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Another Fee From Network Solutions

Members of the ISP-Webhosting list have learned the hard way about a new policy that will cost some of your customers $150 this year.

[March 24, 2003]

On the ISP-Webhosting list in March, JJ asked:

"Anyone heard of Network Solution's new "Redemption Period"? I had a customer who did not receive a renewal notice from them. After contacting customer service they indicated that they are no longer sending out paper invoices only via e-mail. Unfortunately his e-mail was not correct. Here is the kicker, if a domain has expired the renewal is now $150! Ouch."

GS found this explanation on ICANN's website:

"More information here."

JM said that the fee was reasonable:

"The redemption period is enforced by the Verisign registry, so ALL registrars are subject to the same policy. I believe Verisign (Netsol) charges these other registrars $100 for renewals during the redemption period, so you can expect to pay a similar fee with other registrars. OpenSRS, for instance, also charges $150. Apparently, it's a fairly time-consuming, manual process."

[JD disagreed] "Any registrar that faces expulsion by ICANN should probably review their service and support obligations and make some changes to their infrastructure. On the other hand, many of our new customers come from places where they're not used to getting customer service. I do love those big corporations that don't have a lick of sense when it comes to customer care and support. :-)"

[DF charged] "Yes, this has happened to one of my customers too. We are currently waiting out the 70 day period. It is [absolutely ridiculous] that one has to pay such a price for something that you already own. It is another…way to make a buck. It would have been nice to at least receive a notice that said it was going to expire."

—End