And honest review of 1and1.com domain registration
A couple of days ago, Wednesday, actually, I decided to register the domain name www.BrandVisibilityBlueprint.com so that I could secure the name for my system and a product I’ll be selling in 2011.
As is my practice, as soon as I decide on a name, I hop over to GoDaddy and purchase it (I own nearly 100 domains). This time, to try to “diversify my holdings” I decided to purchase from a different provider so that I can test what’s out there and make referrals to my clients.
I’ve seen the ads for 1and1.com (1&1) all over the internet and even have one client that uses them, so I figured that was a good place to start. I was delighted when I landed on the website and saw that they were having a holiday sale (it is the Christmas season, after all) and that their domain names, usually $8.99, were only $4.99. I thought, wow, that’s half the price of GoDaddy.com. Good choice.
I selected my websites (one with hyphens as well) and then proceeded to enter my credit card information. I made sure to print the screen with my receipt for verification as I always do. 1and1 states on their website that domain registration can take up to 24 hours, and though I read that, I really thought “no, that’s a worse case scenario.”
Well, I purchased the domain at 10:30am. When I hadn’t received an email confirmation my purchase or even listing my account login for their site by 3pm that day I became concerned. I gave them a call and they said it could take up to 24 hours, but typically only takes 6. I decided to be a little patient. After all, I didn’t need it right away, although I like to implement things quick, so I was anxious.
The next day, Thursday, I hadn’t received notification by noon so I gave them a call again. This time, since it had been 27 hours, I was told the authentication department would have to clear it up. I was given a number for them and then the operator tried to connect me. She had no success and said the line was busy. Now I was annoyed. I demanded that this be handled right away and was told to email them or call back! “Really… that’s how we treat customers these days?” I thought.
Instead, I hopped over to find their Facebook page. I figured let me get on the social radar and it’ll be taken care of. When I arrived at their Facebook page the wall only displayed the 1&1 posts, so I used the filter to see posts from others. AHA! Once I did that I saw a wall full of disappointments, criticisms and rants about the 1&1 service. I wish I had checked their social profile first! I left a note expressing my disappointment with their service and was told “we’re working on it” but as I scrolled the page and saw that people who had ordered their domains more than a week ago were still waiting, I became nervous.
WHAT I DID NEXT SURPRISED ME MOST!!! I hopped over to Godaddy.com to see if my name was still available and it was. I thought “that can’t be! surely the process has at least started” so before purchasing it I called GoDaddy.com customer service. Mike, the operator, told me that if they had it listed other registrars did too, and that it was almost definitely available, but that if I registered it and it wasn’t, a refund would be issued.
So, I placed my order FOR THE SAME TWO DOMAINS with Godaddy.com and they were registered. I was immediately able to put in the forwarding information for the site and less than an hour both domains were redirecting to my main site.
I am not sure when I’ll experiment by trying another registrar again (I have used Network Solutions in the past, and their process is pretty seamless as well, but GoDaddy is still better). My advice: If you want a domain name, and the security and protection of knowing that the moment you order it the process is completed, use GoDaddy. Otherwise, someone else may just snatch up your brilliant idea from under your nose!
Hope I’ve saved a few of you potential disaster.
