Bye Bye Birdie. I mean Bye Bye Moniker! Customer Since 1999 Flies Away.

Morning Folks!!


Let's put it out there. Monte Cahn of Moniker.com made a deal with the devil and this is the result. The most respected registrar in the business is no longer trustworthy. Some say that there are things that I should not print. But the phrase 'Cr******l Enterprise' is something I hear more and more by more and more people.


I am now in the process of moving my remaining 4500 domains AWAY from Moniker. Why? THEY HAVE LOST MY TRUST! Very simple. I no longer trust them to make the right decision. I no longer trust them to protect my assets. I no longer trust them to do the right thing because the 'Mothership' may override them at every point.


Though almost 4 months have past, no one from corporate has YET to make a FULL statement on their breach of Privacy. Instead, I have been continuously lied to and mislead that something would be done to fix the problem. Yet, nothing has been done!


It is now too late to do the right thing. If they can't figure out that the industry is built on TRUST, then I have no choice but to pull out all of my domains and go to folks that have EARNED my trust and understand how special and how delicate that trust is.


Since support at Moniker.com now goes through Oversee.net and takes DAYS to get back to me, please make SURE that ALL of my domains are SAFELY MOVED to my new registrar and none conveniently fall through the cracks. Retribution would be very untimely during this transfer. Why do I say this. BECAUSE YOU LOST MY TRUST!!


To the good folks remaining at Moniker, since 1999 we have done business and you have gone above and beyond to be professional and trustworthy. I could sleep soundly at night knowing that my names were in RESPONSIBLE hands. Unfortunately, you are no longer in control of your own business and that makes me sleep not as well. The last resort that I have is to move my business in order to demonstrate how I feel on a number of fronts. Some things we will get into more deeply as this goes on. This all stems from something that could have been fixed in MINUTES not MONTHS.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz

Supporting Posts and Events that led me to this:


http://www.ricksblog.com/2010/12/another-day-another-domain-industry-scandal.html


http://www.ricksblog.com/2010/12/the-privacy-issuewho-has-access-to-that-info-what-they-can-do-with-it.html


http://www.ricksblog.com/2011/01/ostrich-eagle-or-corporate-cubicle-whore-.html


http://www.ricksblog.com/2011/03/time-to-set-the-record-straight-.html


http://dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2010/december.htm


http://www.thedomains.com/2010/12/31/moniker-issues-statement-on-unauthorized-data-release/


http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20110317.htm


http://www.chefpatrick.com/chefpatricksucks-com-the-real-truth/


http://www.ricksblog.com/2011/03/it-is-far-from-over.html





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45 thoughts on “Bye Bye Birdie. I mean Bye Bye Moniker! Customer Since 1999 Flies Away.

  1. Michael

    That’ll teach them a lesson…
    Where are you moving your names to, Rick?

    Reply
  2. Keldon

    Oversee never replies.
    Phone number is listed in my parking account also but nobody every answers and nobody ever returns my call.
    I’ve left probably 10 phone messages in the last year and they never returned one of them.

    Reply
  3. guy

    i agree wit you Rick
    have felt this way a longtime
    Moniker were awesome and Monte is a class act. when he left thats last straw now
    i can’t afford to move all my domains in one hit though, thats the killer
    where are you moving your domains?
    fact is, there are no decent registrars. godaddy is soso, especia;;y with this bob acting like a fool recently and godaddy accounts are so often hacked. enom is hsite and crap customer support
    it only leaves possibly fabulous
    if they did great transfer in rates i may be interested
    so, any others that are good i’ve left out?
    also there aren’t others have a presence on the forums, which i feel is needed

    Reply
  4. Walter

    …going to move my domains away first thing Monday morning! – where are you moving your domains Rick?

    Reply
  5. Jay

    They outsourced their support to another country quite a while ago. Since then I haven’t recommended them to anyone. Actually even before then I haven’t as their domain expiration dates don’t sync right with the registry and the only way to get decent support was to private message a rep at a domain forum. Been using Go Daddy & Fabulous for years with zero issues and anytime I phone someone picks up. In fact they phone me on occasion just to check up on things.

    Reply
  6. Mike

    Tough times for Moniker/Oversee, I have a few names there, not in a huge hurry to move them out. Name.com is good, customer support responsive, easy interface, competitive pricing..

    Reply
  7. BullShitWebsites

    Moniker—I always thought they were run by Monkeys
    Moniker Monkeys Moniker Monkeys..Moniker Monkeys
    That a nice jingle
    Now they really do run by Monkeys.

    Reply
  8. ScottM

    Highly recommend Netlynx.in (Netlynx.com) or BigRock.com. Both in India with outstanding customer support. Direci owns BigRock.com, used to be Answerable.com they are both equally good. Go Daddy is OK but after what finding out Bob Parsons hunts elephants and they raised their prices $2 per domain recently not using them anymore.
    Your domains won’t get frozen with India registrars just because some egregious corporate lawyer decides to try and steal it away from you in U.S. Federal court and bamboozles a judge into ordering a U.S. registrar to lock the domains. Enom/Bulk Registrar, 1 and 1 and Tucows will all roll you the minute they get any kind of challenge notice even if it’s bogus. India registrars will all require any domain challenge to go through a more difficult UDRP, which is the way it should be and not easy money for lawyers to file cookie cutter complaints in U.S. Federal Court.

    Reply
  9. Eightmotives

    So far I haven’t had any issues with GoDaddy. Truthfully speaking I am in the process of moving all of my domain names to them. I did not have a good experience with Answerable.com and can’t really trust the fact that they have rebranded themselves as BigRock.
    As far as Bob Parsons is concerned I’m not hear to determine whether what he does in his personal life is right or wrong. I know that he developed a great service which is reliable and customer centric. The reps at GoDaddy have always taken the time to call and check up on me.

    Reply
  10. Mark

    You would always be welcome here at easyDNS Rick. I know we’ve had our disagreements about the domainer industry, but few people dispute that we’ve built our reputation on making the right call for our members.
    (And I’m a pretty easy guy to get a hold of).
    Just sayin’.

    Reply
  11. Domain Shane

    I had no problem with Moniker and personally like many of the company employees, but have to say that two weeks ago I got the worst customer service I’ve had yet at a registrar. I called to get info and got an answering machine. An hour later I got a call from a guy that seemed disinterested and annoyed with our conversation. I am more than ever a Godaddy guy and could care less about Bob Parsons killing elephants. I knew he was an asshat going into my relationship with his company.

    Reply
  12. David

    Agree about GoDaddy Micheel. Starting to move more domains there. They can’t be beat for 24X7 customer service. My helpful new GD account exec informed me GD now has a huge 67% U.S. market share and more than 50% worldwide.
    I too am disappointed by Moniker what with the customer service being not as good vs a few years ago when you could call Monte directly or he sent emails from his Blackberry on the road. I hate it how they now require seperate URLs, logins and passwords for support instead of a link from Moniker’s site, which only make sense vs forcing a new login. Also, a recent call to my Moniker acct exec found him abrupt and acting annoyed by my issues.

    Reply
  13. Alan

    Great News! I have been in retail sales for almost 30 years and if
    you knew of the money spent and the hoops that some companies go
    through for good customer service you would be shocked.
    If Moniker can’t see the importance of keeping you as a satisfied
    client than someone else will!

    Reply
  14. Sideliner

    I have been with name.com and dynadot.com for the past 6 years with thousands of names between them. I am also a GoDaddy customer but their interface is annoying to say the least, not to mention checking out is a nightmare with numerous sales pitches before you get to final payment. I also have scattered domains with Enom, Moniker and others.
    Name.com has what I conside the best ‘personalized’ customer service in the business, but IMO Dynadot has a better interface than any in the industry.

    Reply
  15. David Williams

    Fabulous are by far the best registrar out there in my opinion. I lost faith in Moniker a while ago and moved my domains to Fabulous. Far better security than any other registrar out there and fantastic support. Also heavily involved and supportive of the industry which is a good thing.
    I agree that Moniker have gone backwards since being owned by Oversee though. Any Oversee company is a pain to deal with. I had my SnapNames account suspended and tried for days and days to find out why but could never reach a real person. So frustrating.

    Reply
  16. Adam .com

    Your domains are your lifeblood. Your registrar should be chosen based on security/privacy/service/etc . All the same reasons you’d choose a bank, and then some. I think you should be super careful who you choose on the next round. I’m curious to know what you decide rick
    To choose godaddy…. it’s like choosing walmart as your bank. Someone people will do it . . some see a bigger picture 2cents

    Reply
  17. Dean

    “Oversee never replies.
    Phone number is listed in my parking account also but nobody every answers and nobody ever returns my call.
    I’ve left probably 10 phone messages in the last year and they never returned one of them”
    Dito!!
    ever submit a domain for one of their themed auctions? Might as well send it to outer space, because I have never ever gotten so much as a thank you or no thank you for your submission to our auction’s reply. It’s one thing if they think my domains are crap and they don’t want to list them, but at least have the courtesy and business sense to acknowledge or reply that you received my submission to your auctions. Especially since I uses them as one of my registrars. It might be insignificant, but the little common courtesies say a lot about how they might conduct business on a grander scale.

    Reply
  18. SFU

    Yup!
    I’ve had an account with Moniker for many years.
    I’ve had an account with SnapNames for many years.
    Needed customer service a few weeks ago.
    The”system” wanted me to create yet another account, if I needed something as special as customer service. Really? Another account?
    No thanks. I might already have one anyway …I can’t fucking remember any more.
    It was during supports limited regular hours, so I tried the support phone number.
    The recording said,”We are experiencing Extremely High Call Volume. Please leave a message.”
    I did.
    The end.
    The new motto these days for Many companies is:
    Customer Service. It can’t suck if you don’t have it!

    Reply
  19. Anona Banona

    Their customer service is positively abysmal.
    Say whatever you want about Bob Parsons, but at least he’s a man who understands the basic elements that go into making a good customer service rep.
    There is nothing that more accurately reflects the internal corporate culture of a company than their customer service. Companies that have poor customer service are companies that have an adversarial, almost predatory relationship with their clients. These operations are to be avoid- as best I can tell, based on my own experiences and almost all accounts, the customer service at Moniker is like this.
    Apparently, per chatter, Oversee has been retaliating against the accounts of individuals for speaking out against them on forums and in blog comments, so I’m anon here. That’s the only reason I’m not calling out a very specific customer service rep; I don’t believe in anonymously criticizing individuals, but let me have one more event with that person similar to the last one, I’ll post my name, address and social security number along with the .wav files of our phone calls and sincerely embarrass the shit out of your pathetic customer service operation.

    Reply
  20. Anona Banona

    Oh, and PS… The right answer to this question is Fabulous.
    I’m totally unaffiliated with them, save for being a client. Having tried them all, that company does it right.

    Reply
  21. Michael Hallisey

    I like Godaddy as my register for domains they always answer all my questions through email or on the phone fast.
    I do not recommend them for hosting there operates are not much help for helping you configure a server. If you don’t know how to do it yourself you are going to be very frustrated!

    Reply
  22. me.yahoo.com/a/Xjwf1NMkiYUFgOrigiZbWPjGh1ouq1J3

    Agree with the sentiments above, Moniker has the worst service. It was never like this when Monte was there. Recently tried to delete a domain from my portfolio on the spot and it took them days to respond. Days!
    Turned out it was faster to transfer it to elephantman’s company and delete it from there.

    Reply
  23. DomainPig

    When I first started domaining years ago I bought
    my domains with Registry Fly! they were a NIGHTMARE!
    So I have done lots of research and everyone said great
    things about moniker so I called their customer service
    and they picked the phone up every time and reply to my
    emails very fast and I felt very happy with them for about
    5 years. Once oversee.net joined them it has been down hill
    and their customer service is a joke now.
    I love their interface and I hate godaddy interface so maybe
    fabulous looks like the best option. I have a very large portfolio
    so it’s going to take a long time to move them.
    I think hostgator has amazing customer service 24/7 live support
    and I can’t believe no trusted domain registry has this yet!! I should be able to talk to the registry 24/7 ANYTIME!!

    Reply
  24. Dominik Mueller

    Rick, unfortunately, I have to agree with you on the quality of Moniker’s customer support. Truth be told, my domain portfolio shrunk drastically during the past two years due to sales and deletions. Maybe that’s why I don’t have a personal account representative anymore like in the good old days. Or maybe it’s because Oversee wants to cut costs, I don’t know. In any case, Oversee/Moniker should seriously invest in their customer support. Spend less on marketing for god’s sake! After all, they should keep their existing customers happy before acquiring new ones. I’ve only heard negative things about them recently. Considering that they have customers from all over the globe (I’m based in Europe), they should have people available 24 hours a day.
    I am, however, surprised by the amount of positive feedback GoDaddy is getting in the comments above. They are the worst registrar I have used so far for several reasons. If you want to move away from Moniker, transfer your domains to Fabulous.

    Reply
  25. a few good names

    Maybe it’s time you took a look at namesbeyond.com. They are still small enough you can reach the owner. They are dedicated to solving problems. Never had a problem with them at all. Any minor issues that arose were taken care of. And no, do not work there, I just have a handful of names there.

    Reply
  26. SFU

    Perhaps Moniker could outsource it’s customer service to Godaddy.
    There’s another new patent for Godaddy: Providing customer service for other registrars.
    Seriously, Bob may want to consider buying Moniker simply to bring in some of the stellar portfolios that must still be there.

    Reply
  27. zoop

    OUCH – this is definitely going to put a dent into monikers image – especially since you have such a great following and are considered a domain king… O well, I dont have any names at moniker but i guess it is better to have domains registered at a place that slays elephants rather than a registrar that slays people’s privacy.

    Reply
  28. Dave Wrixon

    With the Great White Elephant Hunter?
    Can’t help thinking Rick is making a big thing of this because of the precieved competition from Domain Cruise. There will also probably be bit that rival jealousy thing because the guy is bosom buddies with his old macker Frankie.
    Anyway, for the record we walked away from Moniker a couple of years ago. So no news is no news.

    Reply
  29. Bruce Tedeschi

    Well about 6-months ago I made a post on Facebook asking,”Moniker, four names sold inthe last auction, what happened?” 2-hours later Chef Patrick phones me saying I am calling as Patirkc not Moniker and why would I post that about Moniker. I asked,”Are you at Moniker making this call? Patrick responds”Yes” I am. Okay then you are calling as a Moniker employee. I was stunned that a customer of Moniker (me) would be called by a Moniker employee about a post. First of all, this is America last time I looked and I do have the right of freedom of speech.
    People like Don Lyons are honest and straight with you when you talk with him. He would never ever think of calling a customer about a facebook post. I had a keyword name in an auction in 2010. Through several emails I stated start the name out at $25k, not higher. The name goes up for bid and what happens, the name is starts at $40k and is glossed over. Too me, Moniker is not even a player in this industry any longer. In the 10-years I have been with them, Don Lyons is the only guy that has reached out. I have spent over $50k with them in the past 6-years of that. Would you consider me a good customer? Would you have one of only two people that have contacted you from Moniker to admonish someone for their FB post? Well let me say to the later phone call not made by Don, come down off of your golden pedestal. You make rookie mistakes that are costing you now. It is time to grow up and know your boundaries. A professional does not call to admonish, a professional calls to ask what he/she can do to rectify the perception or explain the situation.
    If I were Moniker, I would immediately invite my best customers to the corporate office, put them up and listen to them. Moniker, YOU FORGOT WHO WORKS FOR WHO. I can’t say it any clearer. The old business plan does not work any longer. Business live long through honest and integrity and remember that the customer is king!
    Well I think I just about sucked up all of the bandwidth here so I am done. It is simple, be professional and have RESPECT for the customer.

    Reply
  30. Bruce Tedeschi

    Do you really think Rick would worry about a domain cruise? Ran by the guy that violated security? Trust is all that counts in this industry.

    Reply
  31. Sri

    NameSilo.com is a new kid on the block, but got superfast customer service – even for a small customer. They are open to ideas and you just got to look at their domain manager – you will forget everything else. And they got super low rates too!

    Reply
  32. Sri

    And… I forgot to add, NameSilo.com has a great parking option that uses YOUR own adsense pub-id with customization options for colors and content.

    Reply
  33. Jean-Philippe Raynaud

    Thank you for contacting Oversee Support. This is an automated message letting you know that your case information has been received and is under review. The case details are outlined below. Please refer to the case number when following up on the case’s status.
    Oversee Support representatives are available from 7am ET to 9pm ET Monday through Friday and 10am ET to 6pm ET Saturday through Sunday. We are closed on major US holidays.
    One of our representatives will contact you regarding this case within one business day.
    You can search our knowledge base and submit new cases online at any time.
    For DomainSponsor go to: domainsponsor.com/support
    For Moniker & SnapNames go to: help.moniker.com
    Thank you for the opportunity to address your concerns. We look forward to working with you.
    The Oversee Support Team
    I can not count how many times we have received this message – and in 90% of the cases nobody has ever followed up, despite the phonecalls, emails and legal letters. In the end we have moved all the domains we won @ Snapnames away from Domain People/Moniker (BTW, the Oversee guys seem to snatch all the good domains anyway for their company’s portfolio).

    Reply
  34. Josh

    Where are you moving your names to, Rick? Whatever is good enough for you is definitely good enough for me.

    Reply
  35. Danny Pryor

    Name.com is pretty good. I have names at Moniker, but I am gravely concerned in the wake of the mistrust this scandal has cooked up. It’s a recipe for Oversee’s demise, if many large domain investors, like Rick, continue moving their portfolios to other registrars.
    GoDaddy lost my business completely, long before any elephants were shot. They just suck hard core cock. Name.com has a few minor issues, but most of my ‘folio is there.
    I can hear someone over at Moniker shouting at the top of their lungs, begging for someone to return and whip things into shape.”Cahn! Cahn! Cahn!” (You can almost see Wm. Shatner screaming it, can’t you?)
    Oh well. Monte’s hard work is being eroded by idiots, and that’s just a horrible shame, considering how hard he worked to build that ship.

    Reply
  36. Josh

    Wherever you move your names, keep in mind the legal jurisdiction. If you lose a UDRP, and need to file suit to stop the transfer, you’ll need to already have a lawyer you can file suit through in that jurisdiction. Not a game changer, just something to be mindful of.

    Reply
  37. ScottM

    Thanks Josh, however on a UDRP your domain is usually not locked and prevented from being transferred out by you to another registrar until the proceeding has run its course. In most of the Federal Court actions however, the big bad lawyers trying to take your domain name away almost always motion for a TRO and injunction to be served on the registrar to lock the domain from being transferred, and almost always the Federal Judge will grant it. However it the domain is at a foreign registrar they usually won’t bother and the foreign registrar most of the time will ignore the TRO and injunction and tell the plaintiff to go get a UDRP. Bottom line is keep your domains at a foreign registrar such as in India who will ignore a U.S. Federal Court order, and you get more time to transfer the domain with a UDRP, you get essentially no time with a Federal Court action because usually they involve the element of surprise, by the time you get served or find out about being a defendant the motion to freeze the domain is already on the docket or even ruled on.

    Reply
  38. David

    Assuming you live in Arizona and have the name at Godaddy (an AZ company) does that imply you can go to Federal Court to oppose the motion in AZ as a pro-se and at no cost? The same opportunoty should apply at places like Moniker (a FL company) if you reside in FL., or Washington state if the domain is at Enom, etc.

    Reply
  39. ScottM

    David, you would have to consult a lawyer on that. I believe any defendant has the right to file a counter motion pro-se in any court when defending themselves but that should be asked of a legal professional. Federal courts can only reach to the edge of the U.S. shores, they have no”real” jurisdiction over registrars in India, Israel, Australia and other countries, but I wouldn’t feel much safer with a Canadaian registrar. Fabulous seems to also be a registrar that will not lock or handover your domain just because a U.S. Federal Court ordered it, I know from a friend’s experience they will tell the plaintiff to go and file a UDRP if they want the domain from a defendant. When in doubt, move your domains offshore, I know people who have also registered with Carribean registrars too.

    Reply
  40. RKB

    “I am, however, surprised by the amount of positive feedback GoDaddy is getting in the comments above. They are the worst registrar I have used so far for several reasons. If you want to move away from Moniker, transfer your domains to Fabulous.”
    DITTO.
    GD is a really bad company and try to take advantage of you when you are in a huge crisis. They try to sell me additional security products worth thousands when my account got hacked and domain stolen. I was under so much stress already and dealing with GD made my stress double. I hated my experience and extra money they forced me to spend by threatening to delete or take away my domains. I paid them and then once domains were restored to my account,
    and then I moved all domains to FABULOUS.COM right away.
    We have almost 15k domains at fabulous and their security is THE BEST among all registrars. They have multiple layers of security plus big domainers all get an actual usb security key that you need to use to make any changes or transfer domains etc.
    Go to fabulous.com if you are serious about security and best prices.
    Btw, I also experienced very bad customer service at oversee.
    I have almost stopped using them for parking after staying with them for some 7 years. Plus off course the parking revenue tanked so much at DS.

    Reply
  41. Roger

    Moniker steals customers best domains after expiry within the redemption window at 35-42 days by selling it to pals or snapnames. This is after they mask expiry on whois. Has got to be illegal!

    Reply

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