Domain name registration

[johnckirk]

Today I needed to register a new domain name, so I had a look around at the various companies who offer this service. My own domain is registered with UK Shells, but that's mainly aimed at people who use their hosting services, so I investigated some other options.

UKreg looked quite promising: cheap prices, and a handy tool to check on which

Comments

[susannahf]

Dude! I hope you weren't phoning from home! 0870 numbers can be pricey, esp during the day (depending on your phone package), and they have an incentive to keep you online as they get a portion of the revenue. http://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php searching for "ukreg" shows them to come under fasthosts (which is a bad sign in and of itself imho), and had geographical numbers for them.
Having said that, I would have given up at the card failure stage. If they can't work their own website, I'm sure as hell not letting them touch mine.

[johnckirk]

Ah, that's a good point - I'd forgotten that 0870 was a premium rate number. Fortunately, it's gone on the company's phone bill :)

The billing page does say "Fasthosts" rather than "UKreg"; I haven't come across Fasthosts before, but I'll take your word for it that they're not a great company.

[susannahf]

They had a fairly well-publicized hack before Christmas, which they responded to by changing everyone's passwords (ftp, email, etc). They could then only be reset by the domain manager, so domains with multiple email users (like the one I'm involved in) needed the manager to change everyone's password manually.

[susannahf]

by the way, the website I linked to (saynoto0870) is very useful. Not just for finding cheaper options. Sometimes the geographic numbers take you past a queue, or include a direct-dial for head-office. I've found them to be the best way of getting through when a support line is forever on hold or you can't get through to a non-muppet.

[billyabbott]

I've never had any problems with UKReg - didn't get my password changed due to the fasthosts hack and they've been excellent at letting me know about renewals without random charging or anything. Never had to call them as their web interface has always been excellent. I currently have four or five domains with them and have switched things to and from them in the past with no problem.