Easyspace Blog

Time of renewal can be a dangerous time for a domain owner. A number or dubious operations attempt to gain out of this. Detail on this is contained in the Domain name Scams and renewals article in the Helpdesk. They may not all be attempts to get you to change registrars and host intentionally or inadvertently, and many use words to make it very easy to inadvertently end up doing just that. Others will try to get you to take up services that you may not want again often structured to make it very easy to do if you are not right on the ball, like a recent “Final Notice” from the purveyor of a search engine submission service.

So if you do get what looks to be a renewal reminder make sure you check it is what it claims to be.

We do our best to take care of things at Easyspace. However, customers can forget to update the email address listed in our database and shown in the Control Panel under Contact Details. If the email address is no longer working we cannot send you renewal reminders. This address is very important as it is the only one we will use to send out reminders of lost username and passwords, for obvious security reasons. We can get round this and change your email address for you, but it is cumbersome and best avoided.

Failing to renew on time can lead to loss of a domain name and/or extra costs in recovering it from ‘redemption’, a charge made by some registries for stopping the deletion cycle. It can lead to a break in email services or loss of a web site. Of course email services and the web site can be set up again, but, all too frequently, we find out that someone has not kept a backup copy of his site; or that it is controlled by his designer, not himself, and the designer will only release it for a charge; or that the backup copy he holds is just not up to date.

Many take the risk of assuming we will renew on their behalf or keep a renewal open for some time. While we do keep things open for a limited period, we simply cannot afford to be providing services which are not needed or paid for, and in some instances, like registry fees for example, it would involve us in paying out sums to the registry that they will not refund to us. So all in all, in order to maintain good services at the prices we charge, we simply cannot renew on your behalf.

My advice is to renew as soon as you get a reminder from us, always. Doing so will not lose anything. The renewal period will be for the period renewed from the expiry date; it will not decrease the period or cost you any more. Indeed you may find discounts or other Customer Club incentives are available, as they are at the moment, and which more than matches any disincentives you may have in mind. And of course it will stop any further renewal reminders for that service!