here’s a gem of a broken situation from Ipower in regards to registering a new domain.

I recently tried to register a domain from Ipower under an existing account.

Why you might ask?  Because I’m an idiot that likes punishment.

Instead of getting a message stating that my domain had been registered, I get a message stating that I do not have enough credits to process a registration.

I did NOT try to pay for the registration with ‘credits’.  I did try and pay for it with a working credit card, which prompted the follow up question, “WTF IPower?”

Then, I tried to buy the domain a second time and got the same message, but notice at the top of the message it shows that I have 2 Outstanding Domain Credits.

Then I checked my email and I had 2 transaction confirmations for registration but they did not list the domain name I had ordered.

Ergo IPOWER took my money and didn’t register the domain!

So it looks like I have a IPower hold situation in my future. 

Tip to the wise, don’t do business with IPower.

Last spring I started chronicling the change in policy at IPower that resulted in thousands of customers getting slammed into domain name renewals at a total cost that was more than twice what they originally signed up for.

They did this by taking a previously free service and charging as much for it as they did for the core service of domain name renewal.

Today, I ran into an incident with my own preferred domain hosting company, InMotion Hosting.

I recently ordered a new domain at something-about-harry.com.  About 3 days after ordering, I received a bill and automatic debit from my credit card from InMotion for Domain Privacy protection, for a charge of $5 ($4 less than IPower).

Unlike IPower, which made this a policy and a more expensive policy at that.  InMotion had simply made a billing mistake.

They not only removed the service at my request (something IPOWER will not do after the fact if you are right or wong), but they credited my card for $5 for the service I did not buy (again something IPower will not do under any circumstance after the charge).  Plus, InMotion even offered to give me a free month on my plan (which I declined as it was not really needed for a domain name registration).

The point is that all of these things that IPower makes part of their policy where the customer is penalized, even when the customer is right, InMotion does not make it policy and fixes their mistakes such that the customer is made whole or better!

Now, given the fact that we are heading into a recession and possibly a depression, you have to wonder if a business that is running on unsound policies and practices, can actually survive.  Its not like they are bloated with useless fat and services, looking to cut the extra expenses like a chronic dieter picking up Anoretix from Oprah, but they actually have self destructive policies and marketing strategies that is sabotaging their core customers from go.

Something ultimately has to give, and it is probably going to be weaker companies that fail to execute like IPower….

If you are into masochism then I highly recommend IPower Hosting.  They run one of the best hosting companies around designed to ruin your day and provide less than adequate service while trying to overcharge you at every turn. 

Today, their surprise attack came in the form of an automated email informing me that they would charge me $8.99 for domain privacy on an account that was renewed a month ago for domain registration and that had domain privacy specifically turned off!

To top things off, when I asked a help representative why I was being threatened with the new charge, she indicated that I had already been charged for it!

There are times, when I just think its impossible to win with these guys.  They just seem to make stuff completely up in their billing system.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: Hi Brett. My name is Melanie, how are you today?

Yours Truly: Hi, I just received an email from iPower indicating that I would be charged for something I am not enrolled in.

Yours Truly: I received this message

Yours Truly: Your “someplace.net” domain name has an August renewal date and is enrolled in our domain privacy service, which protects your identity by keeping your contact information from being published online. To ensure that someplace.net remains protected, we will automatically initiate a one-year renewal of the domain privacy service on August 29. We will charge $8.99 to the credit card we have on file for your account to renew this annual subscription. To review or update your credit card information, log in at: http://www.ipower.com/secureControl/EditCCInfo.bml ****************** INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPTING OUT ****************** If you do not want us to renew your domain privacy service on August 29, please log into your Support Console and submit a new request, indicating the domain from which you wish to remove domain privacy. BE SURE TO SUBMIT THIS REQUEST BY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 5:00pm EDT, so we can process your opt-out request in time: http://www.ipower.com/member/sconsole/index.bml

Yours Truly: My domain someplace.net is not enrolled in domain privacy. I specifically opted out of it over a month ago.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: May I place you on hold while I review your question? It should take about 3-4 minutes. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting:

Yours Truly: sure

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: Thank you for holding.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: To protect your account from unauthorized changes, can you please verify for me the answer to the Security Question:

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: What is your mother’s maiden name?

Yours Truly: ‘some name’

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: Thank you for the authentication.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: I have checked your account and the Domain Privacy is already renewed for your domain.

Yours Truly: OK, well that raises 2 or 3 problems.

Yours Truly: 1. Why does my domain central show that it is turned off?

Yours Truly: 2. why am I receiving an email to charge me for it in 3 days?

Yours Truly: 3. if already renewed, why is my account showing an expiration date of 8/1

Yours Truly: correction 8/1/2008

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: I have checked in the payment history and it is already paid.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: It is due on August 1, 2009.

Yours Truly: Yeah, I remember renewing it, but why am I being threatened with renewal again, along with turning on a service I don’t want and have turned off?

Yours Truly: you can see the email yourself above ^

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: We have to ask our specialist to turn it off.

Yours Truly: can you clarify more? Does that mean, even after I turn off domain privacy on domain central, I then have to ask a specialist to do it?

Yours Truly: I have close to 100 accounts with you and that would be a major pain in the rear.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: Yes.

Yours Truly: Your serious! Then why do you even set the option up in domain central if the button doesn’t work?

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: We have to tun off from backend.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.

Yours Truly: So is that why I was charged for domain privacy when I renewed, even though I specifically turned it off? How do I get a refund?

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: It is already enabled and we cannot refund it.

Yours Truly: Well, I specifically disabled it before renewing.

Yours Truly: I want a refund. Its not my fault that you enabled it when someone forgot to do some work on the backend a month ago.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: Yes, I understand.

Yours Truly: So please process my refund.

The Help Representative from IPower Hosting: It is already enabled and we cannot refund it.

Yours Truly: You charged me for something that I did not order, specifically removed. You owe me the money, its your problem that you enabled it not mine.

Yours Truly: So get me a refund or I will file a complaint with the Attorney General.

Yours Truly: Its illegal to charge someone for something they did not order.

At that point, the help desk representative almost started to become helpful.  But ultimately, she punted telling me that a ticket would be created in the system to solve the problem, but would not tell me whether that involved giving me a refund or not.

Plus, it has now been 48 hours since that ticket was created and I have heard absolutely nothing from IPower on this issue.  I might as well be playing golf under Orlando golf rules, where by you automatically add 20 strokes to your game if you are under the age of 62 or have not spent more than $5,000 at an approved Orlando theme park.

In Step 1 of this 2 part series we described the steps necessary to change the registrar accounts on a domain purchased through IPower.  However, that will not update the credit card and billing information, which could prevent the domain from successfully renewing upon the expiration of the domain registration.  This step will address how to finish this process and establish the appropriate billing information securely within the IPower system.

The Hypothetical Example

Say you have a website covering the topics of home theater seating.  Maybe you purchased the domain with several others like it as part of a brain storming session when you were initially planning you web strategy. Now your site is in full swing and you no longer need this domain so you decide to sell it off for a certain amount of money.  This sale should be permanent.  The domain should not revert back to the seller in 6 months, and to achieve that with IPower you have to walk through an odd little process.

This process involves actions that will need to be performed by the seller and the buyer separately on the IPower site.

Conceptually, the seller needs to remove the domain from their account so that IPower can later reassign the account to the buyer

TIP!  this is why I like to do the Tucows step first, so that IPower can then see who really has purchased this domain!

Sellers Process for Transferring a domain at IPower

1. 1) Log into the Control Panel http://www.ipower.com/member with your username and password.
2. 2) Under Domain click on the option ‘Domain Central’.
3. 3) Click on the domain name.
4. 4) Click on ‘Remove’ button.

Buyers Process for Transferring a domain at IPower

First the Buyer will need to establish a Free domain parking account with IPower.  There is no charge for this, but to get to the point where the account is setup, the process is somewhat counterintuitive and the buyer may feel like they are going through a process that will ultimately charge them a fee, this is not the case.  There should be no reason to buy anything, but providing credit card information for the future auto renewal of the domain will be necessary.

To establish a domain parking account go to IPower.  Click on the Home button in the top left hand corner.

Then Navigate to Transfer under Domain Registration

Click on “Use an Existing Domain” (notice there is no fee for domain parking in the checkout basket).  or select Do Not Register a domain and then later add the domain to the account that you will

Complete your order, which will establish your user account.

If you opted for “Do not register a domain” above, you will now need to add your existing domain to your new and existing Ipower account.  In order to add the domain to the new owner account, please follow the steps given below:

1. 1) Login to Control Panel http://www.ipower.com/member with your username and password.
2. 2) Under Domain click on the option ‘Domain Central’.
3. 3) Click on ‘Add Domain to Account’.
4. 4) Enter the Domain name.
5. 5) Click on ‘Add Domain’ button.

Here is a copy of my full transcript on this issue

The following is a transcript of your chat session.

General Info

Chat start time

Jul 20, 2008 9:06:17 AM EST

Chat end time

Jul 20, 2008 9:46:22 AM EST

Duration (actual chatting time)

00:40:05

Operator

Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name

Chat Transcript

info: Thank you for contacting support.
Please be prepared to answer your Security Question when we begin chatting. To enhance our security protocols, we’ll need you to provide the answer to your Security Question at the beginning of our conversation. If you have not yet set your Security Question and Answer, please log into your account now to set it up. Thank you.
Please hold for the next available operator to respond.
info: You are now chatting with ‘Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name’
Yours Truly: Hi Rep with a Last Name for a First Name
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Hi Yours Truly. My name is Rep with a Last Name for a First Name, how are you today?
Yours Truly: I need to transfer the ownership of a domain on my account to a different person. How do I do that?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: While reviewing your account, I have noticed that you have not yet set the Security Question for your account. To set the ‘Security Question’ for your account, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1) Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2) Click on the link ‘Set Security Question’ under Account Information section.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3) Click the ‘New Profile’ radio button.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4) Enter First Name, Last Name, and set the Security Question and Answer.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 5) Click on the ‘Save’ button.
Yours Truly: I do in fact have a security question on my account
Yours Truly: I have had it there for quite some time.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to assist you further, please set the Security Question for your account and provide us the answer for the Security Question.
Yours Truly: OK, done, so now I have a different (additional) problem. Why was my security information wiped out?
Yours Truly: This is not the first time, I’ve had to chat in regards to my account.
Yours Truly: I’ve been through the security question before.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: To protect your account from unauthorized changes, can you please verify for me the answer to the Security Question:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: What is the answer to your security question?
Yours Truly: My Answer to My secuirty question
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Thank you for the authentication.
Yours Truly: So why did my security question get wiped out?
Yours Truly: and how do I transfer the ownership on my account?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Due to some technical glitch.
Yours Truly: ok, so how do I transfer the domain registration and remove a domain from my account?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Could you please let me know whether you wish to change the ownership of the domain or account?
Yours Truly: I only want to change the ownership of the domain, my-own-domain.com and not the account nor any of the other domains on the account.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to change the ownership of the domain, you need to change the contact e-mail address of the domain.
Yours Truly: will that create a new account then for my-own-domain.com?
Yours Truly: I do not want the new owner to have access to my other domains nor any of my credit or billing info.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: To change the contact information for your domain, please refer to the steps given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1. Log into https://manage.opensrs.net/ with domain name, domain username and domain password.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2. Click on the ‘Admin Contact’ link.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3. Enter the new contact information. If you wish to apply the changes to Organization, Billing and Technical contact information too, check on the ‘Yes’ radio button available under the ‘Also Apply these changes to’ option.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4. Click on the ‘Save Configuration’ button.
Yours Truly: OK, that raises 2 issues
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: No, it will not create new account.
Yours Truly: First, I’m very familiar with Tucows. I need my password there reset.
Yours Truly: After I make the change at Tucows, do I then update something in my account through domain central?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: I have sent the domain Login information to your domain Administrative e-mail address. Please retrieve the information from this e-mail address.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: No, it is not required to update in the Domain Central.
Yours Truly: thanks, got it and can access tucows now.
Yours Truly: So how does the billing change hands for the new owner?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: You’re welcome!
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Yes, you can access.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: If you wish to apply the changes to Organization, Billing and Technical contact information too, check on the ‘Yes’ radio button available under the ‘Also Apply these changes to’ option.
Yours Truly: Sure, but how will the new owner log in to IPower to setup their credit card later on so that you can then charge them when it comes time to renew the domain registration?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Can you please hold while I review your account and get back within 2 to 3 minutes?
Yours Truly: Sure.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Thank you for holding.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: You need to remove the domain ‘my-own-domain.com’ from your account ‘Yours Trulybum’ and add the domain to new owner account. In order to remove the domain, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1) Log into the Control Panel http://www.ipower.com/member with your username and password.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2) Under Domain click on the option ‘Domain Central’.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3) Click on the domain name.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4) Click on ‘Remove’ button.
Yours Truly: Can I do that before I change the info at Tucows or after or does the order matter?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to add the domain to the new owner account, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1) Login to Control Panel http://www.ipower.com/member with your username and password.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2) Under Domain click on the option ‘Domain Central’.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3) Click on ‘Add Domain to Account’.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4) Enter the Domain name.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 5) Click on ‘Add Domain’ button.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: You can do changes before or after removing the domain.
Yours Truly: So what if the new owner does not have an Ipower account (ergo this will be their first)?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: He needs to sign up for an account.
Yours Truly: Where could he do that?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to sign up for an account, please refer the link given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: http://www.ipower.com/ipower/index.bml
Yours Truly: I do not see anything on that page to set up an account?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: You need to select ‘Buy Now’ option bottom of the plan.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: http://www.ipower.com/ipower/webhosting_starter.bml
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to sign up for a Domain Parking account, please refer the link given below:
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: https://secure.ipower.com/register/registration.bml?masters=194
Yours Truly: Will this be considered ‘an existing domain’ then?
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Yes.
Yours Truly: OK, great, I think I have what I need on this account.
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: You’re welcome!
Yours Truly: Have a good day!
Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Yours Truly: Nope, I’ll cover my other issues when I get back into the office. Thanks again.

There are two general processes that you have to work through if you want to transfer the ownership of a domain that you have initially registered through IPower Hosting.  According to IPower these steps can be done in any order, but I recommend this step first as it involves updating the official information with IPower’s own registrar Tucows (aka manage.opensrs.net ).  (For the Next Steps see our follow on Article Step 2)

Here are the steps according to IPower

To change the contact information for your domain, please refer to the steps given below:
1. Log into https://manage.opensrs.net/ with domain name, domain username and domain password.
2. Click on the ‘Admin Contact’ link.
3. Enter the new contact information. If you wish to apply the changes to Organization, Billing and Technical contact information too, check on the ‘Yes’ radio button available under the ‘Also Apply these changes to’ option.
4. Click on the ‘Save Configuration’ button.

Note, this will not change the credit card or billing information for the domain with your hosting or parked plan at IPower.  So if the domain being transferred comes up for renewal that renewal will process according to the original registrants IPower account through vdeck.

So if you sell your domain, and you do not change the account on IPower in addition to tucows, you could be automatically charged for the renewal of the domain, or the new domain owner could loose the domain if the renewal does not process at all!

See Step 2 to learn how to solve the billing dilemma.

Original Transcript from IPower relating to this aspect of Changing a Domain Name Ownership on an account.  (The rest of the transcripts are available in the Step 2 article)

info: You are now chatting with ‘IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name’
Yours Truly: Hi IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Hi Yours Truly. My name is IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name, how are you today?
Yours Truly: I need to transfer the ownership of a domain on my account to a different person. How do I do that?
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: While reviewing your account, I have noticed that you have not yet set the Security Question for your account. To set the ‘Security Question’ for your account, please follow the steps given below:
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1) Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2) Click on the link ‘Set Security Question’ under Account Information section.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3) Click the ‘New Profile’ radio button.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4) Enter First Name, Last Name, and set the Security Question and Answer.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 5) Click on the ‘Save’ button.
Yours Truly: I do in fact have a security question on my account
Yours Truly: I have had it there for quite some time.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to assist you further, please set the Security Question for your account and provide us the answer for the Security Question.
Yours Truly: OK, done, so now I have a different (additional) problem. Why was my security information wiped out?
Yours Truly: This is not the first time, I’ve had to chat in regards to my account.
Yours Truly: I’ve been through the security question before.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: To protect your account from unauthorized changes, can you please verify for me the answer to the Security Question:
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: What is the answer to your security question?
Yours Truly: My Answer to My secuirty question
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Thank you for the authentication.
Yours Truly: So why did my security question get wiped out?
Yours Truly: and how do I transfer the ownership on my account?
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Due to some technical glitch.
Yours Truly: ok, so how do I transfer the domain registration and remove a domain from my account?
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: Could you please let me know whether you wish to change the ownership of the domain or account?
Yours Truly: I only want to change the ownership of the domain, my-own-domain.com and not the account nor any of the other domains on the account.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: In order to change the ownership of the domain, you need to change the contact e-mail address of the domain.
Yours Truly: will that create a new account then for my-own-domain.com?
Yours Truly: I do not want the new owner to have access to my other domains nor any of my credit or billing info.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: To change the contact information for your domain, please refer to the steps given below:
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 1. Log into https://manage.opensrs.net/ with domain name, domain username and domain password.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 2. Click on the ‘Admin Contact’ link.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 3. Enter the new contact information. If you wish to apply the changes to Organization, Billing and Technical contact information too, check on the ‘Yes’ radio button available under the ‘Also Apply these changes to’ option.
IPower Rep with a Last Name for a First Name and a First name for a Last name: 4. Click on the ‘Save Configuration’ button.

All things considered this part of the process (outside of IPower’s system) works very well and seems reliable unlike most acne scars creams.

IPower does not have the ability to tell you which domains they have in their system that are connected with your name.  That means if some money launderer or identity thief wanted to set up a fake business under your name with your credit card information that they stole from a 3rd party source, IPower could not tell you if the bogus domain accounts actually existed.

Unfortunately, for me (maybe fortunately) I needed this information for a much more mundane reason.

Ipower updated their billing policy and raise my rates by double.  In doing so, I lost visibility to the domains I have with them.  I know some of the domains, and hosting accounts I have with Ipower but not all of them.

Plus, some of my accounts have been discontinued, because they were not renewed with an updated credit card number.  So I and Ipower have lost business because of their change.

So I tried to contact IPower, initially to try and make a blanket change to my account to remove the privacy protection option (that I never agreed to pay anything for) from all the domains and account associated with my name.

As you can see from the chat transcripts below, I had to pull a few teeth (mostly my own) to actually get a straight answer from this help desk representative, but ultimately he admitted that they did not have the ability to run a simple report or query and tell me which domains were associated with my own billing name.

Oh and by the way, I had to wait for about 30 minutes for the chat to begin.  The entire chat took over an hour because the rep was very slow to respond.

Chat Transcripts with an Agent That Really Acted Strange

My Real Name: Hi Simon Cowell in Attitude
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Hi My First Name, thanks for chatting with us again. I apologize for getting disconnected.
My Real Name: no problem it happens.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: How can I help you today?
My Real Name: my domain is mydomainname.org id normorei2 security answer security answer
My Real Name: I can not terminate domain privacy on this account for some reason?
My Real Name:
My Real Name: I get the following message when I try “No domains modified – please contact support for assistance.”
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Can you please hold while I review your account and get back within 2 to 3 minutes?
My Real Name: sure
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Thank you for holding.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Thank you for the authentication.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
My Real Name: no problem, how do we fix it?
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Can you please hold while I will disable the Domain Privacy for your domain mydomainname.org?
My Real Name: sure
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Thank you for holding.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Per your request, I have disabled the Domain Privacy for your domain.
My Real Name: Great, I have a quick follow up question.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Sure.
My Real Name: Can I have it disabled for all of my domains? Based on submitting my Name?
My Real Name: I have a lot of legacy accounts with IPower under my name My Real Name.
My Real Name: Consolidation is taking a long time (months) and I would like to have domain privacy stripped from all the existing accounts on my name as IPower has recently started automatically charging me for this service when I never authorized that to begin with.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Can you please provide me the domain names in question?
My Real Name: Not easily
My Real Name: I have somewhere between 80 and 150 with you.
My Real Name: The are not consolidate and not easy to track as I set these up under your old system.
My Real Name: That’s why I want to see if you can filter for my name and do it.
My Real Name: The accounts are almost impossible to consolidate also because I purchased them over a 2 year period with 2 or 3 different credit cards (usually depending on the client involved) and they are also under 2 or 3 different email addresses.
My Real Name: I believe my name is the only consistent item in play here.
My Real Name: (i also moved once and so I sometimes still have the old address in your system.)
My Real Name: I tried consolidating a batch of customer accounts in May. (about 20 accounts) That took 3 weeks, about 25 hours on hold and chat, and at the end of it, IPower deleted about a few of the accounts and never restored 2 of them.
My Real Name: So I’m a little cautious now when I try and make changes.
My Real Name: correction about a few should be about 7
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Okay.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: You can e-mail the domain names and account usernames at: support@ipower-inc.com so that we can disable the Domain Privacy for your domains.
My Real Name: Can you do it just based on my name though?
My Real Name: Or can you run a query and send me all the accounts you have under my name? So I can send it back to you in the form of a request?
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Can you please provide me the domain names in question?
My Real Name: That’s the thing, I do not have them all in one spot. Just hundreds of emails that you have sent me over the years after I’ve made a purchase.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Our registrar specialists will disable the Domain Privacy for your domains from back end.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: If you not provide the domain name we are unable to disable the Domain Privacy for your domains.
My Real Name: OK, so you can not, identify the domain names listed under my name? Correct?
Simon Cowell in Attitude: The domain mydomainname.org is associated with your account ‘username for domain account’?
My Real Name: username for domain account is the username on the account. Its billed to my name My Real Name
My Real Name: that was the default username your system generated
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Sorry for the typo *The domain mydomainname.org is associated with your account ‘username for domain account’.
My Real Name: not sure what you are asking, it is still billed to me.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: If you still feel that you have been over charged, please fax us the complete details of credit card statements about the billing done on the company letterhead signed, with your signature to the attention of our Member Support department at 1-781-998-8340.
My Real Name: what are you talking about?
My Real Name: You changed your billing policy, didn’t notify me of it, and charged me for it, but the account is still my responsibility.
My Real Name: I just want to prevent the higher billing rates going forward.
My Real Name: You made the change to my account on how you would charge me, I’m just trying to get you to make the same types of changes (blanket changes) on my settings relating to the changes that you made.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: The plan on your account ‘username for domain account is Domain Parking Account which is free of charge.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: We haven’t charged your credit card towards this account.
My Real Name: The WhoIs – domain privacy is no longer free of charge. You raised the rates from $0 (2 years running) to $8.95
Simon Cowell in Attitude: If you still feel that you have been charged, please fax us the complete details of credit card statements about the billing done on the company letterhead signed, with your signature to the attention of our Member Support department at 1-781-998-8340.
My Real Name: You have already fixed mydomainname.org for me manually, I’m trying get all the other domains fixed.
My Real Name: Look, please just answer my question, can you query your accounts to identify the domains under my name My Real Name? If you can not do that, then just please tell me its not possible.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Yes, earlier the Domain Privacy is free. Now, we are charging for the Domain Privacy and we have already sent the e-mail regarding this.
My Real Name: I’m not trying to debate your billing practices, just trying to get my accounts fixed to the level they were at prior to your blanket change in policy.
My Real Name: Again, “please just answer my question, can you query your accounts to identify the domains under my name My Real Name? If you can not do that, then just please tell me its not possible.”
Simon Cowell in Attitude: It is not possible to found the accounts if you are not provide the domain names.
My Real Name: You dodged the question. I’m not asking if you can change the accounts assigned to my name, I’m asking if you can provide me a list with the domains assigned to my name My Real Name.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: It is not found the domain names with your name.
My Real Name: Are you saying that you looked for domains under my name, My Real Name, and did not find any?
My Real Name: sorry, I didn’t understand your reply.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: I apologize. What exactly seems to be the issue?
My Real Name: I would like you to send me a list of the domains that you have associated with my name, My Real Name, in your billing system.
My Real Name: You seem to be saying that you can not run a query or report that will do this.
My Real Name: or that you have tried and the report did not work.
My Real Name: ???
Simon Cowell in Attitude: If you have all the domains in one account, you can disable the Domain Privacy for your domains at a time.
My Real Name: Yes, well they are not all in one account. They are in dozens of accounts because that is how your system set them up.
My Real Name: If they were in one account, I wouldn’t have this problem.
My Real Name: That’s why I want you to run a report and tell me the domains you have in the system for me.
My Real Name: Some of the domains and hosting plans I have purchased with you have expired because your system became to convoluted and so the records I have for my accounts with you are out of date.
My Real Name: I need to see what is still active in your system, so that I can get them straightened out.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: Can you please provide me the domain names in question?
My Real Name: Among other things, I need to figure out which ones need the credit card info updated, so that you can successfully bill me as many accounts have a credit card with an expired date.
My Real Name: ah, now I suspect you are just trying to be nasty with me.
My Real Name: I don’t have the domain names in one spot as I have mentioned several times before in this chat.
My Real Name: Can you run a query and give me a list of the domains under my Billing name?
My Real Name: Please answer the question
Simon Cowell in Attitude: No, it is not possible.
My Real Name: Thank you
My Real Name: That is all I need. You have been most helpful.
Simon Cowell in Attitude: You’re welcome!

IPower used to provide WhoIs Privacy on their domains as a free service.  They changed their billing practices and now charge as much for WhoIs Privacy as they do for the actual Domain Registration.  In essence their rates have more than doubled.

If you originally said yes to WhoIs when it was free, you are now set up to be automatically billed for a service that you never agreed to pay for.

Here’s how you can turn it off

• Log into your account at Ipower
• Go to Domain Central
• Check the box for the domain(s) in question
• Click the button to modify the domain(s)
• Then select the radial button for ‘Enable/Disable Domain Privacy’
• 
• Then click the button for Disable Privacy for Selected Domain
• 
• You should receive a message after it processes stating “Privacy disabled for x domains.”

That’s it, its a lot of work for something you shouldn’t have to do, but it will save you from wasting money.

Not every domain needs privacy protection!

Now flash memory on the other hand, you can never have too much flash memory.

So I was feeling to good today, and needed IPower to bring me down to Earth.  I received a domain renewal notification in the mail for 3 domains, and thought, I would try an get these consolidated before IPower charged me double what I originally agreed to pay them (they now charge for WhoIs Privacy).

Well, when I logged, in, I was unable to find anything in the options to put in a consolidation request.  I learned that some accounts have domain central options that are not present for other accounts.

Then that led into a fruitless conversation with an account representative that had a sexy name, maybe she should be working in a different line of business if she is as sexy as her name was might find something looking for Los Angeles jobs(but I digress).

Basically she would not answer my questions.  She tried to get me to ‘email support’ several times, but I have done that in the past and nothing good has come from it when anything happened at all (most emails go with no action taken and no response given).

Thank you for contacting support. Please be prepared to answer your Security Question when we begin chatting. To enhance our security protocols, we’ll need you to provide the answer to your Security Question at the beginning of our conversation. If you have not yet set your Security Question and Answer, please log into your account now to set it up. Thank you. Please hold for the next available operator to respond.
You are now chatting with ‘Rep with a Sexy Name’
Rep with a Sexy Name: Hi You Poor Sucker with an IPower account, I apologize for the wait time. My name is Rep with a Sexy Name, how are you today?
Yours Truly: Hi IPower Rep, I have 3 old domain accounts with iPower and I want to consolidate them to one account. Where do I go?
Rep with a Sexy Name: Could you please provide me with your account username?
Yours Truly: one of them is User ID Prefix2
Yours Truly: User ID Prefixn and User ID Prefix1 are the other two
Rep with a Sexy Name: Can you please hold while I review your account and get back within 2 to 3 minutes?
Yours Truly: sure
Rep with a Sexy Name: Thank you for holding.
Rep with a Sexy Name: I have noticed that you have not yet set the Security Question for the accounts ‘User ID Prefix2′,’User ID Prefixn’ and ‘User ID Prefix1′. In order to set the Security Question for the account, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Sexy Name: 1) Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 2) Click on the link ‘Set Security Question’ under ‘Account Information’ section.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 3) Click on the radio button ‘New Profile’.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 4) Enter the First Name, Last Name, and set the Security Question and the Security Answer.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 5) Click on the ‘Save’ button.
Yours Truly: yeah, these are old legacy accounts before your upgrade (I have about 150 such accounts, this is just one small set).
Yours Truly: Where do I go after I have the security info filled out?
Yours Truly: Your system conversion has made a mountain of work for me in updating 150 accounts, credit cards etc.
Rep with a Sexy Name: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Without authentication I was unable to provide you with any information.
Yours Truly: There’s a link in the account system somewhere. I just need to know where it is in your menu.
Yours Truly: I do not want to have to log in and out of these accounts more than I have to, so when I get in there to update the security info, I want to also put in the request to consolidate it, so where do I do that?
Rep with a Sexy Name: In order to log into the Control Panel, please go through the URL at:
Rep with a Sexy Name: https://secure.ipower.com/secureLogin
Yours Truly: yes, but after I am in where do I go? I’m logged in right now.
Rep with a Sexy Name: In order to set the Security Question, please go through the URL at:
Rep with a Sexy Name: https://secure.ipower.com/secure/SecurityQuestion.bml
Yours Truly: and then?
Rep with a Sexy Name: 1.Click on the radio button ‘New Profile’.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 2.Enter the First Name, Last Name, and set the Security Question and the Security Answer.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 3.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Sorry for the typo.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 3. Click on the ‘Save’ button.
Yours Truly: no problem, i’ve done all that
Yours Truly: where do I go to get the account consolidated????
Yours Truly: trying to be nice, but you are repeating yourself.
Yours Truly: and I have 150 of these to do
Rep with a Sexy Name: Without authentication I was unable to provide you any information regarding your accounts.
Rep with a Sexy Name: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Yours Truly: what do you need to authenticate. I have the security settings set.
Rep with a Sexy Name: What is your my security question?
Yours Truly: my security response
Rep with a Sexy Name: Thank you for the authentication.
Rep with a Sexy Name: In order to remove the domains from your account, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Sexy Name: 1) Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 2) Click on the ‘Domain Central’ under ‘Domain Management’ section.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 3) Click on the domain name you wish to remove.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 4) Click on the ‘Remove’ button.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 5) It will ask for confirmation, click on the ‘Remove’ button.
Rep with a Sexy Name: In order to add the domain for your account, please follow the steps given below:
Rep with a Sexy Name: 1) Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 2) Click on the ‘Add Registered Domain to Account’ under ‘Domain Management’ section.
Rep with a Sexy Name: 3) Enter the domain name and click on the ‘Add Domain’ button.
Yours Truly: I do not want to remove any domains. I want to consolidate domains ALL registered with IPower.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Could you please provide me the domain names?
Yours Truly: Yes here they are (domain1, domain2, domain3) these are the three I’m trying to work on first
Yours Truly: You’ll have to wait for the other 147
Rep with a Sexy Name: Please e-mail us the domain names to our support, so that we can consolidate it for you.
Rep with a Sexy Name: You need to e-mail us these information to : support@ipower-inc.com .
Yours Truly: question, I was just looking at one of my other accounts. when I log into that account I have a ‘Domain Consolidation Request’ option. I don’t have that option with this account. Why not? (btw I logged out and logged back into the account after setting the security question and still nothing)
Yours Truly: I have emailed support before
Yours Truly: with the request
Yours Truly: They were not able to proceed, because my accounts have 2-3 different email addresses and credit card numbers
Yours Truly: Apparently since my accounts (created over a 2 year period) do not have exactly the same user information, they are unable to consolidate them.
Yours Truly: Plus, if they consolidate them in that fashion, they will reset the domain servers and where they point, which will take down my websites and my customers websites.
Yours Truly: We can’t have that, so I’m trying to proceed in small batches to get this done, under controlled circumstances, so that I can fix the dns entries after your automated system incorrectly breaks them during consolidation.
Rep with a Sexy Name: You Poor Sucker with an IPower account, once we receive your e-mail with the domain names and the answer for the Security Question for the account and the account which you want to consolidate, we will move the domains.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Hence, I request you to e-mail us the information.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Please send us the e-mail us once again.
Yours Truly: no, I can not let you break my websites. I will update the security info, but I will not blindly let you mess around with my dns settings.
Yours Truly: That’s just not going to happen. I’ll transfer out of Ipower before I do that.
Rep with a Sexy Name: We will not change your name servers of the domain.
Yours Truly: That is what you do, it is how your process works. You reset the domain servers when you consolidate.
Rep with a Sexy Name: No, we do not change the name servers of the domain.
Yours Truly: Your coworkers have led me to believe otherwise during past conversations.
Rep with a Sexy Name: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Rep with a Sexy Name: But we will not change the name servers of the domain.
Yours Truly: So who do I believe? You or the other 2 or 3 reps that have led me to believe something different. No offense, but you are the first to tell me that you do not change the dns servers (typically back to the default ipower dns)
Rep with a Sexy Name: You can believe me we do not change the name servers of the domain.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Please e-mail us the information.
Yours Truly: I just can’t do that, in addition to the name server issue, its a timing thing. If you change them say at 5 pm, and I’m not looking at the web when the change takes place, I can’t fix things right away to get my customers websites back online. If I can’t drive the change, then its too dangerous.
Yours Truly: Look, I thank you for your help. You never told me why the consolidation request button shows up on one account but not on another, but hey I appreciate your attempts to protect my security I guess.
Yours Truly: I’ve got to go. I can’t argue this with you all day and I suspect its not doing you any good either.
Rep with a Sexy Name: Once you e-mail us the information, we will forward this inquiry to one of our specialists to consolidate the domains.
Yours Truly: IPower just doesn’t have the solution I need here.
Rep with a Sexy Name: I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.
Yours Truly: With all do respect, your specialists never get anything done. I’ve been that route before.
Yours Truly: Thanks, but no thanks

Here’s a quick follow up.  After I disconnected from the chat above, after trying to say good bye a few times, I received the following email from the representative at IPower.

 I’m sorry, it appears that we may have been disconnected from our Chat conversation. It is important to us that all of your questions are answered.

You can consolidate the domain names by going through the URL at: http://www.ipower.com/product/domainconsolidationrequest.bml  .

If you would like to Chat with us again, just click on the “Live Chat” link at http://www.ipower.com/support/contact.bml .

We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sincerely,

Rep with a Sexy Name
Customer Support

So after all of that I finally got my question answered, now I get to try it and see if it works. . .  to be continued of course, its IPower

First, you have to log into an IPower account that has the new security settings in place.  This will not work at all if you log into a legacy account created under the old system.

You should see these options in your domain central area.

If you see these options, you will not be able to proceed until you set the security settings and then log out and log back in.

If that doesn’t work, you will have to contact support, and I recommend taking a valium first, removing all dangerous objects from your household, and then contacting support.  Please have a psychiatrist and medical personel standing by to aid you if you should become ill.  Having a professional boxer handy to pummel you a bit in the face might also enhance your customers service experience.  Absent the ability to have Muhammed Alli come knock you around while you chat with a rep, you could just bash your face against the wall.

I was slightly surprised today to discover that not only had IPower’s billing practices become ugly, but their chat window has changed from standard live chat blue, to super putrid pink!

Their hold music used to be so bad that it made me cringe when I was forced to listen to it.  Now their chat window is so ugly, I can barely stand to look at it.

I swear they almost seem to work extra hard to discourage people from seeking customer service and support at IPower Hosting.  Most people would rather have their wisdom teeth pulled for the opportunity to banter on the phone over a medicare supplement while freefalling from the Empire State building without a parachute.

Price definitely should not be the only reason to make a hosting choice on the internet, but I would like to illustrate the high rates being charged by IPower in contrast with the lower rates charged by GoDaddy.

Note, I do not recommend either host despite their wide spread popularity.

GoDaddy simply put, charges $3.99 for Protection Privacy versus IPower’s $8.99.

If you have multiple domains, that is a marginal difference of $5 per year per domain.  For site owners with a single domain, that probably isn’t too much to pay, but for many small businesses selling products online or even small to large publishers with multiple domains the charge is not scalable.  Multiple domains are commonly purchased by many small businesses looking to help their customers find the right web url even if they type in the wrong address.

For example if you are looking for travel guides and you type in shermanstravel.com you will go to the correct site for travel guides, but if you type in shermantravel.com and drop the s, then you will not.  So it can be common for a company to buy both domains and redirect the mis-spelled version to the proper destination.

What makes it worse is that IPower is basically suckering in long time existing customers making them pay these automatic higher rates without as the default, forcing them to opt out manually. 

So first IPower raised their domain renewals from $6.50 to $6.85.  No big deal.

Then they doubled their rates, by charging people $7-8 for WhoIs privacy protection when it used to be included with domain purchases and renewals.  Ouch, Who-is going to pay for that after getting it free (and still getting it free at many other hosts!)

They separately upped the rates on .US domains also from $6.50 – $6.85 to $15.95.  Ouch that smarts!

Well, this week when I went to renew a few domains, I noticed that without any apparent notice or warning, they had upped the rates on their regular domains (.com, .net and others) to $7.5.

Now, I’m pretty sure the price of gas has nothing to do with the delivery of my domain renewal notices, so I can’t see any reason why they would raise, re-raise and raise again their rates in about a 6 month period, unless there was some bigger problem in the company. 

That’s my best guess!  If you have a better guess, let’s hear it. 

In the meantime, domain rates are still not terribly expensive, but if you own a large number of them, you might have to consider moving your domains elsewhere or taking out a free mortgage loan or something to pay up on the renewal rates.