123-Reg. Bunch of Muppets
19:35 Friday 24 Feb 06
Considering 123-Reg.co.uk ? Don’t. Avoid them.
Last December I moved domain registrars for this domain and D’s - also a .uk - to 123-reg. I can’t recall exactly why I moved them then, but I did. Just after moving, I tried to ‘Opt-out’ from the WHOIS database that Nominet keep so my privacy would be a little higher. Despite the system saying I was successful, it was not. I tried several times and each time it said all was good it was not. So I emailed their support - they said it was broken and to give it 24 hours. So I did. It was still broken.
I’m fairly good at writing down how things went wrong and how I can repeat it (must be all that hanging around in forums..) so I detailed precisely what I was doing and emailed again. Muppet#1 at 123-Reg sent me a reply which told me how to Opt-out - it was exactly what I had written. 123-Reg have a support line which costs 50pence a minute - I have a feeling I’d have got an answer if I’d rang. Anyway, I fume silently and forget about it. Few weeks later I try again - their system STILL says I have opted out when I again go through the process but I am not. So again I email. Muppet#2 tells me I’m doing it wrong and spells out just what I need to do in order to Opt-out. Spookily, it’s exactly the same steps I said were not working. Hmm. So I forgot again - until Tuesday. Trying again, failing again and seeing the typed-out-slowly email from Muppet#3 which AGAIN gets it totally wrong, I blogged for a recommendation. As a result of that, Simon emails me. Turns out that my domain registration had lapsed. I am really grateful to Simon for that email - I would very probably have missed it.
So in December I move a registration to 123-Reg and in February, without telling me anything at all, they let that registration lapse. Am I missing something before I say that 123-reg are obviously a bunch of complete incompetents ? Aren’t registrars meant to tell you ? I know when I was with easily.co.uk that their emails were incessant (if they weren’t so damn expensive I’d have stayed with them). So 123-Reg are allowing an element of my internet identity to disappear from my grasp without bothering to let me know. There is nothing anywhere on their site to indicate anything is wrong either. Because of the opt-out issue I’m certainly not happy for the 123-Idiots to look after things so I find another registrar. I get their TAG, go back to 123 and change the IPS tag. Shortly after that I go to the new registrar’s site to initiate the transfer from their end. It tells me the domain is expired - which I knew. I also see that domains which are expired cannot be moved. ? So back to Muppet Central and I email them - not their problem they say, it’s now with the new registrar. Eh ? But according to most places I look, domains must be valid and within a certain time limit before they can be transferred - so why did 123-Reg fail ? Why didn’t their system both stop me changing the IPS tag AND stop the new registrar’s request ? Why ? The answer is because they are complete incompetents. If they can’t deal with something as basic as this, then why trust them with anything else ?
Thankfully, the new registrar has a decent phone support line, staff who DO know what they are talking about and staff that are capable of rectifying the mess that 123-Reg made. New registrar: Freeola. Why ? Because years ago I used to buy lots of computer games from a company called Special Reserve. Same people. New name. They were great back then and I have no reason to believe otherwise now.
1
Hummmm 123-Reg, not related to Webmania by any chance!
08:47 Saturday 25 Feb 06
2
[...] Mark was having trouble with 123-reg, a domain registrar I’ve used for years. [...]
22:56 Thursday 9 Mar 06
3
123-reg are totally usless. When you email support they take on average 3 days to repond. We pre registered £600 worth of EU domains. There terms and conditions stated that we would be refunded the full amount if our pre-registartion was declined. Instead of refunding the money they withdrew the £600 from our bank account. IDIOTS! it took over 20 phonecalls, numerous emails and the intervention of our bank to get our cash back. They then froze our control panel for no reason. We are now taking legal action against them. Avoid 123-reg like the plauge. They are incompitent and treat there customers like dirt. You have been warned.
22:26 Thursday 17 Aug 06
4
i am one of those’ unfortunate case’ by’ 123-reg (pipex) i register 3 domain names… last months and as soon as we are ready to use the name , i found that theres been 1 domain name got registred so i email.. i wrote support and live ..support by the 123 -reg…and one week later after i have made a phone call… of w/c a 50p per minute calls,, i finally got an email response. those found that my registration actually didnt regester… and so they couldnt find my records.. and so they had to pusch it through again…and so i was so feeling annoyed that i left it out for them to sort out..as far as am concerned they got my money and they need to fix it…i left it over a week later they finally sorted it out. one by one :) what a company never even say sorry. They shouldnt be allowed to ‘even ‘have an ;airtime’ tv program as they are not.. as they claimed they are. come on… its only a ‘domain registration. 123 reg and ‘heartinternet.co.uk….people ..people…you must stay AWAY!!
19:14 Monday 18 Sep 06
5
I was so disgusted with 123-reg.co.uk that I made a web site to protect the public. Have a look http://www.avoid-123-reg.co.uk
19:25 Wednesday 31 Jan 07
6
123-reg failed to renew several of my domains last year and did not warn me. This has damaged my business and cost me a fair bit of money.
They refused to discuss the matter and in fact debited my credit card on several occasions for renewals that never happened.
Now they have failed to renew a .eu domain I registered just over a year ago with them. It does not appear in my control panel. They have not replied to any emails, do not answer the phone and have not relpied a support question I posted on the new ’support’ site eight days ago.
I have been a custmer for years, am a Pipex reseller, have several hosting accounts with Pipex and dozens of domains with 123-reg.
More fool me . . . but it is hard to change and I keep hoping this is just a bad patch. However, for those of you that aren;t in too deep I would recommend looking elsewhere . . .
- Nick
19:14 Sunday 15 Apr 07
7
I am having nightmare with 123 reg at the moment. Do not go near them. It is hell on earth.
16:32 Wednesday 30 May 07
8
I have had a long running battle with 123-reg. Well, when I say battle, I mean that I did all of the fighting and they just ignored everything. I took them through the small claims court, and won judgment by default because they did not even bother to respond to the court papers saying they were being sued for x,xxx amount. Avoid these losers, without a doubt the worst company I have ever dealt with! Go to Streamline or somebody!
20:51 Wednesday 30 May 07
9
I actually spoke to a human being at pipex today. They promised my issue would be escalated to a supervisor and I should hear from them in 24 hours. Still nothing at the close of today. Okay it’s only another 13 hours after a week of going demented. I reckon I won’t hear from them. Place your bets here.
Now ….I reckon pipex have decided to shut 123-reg down. Service this bad can only be deliberate. Surely…..
Anyone else got a theory?
Muppet show is turning me into a green monster.
21:41 Thursday 31 May 07
10
I’ve been with 123-reg for years and had no problems, but over the last two weeks I’ve been emailing them and requesting support via their website - about 6 support requests have gone unanswered. I refuse to pay 50p a minute for phone support.
I’ve just been searching to see if anyone else has had problems (which is how I found this post) - lots of people are. Here’s just one example I found - http://avoid123reg.mydisk.co.uk/.
I’m transferring all my domains away ASAP. Good luck to everyone else.
12:22 Tuesday 31 Jul 07
11
Am not surprised that 123reg is down yet again. This has been going on for ages - time and time again.I have moved all my domains to other providers. As a result I have found out why 123reg has been having so much problems. It is now apparent that after pipax bought 123reg, the developers and chaps who were running 123reg have started there own company - Daily Internet - http://www.daily.co.uk
Its incredible to now have my phone calls answered within a few rings and be able to talk to people who are knowledgeable about hosting - and to speak to some of the guys that use to support me several years ago. Been with them for a few months now and I’m very happy. They even give from Online back up drive when you migrate to them. Do your own research and call them up !
05:14 Sunday 18 Nov 07
12
My websites went down. Fed up of the problems and will be looking for a new registrar.
http://digitalconsumption.com/forum/602-123-Reg-Domain-problems
15:08 Sunday 18 Nov 07
13
[...] posting. Basically, some are saying it’s a DOS attack while others are guessing it’s 123-reg’s screw up. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
21:48 Sunday 18 Nov 07
14
I have had a lot of success with Gandi.net. About the same price as 123Reg I seem to recall, but never had any problems with them (I have domains at both 123Reg and Gandi).
10:51 Tuesday 20 Nov 07
15
Just saw that Daily Internet (http://www.daily.co.uk/) have offered a 30% discount to anyone wanting to move their domain and website to them in response to outages people have been suffering !
http://www.hostsearch.com/news/dailycouk_news_6610.asp
10:04 Tuesday 27 Nov 07