Domain Scam

I decided today to finally check my Yahoo! email account, delete all the spam, and see if there's any email I'd actually care about (not likely since it's more-or-less a spam-bait account, anyway). As I was skimming through the emails, I came across one dated May 21, 2008 with the subject line, "kristenandmatthew.com". At first glance, I missed the ".com" part, and decided to check it out, because I currently own matthewandkristen.net. I registered that domain for my wife and my wedding website, and I've not done much with it since (it's set to expire in September, and I think I'm just going to let it go). In addition, I had registered kristenandmatthew.net (which has already expired) as a result of miscommunication regarding what was being printed on the invitations.

This email is from a guy, Ken, at some company that "specializes in recovering preferred expiring domains and either selling them to individuals such as yourself or building out our own web presence on those domains.". In the email, Ken states that the domain, kristenandmatthew.com, had recently expired, and his company had acquired it in a domain name auction. Seeing as how I own kristenandmatthew.net, he wanted to sell me the .com version of the domain.

At this point, out of curiosity, I went to whois.net and did a search for the domain. At the moment, no one owns this domain.

Returning to my email list, I found that on the next day, May 22, Ken had sent me another email, reminding me of his company's offer.

Two days later, he sent me an email with the subject, "One Day Sale For kristenandmatthew.com". Up to this point, the emails had not mentioned a price; I guess I was supposed to go to their site and discover their price there. In this email, however, Ken informs me that their previous price for the domain had been $557, but for 24 hours, I could buy it at the discounted price of $300.

Now, remember, I've already discovered that no one owns this domain. I can register it for $10.

To make matters even more humorous, 3 days later (May 27), I received an email from a different company, stating that they had recently acquired kristenandmatthew.com and thought I might be interested it buying it from them for $49.95 (and then, after a year, I can renew it with them for the standard $10, or move it to a registrar of my choice). The email then states that "this is a one time note for the owner of kristenandmatthew.net."

Despite that, I have received a second "one time note" from this second company that says exactly the same thing as the first on July 6, and a third dated August 12 that includes (I guess to sweeten the pot) a note that my purchase will include a year's registration of the domain, full transfer of the domain ownership to myself, and they will even point my new domain to my current website for free (this is listed as being optional)! It also includes a warning that if I don't take this offer, someone else may purchase the domain instead.

I suppose some people might fall for this sort of thing, if they don't know about whois searching (to see who owns a domain name, if anyone). If I thought that there were any humans that might actually read a response to these emails, I'd be tempted to register the domain (at a reputable registration site) and then respond to both of these "companies" with an email saying, "Thank you for your offer; however, I have just recently registered this very domain name with [registrar] for $10." As it is, I'll just blog about it.

Confusing Conversation

This is a conversation I had with a friend recently on AIM. As background, my status message was, "Working LIKE A FOX!"

MetalHead Type 0: so how does a fox work? ;)
coderforchrist: by eating chickens?
MetalHead Type 0: is that how you're workign?
MetalHead Type 0: working*
coderforchrist: stop calling me a liar!!! :-O
coderforchrist: ;-)
MetalHead Type 0: ....
MetalHead Type 0: not-truth-teller!
coderforchrist: um...not not-truth teller!
MetalHead Type 0: truth-un-teller-not?
coderforchrist: are you not saying I don't not tell the not truth?
MetalHead Type 0: no-yes-no-maybe-definately-not
MetalHead Type 0: -and-so-forth
coderforchrist: I will not not be not accused of not telling the not truth!
MetalHead Type 0: you will not be acused of not not truth not firetruck!

Internet Access!

Well, as of Monday evening, I finally have Internet access set up at the apartment! Hooray!

And, of course, the cheap router I bought at OfficeMax a while back is set up, and the Wii and DS both have WiFi connections. So, what have I been doing as far as computer use goes this evening? Other than playing with the new Check Mii Out channel on the Wii, I've been playing...Portal. A single-player game.

Yes, I enjoy it that much. This makes the third time through (second time was with developer commentary turned on).

But, hey, now I'm posting to my blog...from my apartment! Yay for Internet access!

Day 5 Without Internet

Yesterday was day 5 without Internet access at the apartment. So far, things haven't degraded to this...

...but it is getting close. Of course, in my case, it would be less like Survivor and more like Castaway, since I'm the only person there.

Anyway, fortunately, I've not missed it too much, since I've been busy. I've still got plenty of unpacking, which I've been doing slowly. I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning the bathroom at my former place (I had promised my roommates I'd get it cleaned). I've still got to get another bookshelf and a CD/DVD rack, as well as some other stuff. It's amazing how much stuff you need that you never really think about until it's not there.

In addition, it's a good thing right now that I prefer single-player games. I finally finished Bioshock the other night, and got started on Portal. I've also got Half-Life 2: Episode 2 to play, and I still have yet to beat F.E.A.R. Of course, if I get really desperate, I could always load System Shock 2 back up (never actually finished that; now I really want to). Then there's my games on the Wii and the DS...

Of course, I've also got a number of books to read. So, as long as I've got the Internet at work, I can manage, I guess.

All that said, I do still feel like I'm going crazy without the Internet. Yes, I have plenty to keep me from being bored, but I just feel...disconnected. The apartment will, I think, continue to feel more like a hotel suite or something until I have Internet access.

I Really Don't Like AT&T

This is going to be a long one, so I apologize in advance. As I mentioned in my previous post, I moved into an apartment recently. One downside to this is that, in the apartment, my only choice for Internet access is AT&T's DSL service. So, I call AT&T to get DSL set up last Wednesday, and thus began my ordeal.

Grievance 1
It all started when I asked to set up a DSL account. The lady I was speaking with looks up my area on the computer, and comes back, telling me that there are no DSL ports available in my area at the moment. I was somewhat stunned, as this was totally unexpected. "What?" was all I could say. She explained that there are only so many ports available, and they were all taken. So I asked if she could tell me when a port would become available, and she didn't know, but she could put me on a waiting list and they'd call me. I pressed a little, and she checked some other system or something and said that "they" were working on it, and there should be more ports available in two weeks.

At this point, I began thinking that I should cancel the phone line I had just set up and call the apartment complex to see if there is any way I could get Internet access with another company. It seems to me unacceptable for a company to make an exclusive agreement with a property, and then not be able to support that property. With this in mind, I explain to the representative that I would like to cancel the phone line, get put on a waiting list, and get everything set up when DSL is actually available. She says that she doesn't think she can put me on the waiting list if I'm not a customer (nevermind that I had mentioned earlier in the conversation that I am already an AT&T Wireless subscriber). So, I decide to forgo the waiting list and call back in to weeks (assuming I can't get the leasing office to let me use a different provider).

When I tell her that I'll just call back in two weeks, she finally decides to check something else, and puts me on hold. I wait for 5 or 10 minutes, and she comes back saying that, for some reason or another (I forget exactly why), they do have a port available. I decide to jump on that, and I set up my account. She explains that my DSL modem will be shipped UPS and should arrive on Monday, and that my access should be connected then, as well.

Grievance 2
Fortunately, Monday is a holiday, so I didn't have to take off of work. I did have a couple things I needed to do, but I made sure to be in my apartment as much as possible so as not to miss UPS when they came with my modem. However, that afternoon, instead of my modem, I get a call from another AT&T rep. explaining that my order has been delayed, and they won't be able to get my access connected until Wednesday. Also, my modem will not get shipped until Wednesday, and it should arrive at my apartment on Friday.

I'm a little annoyed by this, especially because I'll have to take the day off of work to wait for the modem. So, I ask if there's any way to send my modem to my office instead of the apartment. Apparently, there isn't. The order was already in the system, and they couldn't change the address. What the rep said they could do was send a second modem to my office, and when I got the first one at the apartment I'd send that one back. Given that the second modem would likely show up later than the first (since they'd have to process the order), and I still have the problem of a modem being delivered to my apartment when I won't be there, I decide to just plan on taking the day off to wait.

Also, because I didn't really trust AT&T to actually get the modem to me on Friday (they'd already failed to do what they said in not delivering it Monday) I ask if I can get the order tracking number, so I can track the order. The rep said she didn't have the tracking number yet, but if I called the next day, I could get it.

Intermission
The next day (Tuesday, aka yesterday), I call to get the tracking number. What I didn't realize, though, was that the automated system only knows how to look up information based on the home phone number, which I don't know and didn't have written down with me at the office. Of course, the automated system makes it difficult to just speak with a person, but when I finally got to talk to someone, he also couldn't look up my account without the home number. So he forwarded me to another department where they could look up my home number, from which I would have to be transferred back to the DSL department to get things taken care of. However, I was on hold there until I didn't have any more time and had to hang up.

Granted, I'm not counting the above as a grievance, since I should have had the number with me.

Grievance 3
When I get home last night, I check my mail, and am slightly excited to see the first piece of mail addressed to me (as opposed to the various previous tenants). It so happens that this mail was "detariffing" policy information from AT&T, which is rather boring, but it's my first mail at my new place. When I looked at the address again, however, I noticed something: my last name was spelled one letter off. Now, this would normally be something I would laugh at, and happily call the next day to get fixed. However, thanks to the issues I'd had up until this point, this was, instead, yet another annoyance added on top of everything else. Icing on the cake of customer disservice, if you will. This was yet another problem I have to deal with, and more time I have to spend on the phone with them.

Grievance 4
And that brings us to my phone call today. I call up the customer service number given on the letter I received (this time, I wrote down the home number and brought it with me) and explain (kindly; I really try to be patient when first talking with a rep, since I know this person isn't at fault for whatever is wrong) that my last name was spelled wrong on the letter, and I'd like to get that fixed. The rep fixes the problem, things go smoothly and I'm happy. When he asks if there's anything else he can help me with, I explain that the situation with the modem shipment. He doesn't have the tracking number, but he's happy to send me to the DSL service department where they can help me. I thank him for his help, and he transfers me.

When I reach a person at the DSL service center, I confirm my number for him, and explain to him that my DSL modem was supposed to be shipped, and I would like the tracking number. He looks up my account, and says that the modem has not yet been shipped. Beyond that, my Internet access has not yet been connected. What?

He explains that they are having "technical difficulties" or something, and they won't be able to connect my account until the problems are fixed. Since they haven't been able to connect the account, they haven't shipped the modem. I ask about the ports to make sure that it's not that they lost my port, and he confirms that I have the port, the account is set up, it's just not connected yet.

So, I ask for a timeframe when the account will get set up. He doesn't know, but there's apparently a work order for a few days from now, and if I call back on Monday, they should be able to tell me when the problem will be resolved. Notice that he did not say, call back Monday, and the problem will be resolved, he said, call back Monday and we'll tell you when it should be fixed.

In other words, for all I know, it could be 2 more weeks before I can get Internet access, but I won't find out about that until Monday.

To Be Continued...
At this point, my patience is wearing thin. I have until Monday to decide what my plan of action is, in case the answer I receive is unsatisfactory. Right now, I think that, at the least, I am going to insist that I not be charged for any service (including the phone line, if I can, since I've been very clear that I'm only getting that for the DSL) that I've not been receiving. I also, if necessary, will escalate my call as high as it needs to go.

Right now, I am finding this service unacceptable. What makes it worse is that, because of the apartment situation, I don't have any other choice. If I were in a house, I could drop AT&T and move to another provider. I don't have that luxury. On the upside, I only have a 6 month lease. God-willing, by then, Kristen and I will have found a house, and, at this point, I know that, once I have a choice again, I will not be using AT&T.