Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:08:13 -0500
From: "Mike B." <yahoo at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Why you don't want to use Verio.com...ever!!
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>,
 WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Just a friendly warning...if you ever need a domain name or web
hosting, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE VERIO.COM!!!!!

If you do, you will regret it very quickly.  It has been many years
since I've seen a more screwed up company, with systems as
brain-damaged as theirs, and as many total fuck-wits on the staff as
they have.  I have found one or two competent people in the two days
I've been trying to get 4 domain names and some basic web hosting set
up (still working on it...they screwed it up again today), but the
presence of a couple of competent and caring folks in a sea of
dysfunctional, rude, incompetent and just plain clueless morons, and
the dysfunctional, awkward, PITA systems they've created and make
their customers work through more than makes up for the couple of
decent people and leaves me regretting ever hearing the name VERIO.COM.

Some high points:

o 2 hours after requesting, and paying for, 4 domain names, there
wasn't so much as an acknowledgement e-mail to confirm that they'd
actually gotten the order, and the domain names were still showing as
available.

o When I called sales to check, they couldn't see what orders were
pending or whether their systems had charged my credit card.  They
did take a voice order for one of the domains, just as a backup in
case the web order had gotten lost.  5 hours later I got an automated
e-mail saying they were working on the order, so the web one did get
in, it was just INCREDIBLY slow (when I've done this with other
companies, the typical time to confirmation e-mail is under 1 minute).

o When the domains actually got registered (the next day), they had
set up the account with the ".biz" domain as primary, and the other
three, including the ".com", as secondaries.  Not a major issue, but
annoying in that I'd have to remember to use ".biz" to get in to
maintain things, and ".com" is the one I'll remember...the others are
just turf protection and potential future use things.

o The next day also brought an e-mailed "courtesy invoice"  (since
when is it a "courtesy" to send an invoice when you bill someone???),
which was listed as a "renewal" invoice with one of the secondary
domain names in the header, but which listed charges for 3 domains
and 2 private registrations, rather than the 4 domains and 3 private
registrations I signed up for...and you couldn't tell what domain
each charge was for, since by the time they spelled out "domain name
registration" they had used up enough of the "description" field that
the actual description of which domain the charge related to was truncated off.

o When I called support to ask about the "courtesy" invoice, and why
they thought I needed to renew less than 24 hours after registering,
and maybe to get them to fix the primary domain to be the .com one, I
got the worst support idiot in creation.  He kept adding up the
figures in the invoice (incorrectly as well as slowly), as if that
explained something, and telling me it was for 3 domains and 2
private registrations, and what those cost (which was visible on the
invoice), and ignored me when I pointed out that I'd gotten 4 domains
and 3 private regs, and it was only yesterday, so what was with the
renewal?  I asked whether they'd charged me the amount the web
confirmation page listed, or the amount this invoice listed, or
both...and he couldn't tell me since he didn't have access to the
billing info, and he couldn't contact the billing department, or tell
me how to do that either.  He suggested I call the credit card
company and ask them.  After we'd gone around this tree a couple of
times, I mentioned that Verio wasn't impressing me so far and that
maybe I should just cancel this whole thing and sign up with another
registrar...and his response was, "you gotta do what you gotta do"...

o I gave up on him, hung up, waited a bit and called back.  I got a
competent support guy that time, but to get the primary changed from
.biz to .com they couldn't just change it, I had to send an email to
their domain management group, and they had to engineer a transfer of
the domain name from me to me, and set up an entirely new account to
receive it, then transfer the other three names, and then delete the
original account.  And they couldn't do this without me getting
e-mails, going to web sites, and entering payment info (credit card
stuff) for a $0.00 balance, then waiting a day until the e-mail
arrived with the order number, which I had to then send to them so
they could do the next bit.  The next bit involved more e-mail to me,
and more trips to web sites to, yet again, accept the terms and
conditions, and then go in and configure the account again.

o Oh, and in the process of all that they lost the account info about
it having a web hosting plan included in it, so the new one has no
web space, just domain registration.  When I pointed this out, they
said I had to call sales (and they provided a number in Australia I
think, not the 800 number) and arrange a hosting account...like the
one they lost.  Despite coming to a boil (again) at this, I called
them, and got a recording that said they were closed, and that their
hours were 8am to 9pm eastern time...this was at 8:20pm, so
apparently they can't tell time either.

There's more, but you get the idea.  I'm fully expecting them to tell
me that to get the year of minimal web hosting back I'll have to send
an e-mail somewhere, which will result in the entire thing being
deleted and built from scratch...with more e-mails, trips to web
sites and entering payment information when there's nothing to be
paid...and they will probably set it up incorrectly again...

I'd cancel the entire thing and go elsewhere, but I don't want to
chance losing the domain names...there's a pending LLC setup using
that name now.  I guarantee that they won't be getting the renewal though!

Do yourself a favor and stay clear or Verio.com...

-- Mike B.