Dodgy practises of 123-reg & .UK domains

sithlord · 16 Sep 2019 at 17:18

I have a few domains with 123-reg.

I noticed they automatically gave me loads of FREE .UK domains (that match with my existing .co.uk domains) which I had NOT requested.

I think its pretty dodgy how they send reminders that the domains are going to expire, when I never requested them in the first place ! I can see some companies and people being caught unawares!!

AHarvey · 17 Sep 2019 at 09:39

sithlord said:
I have a few domains with 123-reg.

I noticed they automatically gave me loads of FREE .UK domains (that match with my existing .co.uk domains) which I had NOT requested.

I think its pretty dodgy how they send reminders that the domains are going to expire, when I never requested them in the first place ! I can see some companies and people being caught unawares!!

I think you accept them when you order the original, they offer you a .uk domain for free and you have to untick to not accept it.

Dodgy but I don't think they just auto add them to your account.

divebod · 17 Sep 2019 at 09:40

Yes, I noticed that last week. I had two standard .co.uk domains that I let expire and thought it strange to receive renewal notices from them by email. It was only checking through the panel on the site that I realised they were renewing the 'free' .uk related domains that they'd given me.

Bad practice really and can see many being caught by this. I'm seriously thinking of moving my active domains to another provider because of this... but I'm sure it's a standard practice for domain companies.

Carefully review your domains before renewal!

Thanks

Steveocee · 17 Sep 2019 at 13:25

Do 123-reg still charge for moving domains away? That was a reason I left them initially.

sithlord · 17 Sep 2019 at 14:52

Steveocee said:
Do 123-reg still charge for moving domains away? That was a reason I left them initially.

NO, you can change IPS-tag freely.

Beansprout · 17 Sep 2019 at 15:22

The whole .uk thing has been dragging on for years. I guess they all decided it's best to look after existing .co.uk owners by giving them the equivalent .uk if they hadn't yet bought it. Free for the first year or two (I think it was a Nominet thing), and presumably then renews unless opted out....

Great way to raise revenue!

Relevant news story here:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/...outraged_at_automatic_uk_domain_registration/

Beansprout · 17 Sep 2019 at 15:23

And in fact, updated story here...

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/16/123reg_namesco_uk_domains/

Edit: and the TLDR:

Nominet stands to make bank from this scheme but as an organization that has gone to great pains to stress its “public benefit” mission, surely it will stand up for .uk domain holders and tell 123-Reg and NamesCo this practice is unacceptable, and that the pair must get their customers' explicit consent before charging them for new names?

Don’t hold your breath. Because two of Nominet’s Board members are Kelly Salter and James Bladel who work for, you guessed it, NamesCo and 123-reg parent GoDaddy, respectively.

Deleted member 77746 · 17 Sep 2019 at 16:56

If someone doesn't own that domain surely they wouldn't renew it when it doesn't belong to them? It might have been a billing mistake somewhere in the system and wasn't meant to go out to customers with them domains.

Glanza · 19 Sep 2019 at 15:22

1&1 Ionos registered all .uk domains for any .co.uk domain they had registered on their systems at the release date giving you the chance to buy it from them whilst they 'park' it for another 2 years.