| Product: |
123-reg.co.uk |
| Date: |
25/03/06 (253 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: CHEAP for .co.uk domains only
Disadvantages: Bad service, Blatant disregard for clients data, 50p min helpline, bad communicators
I have had a portfolio of .co.uk and .com domain names for many years and have always found 123-reg to offer the best value for money as far as .co.uk domain names were concerned
I have more that 60 .co.uk domain names with them and have never had a major issue with their seamless on-line service, as long as nothing needs human intervention from them they have a great set up
That all went HORRIBLY pear shaped however as far as their web site hosting goes !
I had 4 sites hosted with these cowboys, one of which was my main business and my MAJOR source of income
To cut a long story short, my business dissappeared off the web overnight and the domain name of that EVAPORATED web site was cheekily re-directing all traffic ( 200 odd visits per day ) to their 123-reg homepage WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT !
A call to their 50p a minute "HELP" line confirmed, in a very disinterested and matter of fact manner, that the hosting account had EXPIRED and passed a short "Grace period" so ALL FILES WERE DELETED FROM THEIR SERVER AND NO BACK-UPS WERE KEPT for restoration purposes !
YES ! My online business had dissappeared FOREVER !
How could this have possibly happened ? "Well we sent you a renewal reminder last week" said the "Help"line droid, and you havent renewed so we deleted all your files, simple.
I SWORE I'd never seen it and managed to locate it much later on, in my SPAM FILTER !
ONE solitary "renewal reminder" email sent to one solitary email account and then thousands of pounds worth of professional web design work WIPED OUT with no back up ?
My critical business WIPED OFF THE WEB FOREVER !
What kind of blatant disregard for your customers welfare is that ?
If such a catastrophic business disaster can happen to me, who is usually on the ball, managing his domains and checking his web stats daily, it can happen to absolutely anyone
I wrote to their "Customer Services" dept
I tried to control my anger and make some positive suggestions as to how they may avoid such devastating business catastrophes in future
They could CC the "renewal reminder" email to the other email address they have for me, they could send more than one SOLITARY reminder, both those suggestions could be implemented very quickly for FREE !
They could send a letter or an SMS reminder for a few pennies that could save me the THOUSANDS OF POUNDS it is going to take to recover my web site
They could at the very least keep a back-up of their clients business critical files for a short period of time so that once an inadvertant failure to renew was detected, the full site can be instantly restored
I have had NO RESPONSE
The same day another minor website of mine was deleted by 123-reg for the same reason, I can live without this site but murphy's law dictates I have an up to date back-up of it anyway
I have redirected the web-forwarding to maintain traffic from this popular domain name but 123-reg STILL have it diverting to their homepage !
Again I have emailed their support people and had NO RESPONSE
It seems to me that the only thing 123-reg are interested in right now is stealing my web traffic !
Avoid hosting ANY critical business sites with these shoddy, careless nay reckless people at all costs and you may well avoid a costly business failure !
YES, USING CAPS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING, OK SO I MAY BE RANTING, I'M THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OUT OF POCKET THROUGH THE INCOMPETANCE OF A BUSINESS I DEEPLY TRUSTED, OF COURSE I'M SHOUTING !
WHO WOULDN'T ???
Summary: These folks are "trigger happy" to delete files that may have cost you thousands of pounds
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Last comments:
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- 20/10/06 This is a heads up warning to all of you that are considering committing yourself to any sort of dealings with 123-Reg.
My saga started in March 2006, is still ongoing as of 20 October 2006 and is completely unresolved.
Un wittingly, in March 2006, I called on the services of 123-Reg to pre-register many .eu domains on my behalf. In April 2006 I was informed that the majority of my chosen domains were unsuccessful and I would be getting a refund. I was disappointed with the failures but at least I knew I would be getting my money returned.
On 28 April 2006 I received many automated emails from 123-reg informing me that I could set up a credit account for the refunds and that this credit could be used to purchase any of 123-Reg services. I decided to take up this offer as I intended to purchase more domains, InstantSite Pro and web hosting packages.
Many weeks elapsed without any sign of the refund. Scores of emails later 123-Reg eventually apologised and informed me that they were doing their level best to satisfy the overwhelming demand in response to refunds on .eu domains. Stay calm, at least they have apologised for the outrageous delay.
During June 2006 credit finally started appearing on my account. Unfortunately by the end of June 2006 over £400 had still not been credited back to my account and so I demanded an explanation.
A fter not getting any response to my many additional emails I decided to call on the assistance of the so called ‘Consumer Champion’ from the WebUser magazine. Unfortunately WebUser did not take up my cause and never even acknowledged my complaint. I found this rather strange because 123-Reg was awarded best host 2006 by WebUser readers so one would have thought that WebUser themselves would have wanted to get to the bottom of my grievance.
On 3 August 2006 although I was still missing a lot of credit I decided to purchase a domain with the credit facility I had with 123-Reg. Unbelievable as it may seem I discovered that I could not purchase the domain with my credit facility. 123-Reg agreed that it was a problem and it would be sorted within the week.
On 4 August 2006 123-Reg and I disagreed as to what amount of money was showing on my credit account. According to my figures I was still short by over £100.
On 8 August 2006 I was still unable to purchase domains with my credit facility that had been set up on the 28 April 2006. The following day 123-Reg told me that a bug sheet had now been raised and the problem would be resolved by the end of the week or early next week.
On 19 August 2006 in desperation I again contacted the ‘Consumer Champion’ from the WebUser magazine. Again they never acknowledged my communication.
On 23 August 2006 I was told by 123-Reg that my problem was now being escalated to the Product Development Department.
On 5 September 2006 I was finally informed by 123-Reg that I could now use my credit facility to purchase domains. It had now taken 123-Reg five months for me to be able to use my credit facility that was agreed on 28 April 2006.
On the 7 September a ticket was raised by 123-Reg to hopefully sort out the £100 shortfall on my credit account.
On 24 September 2006 I eventually took the plunge and decided that I was now ready to purchase InstantSite Pro and web hosting packages with the funds that 123-Reg held in my credit account. After all, 123-Reg has been voted best host for 2006 despite my traumas. Guess what? I discovered to my amazement that I could not purchase InstantSite or the web hosting packages with my credit facility that stood at over £300.
On 29 September 2006 after many emails on my behalf and weeks of investigation by 123-Reg it was discovered that despite my instructions via email and on the telephone, 123-Reg had taken it upon themselves to issue some of the refunds back to my credit card. Okay so this explains the missing money but what did they not understand about “Put the refund into my credit account”?
On 19 October 2006 again after another batch of frustrating emails, 123-Reg eventually informed me that they never intended credit accounts being used for anything other than domain purchases. I again complained to 123-Reg by saying that their policy is the same as a bank telling me that I can only use my funds to purchase red hot chilly peppers and nothing else. They responded by saying that banks place similar restrictions on funds by only allowing a withdrawal of £300 per day. What utter, utter tosh. Anyone can withdraw all of their funds immediately, granted not via a hole in the wall.
Conclusi on: 123-Reg has had my money on credit since 28 April 2006 and to date, on the 20 October 2006 I am still unable to get at my funds to purchase anything other than red hot chilly peppers. So I guess I now need to purchase about 150 .co.uk type red hot chilly peppers to bring my credit balance to nil.
Oh by the way, to add insult to injury, I am now getting emails from 123-Reg offering me a substantial discount if I purchase InstantSite Pro within 3 weeks of receipt of their email. If only!!!
Be warned – be very warned about having any dealings whatsoever with 123-Reg. |
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- 07/05/06 I understand your anger at this bunch of cowboys. They currently have around £2000 of mine which I'm struggling to get back. I have reported them to the Advertising Standards Authority for their blatent misleading advertising which still exists on their website. Hope you've got everything sorted. |
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