2. You provided a credit card for renewals and your registrar failed to auto-renew for some reason. Your domain deletes and is auctioned off.
3. You provided a credit card, the auto-renew fails on the first - and only - attempt (maybe overlimit because away on vaction using the card, etc.) - the domain is then deleted and auctioned off. Your bad but is 1 try enough? What if there's no notice to you? What if your registrar never mails a bill as a back-up?
I find this business of registrars auctioning off registrant's domains interesting.
Does the registrar's "new financial interest" (in selling your domain) 1) impose any greater burden on the registrar to "be certain things are done right"?; 2) make your registrar potentially an adversary OR at least "less your friend"?
I wonder just how deeply this has been thought through?
I see layer upon layers of issues and the potential for some large financial claims (in the right case).
What has my registrar become now that my registrar has a financial interest in my (alleged) mistakes, oversights, errors, lapses of?
Should there be a uniform standard for the renewal process IF registrars are going to have a financial interest in your failure - at least at times? Should there be a higher standard - since there's at least the appearance of a conflict of interest?
What if DomainRegistrarX uses the least and lowest approach when it comes to renewing quality domains? Could a registrar - if they're subject to no regulation regarding the exact steps of the renewal process - apply 2 standard procedures?
The first thing to do is choose a preferred registrar, one you can work with and then you can become familiar with their way of doing things.
Look at all the registrars and see which one(s) offer closest to what you are looking for
Security - Management Interface – Price (Price is important but should not the main consideration) - Country – Payment methods – Support email or phone based. Look around the domain forums and see what others are saying.
You then need to transfer all of your names to that registrar. It is too time consuming trying to deal with domains that are at different registrars and accounts.
Never rely on auto renew, if you think the name is worth registering then it must be worth renewing manually.
Never wait until the last day, renew at least a month in advance, even better a year in advance. It doesn't cost any more you may even save money. That way you can quickly deal with all the domains coming up for renewal in the next period.
I think it is also better to only use your preferred registrar for domain registrations and renewals. Put your DNS with a third party and Host with separate companies. That way you are in total control
Follow the above and most of the problems / complaints / hassles will magically disappear.
The other 1% are scattered around messily for various historical reasons, but I'm working on it...
Follow the above and most of the problems / complaints / hassles will magically disappear.is about as sound as it gets ...
Two possible caveats ..make sure that you use a registrar who emails you in a language that you can read ..some major ones here in France advertise in English but then email change of status or renewal notices in French ..( the difference between .."you should" and "you should not" ( in french )is lost on babel fish ..so you can sign away your domain by mistake ..we had a case last year here on the boards ..) ..maybe the same in other countries inrespect to their registrar services also?
Secondly ..they ( your registrar )can change their policy or offer ..I had a great many names with a registrar who has now gone from a service where "anyone" could register new names ..to ( "only those who rent our servers directly can register new names" .."all the rest of you can renew only" ) they have lost all my business ( as they were silent "service down" for 6 weeks and no discussion before this change )..i have moved to the "superbowl ad" folks and I will be seriously considering "rebecoming" my own open srs reseller ..I was for two years in that system ..one needs to be doing the volume to justify it but over 30 names per month it becomes interesting ..
As gpmgroup says or implies( paraphrased) "all your eggs in one basket is dangerous" ( leaving your domain status at unlocked is equally so )...see another thread in this fora area..can't reme'ber the exact one so can't link ..
Incedentally ..under the "code napoleonic"..the actions that you ( webwork ) alluded above to if taken by a registar are considered to be the equivalent of an automatic "felony" "the precise offence is translated as "betrayal of confidence or breach of confidence" in the commercial and not the marital sense ..( IE ..it come under what would be "fraud" in anglo saxon based legal systems ) ...there are others that are applicable such as the laws relating to "tacit reconduction of contrats" ( recently ammended but substantailly the same ..and I presume that my "franglais" gets the point over as to what it means )..that can also serve to protect the registrant ..
If you'd like a copy of all the "codes" ( laws ) for professional curiosity I have 'em zipped or rar'ed in the original French ..translated I can do ( take me some considerable time ..but it is part of another project I am working on for a site ) but they would not be considered "legal definitions" in French courts..let me know
While we are here and germain to the subject ..letting ones registrar control the DNS is not always a good or prudent move either..
any remaining spelling errors in the above ..It's late ...and the edits time windows are shorter'n what they used ta be here ..and I've spent all day hacking my way around adobe ..so they'll have to lay where I and my french bassackwards keyboard flang 'em ..:)
And when a domain expires, you've no more rights to it except to renew or let it go. But
on the other hand, there's at least one registrar I know who's generous enough to allow
an expired name to be transferred out. ;)
Another registrar finally adopted the auctioning of expired names as well. But their CEO
was proactive enough to explain why.
I hope what you described above hasn't happened to you recently, WebWork. Yeesh...
