I would like to write a short post about the company Fasthosts and its domain name renewal policy.
Fashosts are a UK based company which provides web hosting and domain registration services. It has a very large customer base and is probably the most popular supplier of web related services in the UK.
I first became involved with Fasthosts in 2003 whilst working for an SEO company. Back then, everything was great and we (the SEO company) had a good relationship with Fasthosts. Customer service calls were answered quickly, issues were resolved satisfactorily and we used to get email reminders from Fasthosts to tell us when a domain name was about to expire. We would renew the domains we wanted to keep and drop any we didn’t want anymore.
Fast foward a few years and this policy changed. I don’t know what happened at Fasthosts, there may have been a change in management or it may have just been a change in company policy, but those reminder emails (about a domain name expiring) stopped.
As customers we were told about this, there was nothing underhand going on. Fasthosts promoted the change as a way to ensure continuity for domain owners, and from a certain perspective I can see that this makes sense, but when you are handling hundreds of domain names it is quite nice to get that email reminder.
While I was working at the SEO company I bought a few domains through my own Fasthosts accoount. I liked the system and I knew how it worked, so Fasthosts seemed like a good choice. I have since bought over 70 domains and Fasthosts handles them all.
The real beauty of the old Fasthosts system was that I could just crack on with my work and rely on Fasthosts to remind me when a domain was about to expire. The new/current systems puts the onus directly onto me, the customer. And I don’t mind telling you that I have been caught out on quite a few occassions! It happened to me just yesterday in fact. I had two domains that I was unsure about renewing, but before I made my decision they had been automaticaly renewed some 30 days prior to the expiration date.
This is what the Fasthosts terms and conditions say about the policy:
To ensure your domains are not lost we operate a positive renewal system on all our domains – your domain will automatically renew for the term it was registered for unless you opt-out of this service through your control panel. This is not refundable and it is your responsibility to ensure valid contact and payment details are on your account at all times – failure can lead to suspension.
Fasthosts’ domain renewal process is automated, however, it is your responsibility to check that your renewal has been successful within one month of the renewal date. For .uk domains you can do this using Nominet’s WhoIs search, and for all other domains we recommend using the http://www.whois.org/ website domain lookup facility.
Fasthosts makes it clear inside your account that a domain name will be renewed (or rather, the process will be started) 30 days prior to the domain name expiration date. This means you will be charged for your domain renewal after eleven months rather than twelve (you do not lose a month, the renewal period starts on the expiry date).
For the majority of people running one or two sites I can see this being a boon, but for people speculating with domains and juggling ideas it can cause problems.
I recommend that anyone researching Fasthosts, or other web hosting companies reads this page at ReviewCentre.com.
UPDATE
This is a Twitter conversation I had on January 17 (2010) with Fasthosts when, one morning, I received an email telling me a domain was about to expire! I was very surprised to get a response from Fasthosts within 20 minutes.
The tweet that started the ball rolling:
Fasthosts are very keen to send me an email when a domain is set to automatically expire,but not when it will automatically renew.
Fasthosts @stephen_d We are putting in some measures which we think will balance that out this year. What would you like to see?
@Fasthosts I would like notification when any domain is about to expire-I find the automatic renewal system very unfair.
Fasthosts @stephen_d I know there is a project looking at notifications for renewals at the moment.
@Fasthosts I would also like to see domains renewed on the due date, not thirty days before the renewal date. Another unfair policy.
Fasthosts @stephen_d Experience has taught us that positively renewing the domain 30 days in advance protects against downtown/loss of service.
@Fasthosts Fair enough, but how about a refund policy if the domain is not wanted? I have asked on more than one occasion and been refused.
Fasthosts @stephen_d I will certainly pass your feedback to the team.
@Fasthosts Thanks.
Short, not altogether very sweet, but at least Fasthosts seem to be interested in what customers have to say.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
It sounds like they have a tendency to neglect to remind you about things that they will charge you for. I signed up under their free 1 year reseller promotion, and then forgot about it. I was only recently reminded when I received an e-mail (the first communication I had received from them since signing up) saying my credit card had been declined when they tried to renew my account. It turns out the information they had was for a card that had since expired. I asked them to cancel my account, since I never actually used it, but they refuse to do so, saying I have to pay the renewal fee first. Yet their TOS says that all services have to be paid for in advance, so the renewal fee is for future services that I will not pay for because I don’t want them. So we’re currently going back and forth, them telling me they won’t cancel my account until I pay, and me telling them I won’t pay for services I don’t want. :(
This has happened to me with several domains that I now have no need for – around £200 of renewal fees. They’re refusing out right to issue a refund. Do you think there’s any way at all to get a refund or do I have to just write the £200 off? Extremely underhand to not send a reminder email.
I have asked for refunds on several occasions but Fasthosts have always refused. It seems to me that you might have to write off the money you spent.
The upshot of my experiences with Fasthosts has caused me to buy less domains than I would have done if they operated a more open domain renewal policy.
Ah good old Fasthosts. After having several domains renewed that I did not want I emailed customer service, after receiving some rather rude customer service I cancelled all my domains and services with them, I then moved my companies hosted email solution (50 users) away from them, I did notify them that this would be the case unless they refunded me. So rather than refund me £30 (or similar) they have now lost approximately £12,000 a year. I should really ask for that as a pay rise, given we are now making huge savings (this was 4 years ago…)
Great work David!
If you happen to live in the USA, please consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I did so, and they didn’t bother responding. I’d be interested to see if they start responding when/if others do the same.
I agree, great work David! I wonder how much more has been lost by operating the no refund policy?
I recently had a Twitter conversation with Fasthosts; I have updated the post with that conversation.
Your Twitter conversation would have been just a fruitful with a robot… or perhaps a wall? For small personal hosting projects I’m using 34sp.com, they offer a referral service so it might be worth looking into if you refer a lot of people, for domain and domain services I use GoDaddy.com and to be honest some of their control panels e.g. DNS management are the best I’ve come across.
I think Fasthosts have grown too quickly and are somewhat a victim of their own success, their technical support is very poor and outside of what is shown on their screen they lack any real knowledge of how things on the Internet work (or at least should work). Very unhelpful.
I just hope more people will stumble across this blog BEFORE signing up with Fasthosts.
I heard some good reports about 34sp.com so I set up an account with them a couple of weeks ago. I set up a WordPress site and noticed a massive difference in download speed compared to some of my US hosted sites. I am not sure if I will be leaving the site with 34sp.com as I am used to using cPanel rather than Plesk and found the whole backend a little awkward with regards to the setting up of scripts, email etc.
Fasthosts tech support is not great and I find myself having to wait a long time for my calls to be answered on those rare occasions I do call (usually to question a charge on my account!)