Dan0
24-06-2002, 16:30/04:30PM
My hosting company had some urgent emergency come up, (they're fired!), and changed DNS servers without warning (claiming they announced this "upgrade" weeks ago by email)... they are SO fired.
NoMonthlyFees.com is the name - they sell "lifetime hosting" accounts, but it's pretty clear that they can't handle that, since my month-to-month account couldn't be kept online.
This all happened while I was traveling.
No problem, I thought - get online, use webmail, and email a change form to Network Solutions, reply to the bounce-back, and my site is back up tomorrow. Nope! Verisign bought Network Solutions, and migrated everyone (another "upgrade") to their system.
No problem, I thought. I'll just have them email me my account number and password. Nope! They'll email me the account number, but the email address that I've used to manage my domains with them for years is not "secure" enough for them to send me the password.
No problem, I thought. I'll answer the "challenge question" and get a new password. Nope! For some reason, they've decided that my social security number is not correct. Now they think I'm a hacker, and my account is locked.
No problem, I thought. I'll call 'em on the phone and straighten this out. Nope! The first guy on the phone is resetting my password for me when the call gets dropped. When I call back, they have no record of the first call, and now they want a FAX with a copy of my driver's license.
No problem, I thought. I send 'em the FAX, and call back a couple hours later like they told me to, so they can reset my password. Nope! Now they say I need to put my account number (not just my domain name) on the FAX, and write the words "Statement of Authorization" on it, and print my name under my signature as well.
No problem, I thought. I did what they asked, and called back an hour later so they can reset my password. Nope! Now they say my signature doesn't exactly match the one on my driver's license... which is five years old, and distorted because Texas redesigned the licenses a couple years back and just squished all the signatures horizontally to fit.
No problem, I thought - I'll just make about 50 copies of the FAX, practice signing a squished signature, and send them the best one I have. Nope! After I send it, NOW they tell me it will take 2-3 days for it to go through the "FAX department," who may decide to reject it.
No problem, I thought - gimme a supervisor and I can talk 'em through the situation, show 'em the alert pages on the hosting company's site, explain that it would be a strange hacker indeed who would try to bring a site back online, reason with them, show them the light of the truth, etc.
After another half an hour back and forth, mostly on hold, they finally decided to reset my password for me... all it took was 13 hours of struggle.
Verisign is fired. They created a system (and dragged me into it) that is keeping my website offline for at least two days longer than necessary. Their support was friendly but utterly useless. They did everything except help me solve my problem, which they had a hand in creating.
I am moving my domains, all of my clients' domains, and the domains of anyone else I can persuade, to another registrar, and I'll keep moving as long as Verisign keeps trying to re-establish the Internic monopoly. I'll also be switching to Thawte for site certificates - I won't get the "verisign" graphic to hang on the sites, but my clients will save hundreds of dollars.
Dan0
"buh-bye, Verisign" :hi:
NoMonthlyFees.com is the name - they sell "lifetime hosting" accounts, but it's pretty clear that they can't handle that, since my month-to-month account couldn't be kept online.
This all happened while I was traveling.
No problem, I thought - get online, use webmail, and email a change form to Network Solutions, reply to the bounce-back, and my site is back up tomorrow. Nope! Verisign bought Network Solutions, and migrated everyone (another "upgrade") to their system.
No problem, I thought. I'll just have them email me my account number and password. Nope! They'll email me the account number, but the email address that I've used to manage my domains with them for years is not "secure" enough for them to send me the password.
No problem, I thought. I'll answer the "challenge question" and get a new password. Nope! For some reason, they've decided that my social security number is not correct. Now they think I'm a hacker, and my account is locked.
No problem, I thought. I'll call 'em on the phone and straighten this out. Nope! The first guy on the phone is resetting my password for me when the call gets dropped. When I call back, they have no record of the first call, and now they want a FAX with a copy of my driver's license.
No problem, I thought. I send 'em the FAX, and call back a couple hours later like they told me to, so they can reset my password. Nope! Now they say I need to put my account number (not just my domain name) on the FAX, and write the words "Statement of Authorization" on it, and print my name under my signature as well.
No problem, I thought. I did what they asked, and called back an hour later so they can reset my password. Nope! Now they say my signature doesn't exactly match the one on my driver's license... which is five years old, and distorted because Texas redesigned the licenses a couple years back and just squished all the signatures horizontally to fit.
No problem, I thought - I'll just make about 50 copies of the FAX, practice signing a squished signature, and send them the best one I have. Nope! After I send it, NOW they tell me it will take 2-3 days for it to go through the "FAX department," who may decide to reject it.
No problem, I thought - gimme a supervisor and I can talk 'em through the situation, show 'em the alert pages on the hosting company's site, explain that it would be a strange hacker indeed who would try to bring a site back online, reason with them, show them the light of the truth, etc.
After another half an hour back and forth, mostly on hold, they finally decided to reset my password for me... all it took was 13 hours of struggle.
Verisign is fired. They created a system (and dragged me into it) that is keeping my website offline for at least two days longer than necessary. Their support was friendly but utterly useless. They did everything except help me solve my problem, which they had a hand in creating.
I am moving my domains, all of my clients' domains, and the domains of anyone else I can persuade, to another registrar, and I'll keep moving as long as Verisign keeps trying to re-establish the Internic monopoly. I'll also be switching to Thawte for site certificates - I won't get the "verisign" graphic to hang on the sites, but my clients will save hundreds of dollars.
Dan0
"buh-bye, Verisign" :hi: