1and1 Internet Inc - Good Prices, Bad Service

I'm writing this, but no one will be able to read it for a while. The true address of my blog is steptolife.blogspot.com, but all my readers know it only as StepToLife.com. The StepToLife.com domain name (which I own) is registered with a company called 1and1 Internet Inc, a very large web hosting company and domain name registrar based in Pennsylvania, USA. The domain name is parked on the 1&1 servers, but I set it to forward to steptolife.blogspot.com, so that my readers will have an easier address to remember.

The problem is that the forwarding is not working, and 1and1 has been unable to help me. I've been using their service because their prices are wonderfully low. Until now I've never had a problem, and now that I do have a problem I'm discovering how terribly inadequate their customer service is.

You get what you pay for, right?

In fact I have 541 domains registered with 1and1, and approximately 40 of them forward to other addresses. One of the things I do for money is to build small websites, called mini-sites, that are narrowly focused on a specific topic. I create useful content for these sites, and I place Google Adsense ads on them. Then I use other advertising services, such as Google Adwords and Miva, to drive traffic to the mini-sites. I carefully select my keywords and adjust my bids so that I'm paying less with Adwords than I'm making with Adsense. I want at least a 1:2 ratio, in other words I want to make twice on one end what I'm paying on the other end, though 1:3 is better.

These mini-sites are all subfolders of my primary hosting account, then I simply set the respective domains to forward to the mini-site.

Anyway, you don't have to understand all that. The point of this post is to tell you that for the last three days, 1and1's domain forwarding service has not been working. None of the domains are resolving. They keep saying they're working on it. In the meantime, my mini-sites are useless, I'm losing money, and my blog is inaccessible through the normal address. I've told 1and1 that I'm giving them until tomorrow morning to correct the problem, then I'm moving all my domains to GoDaddy. They are one of the biggest registrars in the business and the one that is most used by domain name professionals. They also have fairly low prices for bulk operators like me.

By the time you read this, the problem will have been resolved, one way or another.

UPDATE: The problem is solved. I threatened to transfer all my services to GoDaddy if they did not get it fixed by morning, and guess what? They fixed it. I should have threatened them three days ago.

The Hot Tub Dream (not as racy as it sounds, sorry)

Back in August 2006 I got an email from a fellow named Mustafa. He wanted to buy one of my domain names, MuslimCommerce.com. I own about 700 domain names and I sort of have a corner on many good generic Islamic names, like IslamicSearch.com, MuslimDesign.com, etc. Most of these domains are currently just parked at Sedo.com and bring in a small amount of daily revenue, but I'll be developing them one by one eventually.

We did not come to an agreement on price, but we stayed in touch. It seems that there are not too many Muslims who are seriously involved in the domain industry, so we were both happy to meet someone with whom to share ideas and tips. As it turns out, Mustafa has more experience than me in this industry and he's the one doing most of the sharing. He has invested heavily in premium domains, and he attends the main industry conferences, like the T.R.A.F.F.I.C conference in Las Vegas. I have benefitted tremendously from the advice and pointers he has given me, not to mention the dozen or so ebooks he has shared with me.

We've also gotten to know each other a little. I know that Mustafa lives in Canada, is Indian, is married and has a nine month old baby boy named Humza.

The other night I dreamed that I went to Mustafa's apartment in Canada, just to visit and chat. He had a spacious flat on an upper floor of a luxury apartment building. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I tried the door handle, and the door swung open. I walked into the apartment. It was plush, with dark shag carpeting and a huge picture window looking out over the city. I wandered around the apartment a bit until I discovered a sun room with an indoor hot tub. Not quite like the one in the picture, but close enough.

I thought, "I'm sure he won't mind if I try out the hot tub." So I turned it on, took off my clothes, and eased into the steaming water. It was really lovely, and I just relaxed in the tub and enjoyed the view through the window.

At some point I thought, "I'd better get going before Mustafa returns." So I got out, hurriedly changed back into my clothes, and headed for the door. At that moment, Mustafa walked in with his baby in his arms.

"Ummm," I said. "You weren't home so I let myself in, I hope you don't mind."

Mustafa stared at me blankly, then said, "Okayyyyyy..." He went past me and sat on the sofa.

I said, "Oh - and I used the hot tub too."

This time he tilted his head and gave me a baleful look. "Uh-huh."

"Umm, I could help you with your baby," I said. "Does he need to be fed?"

"No." He still did not look happy.

I nervously said good bye and let myself out.