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At 18:32 15/11/96, Doug Osborn wrote:

>>> What if people boycotted Melbourne IT, and didn't reapply (and were
>>> pro-active in not reapplying - ie. telling MIT that they are being
>>> boycotted).
>
>Can someone tell me the rationale for doing this?

I'm sure lots of people will tell you :)

This sentimemt is caused by the first impression of MelbourneIT's handling
of the domain. And the first thing people notice is the billing
arrangements. I think MelbourneIT has garnered a lot of ill will because of
their hard-lined policy towards billing.

The unfortunate thing is that this need not have been the case. MelbourneIT
is in the enviable position of being able to undeliver the goods/services
supplied. This is the biggest incentive for people to pay their outstanding
account. People who register domains obviously perceive the need for that
domain registration. The threat to undo that registration will probably be
enough to have them pay their account. And if they do not pay, what has
been lost? Only a few minutes of someone's time approving the request, and
a few machine cycles.


Some policies which MelbourneIT could improve upon:

The need to fax your credit card details or post a cheque before the
request is put into the queue.

The requirement for a personal/company cheque to have cleared before the
request is put into the queue.

Requiring renewal of domain names in such a short time frame.

Three-tiered pricing structure... this can only be designed to increase
revenues. If it is possible to perform registrations in 24 hours, why not
do so as standard, guaranteeing registrations in 10 days.

Charging a 100% surcharge to expedite processing, then another 100% to
expedite processing again.

Charging a regular fee for maintenance of the domain name, then charging
an extra maintenance fee if manual work is required. Surely one fee or
the other is appropriate, but not both.

Requiring a minimum of $1000 to start a PISP account.


It would appear that the MelbourneIT pricing structure has been developed
with the assumption of having a monopoly over the domain. If there was some
competition for this business, I am sure the pricing structure and billing
policies would have been quite different.

Could a company with such policies truly have the best interests of their
clients in mind?


 ...Richard.

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