<totally snipped to maintain sanity>
I don't know if I'm alone here but I really get tired of hearing that
there is anything better about Network Solutions relative to OpenSRS.
I think that many of you are speaking about historical ways that NSI did
business using NIC handles etc. Everything that you say is true of
domains that are registered using the "ISP managed" domain option. Have
you considered the poor unfortunates who chose "NSI/WorldNIC managed
domain" when they registered?
I have now had two domains in the past two days that were registered
that way and I cannot believe the grief you're put through just to pay a
renewal through NSI!
You must know your account number. If you don't you can click on a link
that has your account number mailed to the admin contact email address.
(So... let's hope that's current.) In my cases the admin contact emails
were legit and so the account number got to them. The client forwarded
it to me and then I used that to ask for the password to be sent to the
admin contact.
To my surprise they insist on having a challenge phrase answered before
they will mail you the password! Here's the choices:
Last 4 digits of your Social Security Number
What is your mother's maiden name?
What city were you born in?
What was the first school you attended?
One client bought the business from someone else and there's no-one
anywhere who can answer these questions. There's also the option that
the client may have input their OWN challenge question in which case you
have to call NSI customer support to help you! (We all know that's like
pulling teeth without anaesthetic!)
Now, this is not only the crap you have to go through to modify any of
the service contract info (contacts & DNS settings) but also needs to be
obtained to even RENEW a domain for another year!! (The traditional
forms won't work btw for domain modifications.)
Both of these domains has to be in a paid up status before I transfer it
to OpenSRS and so I now wonder if NSI setup these procedures more to
maintain an ironclad hold on their domains or for "customer protection".
Using the tools at your disposal you can help clients with their domain
account management by:
1/ Adding a sub-profile with the ability to correct their admin contact.
(Preferred method)
2/ Capturing the UID/PW when clients register or transfer a domain.
(Doesn't help if they change PW via manage.opensrs.net but you could
still grab it if they use your own scripts.)
3/ Impress upon them the importance of the UID/PW and admin contact
maintenance such that if they do have both go at the same time then at
least they'll feel it's their fault and won't mind a little grief to get
it back. (Least effective but might hopefully change their tone when
they find they need to fix the situation.)
I also agree that there is a certain percentage of people who are
chronically unhappy with anything you do for them and it is far better
to send them packing then keep allowing them to make your life hell.
If you feel that going with another registrar that snubs ICANN's rules
suits you better then go for it. I think the folks at OpenSRS have been
quite clear about the restrictions they have to work within to be legit
and it's beyond me why we have to keep flogging this issue.
I think that once someone flaunts one of these registrars (who doesn't
follow the rules) to steal away a domain name resulting in the registrar
getting sued out of existence you'll realize that circumventing the
rules can have a cost. If all of those domains now become owned by
Verisign by default then your losses may be far greater than your gain
from being "more easily able to give good customer service".
It's a holiday weekend here so I'm not going to type any more. Tall
ships are in town so I'm gonna dress up like a sailor and wow the
womenfolk. :)
