Registrar Horror Stories?

Fact or fiction?

[ccDan]

I have a number of domains registered with a well-known registrar that is infamous for their Super Bowl ads.

While I haven't had any problems with them, I keep hearing stories about people that have. That if a spam complaint is made against you and they investigate the claim, you'll be charged $179 and then have 24 hours to respond. After that, they'll shut your site down and it can take up to three weeks to get it back, IF you get it back. They may seize the domain and resell it.

Those are pretty bad horror stories, but when I look at other registrars, I see similar clauses.

I don't send spam, but I don't want to have to pay $179 everytime some nut reports an opt-in message as spam, nor do I want to risk losing my domains because of it either.

Anyone know if these stories are true? Are legitimate website operators being affected, or just "questionable" marketers?

[ceestand]

A friend who was using that same registrar had let his domain registration expire. A day after the expiration date, he was told that it was too late to renew at the usual rate, that he'd have to pay US$90, IIRC. He then thought he could just re-register it as it should be free again, but the registrar "holds" the name for 60(?) days after expiration. So his site could be down for two months, or he could pay up.