Beware of Network Solutions

If you don't like reading rants, then leave, RIGHT NOW.

OK, you have been warned.

For all the Do-It-Yourselfers out there in web land, you should beware of the vile and deceitful domain registrar, Network Solutions. This is one BAD company in that while they "pretend" to be helpful and friendly to the unsuspecting newcomer, once they have their tentacles on your domain, they will NEVER let it go.

Don't believe what I'm saying? Just type Network Solutions Sucks into your favorite search engine to see what sooooo many others have to say about them. Better yet, go to the new website, networksolutionssuck.com and read on - or post your own thoughts.

I am posting here how Network Solutions is not just bad but downright EVIL because I'd hate to see someone just starting out creating a website to fall into Network Solutions trap. First, they are the MOST EXPENSIVE domain registrar on the planet. They overcharge by nearly 300% what it should cost to buy a domain name. AND you get nothing for it except the domain name itself. You can't forward the name to point to another site and you can't have any email boxes associated with it UNLESS you pay NS even more money. Outrageous!

You want a good deal on a domain name, and the ability to edit it, forward it, or eventually transfer it to another domain registrar of your choosing, then go with GoDaddy, or ANY other registar.

If you DO become a victim to NS, then be prepared get nothing but rhetoric and lies from them when you have a problem. They cite "security" as their concern over resolving your issues, claiming they only want to make sure you are who you say you are before they provide any help, but in reality those are simply stall tactics in hopes of wearing you down so you will go quietly back to living under their thumb.

In dealing with them, you will be wasting HUGE amounts of time, and just get angry at the lack of progress, to boot. (I'm a prime example, if you haven't already noticed).

What's even more ironic is the fact that they require you to fax them a photo id of you, so they know that it is you they are dealing with. Are you KIDDING ME? First, a fax comes off as black and white. Second, a photo id will more than likely be obscured (don't believe me, try faxing a photo id of yourself to yourself and see what it comes out like). They will also want your signature on a letter - with the company letterhead - spelling out your request. Oh, you don't have a letterhead because you are a one-person business? No problem, just make up a letterhead, write your letter on it, and then sign it (and don't forget to attach the photo id) - and they will accept that (providing the signature on your id matches the signature on your letterhead). Ya know, if they WANTED to make sure you were who you say you are, they would demand a sample of your DNA upfront to keep on file for comparison - otherwise, anyone that is at all clever in the fraud field can fake anything they are requiring.

So, you see, there are a LOT of hoops they make you jump through, all to no avail, because they are going to turn you down anyway. God forbid they actually LOOSE a customer, no matter how irate they make that customer.

What's up with that, anyway? I've run my own publishing company now for 22 years and if I have a customer that wants to leave me because he/she has found a better deal or he/she has become upset with me in some way (hey, it happens - a customer/company relationship is a lot like a marriage and not all marriages work out).....then I do everything I can to make the transition to someone else a quick and pleasant experience. Why? Because if you don't piss off the customer, that customer is likely to remember you in a positive way and should that customer ever need a new webmaster, webhost, publisher (yada yada, I wear a lot of hats), 9 times out of 10, that customer is likely to come back to you. Really, of all the customers that have left me (which aren't many, I admit), more than half have come back to me because they know I am honest and sincere and do what I can to help them out, no matter what the problem may be.

You'd think Network Solutions would have learned that by now. But with all the disgruntled customers they seem to have floating around out there in cyberspace, that just doesn't seem to be the case. And now I have joined the ranks of those who HATE Network Solutions. I never did like them, but I never was prompted to go on a HATE campaign until now.

My situation? I have a client that needed to change hosts. They weren't with Network Solutions, but NS WANTED them to be. I set up the client on the new host, then changed the dns on NS, only to have the site go immediately down. I called NS and they said IF I put the client on THEIR servers, the site would work. Seriously? Then they told me to contact the host because it is a hosting problem, not a problem with NS. Funny how I have other clients on the same host, with the same dns, and everything works perfectly.

So I thought if NS wants to play it that way, I'll move the domain to a new registrar. A BIG FLASH here - once you attempt to move away from NS, all hope is lost on ever getting your website to work again. They will punish you by disabling the site, and even if you unlock the site for moving, and approve the site for moving, NS will lock the site back up tighter than a bear gripping a honey jar. You can submit support tickets and call them until your ear is about to fall off for waiting, and all you will get from them is the same rhetoric every time, that is, how they are "sorry" for the inconvenience, and how they "want" to help rectify the problem. Total BULL! You get the same response time after time and your site will still be down and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it but go to blogs and forums and rant. Which is what I'm doing here.

Now that I have wasted all this time ranting, it is out of my system at least for a little while. If you've stuck it out this far, really, go to networksolutionssuck.com and post a comment on that blog.

Maybe if enough people out there complain the Powers that set up companies as domain registrars will take notice and consider stripping NS of the privilege.

Money-Grubbing Scams - Spoke.com

If there is one thing I hate, it is dishonesty. And in today's world, it seems there is dishonesty around every corner.

I live by the philosophy: do right by others and they'll do right by you. Sure, that is naive - but one has to have faith in people because otherwise, life isn't worth spit. And I do believe that most (which is about 51% these days) people out there in the world are worth trusting.

That, of course, does not include unscrupulous companies that are out to get all they can from you. Spoke.com is such a company. If you Google your name, don't be surprised if it comes up under Spoke.com with some incredulous info that causes you to seethe! I have a web client who has had such an experience. My client is a highly respected member of his community and a very successful man who owns his own business. When he Googled his name it came up under Spoke.com (in the top 10 position, no less) that he owned a business that didn't even exist. Furthermore, his equally respected colleagues were names as "instructors" - a position his firm doesn't even hold. The name of the business was certainly unsavory and damageable to his reputation. So his "account" with Spoke.com was created and his profile was edited with the correct info. After hitting 'Save' a message popped up that said "due to a large volume of entries, his information would take several days to be reviewed. Then he was invited to "upgrade" to a "premium" account to the tune of $24.95 a month and his info would be edited immediately. This is outright extortion. And guess what, it's been longer than I care to remember and the damnable info is still in place on my client's "profile." This is an outrage! Spoke.com should be banished to the far reaches of the universe for thievery, along with all those evil people that create virus and spybots just to wreck havoc on the innocent.

Steps have been taken to take down Spoke.com - Join the Fight! Report them to Google and ICANN. Let justice prevail for the honest people of this world. Or at least leave them alone!