Dreamscape buyout of Umbrella, Free parking etc

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mobiusnz

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#298946 29-Jul-2022 13:34

Anyone else finding many of the NZ registrars that all merged into Umbrella and then sold out to Dreamscape international a nightmare to deal with.

Trying to add txt records and then cnames and MX for two domains to add to a 365 tenant and its taking forever.

I rang and got the run around. Then I got told it can take 3 hours or more to propagate.

I told him it was on their own servers I was getting conflicting results on back to back looking on the same NS server and only then did he say they are in the middle of a migration and there are some issues behind the scenes and engineers are working on it.

So basically don't admin you have a fault until the client points it out to you.

What a waste of time.

Metaname.net all the way!!! I moved all of my domains from Discount domains to them and I've never looked back. Soooo good.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

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Ultimate Geek
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#2947837 29-Jul-2022 13:51

Just to reply I use Kloth.net NSLOOKUP tool to query ns.freeparking.co.nz

First query for MX records gives me the record I created. Push it again and it can't find the domain.

Full DNS meltdown - I imagine that'll me mail bounces if the sending server gets a non-existent domain on a query?

Things like this were the final straw for moving. I argued with their helpdesk about an issue with their DNS Servers for hours before they finally agreed it was them.

The other classic is they are very good at sending renewal invoices for domains that have been shifted to other registrars months ago.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

xpd

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#2947838 29-Jul-2022 13:52

Anything that had attachment to Umbrella has become a total nightmare to work with. I've moved my personal clients away from anything to do with them.

Even trying to get my own email account removed from an old clients account (that wants to stay with them and has new IT ppl so I no longer need to do anything) is turning into a nightmare - they claim only way to remove my email account is to close the account. What the actual biscuit....... its not even my account. And theyre happy to do this just off an email with no verification of anything! Tempted to do it tho because the new owners and IT people are not returning my emails about it and Im fed up with being asked to pay bills which are nothing to do with me :D (I'm only down as a contact, not the owner)

XPD / Gavin

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outdoorsnz

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#2947911 29-Jul-2022 14:11

If you get issues and need support, it is just completely hopeless situation to be in! The first point of contact is helpful BUT passes on to the 3rd tier support person which seems to be bottomless pit.

2nd metaname...

mobiusnz

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#2947918 29-Jul-2022 14:33

xpd:

Anything that had attachment to Umbrella has become a total nightmare to work with. I've moved my personal clients away from anything to do with them.

Even trying to get my own email account removed from an old clients account (that wants to stay with them and has new IT ppl so I no longer need to do anything) is turning into a nightmare - they claim only way to remove my email account is to close the account. What the actual biscuit....... its not even my account. And theyre happy to do this just off an email with no verification of anything! Tempted to do it tho because the new owners and IT people are not returning my emails about it and Im fed up with being asked to pay bills which are nothing to do with me :D (I'm only down as a contact, not the owner)

100% with you there - It appears they've fixed it now. Like you I do all of mine with Metaname and its simple and does only what you need in a straight forward way. I wouldn't say its for end users in general as the DNS tools can be a bit quirky until you know them but its amazing value. I have 34 domains with them 3 of them mine and the rest for clients and it means they get auto renewed without hassal instead of constantly getting calls from clients who've let their domain lapse and I can on bill it at a price that is competative with any of the main registrars retail.

If I was going to point someone to a registrar who do main and hosting packages (I have pop/imap but sometimes you've got to) I'd probably go with 1stdomains.co.nz as at least they are still a local team and I find there help desk pretty good (Had the odd breakdown in understanding of a technical issue but it was minor).

I've emailed Neil at Metaname a handful of times and he's brilliant - A quick reply is all I've ever needed and to be fair its usually been my own stupidity getting used to some of the DNS settings like trailing dots. His is more technical but true to real DNS zones where others do the trailing dots for you so you never understand them properly.

Matt Beechey Mobius Network Solutions

mattwnz

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#2947931 29-Jul-2022 15:13

There are also a lot of other brands too, like Openhost, Discount Domains, Webbase etc. But I had got an email from Freeparking to say they have just updated their website, so it seems that they are keeping some of the brands, where others like Openhost are being merged into Crazy Domains. There has been a lot of consolidation in the NZ domain and hosting market

CYaBro

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#2947934 29-Jul-2022 15:16

Setup a free Cloudflare account and point your domain name servers there instead.

Much faster and easier to use.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

mattwnz

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#2947935 29-Jul-2022 15:19

CYaBro:

Setup a free Cloudflare account and point your domain name servers there instead.

Much faster and easier to use.

Isn't that only for personal websites, and not for commercial business websites, as I recall looking into that? But they may not check? But guessing it won't always be free as services do cost money.

CYaBro

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#2947944 29-Jul-2022 15:32

mattwnz:

CYaBro:

Setup a free Cloudflare account and point your domain name servers there instead.

Much faster and easier to use.

Isn't that only for personal websites, and not for commercial business websites, as I recall looking into that? But they may not check? But guessing it won't always be free as services do cost money.

From the Cloudflare website:

Why is our free plan so good?

At Cloudflare, our mission is to help build a better internet. We believe the web should be open and free, and that ALL websites and web users, no matter how small, should be safe, secure, and fast. Cloudflare always has and always will offer a generous free plan for many reasons.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

BlakJak

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#2948006 29-Jul-2022 16:01

Got an email to tell me I had a new account at Freeparking.

Figured that was expected as I knew they were plotting a platform change.

So I logged in and could see all my domains.

I checked the pricing for renewals as I had one coming due and ... well it's time to transfer away.

So I moved my domain over to my metaname account.

4 days later I get a renewal reminder from Freeparking for a domain they no longer host.

I raised an enquiry and after getting the Tier-1 "please give us your username or account number" stuff that'd let them remove the domain (that I already removed, with the udai!!) I the case got escalated and they sorted it. But not before sending me emails telling me factually wrong things "Your domain had already been deleted from the registry" (no, it hadn't).

Anyway despite the escalation essentially sorting my problem it was the proverbial nail in the coffin. I moved my remaining .nz's that were with them, to metaname yesterday. The international TLD's i'll have to wait until closer to their renewal dates to make it worthwhile unfortunately.

I've been actively avoiding Umbrellar's registrars for a while, apparently the notion that people who provide customer service for a domain name company should actually understand the basics of DNS is too far-fetched for a few operators. :(

No signature to see here, move along...

mattwnz

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#2948054 29-Jul-2022 18:52

CYaBro:

Why is our free plan so good?

At Cloudflare, our mission is to help build a better internet. We believe the web should be open and free, and that ALL websites and web users, no matter how small, should be safe, secure, and fast. Cloudflare always has and always will offer a generous free plan for many reasons.

On their pricing page is says the free plan is

Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical.

You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.

xpd

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#2948055 29-Jul-2022 19:01

The move between systems from Openhost to CrazyDomains was insane...... they killed my website completely and basically said there was nothing they could do because their system kept sending a password reset to a non-existent account and claimed they couldn't change it.

I tore them a new one for that, and thats when I bailed and took my personal clients with me.

After that they kept emailing me "how did we do" and I told them EXACTLY how it went and told them if I ever heard from them again I'd be taking it further - they still continued to email me. So I setup a rule for anything from CD/OH to bounce with a "polite' (yeah right) message telling them where they could put their services.

OH was bad under Umbrella's control (and I worked there for a few months), but under CD it was even worse.

I now use Prodigi via @DanFaulknor for hosting, and 1st Domains for my personal site, and MetaName for clients (none require website atm, so no hosting).

XPD / Gavin

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Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

danfaulknor

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Prodigi

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#2948056 29-Jul-2022 19:02

xpd:

I now use Prodigi via @DanFaulknor for hosting, and 1st Domains for my personal site, and MetaName for clients (none require website atm, so no hosting).

We're even an authorised .nz registrar now :)

they/them

Prodigi - Optimised IT Solutions
WebOps/DevOps, Managed IT, Hosting and Internet/WAN.

mattwnz

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#2948089 29-Jul-2022 21:13

outdoorsnz:
If you get issues and need support, it is just completely hopeless situation to be in! The first point of contact is helpful BUT passes on to the 3rd tier support person which seems to be bottomless pit.

2nd metaname...

Dealing with overseas based support where English may not be their first language can be a very frustrating experience. My experience is that they also struggle when their are more than one question per ticket, and often questions are missed.

TinkerOn

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#2948124 30-Jul-2022 00:35

mobiusnz:
Anyone else finding many of the NZ registrars that all merged into Umbrella and then sold out to Dreamscape international a nightmare to deal with.

Gee, what an understatement! A website hosted by Freeparking went offline 7 days ago. "Platform migration went wrong" is their excuse. 7 days and counting. When you hear Freeparking.co.nz, run faster.

CYaBro

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#2948139 30-Jul-2022 06:57

mattwnz:
CYaBro:

Why is our free plan so good?
At Cloudflare, our mission is to help build a better internet. We believe the web should be open and free, and that ALL websites and web users, no matter how small, should be safe, secure, and fast. Cloudflare always has and always will offer a generous free plan for many reasons.

On their pricing page is says the free plan is

Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical.

You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.

I think that’s just a recommendation for the plans, I’ve read through their full terms and can’t find anything that says you can’t.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical. You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.

Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical. You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.

Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical.

You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.

Free For personal or hobby projects that aren’t business-critical.

You have to go to their Pro plan for professional websites.