5 free domains BUT....

[Busterking]

I hope that you revise your TOS policy and allow for us to register our 5 free domains any time we want. The reason given that you are only allowing one a month is to avoid abuse isn't a valid excuse. If you don't mean for people to use them then don't promote or offer it. You are presently treating your customers childishly. Respect goes both ways in business.

Just my opinion in this matter and I hope that you do reconsider your policy.

Don't punish all your customers because a few have abused it.

[Saf M]

Our policy for domain one new domain registration [for budget hosting accounts] will unfortunately stay as it is for the time being. With reseller hosting plans we can register up to 5 domain names per month.

[Saf M]

Account cancellation rates are higher under budget hosting category compared to our higher end solutions like reseller hosting and semi dedicated hosting. We did not have this limit before but then few clients started abusing it by requesting registration of many domains at a time and then cancelling in the end of the day. We are now left with dozens of unwanted domains because of this. In order to reduce this abuse, we had to limit the number domains clients can request over a given period of time.

[Alan B]

You might consider providing free domains only if a certain number of months are prepaid for the hosting plan.

[Busterking]

You might consider providing free domains only if a certain number of months are prepaid for the hosting plan.

I prepaid for that July Special plan for 24 months.

[nolex00]

sorry, double post on another thread.

[JasonD]

Do not allow them to cancel. You buy it, you own it. Domain names are not refundable.

If the name is in the price, then it is paid for... Where is the abuse?

They have 4 left, 3 left, 2 left, 1 left, none left...

(Or are you saying that they did not stay in the contract long enough to reclaim your losses? Like they signed on one month, got 5, left, and stuck you with 5 names while only paying for that month?)

If that is the situation, where a month does not cover all five names. Add the clause, names must be paid for at $xx.xx, and a refund of $xx.xx will be given after your third month, for the price of the domains.

Like a cell phone... if you cancel early, you keep the cost, and they get the names. (They just have to transfer them to another host, at no loss to you.)

I am not sure that I even understand the concept of that TOS rule, as it is explained. (Seems like it needs more legal clarity, or a layman's explanation, to state intention of that rule. If only for understanding and piece of mind.)

You would think that registering them later, rather than sooner, would be a better deal for you. (I know it is a slight inconvenience to ask someone to pull a valid name from thin-air on the spot, so to speak. People like to research these choices, as they are critical ones.)

Have you thought about co-joining with an external registar, and just buying prepaid bulk names, in the form of coupon credits? I know that a few companies allow that, and promote it. EG, you get five coupon codes for use at (Registar X), valid for five separate name registrations. Doesn't matter if they use them here, or there. (Not if you setup a mandatory 3 month initial contract of services.)

I would mention the name, but the site I am thinking of, also offers web-hosting. (Nothing in comparison to here, but they are one of the largest registars out there.)

[Wayne R.]

"Abuse" does not necessarily have to be if a client legitimately wants to cancel after we have registered a domain for them for one reason or another. Look at the other side of the coin where a customer signs up today, registers 5 domains with us, then decides now that they have their domains all registered, they are going to cancel and keep the domains.

We do have a policy in place where the cost of the domains is then reduced from the refund given to the customer (it's in the TOS as you mentioned Jason, and only fair as you can agree). Now we've taken $8.88 per domain out of their refund (times 5?)

What happens now when the customer decides they are not happy with this policy despite agreeing to it at signup?
They do a chargeback, which compared to the overall cost of a budget hosting plan, is a large expense that cannot be recouped.

Maybe I'm getting off topic. It is an available, free service that we have to add value to our already great prices and service. I think the terms of this work out for the customers getting free domain names (1 immediately), and allow us to continue to provide it as a free value added item.

[webmatt01]

as I posted in another form.. and didn't get any further discussion..

I understand this policy more for the shared accounts then the reseller accounts...

When your a reseller.. lets say if your going to offer a special for your clients.. (Free domain w/ a 12 month purhcase, ect..)... what happens if you have 6-7 clients buy a year package one month? You would have to Tell the last two they needs to wait until next month for their free doman name?

I understand more under the shared accounts, where it is one "owner" using the services, but when your a reseller, reselling to clients, the 5 limits do not make sense to me.

[mpyusko]

I understand more under the shared accounts, where it is one "owner" using the services, but when your a reseller, reselling to clients, the 5 limits do not make sense to me.

I have to agree with this one.

I have 2 budget hosting plans I purchased at separate times. 1 account is a bronze with 1 addon (grandfathered), both domains I purchased elswhere and brought here. The other account is a bronze with 1 addon (grandfathered) where the primary domain is mine, but the addon is a free one from WHB. They were great about registering it for me, and I appreciate it. However, I would be upset if I was promised 5 free domains and have to wait nearly half a year to obtain them all.

What I see as a viable alternative is 1 free at registration, the rest available after your "trial period" is over, all 4, right away. If you want all 5 upfront, you pay for them and then after the trial period, you get refunded.

My ISP, for example offers 3 months free when you sign up for a year. The first month is free, you pay nine, then the last two are free. Normaly it has a 30 trial period. So, you still get your trial period. If you cancel, it was free anyway and they don't have to worry about refunding you. If you want your 3 free months, then you are stuck with them for a year.

How about WHB do something similar? The first month is "trial" so it's free anyway if you cancel. If you want all your free domains, then you have to wait until after the trial period. If you are a reseller though, you get a free one to start your service, and if you want more free ones in that month, then you need to have valid accounts to back them up. After that first month though, then you get them at your discretion, not WHB's. (Am I making sense? It sounds logical in my mind anyway.... but it is almost midnight.) Now I don't use my sites for business so i am more flexible with my timetables. However, business depends very much on timing and value. (these concepts are not new) Say I'm starting a business, I'm invest money into it to make money back. I want to invest the least amount and get the greatest return....(duh, capitalism in a nutshell). So if I can get "Cheap Hosting" and it includes "free domain names". I'd be crazy not to go with it, since it is a venture and I don't know what will happen with my business. So I pay my ~$119 for a year with 5 domains free. Good practice says if I want to be the most visible, I should register the name I want, and also common mis-spellings or other TLDs. I want my business to succeed so I go with that and make a request for all 5 versions of my domain, only to find out that I can only get one a month over 5 months time. Now a clause that says I get 1, pay for 4 and get a refund in the second month? I could live with that. But at least I have them for marketing today, not waiting 5 months. Besides, if business goes well, I continue my site. If it get's better, I upgrade my package as needed. If it fails, i doubt the money I paid to WHB will be the only money I loose.

Would people gripe if they paid up front for the 4 domains and were then refunded a 6 months? I doubt it. But I'm not them. But still, reseller is a whole different situation and timing is everything.

When your a reseller.. lets say if your going to offer a special for your clients.. (Free domain w/ a 12 month purhcase, ect..)... what happens if you have 6-7 clients buy a year package one month? You would have to Tell the last two they needs to wait until next month for their free doman name?

If I signed up with him and found out I was # 6 or 7, my first thought would be either "Bait and switch" or a shady site that is trying to steal my identity by making a promise, taking my money and billing information and not returning the contracted service. I'd say to myself, and most likely in a flame e-mail to him, "I bet everyone is 6 or 7". Then I would cancel my account and pray for a refund.

I really hope I made sense.

[nolex00]

perhaps, its one of their marketing strategy, having it registered 1 only for a month, would result something like a cascading effect. A good example would be, you get a ANNUAL 5-free-domain package,on your 1st month of subscription, you can only register 1, then on the 2nd another, so on and so forth.

Therefore, if you're going to quit WHB for some reason and if you wish not to renew all domains, you're left with either:
on your last domain registered, you can only use it for 7months

OR

if you wished to extend your subscription to another 5months to get hold of your domain, on your last month of subscription, you're only left with only 1 domain

[Saf M]

perhaps, its one of their marketing strategy, having it registered 1 only for a month, would result something like a cascading effect. A good example would be, you get a ANNUAL 5-free-domain package,on your 1st month of subscription, you can only register 1, then on the 2nd another, so on and so forth.

Therefore, if you're going to quit WHB for some reason and if you wish not to renew all domains, you're left with either:
on your last domain registered, you can only use it for 7months

OR

if you wished to extend your subscription to another 5months to get hold of your domain, on your last month of subscription, you're only left with only 1 domain

You are very right on that. This is not particularly a marketing strategy but more of mix of business plan plus gaining the shared hosting market space. We are NOT going to lie to prevent us from giving false statements about our domain registrations policy *JUST* because we have got nothing to lose. We actually LOSE money when we provide FREE domain names. The only MAIN factor that is holding us on to this DEAL is basically client LOYALTY. We feel that if we are good enough clients would come back to us one way or the other!

Thank you!