Register.com: Time to Get a Clue

Got my second telemarketing phone call from Register.com today, regarding a domain of mine, platofiles.org.

I own platofiles.com, platofiles.net, and platofiles.org (hey, I'm writing a book on the PLATO computer system), and recently transferred the domains from Register.com to Godaddy.

Everything was fine, until I found out it wasn't.

The .com and .net domains transferred fine, but .org was problematic. In fact I wasn't sure it transferred at all, but then it eventually showed up within my Godaddy account and I didn't think another thing of it.

Until I got this rude phone call from a woman identifying herself as being with Register.com, and calling about "plah-toh-files dot org" and the fact that it was about to expire and they wanted to make sure I renewed it and would I be interested in hearing about the great discount plans they were offering.

I said, "Can you come anywhere close to what Godaddy is offering?"

"What are they offering?" she asked.

"6.95 to transfer the domain, and 7.95 a year to renew."

"Sorry, we can't come anywhere near that."

"I didn't think so, so I went ahead and already transferred the domain to Godaddy."

> CLICK <

Yes, she just flat-out hung up on me.

Then, about ten days later, I get an urgent email from register.com with WARNINGs and URGENTs and IMPORTANTs all over it, urging me to contact them NOW before it's too LATE about renewing platofiles.org as it has now EXPIRED oh my!

Just to be sure all was safe and that register.com was being wrong, I called Godaddy and had them verbally confirm that my domain was indeed transferred successfully. So then I called register.com and told them they were being wrong, and the support person I spoke with admitted, yep, we're being wrong here, there is wrongness, etc., and that was that.

Until just ten minutes ago when I got a cheerful call from a woman named Carol at Register.com, calling to let me know that my domain "plah-toe-files dot org" had expired but it was still in a "grace period" and would I be interested in renewing it....

Carol was a lot friendlier than the other woman who'd hung up on me, and I told her that I'd already transferred this domain over to Godaddy and there was no way Register.com could possibly compete with Godaddy --

"But do they offer the same level of customer service that we offer at Register.com?" she asked.

I wanted to say, yep, and they don't hang up on customers --- but I was polite and said "Yes, I've been perfectly satisfied with the support I've gotten from them."

She wanted to know how long I've been with Godaddy, and I said a couple of years, and she said she's heard a lot of Register.com customers tell her this, of their defection to Godaddy. She wished me well and that was that.

Note to Register.com: what value do you offer customers anymore? What is the value proposition? Why would anyone (at least anyone who knows better) be a customer of yours anymore, strictly on economic terms?

Posted by brian at May 6, 2004 03:40 PM | TrackBack