Several commentaters here have not done this and have been charged the rip off $34 price even though they no longer host the domain.

1. Transfer the domain to another registrar.
2. Once complete cancel the domain service from Yahoo (do not forget this otherwise they will hit your credit card).

Many years ago as a young (er) non tech person I needed to get a business started and needed to have a web presence. I also did not have a lot of cash.

I had had a Yahoo! account for years because they were one of the first with a decent email account.

So when the time came I bought my first domain with them as well as one of their hosting packages which seemed to have all the things I needed.

It took me a while to understand that Yahoo had pretty solid email (standard and private) but that their hosting solutions were very user unfriendly, did not offer things like cpanel, had convuluted php and mysql configurations that were not according to user friendly industry standards (like did not support permalinks without an index.php in WordPress) etc.

But the worst thing of all was that their customer / technical support was worse than useless. It took hours to reach somebody on the phone and after one automated email response which never solved your problem you would not get another – and thus start the process again.

Then they bumped – without a reasonable notice period, my domain price (I now own several) from about 10 bucks to more than 30.

So Yahoo, I used to love you, but now I hate you.

Today I just moved my last domain and am waiting for you to give free pop access in your email accounts in a month or so then I will cancel my last premium service.

The people that provide the best hosting solutions today with 10 minute expert response times, are there with you every step of the way, will even help you with script installs if reasonable and necessary are

A Small Orange

By way of disclosure the link is also a referral link if you choose to use it.

Well written piece by Holly Jackson on the Yahoo story.

You should read it. Here is my favorite quote if you don’t have the time.

“Yahoo said the $25 price increase is primarily being instituted to match the cost of doing business, and that registering domains–the process of creating a new Web address–can cost even more with other Web sites.”

Me in pensive mood:

Yeah and pigs can fly. I guess it must be the increased cost of gas and increased price of corn and steel which drives domain price up from $9.95 to $34.95.

Thing is they reel you in at 10 bucks and then, in premeditated (and seemingly malice aforethought in the general sense) fashion, bump you to 34 after 12 months. Of course they don’t tell you that when you sign up.

By the way I am still waiting for them to respond to my emails.

I switched a bunch of my Yahoo services to Google starting a year or so ago. I also switched my hosting to asmallorange.com.

As part of this process I use Google Apps extensively, including for my email. In fact I run a small business on Google apps.

One thing I have never done though is bought a domain from Google who I believe subcontracts to enom or godaddy. The pricing is $1O which includes full dns management, private registration and domain locking if you need it. Pretty good deal – especially with Google’s name behind it.

Done, took three business days. It’s a relief to get out of the hands of Yahoo.

Please can you explain why you are increasing my Domain price from $9.95 to $34.95.

I have been faithful to you for the last 10 years.

Please tell me this is a mistake.

Tell me this is not complete arrogance and disregard for the customers – or maybe somebody has just fallen asleep behind the wheel.

Not that I particularly like his style but Yahoo needs Carl Icahn more than ever.

Lets spread the word and hopefully get them to respond.

(thanks for the link Slashdot)

If you want to help please go hammer on this link.

Get ready for another year of Yahoo! Domains

Dear DELETED,

Thanks for using Yahoo! Domains. We’re writing to remind you that it’s time for the annual autorenewal of your service.

Your Domains plan, associated with the domain (deleted)DELETED, will renew on 07/07/2008. If your billing information is up-to-date, there’s no need to do a thing (except keep enjoying your service).

Important note: Beginning on July 1, 2008, Yahoo!’s annual domain renewal price increases to $34.95 per year.

You can verify your billing information by visiting https://billing.yahoo.com/ and clicking the Update link next to your plan. Click the gray Edit button to the right of your payment method to review your payment details.

(Please note that the billing center will not reflect the new $34.95 domain-renewal price until July 1. Until that time, you will continue to see the old renewal price next to your plan.) (my emphasis).

Have questions? Please visit our help center or contact us anytime.

Best regards,

The Yahoo! Small Business team

This is a service email related to your use of Yahoo! Small Business. To learn more about Yahoo!’s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our privacy policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.

Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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