Network Solutions, You've Lost Me

This is a warning. I have been a user and defender of Network Solutions for a long time. No more.

I have had a relationship with Network Solutions since 1996. Today marks the beginning of the end. I started being unhappy with them about two years ago. I am a Gold VIP member — which is supposed to give me benefits, such as better pricing. In order to get better pricing, I have to call them — you would think this costs them more. But I imagine that by forcing VIPs to call, then keeping them on hold, many VIPs just give up and pay the higher price. Now I have to spend far longer renewing a domain that just doing it online.

How I became a Gold VIP customer is a mystery to me — perhaps it is because I have been gullible enough to trust them with so many domains. One day my account just started showing as Gold VIP status. It went this way for years, and I never saw a difference until I had to call them for another reason. This is when I learned I could get better pricing — by wasting more of my time.

Today I got a notice of the auto-renewal of a domain, owned by a client, that was NOT set to auto-renew. My credit card had already been charged (but the rate used wasn't the pricing I am supposed to get). This particular domain was not due for renewal until February (I write in early December).

It turns out that my Gold VIP status gave me another "benefit": SafeRenew. Essentially, SafeRenew will automatically renew your expiring domains if you don't renew them in time. Sounds like a good idea until you realize that there is already an AutoRenew service — which is ON by default, and you have to choose to turn it off. On top of that, since this particular domain was not due for renewal until February, it's hardly like I didn't get to it on time.

SafeRenew effectively overrides your choice not to auto-renew. Huh? This makes no sense. Well, it makes no sense unless you are Network Solutions, because this means you get your revenue 60 days earlier. I had never heard about SafeRenew — although I am quite sure some email, in the sea of endless emails sent out by Network Solutions, mentioned it. I never agreed to it. It was silently added to my account. As far as I can see, there is no way to turn it off.

How do you opt-out of an automatic choice to override your opt-out decision? Because I am a Gold VIP customer, somehow I get LESS choice than non-Gold VIP customers.

So, to be clear: Network Solutions charged my credit card, without my permission, to renew a domain that is not due to expire until February, despite the fact that I had turned OFF Auto-Renew. It was renewed for 3 years at full price. Even though it is my Gold VIP status that enabled them to do this, they didn't extend the courtesy of giving me my Gold VIP discount. This has got to be criminal on some level.

In my opinion, this is both fraudulent and criminal. This is what I told the poor phone rep today. She could do little more than refund my account, and turn OFF Auto-renew. Of course, it will automatically be turned-back on as the expiration data approaches next time because of the SafeRenew feature.

So, my warning to you is shop around for a better domain registrar. Personally, I'm moving to Hover.com.