Network Solutions Suck...

Posted on September 22, 1999

in Commentary & Society

by Isaac (isaac)

Rated 4.06 (Ratings: 3) (Add your rating)

Want more?

More articles in Commentary & Society
More articles by isaac

Isaac

Member info | Full bio

User since: December 13, 1998

Last login: October 27, 2007

Articles written: 67

So, I'm not the only one who isn't a wonderfully happy friend of NSI, but this example goes beyond just pissing me off - this is an insult to everyone who is based outside of the US. Non-americans have long been unimpressed with the general american attitude towards the top level domains (.COM, .NET, .ORG, etc). When was the last time you saw an american company with a .com.us domain? To be completely honest, I can't even remember having *ever* seen one... The United States has adopted many international TLD's as well as the registration process, the payment currency, etc, but this is not what I have a problem with; after all, the Internet was funded and "born" in the United States. What angers me is that when I go to Network Solutions, check to see if a .COM is available, and attempt to register it using my contact information, it won't let me do so. Where exactly is the problem occurring? In the "Account Holder (Registrant)" form, and, specifically, the State/Province and Zip/Postal Code fields. I'm Australian - I live in South Australia, which is abbreviated to "SA", and my postcode is "5000". NSI refuses to accept this when I try to submit the form. It comes back with "The state abbreviation you used, 'SA', is not valid" and "The postal code must be a number between 00005 and 99995". OK. Entering the postcode as "05000" keeps NSI happy in that regard, but it still won't accept the SA. Note that I have taken care to specify that my country is "Australia -- AU" in the dropdown box provided. Why won't it accept SA? Just because SA happens to not be the abbreviation of one of the "united" states? I try leaving the state field blank, and resubmitting. No luck - it says: "The Address you have provided is too short. Please use the 2-letter state abbreviation." I just tried that! NSI has completely failed to consider that not every country has a 5 digit postcode, and not every state or province is abbreviated to 2 letters. Luckily, there are now alternatives (other ICANN accredited registrars), and they're alternatives I will be trying when I next have some free time to retry grabbing the domain I'm after. Two of these registrars are:

I encourage others to post URLs of registrars they've used, and their experiences and tips. I have emailed NSI about the problem, and will add a comment when I hear back from them.

Isaac is a designer from Adelaide, South Australia, where he has run Triplezero for almost a decade.

He was a member and administrator of evolt.org since its founding in 1998, designed the current site, and was a regular contributor on evolt.org's direction-setting discussion list, theforum.

On the side, he runs Opinion, Hoops SA, Confessions, Daily Male, and Comments, as well as maintaining a travel gallery at Bigtrip.org.

4 comments on this article. Log in to add your comment | Rate this article:

Submitted by jp on September 24, 1999 - 23:23.

thanks for the listing of alternates to Network Solutions. it's always great when a complaint is accompanied by a practical solution.

At least you have a state...

Submitted by sforbes on January 4, 2002 - 06:22.

some places, like Israel, do not have any state notafication. Just name, street, house number and zip. I have stopped coounting the number of forms for services (or pourchases) that I have abanded since althugh they said they do international business, aprrently they don't want it.

Just say NO to Network Solutions!!!

Submitted by gmuth on February 9, 2002 - 23:09.

Before I start my rant...I would like to offer gandi.net as an alternative (and cheap) registrar.

I tried to do a transfer of a domain that I own from Network Solutions to gandi.net...as I am doing with all of my domains before they expire. My transfer request which hit NetSol the day before my domain name expired was turned down because NetSol requires 5 days to process a transfer. I was pissed...I knew it wouldn't do any good (thanks to previous calls), but I called NetSol up anyway and gave them hell for at least 1/2 an hour. Funny how none of my other transfers took 5 days from the time NetSol ack'd the transfer request. These guys write policy to line their pockets...they have very little regard for the customer...especially once they have your money or your domain registration.

Why would I want to leave NetSol? Well, I typo'd a new domain registration...called customer support within 5 minutes after I had completed/paid. I was told that they can't stop a registration once it is submitted. I was told that I would need to work with my bank to cancel the charges. I called the bank immediately...they said I had to wait until the charges posted to my card and then I could dispute the charges. I did dispute the charges once posted and I was told that I had been charged for a service that had already been performed and therefore they could not reverse the charges. What a load of carp...if that was the case then NetSol shouldn't have their hands out on the expiration date asking for more money. That is when I started using gandi.net...mostly because they were the cheapest legitimate registrar I could find.

So if you have domains with NetSol...you should go read all of the new policies that they have...then check your pockets. Remember, NetSol was the bunch that was taxing registrations illegally ($15 per)...course Congress didn't make them give us our money back then either. Don't be a victim...move your domains today!

Network solutions

Submitted by deepsoul on March 25, 2002 - 11:21.

NSI really do suck. I started trying to move a domain I had set up with them through Namezero.com, that was last september. They kept claiming the domain was expired whereas their whois was just inaccurate. Countless contacts with NSI and Namezero ensued but with no resolution. 6 months later the domain was really going to expire, so I coughed up for another year. Whois was updated and I thought I was in luck. I tried to transfer again, and now NSI are claimimg the domain is expired even though whois says it will not expire till 2003. Charming. Ringing them from Ireland costs an arm and a leg too. Emails meet with no response. I can't believe they treat their US clients like this..

Start of page header

Other Fine Evolt.org Sites

Navigation Starts

Submit

Article Categories

Highest rated articles

Recent comments