New domain, new webjournal.

Not being aware that payment was due, I lost my neuron-thief.net domain. I am working on reacquiring it, but I thought to myself: “It’s time to get another domain, Nicole.” So I did. And here it is.

I still have the same host, but I’ve decided on another domain registrar to facilitate all this domain name business, and hopefully another mishap like this won’t happen again.

This “mishap” went down as follows:

I purchased a hosting package from a quiet, small hosting site: BlazerNetwork. It’s appeal to me included a free domain for one year; I had decided to abandon my first domain (crushyourpretty.com) because I was young and fickle, and switch out from a good host (E-Starr) for something cheaper. So registering there was simple and smooth, no hiccups, and through them I acquired neuron-thief.net.

I was with BlazerNetwork for a year, and during that year everything went well. I don’t recall any extenuating downtimes, or the need to contact support at all, but I do remember not liking the control panel at all. So, after much research into hosts and etc., I figured that returning the E-Starr was the best decision, knowing the reliability of their support. And, yeah, yay E-Starr.

The trouble first arises in the transfer of the domain. Having registered it with BlazerNetwork, it was with their affiliated domain registrar. Or something. Yes, or something. I think the name changes. A sure sign of reliability. They all of a sudden went under new ownership (what the hell).

Anyway, I digress; it wasn’t difficult or anything, it just took a long time, and I’m impatient. I wanted to have the domain pushed to E-Starr, but rather what happened was that since they were changing owners, they also changed their DNS. So I just asked them to change the DNS to that of E-Starr.

They did; it was great. I figured, okay, I’ve got the domain; don’t need to change anything.

Forward one year (2007). Webhosting Intl (the service providers) never send me an invoice or renewal reminder until after they rescind my domain. I realize that it’s partially my responsibility, because I have Whois to tell me when it expires, but strangely, it says different things on different Whois engines. This time, I asked them to push the domain to E-Starr; I don’t think this should have been difficult, because both registrars were on Enom at the time. Instead, support just asked me for my account username, saying that they would “renew it ASAP.”

Then they tell me something I already know: I didn’t pay, and payment was past due. And apparently, the domain had been expired for 29 days. So, the cost to renew was $7.95, as long as they receive it the following day. Then, it would be $167.95.

Now, I’m not exactly in control of the monies in my family, but even if I was there’s no way in hell I’m paying more then $15 for a hobby. I’ve always been too proud to ask my parents for money, but also my money was in a savings account I didn’t have access to.

Anyway, they’re gracious enough to accept the $7.95 check (written by papa, as always, and I give him monies), so long as it was postmarked in time, and all the goodies are taken care of.

This year, exact same thing happens. No invoice, no warning, no reliable Whois to reference, and my domain name is no longer mine.

Again, I contact the Webhosting Intl billing department and ask for an invoice (a ticket that bears a striking resemblance to the year before…nearly word for word), and never get a reply. So, I contact support, and through them we take care of all this mess over the course of 5 days, during which I am concurrently studying my ass off for finals, so impatience is a given. I ask for an invoice about three times before actually receiving it, and while I was writing this post I sent it through PayPal ($15.95 what the fuck, but I just want to get this over with). It’s a lot easier now, because I have money and a bank account I actually have control over. Fantastic.

Now, I’m just waiting for them to accept the payment. Then I can ask for the EEP, then push it on to NameCheap.

So, reflecting on this, I accept some of the blame for the mishap. I’m sure I’m considered annoying by their “support” and I feel sort of shitty for being so insistent. They’ve been nothing but patient.

Oh, just got the EEP key…

Okay, three hours to initiate. Oh goody. Everything. Is going. To be okay.