Decent domain registrar?

[timpardoe]

Hi,

I've recently been messed around by 1&1 Internet over the billing of a couple of domain names, and their customer care has been abominable/non-existant .

I'm now thinking of moving the domains, but can anyone suggest other reputable, but relatively cheap, registrars to which I can transfer the domains for web/mail forwarding. I've seen UK Reg mentioned a lot - are there any others that people can recommend?

Many thanks in advance,

Tim

[Jacob]

I register domains on almost a weekly basis and mostly through 1&1 and have had few problems. I occasionally use UKReg but as they charge more I normally choose 1&1. I have not used them personally but http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ are meant to be quite good and you can change DNS settings etc.

Regards,

Jacob

[WhiskyFudge]

I use UK Reg with out problems, the UI isn't all that great but you can do everything you'd want to.

Jas

[Phil]

Originally Posted by WhiskyFudge

I use UK Reg with out problems, the UI isn't all that great but you can do everything you'd want to.

Jas

Be warned: ukreg have an 'unusual' renewal policy - they will renew domains automatically a month BEFORE they expire (and charge your card) unless you tell them not to. I guess that's fine for individuals but for resellers its a nightmare!

Personally prefer 123reg as:
- their cp allows you much more control over dns etc
- they are cheaper than ukreg
- renewing multiple domains is much easier
- you can set your account so they don't automatically renew domains

[DaveLegg]

I have used 123-reg for 3 domains in the past and had no problems at all. Their control panel is easy to use and dns and nameservers can be changed easialy to work with cat2.

[timpardoe]

Many thanks for all your advice chaps. I've decided to with 123-Reg as soon as I can sort out the transfers for each.

In case you were wondering what all the fuss was about with 1&1 Internet, they decided to bill me mid-December 2004 for a domain name I purchased in early-May 2004. As, couple of days before, they sent me an invoice for £0.00 for a different domain, and the money for this one should have been taken 7 months earlier, I didn't take any notice.

Mid-January I get a written demand for payment (they couldn't bill my card automatically as the details had changed), with threats of suspension and debt collection agencies. I immediately updated my payment details online, e-mailed the confirmation and waited for their response.

When the second, e-mailed request for payment arrived towards the end of January, I again checked my payment details, and this time took to the phone helplines. While support runs 24/7, the billing dept only works 9-5 Mon-Fri, so I spent almost a weeks worth of lunch hours attempting to get through. If the phone lines are too busy, you are told to try again later and cut off, there is no holding system in place for these situations. When I finally got through, one day from suspension, the advisor took my card details (again!) and cited "technical difficulties" for why it had taken 7 months to invoice me for the domain name!!

Thinking that was the end of the matter, I received a third e-mailed demand for payment last Wednesday 2nd. After removing myself from the ceiling, I e-mailed billing an extremely curt reply, pasting in all my previous e-mails that had gone unanswered and cc'ing the whole lot to complaints@1and1. It must have worked, because the payment was processed today with an e-mailed response confirming. While I'm certainly not putting mega-bucks their way, I really don't want to have to go through this whole hassle again, hence the upcoming change of registrars.

Had to smile at 1&1's final response though... "We do apologise for the slight delay in responding to your email" and "Thank you and have a great day"! Oh well, 'once bitten...'

Thanks again,

Tim