice] "What is your domain name"
- I tell him. We go through the secrect question game.
[guy voice getting cheerier] "ok, how can I help you with your domain"
- auth code for transfer, please
"why are we talking about this?"
[I start to hate cheery guy]
- you guys charge $35, GoDaddy way less than $10. simple, no?
"we offer premium support, sure, there is a premium in price for that"
- I never called you guys for support
[Damn, how hard can it be to need support for a frigging domain?]
"I totally understand that. We don't want to loose you." [sure, I'm not costing them anything]
"I can offer you a substantial discount from our published prices. How about $35 for 5 years?"
[I'm speechless for a second. What are they thinking? I'm annoyed. This is a slightly better deal than what I'm getting at GoDaddy. However, I hate these bait tactics.]
- please just give me auth code
[so he does]
"but remember, you can always still accept this offer and GoDaddy will need to refund the money you already paid for the transfer, since they didn't actually provide the service." More heavy sales blurb follows.
- yeah, yeah, thank you
I hang up. I'm annoying and amazed at the same time. ... So, wait, I could call GoDaddy now and ask for the same price, otherwise I move all my domains to register.com. Now that would be fun, if that's how the game is played... hmmmmm...
2 comments:
I've been using 1&1 for my domains. At $5.99/yr including private registration, it's not bad at all. The control panel may take a little getting used to and you're limited to five subdomains but it works for me.
I'm hosting my domains myself anyways, so I really only need the registration services (for what little service there is). I kinda like GoDaddy's interface, and I know there are some cheaper options. However, at some point I stoped caring whether I pay a dollar more or less per year :-)
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