Namecheap Coupon Code, Even cheaper domain registrations and free whoisguard Options

[Martyn]

I am moving all my domains away from godaddy.com and the wild west domains inc affiliates. The main reason is a recent shift in their policy to spam means that should a competitor want to get you closed down all he has to do is make a single complaint against any domain name held by them and they will shut it down. He doesn't even have to prove his complaint! Even more frightening is the prospect of trying to get the decision reversed. While they have hundreds of customer service personnel available for receiving the complaints no one is authorized to discuss the matter with the name owner. It's such a shame, I had always preferred godaddy et al, but this is a show stopper and perhaps is the result of their overwhelming success in the domain names market.

I do not fear any legitimate complaint regarding spam, I have never done it, never considered it and always taken steps to ensure I apply netiquette which goes far beyond the requirements of the law. But how can I work with a company that will take the word of a competitor over that of their customers? Come to think of it how can anyone?

So it is time for me to leave them and rather than just jump ship I performed due diligence on a number of the more popular providers. The result is that www.namecheap.com have a suitable (but comprehensive) TOS. They too reserve the right to shutdown domains that are the cause of the usual list of Internet abuse. However after a discussion with their support team I feel confident there will be someone at the end of a line capable of taking evidence and making a decision. And they emphatically denied they will shutdown a website on the say so of a complaint alone, it would have to be backed up with irrevocable evidence. That means namecheap.com employ something not often found in the domain name customer services industry (and particlulary not godaddy and wild west domains): Common Sense.

However Namecheap.com are not the cheapest name provider despite the name, one one of my discussions with their customer service reps they revealed their latest discount code for transfers (I don't know if this will work for new domains or annual extensions, perhaps you could try it and let us know).

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It saves 89 cents, saving me $17.80 this morning and I have another 50 odd names to go

[Cindy]

Well, I haven't heard anything bad about godaddy, but maybe I haven't looked! Namecheap offer a lot of services with the transfer, including the whois protection - which is an optional extra at godaddy.

I usually buy mine through godaddy, as I can use promo codes and register new domains for $7.20. I understand that we want to all keep our domains as safe as possible, but do you think it's worth the odd $1000 for transfer - in the case of owning 50?

One other question... when you transfer, does it start the registration date over again, or do you need to reregister it like normal when the tme comes for renewal?

[Martyn]

Well, I haven't heard anything bad about godaddy, but maybe I haven't looked! Namecheap offer a lot of services with the transfer, including the whois protection - which is an optional extra at godaddy.

Nor had I but two weeks ago one of my business colleagues was accused of sending spam and had his domain shutdown. He certainly doesn't send spam, in fact he didn't have an email server for the domain, all incoming email for the domain was forwarded to another company address and nothing was sent via SMTP so he certainly didn't send email. It is possible the URL to his domain appeared in messages but they weren't sent by him (and godaddy offered no evidence of this, so we're guessing). All his advertising for the domain is/was offline. The domain remained focused on his business and did not offer advertising to anyone else. He is in a very competitive market (personal loans) and really is a straight shooter. The only thing godaddy would say was they had received a complaint, not complaints, just "a complaint".

I usually buy mine through godaddy, as I can use promo codes and register new domains for $7.20. I understand that we want to all keep our domains as safe as possible, but do you think it's worth the odd $1000 for transfer - in the case of owning 50?

I have transferred the 20 most important domains right away. There are about 50 others I care about and about another 20 that belong to other folks who have not accepted the transfer into their own name. Those 50 are really investment domain names and hold a high yield future value. Don't mix this up with cybersquatting though, these are names that (as far as I know) cannot be confused with any trademarks. I keep them cos I have plans but as they use godaddy parking pages so (I assume) are safe from these kind of accusations.

One other question... when you transfer, does it start the registration date over again, or do you need to reregister it like normal when the tme comes for renewal?

It just adds a year to the current annual renewal date.