Cookies on BBB.org

We use cookies to give users the best content and online experience. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to allow us to use all cookies. Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more.

Cookie Preferences

Many websites use cookies or similar tools to store information on your browser or device. We use cookies on BBB websites to remember your preferences, improve website performance and enhance user experience, and to recommend content we believe will be most relevant to you. Most cookies collect anonymous information such as how users arrive at and use the website. Some cookies are necessary to allow the website to function properly, but you may choose to not allow other types of cookies below.

Necessary Cookies

What are necessary cookies?
These cookies are necessary for the site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you that amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Necessary cookies must always be enabled.

Functional Cookies

What are functional cookies?
These cookies enable the site to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

Performance Cookies

What are performance cookies?
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.

Marketing Cookies

What are marketing cookies?
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant content on other sites. They do not store personal information directly, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser or device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Wildfires across the Los Angeles area are expected to become the costliest such disaster in U.S. history. As victims cope with the aftermath, it is crucial to stay vigilant against opportunistic scammers. In addition, those wishing to help by donating money or supplies should carefully research organizations before contributing. BBB offers guidance to protect both victims and donors. Copy and paste the following URL for helpful tips: bbb.org/local-bbb/bbb-of-los-angeles-and-silicon-valley
Share
Business Profile

Web Hosting

Internet Domain Name Services (IDNS)

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Web Hosting.

Complaints

Additional Complaint Information

Customer Complaint:

BBB is aware of issues concerning domain name registration renewal letters received by consumers from the company.  The Expiration Notice suggests that consumers switch to Internet Domain Names Services and it advertises its allegedly competitive prices for 1, 2 and 5 year renewals.  It warns that  ‘failure to renew your domain by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the web.”   The letter requests a payment by credit card and a valid email address.

The pre-printed New Jersey address in Jersey City to return the letter with payment is a UPS store.  The website www.idns.ac  is registered in the British Ascension Island and it redirects to www.idns.to, a country code for Kingdom of Tonga in  Southeast Pacific.

The company has not responded to the complaints on file with the BBB Serving NJ. 

Internet Domain Names Services is not registered with the State of New Jersey, Department of Treasury, Division of Revenue & Enterprise Services.

See all additional business information

Need to file a complaint?

BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process.

File a Complaint

Complaint Details

Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. See details.

Filter by

Showing all complaints

Filter by

Complaint Status
Complaint Type
  • Complaint Type:
    Product Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    This business charged my card $300 claiming I owe them money for my Domain and in order for my to keep my services I need to pay. I paid for the charges and it turns out they were a scam and does not even have an office nor a phone number. I called trying to get a refund and they responded to my email with laughing emojis.

    Business response

    10/08/2024

    This person is a liar, they claimed they never placed this order, which is totally untrue. They visited our website on august 27th and placed this order themselves.

    Furthermore they appear to be a con artist, because while they only paid $265 they are trying to fraudulently claim a refund of $300.

    The refund the the $265 has already been processed this morning or August 8th. 

    However this person should be ashamed of themselves, if they made a mistake they can politely ask for a refund for their error and not make up fake stories and try to extort larger refunds than actually paid. Just disgusting behaviour.

    Domain Services

     

     

     

    Customer response

    10/09/2024


    Complaint: 22396376

    I am rejecting this response because:

    These people are so unprofessional and they literally went back and forth with me name calling me, it's was quite ridiculous and seemed like a bunch of kids running the show over there. The scammer is on here acting the same way he did during our email and it clearly shows. I'm glad that he is throwing a tantrum so the world can see how he scammed me, charged me, and turned around and blamed me for falling for his scams and now he is the victim because  it is not his fault I fell for his Scam. This company made me believe I had an account with them and my service was ending soon and I will loose my Domain, only to find out I don't even have an account with them nor any signed documents from me stating I ever wanted to do business with them. During the email I asked this person I was emailing back and forth to please identify himself and he refused to give me a name, I asked him the same questions over and over, "who are you?, ************ are you providing me that felt you had the right to charged my Credit Card?" NOT ONE TIME did they ever tell me their name and what company they were from (because their email just says 'support') and not once were they ever able to tell me why they charged my card. I have since then called the police and I filled a police report, I have also filed a report on BBB here and I am also working with authorities to see what else I need to do to protect myself from these people's retaliation or more scam.  PLEASE DO NOT DO ANY SORT OF BUSNIESS WITH THESE PEOPLE NOR BELIEVE THEM WHEN THEY SAY YOU HAVE AN OVERDUE BALANCE... YOU WILL BE SORRY IF YOU DARE GIVE THEM YOUR  CARD INFO AND COMPANY INFO. I do not need to say much, these people are showing their true colors already without any provoking. I can't wait to see their response next with more name calling, and more tantrums. :)

  • Complaint Type:
    Product Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    I paid for them to renew my business domain name. They did not provide this service.

    Business response

    10/07/2024

    This person failed to complete the transfer/renewal instructions that were emailed to them, furthermore they have never once contacted us to request a refund, they are more than welcome to do so.

     

    Domain Services.

    Customer response

    10/08/2024


    Complaint: ********
    I am rejecting this response because:
    I tried calling twice to cancel during business hours and was sent to voicemail. I left a voicemail and did not receive a call back. If you would like to give me a full refund me, please let me know. 


    Regards,

    ***** *******

     

    Business response

    10/08/2024

    The order has been refunded
  • Complaint Type:
    Order Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Received a letter in the mail for the business I am an Accountant at. Had I not of read it completely, I would have paid ******. Deceptive verbiage states "bobcatofic.com will expire on August 27, 2024. Act today!" Even if this IS a tactic to get you to switch services, the scammy way in which this is done is a huge red flag. No legitimate company would try and deceive their customers from the jump. These letters are formatted to look like an invoice or bill. They are worded carefully to imply your domain name is registered through their company and its time to renew your domain name. The bill has legitimate information on it like your domain name and the actual expire date of your domain. (Just like your contact information is public, your domain expire date is also public information. ) If you pay this, you are not just renewing your domain name, but are transferring it to this domain registrar and at a heft price. Renewing for 5 years will cost $265, that comes down to $53 a year! To compare, legitimate domain registrar companies like Namecheap offer domain registration services for under $15 year.

    Business response

    05/30/2024

    Our letter clearly states it is an offer to transfer to us, as it reads:

    "When you switch today to Internet Domain Name Services you can take advantage of our best savings"

    "You must renew your domain name to obtain exclusive rights to it on the web, and now is the time to transfer and renew your name from your current registrar to Internet Domain Name Services."

    "Domain holders are not obligated to renew their domain with their current registrar or with Internet Domain Name Services. Review our prices and decide for yourself. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts stated unless you accept this offer. This notice is not a bill, it is rather an easy means of payment should you decide to switch your domain name registration to Internet Domain Name Services."

     

    If they are not interested in transferring to us they can certainly disregard our offer.

    Domain Name Services

     

     

    Customer response

    05/30/2024


    Complaint: 21776504

    I am rejecting this response because:

    This is a well known solicitation tactic to scare older people and prey on those who don't pay attention. I've gotten many solicitation letters in the mail from legitimate companies who don't need to make their letters look like invoices. Instead, they use fact-based logic and statistics to back up their reasoning for clients switching to them. Nothing in your letter proves why you are the better provider to switch to, you list no benefits or reasoning as to why your prices are so much higher than your competition. There are also numerous complaints online about this provider and terrible customer ******************** reviews stating over-charges, refusal to answer questions and rudeness.



    Regards,

    *******************************

    Business response

    05/30/2024

    All issues addressed in first response.

     

    Domain Name Services

  • Complaint Type:
    Customer Service Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    In May of 2023 I received a notice from Domain Name services that my Domain name was due to expire. On the 23rd of May 2023 I sent them a check (check number 506) in the amount of $265.00. In January of this year and February, I have contacted Domain Name Services a few times and my web designer contacted them as well and have not gotten any assistance. One male that I spoke with claims that his name was ***********. They say that I have no name from them, only the Go-Daddy that had already expired last year. The last time that I called, I tried to explain the problem and he immediately interrupted and said "before I can help you, you need to give us your bank routing and account numbers, which I felt sounded wrong, so I did not provide this info. Since they were paid and they are not providing the service paid for, I am requesting a full refund and alert others so that they don't get scammed like I did by this company.I thank you for your kind assistance in this matter.

    Business response

    02/23/2024

    We have no order from a **************************** nor is there any employee here by the name of ***********. Perhaps this person is confused about who they paid.

     

    Domain Name Services inc.

    Customer response

    03/05/2024


    Complaint: 21336432

    I am rejecting this response because:

    This issue has not been resolved. I have heard nothing from them or from you. The initial response from you asked if it was resolved. How can it be resolved when you had not acted as of yet, but only received the complaint? Anyway. I am disappointed that you were unwilling to assist and help prevent others from being hurt as well.

    ****



    Regards,

    *********************

    Business response

    03/05/2024

    Once again, We have no order from a **************************** nor is there any employee here by the name of ***********. Perhaps this person is confused about who they paid.

    Domain Name Services ****
  • Complaint Type:
    Service or Repair Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    This company is sending out letters with very specific wording to confuse businesses/customers in a deceptive practice. It says the domain in question is "due to expire in the next few months", "Act today", "You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights", "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date *** result in a loss of your online identity"...all this makes it seem like the domain is expiring through this company and must be renewed. AND the outrageous cost they want is $265 for 5 years....the typical cost of a domain per year is $20-$25, so $100-$120 for 5 years. And I fully expect to receive a response saying this isn't deceptive practices, but it is, and everyone else has that opinion. It's no different from receiving a scam email with a link to "update your account". Older people will definitely fall for this thinking they need to renew something due to being confused or not reading the letter fully. This company is just fully mass sending out these letters in hopes of people switching thinking it's legit or thinking they need to renew their domain through them instead of their current more trusted provider. And after all this their own website is flagged by antivirus as being fraudulent. Definitely do not trust!

    Business response

    01/04/2024

    Our company sends our offers asking if potential customers would like to transfer to us for their domain renewals. The letters clearly state:

    "When you switch today to Internet Domain Name Services you can take advantage of our best savings"

    As our solicitations contain only 100% true and accurate information we will of course continue to do so despite entirely meritless compaints such as these, thank you.

     

    Domain Name Services

    Customer response

    01/05/2024


    Complaint: 21099191

    I am rejecting this response because:

    What a BS response. Of course legally you have that on the letter to save your a** You know that you hid that in the fine print where you know people are most likely not reading. As proven by many of the complaints against your scam company. I read it because there are many scam companies like yours out there. But others glance at it quick and you make it seem like an invoice and a renewal is due if you glance at it. You people are so arrogant with your responses to people, name calling, putting them down, and taking no fault. What real legit company would do that? Oh right, youre not legit. Regardless of you trying to make people think youre not a scam, you are and you very well know it. You know youre taking peoples money by morally wrong practices. You know you pray on the people who dont fully read or understand the letters. Its disgusting.

    up yours!
  • Complaint Type:
    Order Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    This is a domain name scam. From wiki "Domain slamming (also known as unauthorized transfers or domain name registration scams) is a scam in which the offending domain name registrar attempts to trick domain owners into switching from their existing registrar to theirs, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their current registrar"I was sent a "Domain Name Expiration Notice", "as a courtesy" that explicitly states my domain is "about to expire" and that "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date *** result in loss of your online identity". This letter states I need to send them $265 by the due date of December 25, 2023.I understand this isn't a real bill, but it's an "attempt to trick domain owners into switching from their existing registrar to theirs".

    Business response

    11/02/2023

    We are in no way shape or form a domain scam or engaged in any kind of domain slamming. Our letter clearly states it's purpose as an offer from our company asking if they would like to transfer to us for their domain renewal, it says:


    The accusations made in this complaint are entirely without merit. We would be happy of course to remove this person from our mailing list, simply reply with your domain name and mailing address for removal.

     

    Thank you

    Domain Name Services

     

     

    Customer response

    11/04/2023


    Complaint: 20814560

    I am rejecting this response because it's a scam.



    Regards,

    *************************
  • Complaint Type:
    Customer Service Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Company is a scam to scare people into extremely overpaying for a service they don't need to. Been getting these letters from them for years. Shameful they are allowed to operate.

    Business response

    06/28/2023

    We are not a scam at all, our letters clearly state their purpose as an offer to transfer to ** for their domain renewals, they literally state:

     

    We shall of course continue to operate as we are.

     

    Domain Registry

  • Complaint Type:
    Order Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    I donate my time to a NPO HSA organization, with my expertise being in the web-sphere. We received a physical letter from Domain Name Services (website: util.com) titled "Domain Name Expiration Notice" using deceptive language to trick unwary recipients into purchasing their DNS Services. Using language like "You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it" and "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date *** result in a loss of your online identity" is a scare tactic to force a recipient to act now, and only those seeking to exploit others use such. They then use the legal loophole at the end stating, "This notice is not a ************** this company. Their marketing tactics are unethical (at best) and their cost profile is 5x what other services offer.

    Business response

    04/23/2023

    Our letter clearly states exactly what it's purpose is, an offer to switch to your company for their domain renewal, it reads:

     

    "When you switch today to Internet Domain Name Services you can take advantage of our best savings"

     

    There is literally nothing deceptive about it and we will continue to operates as we usual, thank you.

     

    Domain Registry

  • Complaint Type:
    Sales and Advertising Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Domain Registry billed HoustonEnergyCofc.com for 2023 costs. $60.00. I paid via CC for . Then Domain Registry started charging my **** of America CC per month. I had the **** stop this payment. Then Domain Registry delisted my domain: HoustonEnergyCofC.com.

    Business response

    04/17/2023

    We don't do and have never done any automatic billing, especially monthly billing, while they did place 1 order with us back in December for $60 we have never charged them anything after. They are clearly confusing two different vendors on their statement as being the same.

     

    Domain Registry

  • Complaint Type:
    Product Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    This scammer company repeatedly sends "Domain Name Expiration Notices" that are deceptive, making people think their web domain is going to expire.

    Business response

    03/23/2023

    We are not a "scammer company" nor have we ever sent anything deceptive, our offers clearly state they are asking potential clients if they would like to transfer to ** for their domain renewals. The solicitation reads:

     


     

     

    Thank you for your time,

     

    Domain Registry

    Customer response

    03/23/2023


    Complaint: 19639584

    I am rejecting this response because:

    Your letters are incessant and deceptive.

    Regards,

    ***********************

    Business response

    03/24/2023

    We are rejecting their response because we have never sent anything deceptive.

     

    Domain Registry

Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.

BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.

When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.

As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.