[conspire] (forw) 1268808 Re: (forw) Hoping for help with an IWantMyName support problem

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):

> Well ... forward progress at least.

And now, after tugging on their sleeves a second time, _finally_ 
they have it right.  Not really impressive that it took them two 
tries, but I accept the result.

   Cameron Muir, 7 Feb 2023, 00:17 UTC

   Hi Rick,

   We have now set the additional contacts for both names to disclose.

   Cameron Muir
   Retail Customer Success Manager (Global)

...which you can bloody well believe I verified.  ;->

I don't know whether I'm pleased, made wary, or both, that fixing a
_very_ basic registrar task required two escalations to the "Retail
Customer Success Manager (Global)".  Both, I think.

It makes it appear that their customer-facing Support staff cannot
handle Registrar 101.

Anyway, I'll stay at IWantMyName for now, but will keep the option of 
moving to Gandi on hot standby, for the next time they fall into
fsckery.

> Anyway, I offer, by way of comparison ...
> Gandi.net ...
> What's the interface on that look like, about this dead simple:
> 
> [disable/enable toggle switch] Email address privacy
> 
> Hide email address in Gandi's public WHOIS database as well as the
> registry's.
> We take care of forwarding email to your address. Learn more[1].
> If you deactivate this option, you agree to your real email address
> being displayed in the public whois.
> 
> 
> [disable/enable toggle switch] Personal data privacy
> 
> Hide personal data in Gandi's public WHOIS database.
> Some extensions protect data at the registry level. See which ones[1].
> If you deactivate the option, you agree to make all your data
> public. Learn more[1].
> 
> 1. https://docs.gandi.net/en/domain_names/common_operations/whois_privacy.html
> 
> Basically a pair of items to optionally toggle, and a [SAVE]
> button/click or the like.

I like it.

> Or, something slightly more topical - GDPR and how various registrars
> did and/or didn't handle that.  Gandi.net handled it highly well,
> and in very timely manner.  Many registrars basically went and hid
> the information from whois - with no option to opt out of that,
> some only added the option later, or could only be done via a
> manual support request or the like - some still don't offer the
> option to opt out.

Yep.  This is what was  _visited upon_ IWantMyName customers
(including me), by back-end registrar 1API Gmbh, of which IWantMyName
was (and remains) a front-end reseller.  The saving grace is that 
IWantMyName staff, even though taken by surprise by 1API Gmbh shooting
them in the foot, figured it out very quickly and got 1API to fix it,
without my needing to sherherd the matter.  So, they got points.
(This was before IWantMyName got acquired and apparently lobotomised.)