David
2nd Aug 2004, 06:34 pm
It has happened to me before but this time I was shocked at the cost...
You may or may not be aware that you can renew your domain name registration with any legitimate registry service. This is the reason that there is so much competition in this area and why (on the whole) domain name registrations are so low. Currently, a .com or .net domain costs £8.89 plus VAT per year at UKREG (http://www.ukreg.com/) and £8.99 plus VAT per year at 123-REG (http://www.123reg.co.uk).
Having said that, it is probably best to stick with your original registration service. It's less hassle and there's less to go wrong. So scout around first and find the best deal. The two registry services above are both well known and have been consistently low cost over the years.
Don't be duped by claims like "UK Domain Names Only 9p*" (quote from the 123-REG home page). Notice the asterisk. No one sells domain names that cheap. Basically what they are saying is that 9p is all they charge but you need to add to that the registry fee of £2.50 and then VAT on top of all that. The 9p is simply their profit on the deal. The true cost to you being £3.04.
Yesterday, I received this letter in the post:
http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/watson/postimages/domain-scam.gif
As you can see, these people are charging me £60 to renew a .net domain for two years. If I were to renew the same domain for 2 years through UKREG (where it is currently registered) it would cost me just £20.89. If you take into account the fact that the registry cost for a .NET domain is £8.60, that means that if I pay these scamsters, they make a fat profit of £42.80 just for looking me up and sending out a letter.
Their hope is that individuals are shocked into paying the fee for fear of losing their domain or assuming that the letter is from their current registration service. Notice that the letterhead is practically anonymous so that it could be mistaken as being sent by a known service. In many large organisations, such invoices are simply paid without question.
There is nothing illegal in what these people are doing but it is underhand. Don't fall for it.
You may or may not be aware that you can renew your domain name registration with any legitimate registry service. This is the reason that there is so much competition in this area and why (on the whole) domain name registrations are so low. Currently, a .com or .net domain costs £8.89 plus VAT per year at UKREG (http://www.ukreg.com/) and £8.99 plus VAT per year at 123-REG (http://www.123reg.co.uk).
Having said that, it is probably best to stick with your original registration service. It's less hassle and there's less to go wrong. So scout around first and find the best deal. The two registry services above are both well known and have been consistently low cost over the years.
Don't be duped by claims like "UK Domain Names Only 9p*" (quote from the 123-REG home page). Notice the asterisk. No one sells domain names that cheap. Basically what they are saying is that 9p is all they charge but you need to add to that the registry fee of £2.50 and then VAT on top of all that. The 9p is simply their profit on the deal. The true cost to you being £3.04.
Yesterday, I received this letter in the post:
http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/watson/postimages/domain-scam.gif
As you can see, these people are charging me £60 to renew a .net domain for two years. If I were to renew the same domain for 2 years through UKREG (where it is currently registered) it would cost me just £20.89. If you take into account the fact that the registry cost for a .NET domain is £8.60, that means that if I pay these scamsters, they make a fat profit of £42.80 just for looking me up and sending out a letter.
Their hope is that individuals are shocked into paying the fee for fear of losing their domain or assuming that the letter is from their current registration service. Notice that the letterhead is practically anonymous so that it could be mistaken as being sent by a known service. In many large organisations, such invoices are simply paid without question.
There is nothing illegal in what these people are doing but it is underhand. Don't fall for it.