Domain Renewals

I have my own domain name for email and other purposes that I've owned for a while. Recently, I was in the process on transferring my domain name to a much less expensive registrar and I found out that domain transfers are less simple than they used to be. First, my registrar (and many others, I assume) has a mechanism to lock the domain from transfer. I knew about this beforehand, and so I made sure to disable this function just before I started. Then, I went to the site for the new registrar and started the transfer process. A few days later, I got an email back from the new registrar telling me that the transfer had failed due to a lack of a reply from the administrative contact listed on the domain. I checked and found out that my domain had expired and I figured that was probably the reason for the issue.

I called up the service line for the current registrar and I found out there is a whole process they use to create a domain transfer authorization code that must be sent by the new registrar with the transfer request. Also, I found out that since my domain had expired it wouldn't be able to be transfered. I felt a little sickness in the pit of my stomach because I was waiting to hear that they were going to charge me the full price of a renewal just to get my domain transferred. The representative for the registrar asked me why I was switching, and I told her it was strictly due to price. She said she understood that, and that since I was a customer that didn't really need any of their extra services (no support calls, etc) she would be able to match the price of the competitor.

So, in the end, I renewed with the previous registrar (had to go 2 years instead of my normal 1), and I was able to get the same rate as the competitive registrar.

Man, I love the internet...

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