Don't Buy Yahoo! Domains: The Good Deal With An Added Scam
Posted by admin on January 25th, 2010
When most think about Yahoo!, they think about their slick web portal and their famous search engine that is still loved and used by many. But Yahoo! didn’t just create search engine technology, a free (ad supported) email service, and an easy place to grab the latest news – they also put their foot in the door as an internet registrar, selling domains and hosting services for all to use. For the past few years, they have also had $1.99 domains for the first year for any new account created with Yahoo!. Sound like a good deal, right? Think again.
So say you’re new to the whole internet startup thing and want to start a personal blog to see how everything works. You stumble upon Yahoo!’s $1.99 for the first year of a domain and find the domain you want. You fill in your info, put in your billing information, and see that shiny submit button. You move your mouse down to it, raise your finger on your mouse and…STOP. Close your browser right now.
You see, you will indeed get that domain for $1.99 for the first year, but will be automatically rebilled for $34.95, the most ridiculous pricing for a domain ever, for the next year. Good with canceling something before it bills you? You don’t know when Yahoo! will auto-renew and charge your card or PayPal account, because they do it 2-3 weeks before the expiration date. Late me explain.
Almost every other domain registrar will bill you for the recurring year the day that the domain expires, not weeks before. What Yahoo! will do is automatically renew your domain and bill your account before you even think about your domain expiring. Once billed, they instantly send the renewal information to their registrar headquarters and there you go, you have another year of your domain at an insane price with absolutely no chance of a refund. This has happened to me twice now and I have since transferred all my domains to GoDaddy.
Yes, Yahoo! sends a “reminder” email before they bill you, but they do it literally the night before. If you don’t catch that email in time, even though your domain has a few weeks left on it to complete the original full year you agreed on, you’re out $34.95.
This is an example of a nasty gimmick that a company plays on its customers in a time of financial need. Yahoo! is hurting, and therefore they think it’s right to rip people off. Yahoo! knows that the majority of the costumers who take advantage of the $1.99 domain deal won’t remember about the recurring fee and even if they do, they won’t know exactly when to cancel or transfer the domain.
Another thing, it’s really easy to transfer your $1.99 domain to somewhere like GoDaddy, but make sure you do it a month or two before your year is up with Yahoo!. Also, make sure to cancel your domain at Yahoo! once your start the transfer process – even though you have transferred your domain elsewhere, if you don’t cancel your “plan” with Yahoo!, they will still bill you $34.95 for nothing. This, my friends, is called stealing.
If you were to ask me what to do, I’d say avoid Yahoo! in its entirety in terms of a registrar. Most likely something will go wrong and you’ll be charged. You’ll call their billing department to complain and they’ll tell you that your domain has already been renewed with the registrar and they won’t be able to refund what they took from you – a price that’s worth almost 3-4 years of a domain renewal even though they will just give you one. Unless you are searching for pictures of dogs, though you should probably be doing that with Google or Bing, stay away from Yahoo!.
Tags: Blogging, Domains, GoDaddy, Internet Startup, Registrar, Scam, Yahoo!
$35 a year for a domain is absolutely insane. Yahoo should be ashamed. Anything over $10/year for a domain is insane if you ask me. The only thing Yahoo I use is their IM and that’s only the procotol through Pidgin.