Don't search for new domains at Network Solutions unless you plan to buy from them...

[mjp]

Wow, a lot of people have suspected this atother registrars, but Network Solutions is really registering domains that site visitors search for.

Technically they are putting them on hold for five days, but the end result is the same, you have to buy from them or wait out the hold.

You can see for yourself by searching for anonsense domain at networksolutions.com - it will show as available to register. But if you then go to godaddy.com and search the same domain it will show as taken.

Crazy.

http://www.domainnamenews.com/featured/domain-registrar-network-solutions-front-running-on-whois-searches/1359


mjp
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DiscountASP.NET

[wisemx]

I can confirm this. http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/mad.gif
They hijacked all of the domains I had with Burlee and Interland.
GoDaddy is fighting for me to get one of them back.

Three of the domain names I registered were for a Church.
They changed my password and would not let me renew the domains unless I faxed in my Driver's license.
Fat chance I was going to fall for that one.
In the end they sold the domains, right from under a Church. Despicable behavior.

[mjp]

How did they hijack the domains?


I have been dealing with registrars since ye olden dayes (when domain registration was free), and sometimesI think I have seen everything, but I'm alwaysup for a new story.

mjp
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DiscountASP.NET

[wisemx]

Waiting until the domains were about to expire...
Changed my login password.
They registered the domains...
Before I could find a legal means of proving my identity to renew the domains.
Had 4 outside individuals helping, including Lee Walter Davis, an attorney.

So now I always use GoDaddy for domains.

They do a great job. All be it with their own over the edge, sometime annoying, marketing.
Bob Parsons is a Veteran Marine. Ooh Rah!

[bruce]

I always hated Network Solution!!! I hope they go out of biz soon!!!!


Bruce

DiscountASP.NET
www.DiscountASP.NET (http://www.DiscountASP.NET)

[wisemx]

I'm holding up a rolled fist right next to ya bro. http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/yeah.gif

[mjp]

+1 for GoDaddy. Been using them for years. They have raised their prices lately, so they are not the lowest price in town anymore (which is what put them on the map, initially), but the control you have over your domains there is great. Haven't seen such a comprehensive set of tools at any other registrar.

Network Solutions is a good example of a known name that will continueto net new customersno matter how horrible their service of tactics become. Oncea brand is burned into the collective internet unconscious, it's difficult to kill it.

mjp
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DiscountASP.NET

[wisemx]

They Googled this thread by now and will have the Mafia on us soon...
So quick...you guys stand behind me. http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/tongue.gif

[bruce]

Not until you start working on a class action lawsuit then your life will be in danger! http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/lol.gif

Bruce

DiscountASP.NET
www.DiscountASP.NET (http://www.DiscountASP.NET)

[wisemx]

Checkout thisbit of news:http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/shocked.gif



Network Solutions (http://www.networksolutions.com/) used to be the only place you could go to buy a .com or other domain name. Years ago they lost their monopoly rights and a flood of low priced competitors entered the market. Today Network Solutions is a distant third (http://www.webhosting.info/registrars/top-registrars/global/) in market share behind giants like GoDaddy and eNom. The main reason is price. Network Solutions continues to charge $35/year for a domain name, while others charge as little as $8 per year.
Network Solutions continues to make good money on renewals for all the domain names already registered to them (transferring to a new registrar is a pain), but few new customers come their way. Recently, though, they implemented a new ?feature? that is designed to force some users to register domains with them.
As of Tuesday, if a user does a search on the site for a domain name, Network Solution immediately registers the domain in their own name. If the user then goes to a discount registrar to register the domain, it shows as unavailable. The user must then either not buy the domain, or go back to Network Solutions and pay their $35/year fee.
So far they?ve registered over 72,000 domain names based on user searches. They are all temporarily assigned a name server of ?reserveddomainname? - the number of registrations pointing to this server is public data and can be seen here.
http://www.dailychanges.com/
This isn?t costing the company anything, either. Registrars are permitted to register domains for five days without paying any fees to the domain name registry (in this case, Verisign). If they delete the domains after 5 days, which they will almost certainly do, they do not pay for the registration.
The five day grace period is designed to let registrars off the hook for credit card fraud, which is a big problem in the domain name industry. A lot of fraud is discovered very quickly - giving the grace period lets registrars reverse these transactions without getting hit with a fee. The fact that Network Solution is using the grace period to stop users from going to competitors is well outside of the original reasons for the rule. Users are already screaming (we?re getting emails). Expect competitors to scream next, and of course to copy the behavior.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/10/network-solutions-using-questionable-tactic-to-sell-more-domain-names/