Network Solutions hijacked my domain name! A few days ago, I got a voicemail from Darian telling me that my domain name was going to expire shortly. While my initial thought was that he had been browsing the WHOIS database, I soon went to my homepage and found out that my normal blog had been replace by a Network Solutions page. The basic message was that the domain name was pending deletion, and that I could bid for the domain name when it completely expired, or, if I happened to be the owner, I could pay to renew it.
Apparently, when I registered the name several years ago, I had registered it through Network Solutions, even though I host at catalog.com. Who I highly recommend by the way. It took a few calls to establish this, and eventually I just put in my credit card to renew the domain name. Network Solutions spent the entire purchasing process trying to upsell me along the way. Would I like to register for many years to come? Would I like hosting? Would I like privacy? Etc... For the most part, it was fairly efficient.
Of course, this sudden website change was the only notification I had. Now, I'm sure Network Solutions has my email and phone, they got them when I registered, and I do seem to get spam from people who've mined their database. It would be a whole lot more customer friendly if they emailed, rather than, essentially, hijacking my website.