A Newb's First Lesson...

[FlipTheBird]

I've only been a professional domainer (yeah right, lol) for all of two whole days so far, but, I just learned my first major lesson...

Do NOT do business with 1 & 1!!!

Matter of fact, run the other way as fast as you can.

I'll admit it, the 99 cent deal was just too good to give up. However, if I knew yesterday what I now know today, I would've GLADLY paid what the other guys normally charge.

For anyone new out there to this pursuit like myself, please understand, I am NOT being dramatic or exaggerating - their service is H-O-R-R-E-N-D-O-U-S!!!

I tried placing an order with them Saturday night & wound up speaking to some chick that hardly spoke English. After the frustration set-in, I figured I'd wait on my purchase till today. Jeepers, compared to the 'expert' I spoke with tonight though, the first women was like a linguistics genius.

After placing my order about 5:30pm EST today (and speaking with an American, to boot), it looked like clear sailing. Smooth transaction, pleasant...the whole nine yards. Cut to...

About half hour ago I was fiddling around online & happened to go to godaddy to look up a few names. Accidentally looked one up from my earlier purchase AND IT SHOWED UP AS AVAILABLE! I then check my email to look for the confirmation email I was supposed to receive from 1 & 1. Nothing in my inbox!! Huh? I make a $60 transaction & I haven't received a confirmation almost 4 hours later?! What is this, the Pony Express?!?!

I get back on the phone and dial 1 & 1. After what seemed like an eternity, a live person (if you want to call it that) picked up. He literally sounded as if he was half asleep. I was seriously going to ask him if I woke him up or something. Yes, it was THAT bad. I then explain the problem at hand & he has to pull my account. Things got a little heated from there...

Him: What's your email?

Me: T as in Tom, E as in Eric, V as in Victor @ gmail.com

Him: B as in Boy, C as in Charlie, G as in Glenn?

Me: NO!!! That's T as in...you get the point. We literally went through this three or 4 more times. Then the genius says...

Him: Gee, this isn't coming up as one of your domain names.

Me: (No words. Only smoke coming out of my ears).

Me: Are you kidding me?! You asked for my email. That's what I gave you, not my domain name! What do you think I meant when I said @gmail.com?!

Him: Oh boy, gosh golly. Better start all over again.

After finally getting into my account, he then tells me that the transaction did indeed go through, however, the purchased domains haven't hit ICANN yet. He said if I tried checking the domains on 1 & 1, they would come up as taken already. This sounded logical. I then asked him what would happen if someone went to godaddy (or any other domain registrar) and bought the same names I did. His response? You're going to like this one...

Him: You know, I was quite mystified about that myself up until today when someone told me how it all actually works.

Huh? What?? This is the employee that 1 & 1 decided to put on the telephone to 'showcase' their company?!?!

He used the 'mystified' line several other times too. Leading me to believe he was either reading from a canned presentation, was a yogi/hippie, or was just one of the dimmest people I've ever spoken to in my life.

I then ask for a manager. He claims there isn't one. ABSURD. I've run telemarketing staffs before. He's just a lackey sitting in a cubicle. You can bet your bottom dollar that there's a floor supervisor, manager or shift guy standing just 3 feet away.

Anyways, I then wound being patched through to the 'tech' department. The fella I got on the line sounded like a 16 year old, foreign kid sitting on his bed thumbing through a magazine while trying to talk on the phone. Again, massacred speech & language skills, dull as a rock & couldn't even talk loud enough for me to hear him.

The Amercian guy that took my order earlier, told me that all the after-hours calls are directed to a foreign county. Gee, ya don't say?! Pitiful.

Non-English speaking 'customer SERVICE' agents

Non-delivery of confirmation emails

Atrocious wait-on-hold times

Domains that are still available on the open market hours after purchasing them

They should be paying the CUSTOMERS to do business with THEM!

Bottom line, when it comes to 1 & 1, CAVEAT EMPTOR :imho:

 

[mhdoc]

Wait until they bill you for another year when you wanted to let it expire, and then turn you over to collections when you don't pay

 

[DU]

Wait until they bill you for another year when you wanted to let it expire, and then turn you over to collections when you don't pay

It's not that bad. You just fax them a copy of three forms of id that include your birth certificate and mail in a notarized release form along with the original of your social security card.

You should also cancel your credit card and change your identity just in case that doesn't work.

 

[FlipTheBird]

It's not that bad. You just fax them a copy of three forms of id that include your birth certificate and mail in a notarized release form along with the original of your social security card.

You should also cancel your credit card and change your identity just in case that doesn't work.

Yeah well, you boys don't sound like you're New Yorkers? :hehe:

I'm getting on the horn first thing tomorrow morning & dialing corporate up. They WILL get a piece of my mind.

How this company is in business - much less thrives - I haven't a clue.

I understand I am new at this & I am partly to blame for being dumb enough to deal with them, however, this is a known company. Open almost any business magazine & you'll see one of their big, blaring advertisements.

I'll let ya'll know how it turns out after giving the head honchos a call tomorrow...

 

[mhdoc]

If it's worth it to you, go for it. Personally I think the time might be better spent taking out the trash. That way you at least have something to show for your time.

 

[WhoNu]

Crazy story FlipTheBird. Amazing how bad so-called professional companies can act towards paying customers. Plenty of people in this country would love to work a call-center job, to pay their bills. Lets maybe start getting rid of some of these outsourced jobs. They damage a companies reputation.

I'm undecided on whether or not, I'd waste my own time filing complaints with other people in the company that either A.) Don't care or B.) Can't help.

What you accomplished with your initial post, on how poor their customer service is, was the best thing you could do in this situation. Your post has turned me away from them, and I would imagine many more who follow this forum. That type of poor word-of-mouth, is what makes these companies cringe, and actually make positive changes for all.

Hope everything works out for you...

 

[FlipTheBird]

If it's worth it to you, go for it. Personally I think the time might be better spent taking out the trash. That way you at least have something to show for your time.

As I'm quite new at this pursuit, I'm just looking to get my feet wet & make a few extra bucks here & there. Nothing more. No 'get rich quick' lollipop fantasies here Sooooo...

If & when I try and sell my domain names, will having 1 & 1 as the registrar actually hurt (maybe even kill) any possible deals? I mean, if I don't want to deal with them after only one day, would an astute, experienced, savvy domain buyer actually consider pulling the plug on a deal if my URL's are held by them??

Also, I just read some reviews on them (too little, too late for me) & virtually ALL had the same gripes as I did. So, these employees must be the scum of the earth. In all seriousness, do you guys think my credit card number is even safe in their hands???

Appreciate your help. Mine might be the shortest domaining career in history what with all the frustration & problems today, lol.

 

[Eric]

I have worked in two call centers in the past 4 years. It is amazing how some people get hired for a customer service position. I have worked with people like you describe.

I like working in customer service, and would love any job at the moment... but would go back to a call center if able to. It is unfortunate there are agents like this, it gives the whole customer service department a bad name. I cannot tell you how many times I was on the receiving end of a verbal assault because of the agent they spoke to before me.

All that aside, all I can say is do your research on a company first. Many companies will try to trick you with low pricing like that, and it's a hard way to learn a lesson. At least you learned a lesson, though.

 

[mhdoc]

GoDaddy is the registrar of choice for most of those flipping domains. People spend amazing amounts of time looking for promotional codes to keep the cost down. The nice thing about them is you can move a sold domain to someone else's GD account in a matter of minutes.

I personally would not buy a domain that was registered at 1 & 1.

 

[DU]

Always look for registrar that allows FREE transfer to an account that can be setup for FREE.

Basically avoid companies like 1&1/Netfirms/Gatorhost/Bluehost/Lunarpages etc. are HOSTING first.

There are many to choose from: Dynadot, Name, Namecheap, GoDaddy, Domainmonster, etc.

I would also avoid Enom, Tucows, and resellers as they usually are more expensive and are more likely to screw you, imho.

Some allow you to list and not list at their auctions and have various advantages or disadvantages but you'll be ok with the names you will see around here most of the time.

To me, Dynadot is the most domainer friendly.

 

[FlipTheBird]

The plot thickens...

Before going to bed last night (at roughly 1am EST), I still didn't even receive so much as a confirmation email from 1 & 1 - a full 7 hours after purchasing my domains through them! No thank you letter, no order verification...NADA. Worse, after checking different registrars websites, all 13 of the domains I purchased from 1 & 1 were still available for sale on the open market :red:

After waking this morning, I quickly dialed 1 & 1. I spoke with a young lady (one of the rare Americans there who actually speak English) who opened my account & said I should've received an email from them. As I didn't check my email yet, I told her to hold on while I did so. In my in-box I did indeed (finally!!!) have two items from them. One was the standard 'thank you for the business' reply. The other...

A notification stating that my order was 'on hold' due to a previous outstanding balance with 1 & 1.

WHAT?!?!

I quickly ran back to the phone & explained what was there to the young lady. I told her the facts; A) I've NEVER had an account with 1 & 1 before - EVER, B) The address they had in their system on the 'outstanding order' from four years ago wasn't even my residence at the time frame in question, C) Even if I DID have an account going back four years with them, how can a prior domain name be billed to me? Once a domain name expires with virtually any registrar, it is expired, dropped. The individual no longer owns that domain name after a certain length of time.

She then tells me I need to speak with the tech department. I told her that I did NOT want to speak with the tech department since they are NOT real 'techs' anymore than Mickey Mouse is. They are lackeys. Frauds. I then proceeded to explain that I am a NJ Sheriff (true) & if my situation wasn't remedied IMMEDIATELY, I was going to make (3) phone calls upon hanging up...

One to ICANN, one to the State Attorneys Generals office & the final one to their corporate headquarters in Germany.

She placed me on hold for a brief time before a young man picked up the phone. After looking over my account for a few minutes, he said it must've been a 'mix'up' & he was going to put my order through.

I then told him that I will NOT be keeping my business with 1 & 1. Explained that I was going to transfer my domains to another registrar. He stated that I should have an email within the hour enabling me to log-in to my account. From there, I can then transfer my domain names to my new registrar.

I will let you guys know what transpires. I hope this debacle ends in a satisfactory way for 1 & 1's own good & well being...

 

[mhdoc]

Pity he didn't just cancel the order. Now you have to pay another years registration fee for each one you transfer. If they are like GoDaddy there will be a 60 day waiting period before you can do the transfer.

 

[Scoodle]

I ordered a .com domain from them as well, two days ago...
The final registration process page said that I'd receive an e-mail with my 1and1 login details and domain information within 24 hours. So far, two days later, the only thing I have received is a 'Customer Support Survey' e-mail 'cause I called them after not receiving any mail from them at all (like OP), they guy just told me to wait.

The second time I called them (which was today) I got my login info sent to me, but I can't do anything in the 1and1 account overview area, I can't change any settings for my domain, nice... calling again.