I just got an email from enom this morning regarding my reseller account with them. Since I have under 50 domains, they're reverting me back to a retail account. Have you seen their retail prices? What do I tell my friends who I registered domains for? "Hey, instead of paying me $8.95, you have to pay me $29.95 next year!"

I can't believe they're passing their costs from some partnership with microsoft to the customers...What a crock of ....

Get an account with openSRS (or find an openSRS RSP who would be willing to help you out, in this situation) and transfer all of those domains over to openSRS.

--Tina

Is this the wise decision :disagree: they have made... to lose another customer?

Originally posted by teck
<SNIP>
I can't believe they're passing their costs from some partnership with microsoft to the customers...What a crock of ....

What partnership with microsoft?

Not in defense of eNom or anything, but when you signed up as a partner, was there a minimum number of domains required? Many of the registrars have such a requirement, and some will enforce it.

To me, this is further proof that selling domains under $10 is not good for any sort of long term business plan.

He signed up when anyone could become a reseller. Now they have a minimum # of domains to order to become a reseller, and they are making him do it.

Teck... I'm getting a resellers account with them, and I'll help you out. What did you currently pay?

I just got the same letter. When I signed up I spoke directly with Matt. He gave me the price and never ever mentione pricing. Instead of grandfathering me in with my pricing like lots of business do every day they just jacked up our rates:mad: . There goes my edge for competing with other registers. I can now get domains at another register without being a reseller at the price enom wants to charge me after shelling out almost $900:eek2:. Don't know why they're doing it but I am pretty much out of the game. Best of all they just notified me of a domain name coming up for renewal just before the reseller notice. Well I am done ranting and reselling domains...

I meant he never mentioned minimum number of domains or any other requirements.

dotcomguy,

eNom started a partnership with Microsoft not too long ago. I heard it from an inside source :) Other than that, I was paying 8.95 per domain with them. Maybe I'll look into OpenSRS or something. And when I signed up, they didn't mention anything about a minimum amount of domains. Now they're forcing the resellers to drop $900 just like TheRazor said. BTW, thanks for your offer get-hosted. I'll see what i'm going to do...

:angry:

No way I'm going to pay them $495 upfront to reinstate my acct to reseller cos their support is non-existent! After I signed up with them as reseller, I end up registering many of my domains elsewhere anyway cos enom is giving me so many problems yet no support.

Anyone knows if we can get our remaining balance in our acct back?

Originally posted by dotcomguy
To me, this is further proof that selling domains under $10 is not good for any sort of long term business plan.

This has nothing to do with proof regarding selling domains not being a long term business plan. If you feel that way, then that's ok, but I ask you to state and debate that in another thread.

I also just got the letter today and was coming here (among other things) to express my disgust. This has to do with pricing changes given with zero notice. I'll post the letter below after I bitch a bit more about how annoyed I am :angry:

Can you imagine if OpenSRS sent their resllers an email saying that today they were raising the reseller price of domains from $10 to $13? I wonder how Patrick (of bottomdollar domains $12/yr.) and Weblaunching.net (also $12/yr.) and even 000domains.com ($13.50/yr.) would feel? Would kinda screw them royally, eh?

This is what enom has done.

Below is the letter sent, I've highlighted a few points:


> Dear eNom Technology Partner,
>
> Over the past year eNom has invested millions of dollars in hardware, development, and people to deliver the best possible service to our partners. We appreciate your input and patience through the process while we upgraded our website, service and systems. The bulk of the work to deploy a world class registrar is now complete.
>
> During eNom's building and growth stage you have enjoyed premium services (and the most pathetic support imaginable) at deeply discounted prices (Oops, did we mention these were just temporary rates?). As an eNom Technology Partner you are able to charge a fee to your customer for all of the features and services we have built into our service. At eNom you get more value per domain name than any other registrar (And more surprises!).
>
> In the past year eNom has deployed:
New web site with increased functionality
Customer self-service through access.enom.com
Global account changes
> Sub accounts
> Dynamic DNS
> DNS servers in London, Tokyo, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, and
> Virginia
> Website builder
> Redundant email forwarding and URL redirection boxes
> Increased bandwidth
> Improved API and beefier reseller boxes
> Club Drop
> More customer service personnel and longer customer service hours
> Increased stability and uptime
>
The service and tools you enjoy are second to none. To insure fairness and equity in our reseller program we are standardizing the pricing and qualification for access.

> A reseller account is defined as one with at least 50 domains, or the credits to purchase 50 domains. Our records show that you have at least one account at eNom with less than 50 domains in it. That account will revert to retail status today. To reinstate it as a reseller account for future purchases and renewals, please email <mailto:sales@enom.com> to add credits to your account (HA!).

Standard pricing for reseller accounts is now $9.95 per domain year. To become an eNom Technology Partner (we had to call it something else so that you wouldn't be confused as to why we were screwing you) and enjoy reseller pricing, the initial credit purchase is $495.00. To purchase credits and to reinstate your account to reseller status please email <mailto:sales@enom.com> (HA!).

> The best price available from eNom is $8.95. This pricing is reserved for resellers who do significant volume. You must have at least 100 domains in your account or purchase $895.00 in credits to keep this pricing. To purchase credits and keep $8.95 pricing please email <mailto:sales@enom.com> (HA!).
>
> Keep an eye out for more innovations from eNom (and more notices telling you that the rates are going to go up TODAY). We look forward to continuing to serve you in the years to come. (HA! Fat chance *starts boycott*)
>
>
> Matt Stearn, VP


Basically, they can go do something I can't say due to the board's censoring. Is powerpipe still an enom reHELLer? If so, I wonder if they'll be able to keep up that $8.88 price when, according to this letter, their cost will be at least $8.95/yr./domain??? Even if they aren't, I'm sure there are others with similar pricing, etc.

:uzi: enom :smash: :kaioken:

Right. I tried to register a couple of domains to consume my remaining balance but I was already charged $59.90 instead of only $17.90. Of course I did not pushed the registration.

What is really annoying is they did not send any warning or at least tried to contact those that have under 50 domains to at least ask them to cover the remaining quantity to still qualify for a reseller account.

How much is OpenSRS upfront fee to qualify for a reseller account?

I'm really pissed. Now I have to transfer all my domains, including my friends' out of eNom to another registrar where I have no control over :(

Wow.. I didn't realize they ALSO raised the reseller prices. I won't be going with them. The cheapest price you used to be able to get from them was: $6.95, which is what powerpipe.com was paying, possibly less.

BTW, I checked how much it will cost to register a domain and renew a current one in their system....$29.95! HAHA! :angry:

:uzi: eNom

:flamethr: eNom

eNom :smash:

I had rates of $6.95 and plenty of domains registered, so I did qualify for the reseller account. Unforunately the "Reseller" account is $9.95/domain. So I'm guessing all those other domain reg sites mentioned above got slammed in the dust.

Ohh... I just read the bottom, I only have 91, if I would have had 100 I could have gotten $8.95. ;(

Brandonk, get those 9 more registrations in to qualify :)

:angry:
When I register with enom I remeber on the contract it said that the amount I was paying now was good for atleast 1 year and they might review it afterwards.

It has not even been a few months and I just looked at the price for a new domain $29.95...

I just have to look for that contract I faxed back to them...

I don't get their pricing schedule (http://www.enom.com/pricing.asp). .coms are $29.95, .nets are $19.95, and .orgs are $9.95. Don't those all cost them the same ($5 to NSI + eNom's operating costs)? Are they just price gouging the .coms and .nets because they're more popular?

After being with enom during the $6.95 period, i'm shocked and surprised that this happened. Ironically, I got the email just moments after I transferred some domains over to the account. Now, I wait with baited breath to see if I'm gonna feel it in the morning.

I believe that enom should honor present contracts until a certain time. At least give us time to get our affairs in order. If they don't, I hope that someone steps in to fill the vacuum they've left. i won't be dealing with enom much longer.

Any takers?

Uh oh.... I have to change our domain registration page to "This service is temporary unavailable"... Hey ppl, please, share your your decision.... Where to move - OpenSRS or..... It's time to leave enom, but where to go ? I have about 20 domains with them...
We have about $50 remaining in our enom account - enough to buy 1.5 domains :((

Originally posted by CRAVIS
Uh oh.... I have to change our domain registration page to "This service is temporary unavailable"... Hey ppl, please, share your your decision.... Where to move - OpenSRS or..... It's time to leave enom, but where to go ? I have about 20 domains with them...
We have about $50 remaining in our enom account - enough to buy 1.5 domains :((

Move to openSRS - you won't be sorry.

We've been with them for over a year and I've NEVER had a single problem with them. I know there are cheaper registrars out there, but openSRS is as solid as they come.

--Tina

We originally moved to eNom from OpenSRS because of the $6.95 price which we felt would help us continue to compete with all the other folks who were selling em right at $10 bucks a pop. Since our move we have had no problems with registrations but our transfers have been very problematic. The fax requirement adds significant overhead to our work and many of the transfers were automatically rejected.

As for technical support "spotty" would be an understatement. eNom technical support folks repeatedly ignored both e-mails and phone calls regarding their scripts and on many occasions basic transfer questions were not responded to in a timely fashion. Strangly enough yesterday I got ahold of Brad in the transfer department and Matt both on the first shot!

While I can understand a price increase (happens to everyone eventually) the degree of increase and the complete lack of notice is piss poor. I can only guess that they feel those of you with less than 50 domain names are not all that important (bad move from my view). Lucky for us we do qualify as a reseller but even with thier "best" price we are not all that far away from OpenSRS in pricing and their customer service far exceeds eNom. We were willing to put up with the shoddy service for the price break but now the price break is gone.

For those of you thinking about going with OpenSRS I should caution you that they still have the $250 minimum to open an account as far as I know. In addition when you need to add funds they smallest payment they take is $250. Our account has not been active in the past several months so I could be wrong.

Looks like it is time to update our OpenSRS account!

That's correct - it is $250 for 25 domain credits. Once those are used up, you have to deposit another $250 (or more, if you wish).

Still...their customer support is amazing and I've never had a problem with them in over a year.

--Tina

Oh I completely agree. They jump right on all issues and have even fixed a couple of things we screwed up. That's why for $1.05 difference we would prefer the outstanding customer support.

SCREAM.

sorry.

Originally posted by MadMax82
We originally moved to eNom from OpenSRS because of the $6.95 price which we felt would help us continue to compete with all the other folks who were selling em right at $10 bucks a pop.


I was SO close to doing the exact same thing. You have no idea how close!

My network adminstrator, and very good friend, gave me some good advice. He said "Have you had ANY problems with openSRS? No? Then don't switch!"

Hmm...maybe I should give him a raise now. :D

--Tina

Yep sounds like he/she called it. We simply got too worried we were losing business to other folks and not being competitive. Goes in the lessons learned file.

You guys all my want to consider dotregistrar.com.
They allow you to resell domains at bulk rates by buying domain packs (starting at 5). The more domains you have the cheaper they cost you. Also, you have complete control over your domains.

dotregistrar, eh? sounds interesting, but i don't know. i'm learning that cheap isn't always best. have you been with them long, hitspot?

people, what do you suggest if one doesn't register many domains, but enough to possibly warrant using a reseller account? i do like ten to twenty in a few months.

thank you for your help. i'm trying not to come off like a complete dork newbie, but hey. :)

Originally posted by AffordableHost
That's correct - it is $250 for 25 domain credits. Once those are used up, you have to deposit another $250 (or more, if you wish).

Still...their customer support is amazing and I've never had a problem with them in over a year.

--Tina
Those who are considering OpenSRS should know you are only eligible for a $250 "buy-in" if you impliment their automated CGI registration system on your server. If you just want to register domain names without having to do that (aka, their "Quickstart" program) your minimum buy-in is $500.

ugh..this sucks..i dont know what to do now :(

Hello Teck and fellows,

Is there possibly a way that we could do a class action suit or better yet, form a webhostingtalk registrar where moderators could represent us and we'd buy through them? i wouldn't mind putting money into something like that for credit or what have you.

as i said, i'm not stupid, but sometimes i am. :)

I have just started reselling for them a while ago. I have had 14 domains with them. With a balance of $17.90.


I agree with phonzarelli
Is it possible for us to come in a group and then qualify for the cheap reseller rate ? Any possibility for us to form some kind of domain registration group ?

If we are able to form some kind of registrar group,
How about going with :

http://www.godaddy.com
http://www.aitdomains.com/ (the bulk transfer rates)
http://www.dotregistrar.com/
http://www.easynic.com/
http://www.powerpipe.com/
http://www.bulkurl.com/

Problem is that you still need someone to run the registration site, collect funds, etc. And of course you would need to set up some way to limit the registrations of non-member folks. This would take time and effort which would of course need to be compensated for at some level. I suppose you could do it for advertising or something but I doubt anyone is going to run an OpenSRS system for free. Just my 2 cents but let me think on it a while. If there was a small fee what would be small enough to make it paletable yet large enough to make it worthwhile?

I just found out that not EVERYONE's rates changed...

I have a friend who is still only being charged $6.95/year.... probably because he has registered over 650 domains in the last year. He sells them at $8.50/yea.... I wish I would have done that! :bawling:

Wait now I just talked to Matt on Friday and he stated $8.95 is the best rate. In addition, here is a quote from his e-mail:

The best price available from eNom is $8.95. This pricing is reserved for resellers who do significant volume. You must have at least 100 domains in your account or purchase $895.00 in credits to keep this pricing. To purchase credits and keep $8.95 pricing please email mailto:sales@enom.com

This policy was specifically implemented to "To insure fairness and
equity in our reseller program we are standardizing the pricing and qualification for access."

Sounds like the playing field is not in fact being leveled but instead is designed to squeeze the smaller resellers about discounts. It appears they really do not care about the folks registering smaller numbers of domains. Heck if you register that number of domains (650 per year) OpenSRS gives you an additional break. Sounds fishy.

How many domains can we accumulate here currently ?

Can we get our credits balance back ?

I am going to do a chargeback if they do not refund the balance. They are not honouring their contracts.

So, now I see how reliable an ICAAN accredited registrar can be !!!!!!

Originally posted by MadMax82
Heck if you register that number of domains (650 per year) OpenSRS gives you an additional break. Sounds fishy.

Huh?!? Where's THAT discount???? I register about 150 a MONTH and openSRS has never given me a break. :(

Any details on that? Anyone? Anyone?

--Tina

That would be news to me as well Tina. And Brandon, honestly, I had a suspicion that the lowest rate wasn't $8.95 but would love to talk to your friend about this.

I sent an email to Matt about it, and another email to support about another issue (DNS issue) and per usual, no response.

Not that it isn't obvious already, but I really don't think they are going to reply, nor give a crap about the whole thing. Much easier to say, "We didn't get the email, huh?" and delete it. I'll post if Matt does respond.

For what it's worth, I wrote eNom an email as well. I told them that I wasn't even a customer of theirs, but an outside observer - and what they have done amounts to a huge public relations blunder.

--Tina

A while back OpenSRS was giving a dollar per domain back if you registered a whole bunch per month (at least 100 I think). I have no idea if they are still doing that or if that is the past. I am going to have to catch up on the current OpenSRS news. Chargeback.....Hmmm there is an idea....Perhaps AFTER the domains are moved.

anybody has experience with dotregistrar.com ?

I'd tell you his site URL, but that would be against the rules...

Originally posted by Ericwenlong
Can we get our credits balance back ?

I am going to do a chargeback if they do not refund the balance. They are not honouring their contracts.

They certainly are not honouring their contract, it clearly says that we get 30 days for any changes.

Guys have a look at your Agreement.

What can we do about that ??

Originally posted by brandonk
I'd tell you his site URL, but that would be against the rules...

*You* are the 'my friend' ??? Contact me off board if so so we can discuss this. You've been a tremendous help in the past and I want to get to the bottom of this. I should really not check this topic as it just makes my blood boil and it isn't a pretty sight, trust me.

Chicken, let me know what youre planning on doing.. How many domains do you have anyway? Well, I have to find a backup plan...fast!

Originally posted by Ericwenlong
anybody has experience with dotregistrar.com ?

We use dotregistrar exclusively. We're doing about 200-250 domains per month. Have not had problems.

Registration api help is weak.

Domain transfers are problematic. No updates or info you can look up for each domain tranfer in progress.

Originally posted by Chicken


*You* are the 'my friend' ???

Hmm... Not sure what you mean by this. No, I do not still have $6.95 rates, but I know someone that does, and they have reassued me they do. Plus their still selling domain reg at $8.50 pop. Anyways, I've requested authorization to add you to my ICQ list.

Then I suppose I should turn it on every month or so eh? I really don't use it all that often, but will turn it on tomorrow and discuss it with you.

I'll think on this a bit and see what I can come up with.

I also got hit my eNom's new policy and I've been with them for a few years and a reseller for a year.

I have three accounts (for convenience--different kinds of registrations in each account) and have 41 domains registered. The very first day I got the notice I emailed asking what I need to do to comply and have gotten zilch. Zero. Nada.

My new prices are actually ABOVE their retails, because they want $29.95 for com, net, org while their retail is $19.95 for net, $9.95 for org.

What bothers me is that I don't know they meaning for this sudden hardball. If they want compliance with the new terms, I offered them that. If they want to dump small guys, why don't they just say so? Their prices will force me elsewhere.

I like their DNS service. Any other inexpensive registrars offer DNS? Otherwise I may go to Dotregister for registration and ZoneEdit for DNS.

My 2 cents. Opinions, anyone?

use stargateinc.com. There standard price for 2 or more is 8.00 per domain. No pre-paid reseller account is necessary. :)

Originally posted by teck
I can't believe they're passing their costs from some partnership with microsoft to the customers...What a crock of ....

To clear up confusion....

eNom has NOT partnered with Microsoft and they're a bit confused why you think so.

Originally posted by brandonk


To clear up confusion....

eNom has NOT partnered with eNom and they're a bit confused why you think so.

uhhhh........I'm even MORE confused now! :confused:

I believe he meant, "... with Microsoft..."

Originally posted by Chicken
I believe he meant, "... with Microsoft..." +

lol, long day - I've corrected it. :scatter:

I was even told this from one of their staff members. This came during their little brief outage a few months back. Well, I'm still looking on what to do...

Originally posted by brandonk


To clear up confusion....

eNom has NOT partnered with Microsoft and they're a bit confused why you think so.

Today, I checked to see if my domains that I applied for transfer on 7/22 had gone through. Oh, they did. Boy, did they. They charged me full price for everything putting my account into the negative.

Now, if I applied and gave a deposit on 7/22, they change their system on 8/03, and the transfer goes official on 8/08, why am I paying for them at full price? Especially when I'd checked my account prior and saw they'd already accepted my money before on 7/22 and left a balance for me to see. In essence, they paid themselves twice.

I wrote Matt. I'm afraid he won't respond. What should I do, guys? I'm so frustrated. Not to mention it's 102 degrees in NYC and humid as all get out.

Thank you all.

- P :)

If he does not reply then perhaps a chargeback is due (after transferring your domains away!).

Originally posted by phonzarelli
Today, I checked to see if my domains that I applied for transfer on 7/22 had gone through. Oh, they did. Boy, did they. They charged me full price for everything putting my account into the negative.

Now, if I applied and gave a deposit on 7/22, they change their system on 8/03, and the transfer goes official on 8/08, why am I paying for them at full price? Especially when I'd checked my account prior and saw they'd already accepted my money before on 7/22 and left a balance for me to see. In essence, they paid themselves twice.

I wrote Matt. I'm afraid he won't respond. What should I do, guys? I'm so frustrated. Not to mention it's 102 degrees in NYC and humid as all get out.

Thank you all.

- P :)

Hmm... sounds odd. I know that when I apply for a transfer, they automatically deduct the charge out of my available funds. So a rate change in between really shouldn't effect you. But either way.. You should send an email to transfers@enom.com because that is a transfer issue, their really isn't any logic in sending Matt an email about that when I'm sure he has many other issues on hand.

As far as doing a chargeback... c'mon guys... I thought we had a little more class then that. I hope that someone uses your services and then does a charge back on you... I'm sure you'll really appreciate it...

thank you, brandonk. i'll forward the original mail to there.

Originally posted by Ericwenlong
I have just started reselling for them a while ago. I have had 14 domains with them. With a balance of $17.90.


I agree with phonzarelli
Is it possible for us to come in a group and then qualify for the cheap reseller rate ? Any possibility for us to form some kind of domain registration group ?

Why you want to stay with enom anymore after this incident :confused:

What if they send you another email after 2 weeks that you need minimum 500 domains to qualify as their resellers... I guess then you will be contacting more people to get together to get cheaper price from them, who don't have any moral or ethic to conduct a business.

I should clarify that I am not suggesting we start using chargebacks without carefully thinking about the issue and trying to resolve it in other ways. I am sure most of us have had someone burn us with a chargeback in some form or another. However, if the price does change that significantly between the initiation of the order and the completion of the order and eNom does not respond then in my view they have not completed the transaction as contracted. BTW Brad in the transfer department can be quite helpfull if you get him on the phone.

why people always like scam, they don't do a good business, good support...

Originally posted by MadMax82
I should clarify that I am not suggesting we start using chargebacks without carefully thinking about the issue and trying to resolve it in other ways. I am sure most of us have had someone burn us with a chargeback in some form or another. However, if the price does change that significantly between the initiation of the order and the completion of the order and eNom does not respond then in my view they have not completed the transaction as contracted. BTW Brad in the transfer department can be quite helpfull if you get him on the phone.

You've mentioned doing a charge back twice on this topic...

Originally posted by MadMax82
I am going to have to catch up on the current OpenSRS news. Chargeback.....Hmmm there is an idea....Perhaps AFTER the domains are moved.

<rant>

THAT sounds like you were suggesting a chargeback just to make eNom pay for hiking your rates. In which case, I think eNom is in the right for getting rid of you. I hope you have many chargebacks to enjoy in the future... :angry:

</rant>

I will no longer be checking this topic... I wish everyone luck with eNom...

Brandon,

I don't see the need for such ill will. We also had just refilled our account prior to the eNom change occuring. As a result we essentially lost 30% of our money in that transaction. I would imagine that if you paid in advance for your server and then they changed the price of the server before you could use it by 30% with no warning you would be quite pissed. They did violate the agreement regarding pricing and they are making no effort to in any way work with the older resellers. As a result yes we did think about a chargeback however we have decided to simply accept thier actions and move on.

How would you react if you made an agreement to lease a server for $200, paid the money upfront, and then were told by the company that the same server would now cost you $275 and oh by the way no you can not have your money back?

Regardless I of course do not recommend charging back without very good reason and without trying other options first.

To further clarify I would never suggest a chargeback simply for raising our rates. I would simply expect some degree of notice so that we can adequately address the necessary changes. Even Alabanza gave us some notice before hosing us with the new pricing system.

I need to ask did any of you signed an Agreement with Enom, because I did and they are not complying with the Agreemant and not answering my emails.

So what I am supposed to do use the rest of the credit buying Domains @ $29 from them?

What they need to do is give us all extra time to either come up with the amount needed to become a reseller or let us use the credit with in 30 days or less.

I personally would not be dealing with them in the future

:angry:

The only thing you can really do (if you can't get anywhere with them) is sue them for your various complaints. Thrwo some emotion distress on there and it might be worth it... :(

i can happily say that matt responded to my email and fixed the problem. i am happy for that, but still sad about the end of a good thing. all good must end, i know. :)