Free .COM domain (with free private registration) for one year!
May 5, 2010 32
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When I first started registering domains, I used to use GoDaddy.com for all my domain purchasing needs. I picked GoDaddy originally because
- I had heard really good things about them.
- GoDaddy often offers coupons that allow users to purchase domains for cheap (i.e. 1 year registration for 99 cents).
In fact I registered my first domain using one of the above mentioned coupons. However, when renewal time came around, I realized the fact that I would have to not only pay to renew my domain (about $10 a year), but I would also have to pay for private registration (an extra $5 a year if I remember properly). That is when I realized that I was overpaying; yes GoDaddy has great service (they are very fast in registration times and make it very easy to change nameservers) but service really doesn’t matter after the initial setup because one rarely ever interacts with the domain afterwards. In other words, any domain registrar with 100% up-time would do. So, I migrated to 1and1.com because 1and1 not only has cheaper yearly renewals (about $9 a year) but they also provide free private registration. Yes, 1and1 service is a lot slower than GoDaddy’s; you won’t get instant domain registration (can takes up to 24 hours to process) and changing nameservers also has some lag time when compared to GoDaddy. However, 1and1 provides the 100% up-time I was looking for and for a cheaper yearly price. dotTech was the first domain I registered with 1and1 and since then I have not used anyone else for my domain registration needs.
Update: Please realize that I am not praising 1and1 or telling you to move all your business to them – they have a really bad reputation when it comes to web hosting and customer support. Rather, I am saying my personal experience is that they are a good enough domain registrar – I have had nothing but a positive experience with them, albeit I have not dealt with their customer service much which is what most people complain about.
That said, by luck, I visited 1and1.com today because I was thinking about registering another domain. When I got to 1and1.com, I noticed that 1and1 is running a promotion allowing users to register a .COM domain for free for one year:
At first I thought it was one of those “purchase-our-webhosting-package-and-we-will-give-you-a-domain-for-free” type deals. However, it isn’t – it is a legitimate promotion that truly allows you to get a .COM domain for free for one year ($8.99 yearly renewal fee afterwards which will automatically be charged 1 year later unless you cancel your domain):
The free domain comes with the free private registration that all 1and1 domains come with (you have to manually setup the private registration; you will be given the option either during registration or you can do it via the backend after registration). Do note, however, you will be shown offers to purchase web hosting, get Norton Internet Security 2010, etc.; you do not have to get any of those offers – just click “No Thanks” and continue registering. After you have successfully registered, you will get a confirmation message…
…and all you have to do is wait for the confirmation e-mail from 1and1 to get started with your new domain! So what are you waiting for? Go get your (free) domain today!
@Camille: That’s too bad Camille. Really!
Not sure why it’s pending approval unless it’s controversial or one that could be considered a deterrent (or whatever term they use) to a known company.
I just applied for another domain last week. I had confirmation of the domain name being mine and that it had been processed. It took forever though – 45 minutes. :)
The process had to go through one batch cycle for it to be effective and I was sent an email the next day telling me it was processed and ready to be used.
In Motion Hosting does a superior job, IMHO, than competitors and their communication means a lot to me. You always know where you stand with them – no guessing or surprises!
Good luck with your request and I hope you get it soon. It can be frustrating.
It is a good news but only for US. This offer is not valid for Germany and France
i just signed up at 1&1. now i wonder whether i should have. i want my own web page with my own web site address. is this what i’m gonna get? or is this just a place to sign up for something i don’t know about? am i going to be able to build my own web page and have people visit it, or am i merely going to have a web address that is going to be useless except for bragging rights that i have one? so much to consider and so much to be confused about. i know nothing about hosting or pages, though i do know a bit about html and javascript, so i will be able to build a web page, but am now not sure whether this is the purpose of 1&1. any suggestions and or advice would be appreciated. i will cancel if this is not what i am getting.
@28: Have you contacted 1&1 and asked those questions of them. If anyone would know – they should. If you don’t get the answers you’re looking for or you get the run-around – then consider moving elsewhere. There are numerous companies with better service and knowledgeable staff. So what if it costs you a couple extra dollars a year when you get better service and are not treated like a number.
Good luck and let us know how your saga continues.
i will never use this service again. they did give me a free domain name. then they gave me a package to set up a web page. then i spent forty-eight hours staring at my monitor wondering why nothing is as easy as point and click. i’m not a webpage expert, though i know the principles and objectives of creating a webpage, and a bit of code to make one work. their site and services are so difficult to navigate that i would never even recommend this *&$%# to my worst enemy. i called and cancelled everything and now it is done. no domain and no web page. they wouldn’t let me use the name i signed up for, and gave me some numbers and a .us address. also not allowed without paying extra is using your own code. the webpage would actually cost over thirty dollars a month to get up and running with my own code, rather than their overly-basic junk pre-built pages. this service sux and should never be allowed to operate in the free world, or even in prison for that matter.
A little news from Demonoid.me regarding GoDaddy ^^
“On Thursday, the 25th of November 2010, the Torrent Finder domain ( http://www.torrent-finder.com ), registered with Godaddy, was seized by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without any prior takedown notice or specific allegations of infringing activity. The Domain IP was suddenly changed without the registrar’s knowledge and the system displayed a “Pending Registry Action” message on the domain’s status. No contact was given until Wednesday, the 1st of December, when Godaddy replied to my inquiries, giving a contact for an ICE agent. On Thursday, the 2nd of December, David Snead who is representing Torrent Finder contacted the ICE agent in charge who told him that “the orders are under seal, but that the seal will be lifted today or tomorrow”. However, we have not heard from them until writing this post. Another email from Godaddy clarified that the action was taken by VeriSign: “please understand that these actions were taken by Verisign at the Registry level; and not by Go Daddy”. The story was first reported on TorrentFreak and NYTimes.com.
Watch them! They turned my girlfriend over to a “collecton agency” because she was a few days late on a renewal! that was set up for “automatic billing”! Ended up costing her the cost of renewing the domain name AND paying off the damn collection agency, for a “payed in full” fee, I believe it was around $109, so here credit would be ruined! I moved all my domains from them after that little fiasko.
Don’t take my word for it, simply go to this Google link. Page after page of complaints :
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=1and1.com+%2Cnco%2C+collection+agency