How Not to Get Ripped Off

This is a rant in development it is not finished yet.

Here are some tips to avoid getting ripped off when taking your first steps onto the Internet. There are many traps that one can fall into and that usually means that it costs you money.

Domains
- Price
  
  Just how much does a .co.uk domain cost? It's an interesting question because the price varies by more than you are likely to believe. I pay £5.18 + VAT for a domain for two years. A client of mine has been paying £99 + VAT for a domain, which isn't even being used, for the same period.
  
  Do you suppose that my client gets 19 times better service or 19 times more extras? Well, they don't. They are paying 19 times more for less good service.
- Service
  
  Levels of service vary enormously. The registrar I use for .co.uk domains has degraded to the point where they can take more than 5 working days to respond to service requests. They were taken over a while ago and things have gone down hill since then. I won't be using them much longer. That said most things that one does with domains can be achieved from the registrar's website which reduces the problems significantly.
  
  One registrar requires 30 days notice to transfer a domain to another registrar. It is more usual to take 2 or 3 days.
  
  When a domain is about to expire I get reminders at 60, 45, 30, 15, 3 and 1 days to do something.
  
  Another registrar sends a written reminder which gives one only a few days to decide not to renew and this several days before the domain renewal. Great.
- Restrictive Terms and Conditions
  
  This is a quote from the terms and conditions of a UK registrar:
  
  You have the right to transfer the registration of any Domain Name to another service provider without charge, by giving us not less than 30 days prior written notice, but a notice will not be effective if it is served less than 90 days prior to the date for any renewal of a Domain Name or if any part of the Fee is due but unpaid.
  
  What does that actually mean? It means that to escape their clutches you have to give more than 90 days notice when at the end of a registration period and 30 days the rest of the time. They make it hardest to move at the time you are most likely to want to move. Clever.
- Third Parties
  If a third party registers a domain on your behalf make sure that it is registered in your name. That way if the third party goes out of business or is not contactable you should be able to transfer the domain without too much expense.
Web Designers
Hosting