Network Solutions is Despicable. Never EVER Use Them.
A few months ago we were about to launch a new blog. We spent 3 hrs trying to think of the perfect name. And we found it!
Boy was I excited. I had one of our editors search to see if the name was available while I hopped out of the office for lunch.
It was available! And it had never ever been registered in the past.
She was unable to register the name till I got back.
2 hours later we went online to try to make the purchase. But the name was snapped up? How on earth did a name that had been available since the dawn of the Internet suddenly disappear within 2 hours of our search?
We were shattered!
Someone was snooping on us. And you would not believe who.
Turns out that many domain registrar have been snooping on customer searchs and quickly registering any hot name a customer searchs for but does not register immediately. These registrars know these domains can later fetch premium prices.
How Vile!
One of the biggest culprits is Network Solutions (www.NetworkSolutions.com). Before GoDaddy came along with its SuperBowl advertising, many people foolishly paid Network Solutions premium prices to register domains. GoDaddy by comparions – charges way less.
Network Solutions (NetworkSolutions.com) lost a lot of business to GoDaddy. So they apparently turned to the business of snooping on customers and grabbing names that people search for but do not immediately buy.
According to discussions cropping up at Domain Name News, Slashdot, Reddit and DomainState discussion boards.
“Network Solutions has instituted a four-day lock on all domain names searched on their site. They are effectively using phishing techniques to hijack or steal domain names and forcing domain name registrants to register their names at Network Solutions. The standard domain name registration fee at Network Solutions is $34.99–significantly higher than the leading alternatives,” complained one commenter.
The deny this charge of course.
But one creative user at the site Reddit.com proved their guilt by searching for the domain name:
http://www.YouGuySeriouslyRegisterEverythingISearch.com/
Which Network Solutions promptly snapped up. You can see what they’re doing with it here:
http://www.youguysseriouslyregistereverythingisearch.com/
The full story on what they’re doing and how is avalaible here: http://commandline.org.uk/more/squat-for-the-win-2008-01-09-03-36 Have you been screwed by Network Solutions? Share your experiences in the comments below.
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Network Solutions kicked my dog, and then vehemently denied doing so.
Quick note to author: “the deny this charge of course.”
Also: “youguyseriously” instead of “youguysseriously” in the first instance.
But I suppose we could register that as well!
Marc Perkel once got screwed by Network Solutions real bad.
http://marc.perkel.com/2004/02/29/network-solutions-sucks/
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I’ve encounter the same adventure already 2 times. I can’t remember if it was Network Solutions. But I was searching availability information about domains for a customer. Domains were available and the time to get my customer on the phone to receive a buy in confirmation … the name was locked.
I didn’t make any search to understand what was going on … but now I’m not that I’m not alone
[...] Network Solutions is Despicable. Never EVER Use Them. [...]
I owned ‘hennhaus.com’ for several years, but lost it by not renewing in time. Not smart, but spammers had been using my domain name as a return address for their spam, so I figured letting it lapse might thwart them. (I don’t know if it had any effect.)
I thought the domain might come back on the market when NetSol-cum-VeriSign (in ’03, prior to the sale) discerned I wasn’t going to renew. I was wrong. I set Big Daddy up for a year to let me know when its status changed, but the domain immediately went into a parked status where it’s pretty much been ever since.
Though I’ve had nothing to do with it in years, the site’s name still comes up if you search for my name.
Just tried this… searched for and found a free domain at NS, then searched for that same domain with GoDaddy. It’s true, of course. NS is screwing the people who search with it’s system. And even better/worse, it says it’s doing it to help you the consumer. Lovely. Never ever, NS.
The domain I used: f***younetworksolutions.com
The edit is mine, of course.
nevermind the first comment i left, this is the link i had them buy up.
http://thisonetimeatbandcampistuckitrumpetupmy.com/
I handle sites for people. One person I talked into setting up a site in the early days of the web lost his Nwrxsol password. I have been battling with these dweebs for over a year, having sent Drivers license, tax bills and and water bills just to get a redirect on their DNS they deny every attempt. They did respond when I wrote the isolated behemoths at ICANN to complain but they still wont let me get in….. Something is very strange
Just wait 5 days, and then buy domain name from GoDaddy. Bit of a hassle. but no biggie. On the other hand, if you are going to use your new blog like this one (repost other peoples info in a way that’s more boring then how they did it. Or, taking a reddit thread, creating a bs post arround it, submitting it to reddit, and etc.) please don’t bother with it.
Well, I thought you guys were wrong but I tried it too.
That’s pretty disgusting.
After you search on a domain, the only way to get it is to register it through NS.
That is really gross.
I searched for godbuttfucksjesus.com and now it’s under construction.
Maybe we should let the christian right know about that.
I used to check whois on NetworkSolutions.com about 10 yrs back, but I no longer do as I knnow do it via DNSstuff since a few yrs ago. I always had a nagging suspicion that some of the registrars might abuse this system since domain squatting and hoarding is getting into a big biz and companies like NS no longer have monopoly. And of course, its best to run these checks from a more neutral site or site which has its prime biz doing networking stuff or do it from a *nix machine as you chances are that its sources are more neutral.
Its a dog eat dog world and nowadays it never hurts to be mindful of our sources so to speak. I definitely did not expect networksolutions to be the one since i used them extensively previously but one could never know, right… ah, thats one of the downsides of monetising too much a previously more “free” internet has caused
Conterattack with a bot that searches at random and forces Network Solutions to buy billions of domain names until it goes broke.
Call the bot Dogeatdog.com
Could somebody write a script to run endless random domain name searches on the network solutions site? Surely then it would be reasonable to hand over this script and accompanying ownership records of the appropriate domains to whatever regulatory body exists for domain names (if indeed there is one) in order to prove an abuse of the system.
As a more long term approach, domain squatting/hoarding really needs to be addressed by somebody. The whole phenomenon is utterly despicable from the word go. How about something along the lines of no organisation or individual can own more than one domain name unless they can reasonably prove that additional names are directly related to their interests, business, or trademarks.
Then again, I guess this would put administration costs through the roof and increase the cost of domains by some huge amount.
*Sigh*.. the world we live in…
What do you know, just found a new website ( http://www.SwiftDomainSearch.com ) addressing the Network Solution issue. I must say that was quick
just happened to me today !!!
searched for a name, found it, registered it with NS, my CC was billed.
then i get this email:
================================
Subject: Re: RE: Unable To Process Your Order
Dear Network Solutions® Customer,
Thank you for your order and for giving Network Solutions® the opportunity to serve your online needs.
Unfortunately, we were unable to process your request. None of the services in this order have been fulfilled, including items that have deferred payments.
We will refund the credit card you provided during your transaction, and the refund should be credited within 3-5 business days.
================================
i go and do a whois, and sure enough, the name is now registered to networksolutions and there’s a “under construction” page with an option to “make an offer” if i want to buy the domain name …
that has to be criminal! i can’t believe they can get away with this …
so mad,
Andy
I agree with Sam, however going the unix route might not an option for many. Best bet would be a neutral site. One site doing the rounds since the NS fiasco is http://www.SwiftDomainSearch.com
I just tried a few, to check it out, and they were all registered within a minute by Network Solutions.
I decided to have a bit of fun with them:
NetworkSolutionsEatsCock
NetworkSolutionsBlowsDick
Then, I wondered if it was possible to get in trouble for claiming major company names as your own trademark:
MicrosoftIsATrademarkOfNetworkSolutions
WindowsOSWasMadeByNetworkSolutionsNotMicrosoft
GoogleIsATrademarkOfNetworkSolutions
And then, to really play a bit of risk:
TimeToBringJihadToThe.us
But it seems they don’t register .us names automatically. However, the .com version of jihad was snapped up quite quickly. So, to play with more fire:
TimeToBringJihadToTheUS
Every one of them, snapped up within about a minute by Network Solutions.
. .. … I really hope Big Brother doesn’t get upset at me for that last one.
Fun times all around.
[...] Network Solutions Follow Up: Even Dumber and More Evil Than Before! January 22nd, 2008 by Mike W. Read more about Articles, Reviews A few days ago we wrote a post on how Network Solutions screwed us out of a domain and we recommended that people avoid Network Solutions at all cost. [...]
[...] From mindvallylabs: Turns out that many domain registrar have been snooping on customer searchs and quickly registering any hot name a customer searchs for but does not register immediately. These registrars know these domains can later fetch premium prices. [...]
You guys do realize that Network Solutions doesn’t keep the domain names you search for right? That they are released within 5 days? This seems alarmist and uninformed. While I do agree that they really don’t have any legitimate reason “taste” your domains, there’s no reason to get your panties in a bunch..
This article managed to make it into whatever Vancouver’s major newspaper is.
I’ve spent four months battling Network Solutions to move my domain name from them. First they told me I was not the primary contact. The primary contact’s e-mail address had changed five years ago. They told me it would take 8 weeks to get this changed after faxing all the proof that I owned the domain and busines (driver’s license, electric bill in my name, etc.).
Even after the eight weeks and finally getting the primary contact changed to me, I initiated the transfer and again, they locked the domain. Why, you ask? Because they claim it’s a safety feature to protect me from having the domain transferred.
No kidding. The whole point of me changing the primary contact was so that I could get it changed. Getting the lock removed required a whole bunch more calling and e-mailing. That took another 8 days. Now, when I finally think I can transfer, the message I get from GoDaddy is that it’s still waiting approval from current registrar.
I called Network Solution again to find out why this is still not happening and they told me they’d e-mailed me to confirm the approval. Yet what they e-mailed me was a message that somebody was trying to transfer the domain and I didn’t need to do anything. They would wait another 5 days unless I said I didn’t want to move from Network Solutions. So here I am, three months later and still can not get ride of these guys.
Anybody else get the runaround like this? I would never, ever buy a domain name or do business with these people ever again!
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