J.D. Power should reconsider Register.com’s call center award.
Domain name registrar Register.com likes to tout its J.D. Power and Associates call center certification. Perhaps their call center representatives are friendly, but the company’s policies make it difficult to get trivial things done.
If you’ve ever had a domain at register.com, you know they require you to call their call center to get transfer authorization codes to move your domains to other registrars. Almost all registrars allow you to do this online rather than making a time consuming phone call.
Today I wanted to transfer two domains that I won at SnapNames auctions from Register.com to Moniker. I decided to try getting the authorization codes through Register.com’s online chat support rather than call center. Here’s a transcript of my chat:
Stan M. (register.com): Thank you for visiting Register.com’s Live Support. How can I help you?
Me: I need to get transfer out codes for two of my domains
Stan M.: Hello Andrew.
Stan M.: May I have the domain name you are contacting us about today?
Me: [redacted].com and [redacted].com
Stan M.: Thank you for the domain names. Would you please wait for a few minutes while I check our records?
Me: yes
Stan M.: Thank you for waiting.
Stan M.: May I know why you wish to transfer the domain names?
Me: I have one registrar where I consolidate the domains. I won these at auction.
Stan M.: Okay.
Stan M.: In order to obtain the transfer authorization code you have requested, please contact Register.com’s Business Center between the hours of 8am – 6pm EST/EDT Monday – Friday.
Did you notice how the very first thing I wrote was that I needed to get transfer codes for the domains? Why couldn’t the representative have told me I couldn’t do that via chat before asking me for the domains and asking me why I wanted to transfer them out? My guess is he wanted to sell me on keeping them at Register.com.
By this point I’m frustrated that I had to go through all of that to confirm I needed to call in. But I had no choice, so I called Register.com’s toll free number at 1:29 pm CST.
Register.com operator: [answers call] Thanks for calling register.com, would you like to hear more about our custom web development?
Me: No thanks, I just need to get transfer authorization codes for two of my domains.
Register.com operator: OK, let me transfer you. Your wait time will be about 15 minutes.
Me: 15 minutes?
Register.com Operator: said nothing, I was already transferred and in queue.
That’s not customer service.
A representative answered at 1:51. The phone conversation took about 3 minutes to answer a myriad of questions and get the authorization codes. I spent roughly 20 minutes getting authorization codes when it would have taken 20 seconds at another domain registrar.
In case you’re wondering, registrars only have to provide a “reasonable” way to get authorization codes. In fact, they are allowed to wait 5 days before providing a code to you. But being allowed to do something — like force a customer to jump through hoops to transfer out a domain — doesn’t mean it’s customer friendly.
Have any opinion about domain registrars? Review domain registrars at RegistrarJudge.com.
Threatening emails also work via their ticket system, no need to wait on hold.
They play dirty the modern way….by way of complexity.
Been there, done that – too many times! A client of mine called to get their auth code to transfer their domain name to me and was so confused they didn’t think it could happen! I had to go to their office to make the call.
Then you have registrars like name.com that put the auth code upfront! If making it hard for your customers to not do business with you is the way you are in business, you are sad!
mp/m
Many people think the only reason Register.com requires a phone call to complete a transfer is to try to stop customers from leaving but the truth is – we’re in an industry where fraud happens and there are people out there who will go to great lengths to hijack a domain and/or do malicious things with domains that are often very valuable to the registrant.
We’ve found that requiring a phone call to validate the identity of the registrant prior to allowing a transfer has worked well to protect our customers and that’s why we do things this way. It’s the same approach credit card companies take when they require a call before they’ll cancel a credit card or the phone company takes by requiring a call to turn off a business phone number. I’m sorry to hear this process caused such frustration but we receive positive feedback all the time from customers who are grateful for the protection we provide.
this is just a way on inconveniance so you forget transfer and keep the names with them! I havent had an experience with them but after working for a call center i know its a tactic. Awkward makes money!
Register.com has always sucked with their shameful pricing strategies and lousy user interface.
I know Wendy probably doesn’t care about the domaining community because none of use Register.com.
Why do you think that is Wendy? Why did GoDaddy start up and eat your lunch and dinner?
Okay… there. I’m done.
I’m still relatively a newbie, but I think Register.com is by far & away the worst registrar known to humankind.
Wendy is in many respects right about live transfer-outs preventing fraud; but it also makes for – as mentioned above – awkward exchanges that will influence many to stay put and/or give-in to on-the-spot discounts or incentives to stay with them.
From the sound of things, Register.com would prefer to have 50,000 individual customers each with one domain … as opposed to 500 domainers each with 500 to 10,000 domains. 🙂
The one thing over all these years that stuck in my mind about Register.com –> They used to charge $200 for a registrant transfer … when virtually every other registrar did this for free.
The $200 fee was a disgusting business practice for ANY customer and they should be ashamed of that practice.
I always tell my new customers and clients to stay away from network solutions and Register.com
It is about time someone exposed this scam.
For this reason alone Register.com is a joke.
They are losing a lot of biz this way, bcasue people avoid them like the plague.
I just one two at snpa that are there, and as soon as I won I started dreading the phone call.
When I heard that J.D. Power crap years ago I knew right away the JD Power must be a scam too. Register.com has the worst coustomer service.
When I end up with a domain at Register.com, I consider it lost which is a shame.
Register.com knows that if they make it difficult to transfer, you will renew it there or abandon it. Either way, they profit from blocking transfer out.
Fortunately, Netsol does not block transfers out.
@Wendy:
Please, cut the “we protect your Domains B$”. I have heard it all multiple times, while trying to get the Auth-Codes from Register.com. Calling from Germany it really gets on my nerves to have to call and wait 20+ mins every single time I want to consolidate some names I picked up at SN.
What more security do you provide compared to online auth-codes? If my Account at Register.com would have been hacked, then the Hacker already has all my Data and can make the call as easily as myself.
So the only reason you do it is to make it more painful to transfer the names out and NOT for security reasons.
So how about this – you just won your domain at snapnames, you decide to leave it at register.com then some guy comes along and simple asks for your auth code and gets it – just like that. This person now has one of the key ingredients to transferring your domain name away from register.com to another registrar into their name. Some registrars have really bad security/registrant verification around their transfers. I know I don’t have to say that domains are a big business and people will go to great lengths to acquire them. I’m sure loosing your domain would much more of an inconvenience to you than answering a couple questions.
Also, is it such a bad thing for a company to want to keep their customers? I’ve had a few domains at register.com, in fact I still do. I have transferred a few away, and had to answer the questions and I’m still happy there.
I can see how it can be confusing and frustrating to people who do not understand how this industry works – but for people who do understand it should be welcomed that companies are not just going to hand out your information to any person who comes along.
@ Wendy – I understand that this is done under the guise of security. And it may be helpful in preventing theft. But other registrars avoid theft without this hassle. You could easily ask security questions and require people to enter those online. In some ways phone authorization is less secure, because I can have the authorization code sent to any email address I want.
@ Jade – since you work for Register.com, it’s best to disclose that with your comment. It would make your comment more credible than just saying “I’ve had a few domains at register.com, in fact I still do”.
No one here is “new” to this. At other registrars you can’t just come along and ask for your authorization code. You have to have login credentials.
So Jade works for Register.com but he’s posting as though he is just a customer?
Hmmm. That would seem a bit deceitful.
@ Rob – Yes. I normally wouldn’t call someone out, but c’mon. If you work for them, just say it and then give your opinion. Don’t claim to be someone else.
I agree. Very shady but then again, we are dealing with Register.com.
Apparently they can’t defend themselves openly and honestly.
Jade? Wendy? Hello?
How did I know they’d play the security card?
Same reason godaddy has the 60 day policy remember. I’m sure there’s other ways to guarantee security. How good is Register.com at providing it though. . . .They’ve been hacked remember ? Oh right it was only icann.org
http://www.domainnamenews.com/up-to-the-minute/icann-blames-hack-on-registercom/1700
The thing of it is . . . it’s not just the phone call. It’s the hoops and sales pitch after the call.
Also they have to have close to the worst admin interface on the earth has to be at register.com I still show domains in an old account there that I moved over 1 year ago.
I’m pretty sure every other registrar provides epp codes dont they? DUH
Now they’re astroturfing ? . . .sheesh
“I still show domains in an old account there that I moved over 1 year ago.”
I’ve got domains showing that I moved 2 years ago. And a warning that my domains are going to expire.
If register.com was thinking of their customers and trying to protect they should have an 800 number that is a direct number for transfers and get the call over in 2 mins.
I know the company – it’s all about slowing down the transfer.
Wendy is just spitting our Larry talk and Larry doesn’t know a thing about customer service or domains.
Didn’t the guys that started CADNA come from Register.com ???
I’ve done hundreds of transfers for clients and Register.com is the worst. Once, I had to secure 13 EPPs for one client, and the phone call was nearly an hour long.
The interface isn’t terrible, and if only the text link to get the EPP would trigger the code sent to the admin email address, it would at least mirror other registrars.
Is this a cool practice? Yeah,..no. Does everybody know that? Yup. It’s not security; it’s not customer service. It’s a pain.
Agencies in every market in the world are doing things to make it hard for their customers to leave them. Cigarette companies add things to make their cigarettes taste better/different/whatever so you don’t try another brand. Newspapers and TV stations get exclusive interviews so you don’t look to another source for your news.
So here’s the cold, hard truth, folks: there are hoops through which we must jump. So run, dodge, jump, swim, or fly to get away from Register.com.
Wendy cmon you cannot possibly be serious. You don’t know a thing about domain names and you just spew the company line from King Larry and Queen Roni.
Thee only reason for obscuring the transfer codes is to hit the customer hard with an upsell on the way out. You will never win that customer again and the bad word of mouth is obviously hurting your company real bad.
Look at registrar stats and you can see how many customers register.com bleeds.
register.com is so technically inept they spent millions of dollars on a new green colored web site in 2007 and now it is 2009 and that piece of crap still isn’t live.
great way to waste money for the investors – Larry is a failure.
I bet “Stan” in that chat session in this article is in Mumbai.
“…we receive positive feedback all the time from customers who are grateful for the protection we provide.”
haha right – sure you do. I don’t know if the chat transcript or the reply from register.com’s PR person in the comments is more funny.
Wendy why don’t you go take another shot at the competition’s success? Register.com management should be ashamed for the loss of market share. How can they still be in charge?!
Yea anytime a company makes it so hard to leave their service it screams desperation. When you see this run for the hills before they pull a RegisterFly on you.
The fact that Register.com would post here (if it’s really them.) shows how clueless they are about real customer service. Domain security? You must think that everyone is a clueless business owner that does not know DNS from RSVP. Perhaps your customer service for helping people with other kinds of problems is very good, and perhaps it’s just your policies and proceedures that suck.
Well, one good thing is that your prices are 2-3 times more expensive than other registrars…! 🙂 I just logged in, typed in a domain name that I knew was free and learned that a one year reg for a .com is $35. The default when you reg a domain is 3 years at the “bargain” price of $79. And private whois is an extra $10…
Well, your price alone is the reason I do not have and never will have any domains at Register.com. Heck, DirectNIC is only $15 and I moved away from them YEARS ago because they refused to charge market prices of $7-$12. Still, if bad service, offensive upselling, and overpricing work for you, it’s hard to argue about it.
Note to the person that considers a domain at Register.com “lost”. Contact me and I’ll help you get them transfered, no charge. It’s good marketing for me and these jokers need to not get away with this kind of junk.
Ha, this is funny. I’m using one of my client’s account with Register.com. The account shows that there are 3 domains there, but the reality is that those three domains were transfered out months ago. I confirmed by trying to lock or renew them, and get an error each time.
The thing I really, really like about the domaining community is that we generally help each other and speak out when there are scams and companies that offer bad business practices. Did you know that DomainSite.com will act on abuse reports when one of their domains are involved? Yes, they take that as one of their responsibilities. So support the sites and companies that you are happy with and tell others. Avoid those that are clueless ripoffs. I’m sure you will tell twice as many people about the bad ones, I know I do. 🙂
Truth be told and this may shock some of you a HIGH percentage of transfers are done without the customer even knowing they are changing registrars. Webmasters / Designers move tons of names on their own. Yes I work for Register.com for awhile and yes I’ve seen MANY people get screwed over by others. Believe me it is not just for customer retention.
So even register.com call in security feature doesn’t work to protect registrants? How else do they get the authorization codes then?
@ Me –
So even with Register.com’s call in procedure, you’ve seen people get screwed? Then you need to fix that.
I think the call in procedure is LESS secure. People can pick the email that the auth code is sent to. And they don’t have to provide a password…just an answer to a security question such as your mother’s maiden name. That’s a lot easier to find out than someone’s password.
First off I’ll be up front; I work for register.com in Canada in Management. Have we lost some market share? Yes, but we are targeting a specific client group. We are not the best fit for most of the people here, domainers. We understand that. Our goal is to work with small to medium business owners and help them make the most of their on-line presence. So when you call in and get what you feel is a sales pitch, to the main stay of our client base is a consultative approach. Joe the plumber and pat the florist are not expert’s when it comes to the internet, unlike many of you here. The goal of a CSR (web consultant) is to ensure our clients are educated about things like branded e-mail, SEO, SEM. Things that for most of you is second nature but for many of them is a foreign language. Is there some marketing involved, of course. I won’t insult your intelligence by saying otherwise. We are not sneaky and underhanded; we are open about our policies. Many registrars have little trips and traps; Net sol for example slaps a 60 day hold on the account if you change the admin e-mail. Confirmation is required via admin e-mail to transfer away. So if it’s out of date at Net sol you’re out of luck. So yes we’re not the best place for most of the domainers, but that was never our goal.
@ Call me bob – believe me, we aren’t singling out Register.com for its practices. You’ll find plenty of complaints about NetSol and GoDaddy’s 60 day lockdown (which will have to change soon due to new ICANN policy). As I wrote today, Register.com will soon have to let customers get authorization codes online due to changes to ICANN’s transfer policy.
It may be a moot point now, but if you did have authorization codes online, I think the people that could use some hand holding and that you can cross sell would still call in for help.
As Domainers I sure many of you have received the Domain registry of America notice” Renew today Urgent you are in Danger of losing your Domain” For people like you and I this is immediately recognized as what it is, an attempt to get you to transfer you domain. For John Q. public this is not the case. Many times we field calls from People about receiving instructions to retrieve the auth code to be able to complete their renewal. Before the auth code the call went what you mean I’m not with you?? Who is Brandon gray and why is my name there. John Q. Public gets assaulted with all kinds of spam when it comes to domains and these for the most part just don’t understand it. So the call in is 2 fold.
1. Yes it’s one last kick at the can, and for many of you it’s annoying.
2. More important it’s an opportunity to ensure our client is aware of what is happening to their domain.
I have been in the industry since there’s been one. Before we poke fingers at others not just RCOM, but the industry as a whole we need to take a long look in the Mirror. Domainers are you practices any better?? Many of you speculate, pick up expired domains in hopes of extorting large sums from the previous owners who ignorantly trusted someone and was failed by them.
Register.com is not perfect, and I can’t speak for the board, but I can tell you this, the team of people that work for me do their best to ensure the people we speak to have the right solution for their needs, and if I find one taking advantage of a client and selling them something they don’t need . We’ll have words. That’s just bad business.
Hey Bob:
Why not call the registrant once they retrieve the auth code from the account manager? As you know, you still have plenty of time from that point to sway their decision.
The only reason the call-in practice was put in place was to block transfers away and hit the customer with the AOL-style upsells. Please do not embarrass yourself by spewing the company line that King Larry puts out there.
Also, nice to know you slander an entire industry of domainers saying they extort people. Have you ever looked at the names you hold in your own house portfolio? TM infringements are not a top priority to weed out of your own account, are they?
It is unreal that you can slander people for picking up expired domains. Register.com not only skims the “cream” from the expired domain list and puts it into their house account, but then advertises the rest via snapnames for the highest bidder. Are you that blind to the practices of your own company????????
@Andrew Allemann: How do you KNOW Jade works for Register.com? She had the only positive thing to say and you called her a witch and want to burn her at the stake. Please stick with facts, not theory.
@ Legion – no “theory” involved. (S)he posted the comment from her work computer.
Legion,
Andrew wouldn’t post a fact unless it was a fact.
You will know that the more you read DNW.
I can’t say what will be done come March 15, that’s for higher heads than mine. I was not singling out domainers, but the industry as a whole is out of control. ICAAN is talking about more extensions?? Mobi !what a fiasco. .Asia,.EU and let’s not forget Go Daddy’s .ME. I guess my main point is people in glass houses shouldn’t through stones. It’s easy to stand back and say can you believe what they did. I can only speak for my piece of the pie and I stand by what I and my team do.
Register.com outsourced US jobs to canada and india. Godaddy uses all US labor and has cheaper prices and arguably the same or better service (plus godaddy’s products are actually functional).
My decision is made!
But the real question is why would you reveal it? Revealing someone’s identity isn’t giving your readers or commenter any trust that you will protect their private information. Not only that but it hinders any free, unbiased speech as “Jade” would now be targeted as a Register.com employee and ‘hated’ for her relationship rather than her opinion, whatever that may be.
On topic, I’ve seen what happens when so called “webmasters” (yeah, right) take control of someone’s domain and business. I know of a divorced wife that brought down her husbands website out of spite and put something pretty trashy in its place because the registrar did not have that call in policy, she just used his email on his computer. You are looking at it the wrong way, the extra level of security is a SERVICE they offer, not a hindrance. One I, like many, are willing to pay for and go through the hoops.
If your website is important to you, if it is your business or livelihood then security should not be compromised.
Oh, on a side-note. Have you ever heard of a business letting you go without a fight? Doesn’t sound like a good business practice no matter how you cut it or put a dress on it.
Legion: you sound like an employee or shill for register.com.
1. access to the email is all it takes to bring down or redirect a domain name with register.com’s current account management (change the DNS, etc.). No call in required.
2. No one said not to have a retention marketing plan. You can trigger an outbound phone call or email the MOMENT someone accesses their AUTH code and unlocks their domain.
If you have purchased names off snapnames or simply chose to transfer to another registrar for any reason, you would know the phone call adds zero additional security and only serves to “trap” and try to retain with aggresive tactics.
Oh one more thing legion..
why don’t you google register.com security and see the long history of insecure policies and procedures while this call in practice was in place??
Off the top of my head from the past couple years…
1. icann.org hacked and website redirected
2. developer’s laptop stolen with thousands of customers’ credit card information
“If your website is important to you, if it is your business or livelihood then security should not be compromised.”
All the more reason to take your valuable domains and run for a secure registrar given the recent history with these clowns.
Gerald what would you recommend? Many companies have had their systems hacked. Yes things have happened. We do all that we can, as I said before we are not for everyone. Especially not for domainers and I don’t mean that negatively. We can choose to have the largest portfolio of $7.00 domains, and cater to this community or charge more and offer a hand holding experience. Our Reps routinely spend tremendous amounts of time walking clients thru our Template based site builder, or explaining SEO to them. We are not the evil over lord of the internet. As for being in Canada, remember we stand side by side in allot of things around the world.
Legion:
“But the real question is why would you reveal it? Revealing someone’s identity isn’t giving your readers or commenter any trust that you will protect their private information.”
Because they lied. They indicated they were a customer. And comments aren’t meant to be anonymous.
“Oh, on a side-note. Have you ever heard of a business letting you go without a fight? Doesn’t sound like a good business practice no matter how you cut it or put a dress on it.”
Yes. Those companies say “I’m sorry to see you go. Please keep us in mind in the future”. And I do keep them in mind. The ones that piss me off on the way out the door not only don’t get my business in the future but also I tell other people to avoid them.
There is no such thing as a ‘perfect company’, they all just try to do their best. Some lack in places where others excel, some need improvements ‘here’ but are the beating the industry standards ‘there’. Where some companies only cares about the bottom line, other companies care about the customers. Simple fact of the world: you cannot please all of the people all of the time.
Seems to me ya’ll are people Register.com couldn’t or can’t please, and probably never will. That does not mean they are wrong, doesn’t mean they are evil, it means that their services do not meet your needs whereas they still meet, and exceed, the needs of many, many others. Especially those who obviously do not have the ‘savvy’ ya’ll claim to possess. Simple answer to that: go somewhere else.
Oh, by the way, I didn’t realize that being an employee of an organization means you can’t also be a customer. Saying you a customer and leaving out the fact that you work at that place isn’t lying. They sure didn’t claim they DIDN’T work there which means they didn’t CLAIM to be someone else as you mentioned. I think you are just trying to point the finger and give a focus point to everyones ire. There are lots of things about me I haven’t told you, are you going to call me out too? In fact, back to my original point that “unbiased speech” goes out the back door as soon as that person had admitted or you told that they were a Register.com employee. Honestly, why would you not want to protect the identity of your commentors, just seems “sleazy” to me somehow, softof like the way you say Register.com is being, trying to corner people into doing what you want. How far will you search into my background and what will you reveal to everyone here?
It doesn’t matter, I’m done here anyway. Obviously nothing will ever be good enough for ya’ll, why bother wasting effort trying to convince you? Next to that I have slight concerns over a moderator who provides personal information about his visitors without their permission and for the intent of “unmasking a villian in our midst”.
Have a great day all, try to be kind to each other if you can’t be kind to others.
@ Legion – It’s clearly stated in the Terms of Use of this site that you should not use a false persona or email.
Personally, I have no problem with Register.com charging $35 a name. I also happen to know that the company will charge much less to people who ask. Under $10 a name. I have a problem with a company that wastes 30 minutes of my time to get a transfer out code. Tell me what part of the chat transcript above is not a waste of my time? The person KNEW he couldn’t help me on chat as of my very first line. Why did he keep me on the chat for another several minutes?
I will agree with you Andrew the chat was not handled the way I would have or would have wanted someone on my team to handle it. With regards to your terms, you sound like one of the lawyers who writes them for Microsoft. Please tell me the origin of California Dudes e-mail, or his employment?? That is clearly a false persona or did his parents not love him enough to give him a real name, or is this more about trying to shame someone. What if Jade is Jade’s real name, and she said something against Company policy?? You just ratted her out. Our office is not that large. Will you now pay her rent??This room should be open to unprosecuted commentary.
@ 52 – I would imagine Register.com would address the issue with the person, and tell them they understand they were defending register.com but it made them look bad and look like “astroturfing”. But if Register.com fired that person, that’s their issue.
About comment #4, lets be real, the “extra security” is only to protect Register.com, not domainers. If someone steals a domain from Register.com, guess who will end up being liable for damages and so on. (that’s right, Register.com).
Its just like all the BS fraud protection with credit card companies like BofA. They are protecting themselves from someone stealing our credit cards, not us. Our credit cards are guaranteed by Visa and Mastercard and so on. All this “fraud protection” is just so that if our card number is stolen things are a bit easier for BofA or whatever.
Register.com and Netsol are for End Users, not Domainers.
OK, now I’m not a fan of Register.com in general (see my previous post), nor of NetSol’s 30-day lock–note, people, it’s 30 days, not 60 like GoDaddy. *BUT* in their defense, they’ve apparently lifted it. I am an admin and my entire job is transferring domains for my clients. In the last 2-3 weeks, we have updated whois information, name servers, A records, MX records,…anything and everything you can think of, and the traditional 30-day lock has not shown up. YAY! NetSol is joining the real world that doesn’t move at a snail mail’s pace!
And in about 45 days, ICANN will finally force Register.com to speed things up as well. In the interim, can we all just stay on our side of the isle and agree to disagree? In a few short days, it won’t matter anyway.
Back to the origional topic of Customer service . . .
I registered my domain, and upgraded my email package with REGISTER . COM to 10+ email package. THey have charged me for this service, But I am unable to logon to any email account. I have contacted them daily and they dont do anything besides asking me to repeat the same process over and over again. I have been told every day that this has been routed to the correct department and they will get into touch with me, and I am still waiting … I have requested managers details via the support messenger and via the support email address, they are refusing to supply me with this information. I am stuck with a call centre that I cannot escalate a issue with for resolution, they keep on closing the incedents instead of keeping them open till resolved and I have paid for a service that lasts for 365 days – the time taken for them to hopefully one day fix this issue. . . I HAVE NEVER BEEN DENIED THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER BEFORE !!! SHAME ON YOU AND SHAME ON YOUR CALL CENTRE !!! I AM BEING ROBBED!!!
Wiljer05
Try this
212-798-9100 main office ask for Larry Kustcher or Roni Jacobson.
kustcher@register.com – Larry Kustcher CEO rjacobson@register.com – VP of product development
sross@register.com = Sandy Ross director of customer support (a useless piece of shit who can’t manage a call center for his life)
dial 212-798-91xx and 212-798-92xx until you get someone that can help. Thats all of their NYC direct lines.
hope this helps you deal with this inept company