Renew your domains



  • South Africa's major airline didn't renew their domain.They lost a few million as a result. This reminded me of something I encounter every year:

    Around this time of year - every year - I fight with accounts. I beg and plead for them to pay our hosting provider the minute ZAR150 (~US$20) for 3 domains (For some reason, the domain name renewal is included in a seperate invoice). And every single year they put it on low priority. The comms between myself and bean counters usually go somewhat like this:

    Febuary 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, we won't be able to send emails, receive emails and no-one will be able to access our website.
    Bean Counter: Oh.

    March 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, we won't be able to send emails, receive emails and no-one will be able to access our website.
    Bean Counter: Oh.

    April 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, we won't be able to send emails, receive emails and no-one will be able to access our website.
    Bean Counter: Oh.

    May 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, we won't be able to send emails, receive emails and no-one will be able to access our website.
    Bean Counter: Oh.

    June 20xx:
    Bean Counter: We can't send emails, we can't receive emails and no-one can access our website! What did you do?
    Me: Nothing, let me check.........Oh, the domain renewals haven't been paid.
    Bean Counter: Where do we pay?
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Boss: What is wrong with my email?
    Me: The domains haven't been renewed.
    Boss: Who's fault is that?
    Me: No-one's. Bean counters haven't received the invoice.
    Boss: What do you mean there is no invoice?
    Bean Counter: Oh, found it.
    Boss: Pay it!
    Me: When did you receive the invoice?
    Bean Counter: Feb 20xx. We just thought it wasn't important because it was such a small amount. Why didn't you tell us it was so important?

     

    Feb starts next week, and then the fun and games start all over again.



  • Make sure you have all of this on e-mail and start forwarding them to your boss. Otherwise, kill it with fire!



  • Done this in the past, but I have been shouted at for taking him away from his porn time with useless bits of information. As with most of the world, they don't care how it works, just that it works.



  • TRWTF is SAA.



  •  TRWTF is SA



  • You should let my company register your domain. A year ago they discovered they hadn't been charging clients for their domains for the last 3 years. They had been paying to keep the domains, but weren't charging.

    These are the people I work with.



  •  Ah, the joys of having a corporate credit card! I can spend what I want, when I want, on what I want without asking (within reason.. ahem!).

    This way, the suppliers get their money, I get goods quickly, both parties are happy, and then I don't care how long it takes accounts to pay the bill. And if you're thinking "until they forget and my card stops working", the bank takes the money straight out of our bank account by direct debit.

    Simples!



  • @MeesterTurner said:

    Ah, the joys of having a corporate credit card! I can spend what I want, when I want, on what I want without asking
    So... how do you disguise the callgirl charges?



  • Give them an invoice to renew it for some long amount of time, like 300 years. Then it'll be $200 or so, and will not only be a big enough amount to trigger their "we should do this" reflex, but solve the problem for the next 300 years.

    That's assuming, of course, that you don't have to go through some horrendous process to get them to approve a different payment or purchase type. I own my own company, so maybe I'm being optimistic. Still, if you just send it, maybe they'll never notice, like with the companies that pay 'bills' for "business directory listing".



  • "Why didn't you tell us it was so important?"



    That's when you point out where it says "CRITICAL" in bold red letters on the front.



  • @spxza said:

    Overworked, underpaid....sigh....anyone know of a tropical island with a decent Internet connection?
     Responding to your signature -- try Barbados, it has solid connectivity via LIME.  They don't advertise their speeds on their website, but it's DSL , all prices are Barbados dollars.  2 barbados dollars = 1 USD.

     

    Enjoy your new beautiful home  :)

    Moderator's note: added quote for context :)



  • @spxza said:

    South Africa's major airline didn't renew their domain.They lost a few million as a result. This reminded me of something I encounter every year:

    Around this time of year - every year - I fight with accounts. I beg and plead for them to pay our hosting provider the minute ZAR150 (~US$20) for 3 domains (For some reason, the domain name renewal is included in a seperate invoice). And every single year they put it on low priority. The comms between myself and bean counters usually go somewhat like this:

    Febuary 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, we won't be able to send emails, receive emails and no-one will be able to access our website.
    Bean Counter: Oh.

    <snip>

    How about trying something like:

    Febuary 20xx:
    Me: Have you received the invoice for the domain renewal?
    Bean Counter: No.
    Me: Ok, well please keep an eye out for it, it needs to be paid ASAP.
    Bean Counter: Why, what's so important about it?
    Me: If it isn't paid, our internet won't work, and we'll lose millions per day until its paid and processed.  And, it's only ZAR150, so there's no reason to delay it.
    Bean Counter: Oh.  Wait.  We got an invoice for ZAR150 just the other day.  Maybe that's it?



  • @theorem said:

    @spxza said:

    Overworked, underpaid....sigh....anyone know of a tropical island with a decent Internet connection?
     Responding to your signature -- try Barbados, it has solid connectivity via LIME.  They don't advertise their speeds on their website, but it's DSL , all prices are Barbados dollars.  2 barbados dollars = 1 USD.

     

    Enjoy your new beautiful home  :)

     And the cost of living, in terms of the Big Mac index?


  • @spxza said:

    @theorem said:

    @spxza said:

    Overworked, underpaid....sigh....anyone know of a tropical island with a decent Internet connection?
     Responding to your signature -- try Barbados, it has solid connectivity via LIME.  They don't advertise their speeds on their website, but it's DSL , all prices are Barbados dollars.  2 barbados dollars = 1 USD.

     

    Enjoy your new beautiful home  :)

     And the cost of living, in terms of the Big Mac index?

    My, um, friend went there on vacation and from what he told me, it's $10 to have Big Mac fist you for 5 minutes.  For $5 extra, his cohort Hairy Steve will take a dump on your chest.  You know, according to my friend.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @spxza said:

    And the cost of living, in terms of the Big Mac index?

    My, um, friend went there on vacation and from what he told me, it's $10 to have Big Mac fist you for 5 minutes.  For $5 extra, his cohort Hairy Steve will take a dump on your chest.  You know, according to my friend.

     

     $10??? Hmm......Which currency are we talking here? Zimbabwe dollars? Or Canadian Dollars?



  • @spxza said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @spxza said:

    And the cost of living, in terms of the Big Mac index?

    My, um, friend went there on vacation and from what he told me, it's $10 to have Big Mac fist you for 5 minutes.  For $5 extra, his cohort Hairy Steve will take a dump on your chest.  You know, according to my friend.

     

     $10??? Hmm......Which currency are we talking here? Zimbabwe dollars? Or Canadian Dollars?

    Real Dollars.  Duh.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @spxza said:

     $10??? Hmm......Which currency are we talking here? Zimbabwe dollars? Or Canadian Dollars?

    Real Dollars.  Duh.

     

    Canadian it is then.



  • @spxza said:

    South Africa's major airline didn't renew their domain.

    TRWTF is this quote from the article:

    While the site was put back online quickly, he points out that the potential for someone else to have acquired it was there.

    Last time I checked, .com's had a 30-day holding period after expiring during which they were unusable, but could be renewed by the former registrant and nobody else.

       --- Mr. DOS



  •  Why don't you just have them renew it for like 99 years? That way, it's a bigger invoice which they'll pay quicker, *and* you won't have to deal with this bullshit again in your lifetime. Everybody wins.



  • The maximum length of time most TLD's allow registration for is 10 years to avoid the whole “whoops, that company's been out of business for decades, and they had a nice domain, but nobody can grab it for another 30 years”-type situations. Renewing it for 10 years would be an excellent idea, though.

    It seems Microsoft has also had trouble with this in the past, too...

       --- Mr. DOS


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