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InterServer padded my WHOIS queries—281 fake charges

Domain Names by uma 24 replies 2.5K views
uma

Member OP

99.99% or bust

11 #1

October statement from InterServer: $4.87 "WHOIS Lookup Surcharge" appearing 23 times. I run automated monitoring (the graphs don't lie) and my scripts hit WHOIS exactly twice per domain daily: 07:00 and 19:00 UTC. That's 62 queries/month per domain. I hold 4 domains there. Expected: 248 queries. Billed: 529 queries.

Cross-referenced my logs with their API timestamps. 281 phantom queries. At $0.02/query, that's $5.62/month of fiction. Annualized: $67.44 for queries that never happened.

Status page showed 99.97% uptime on their billing portal last month. The graphs don't lie, but apparently their accounting does.

Anyone else seeing line-item WHOIS inflation? I audit three other registrars and this is the only one with query-level billing. Suspicious granularity usually hides padding.

436 days. reboot is surrender.
emalite

Member

Lisbon

#2

Mas eu tenho 12 domínios lá!!!

Fatura veio tipo WHOIS WHOIS WHOIS

Não entendi nada

annexbi

Member

#3

The graphs don't lie (but accountants apparently do (or maybe just (and this is the worrying part) their "automated" systems are "rounding up" in ways that (conveniently) always favor them))) — I checked my InterServer statement (after reading this ) and found the same pattern (though less dramatic (only 47 extra queries (which is still $0.94 I didn't agree to)))

Has anyone considered (and this is where it gets interesting (legally speaking)) whether this constitutes metered billing fraud? (the kind of thing that (in theory) triggers consumer protection laws (not that those exist everywhere (or are enforced)))

Ironic that a company named after a bird would peck at your wallet like this

push. done. coffee.
DR

Member

#4

What is WHOIS? I just pay my bill every year and dont look at the lines Should I be checking? I use InterServer for my shop domain. Where do I find this info?

tinaworm

Member

#5

- InterServer statements: login, navigate to billing, select "usage details"
- look for line items labeled "whois query" or "lookup surcharge"
- compare count against your actual needs: most small businesses require zero automated lookups
- document discrepancies with screenshots
- file complaint with registrar first, then card issuer if unresolved

-t

worst bandwidth, best stories
surabayacandle

Member

#6

I check my bill just now. Very suspicious gan

InterServer charging me for WHOIS queries I never make. I dont even know how to query. Just have 1 domain for my blog. 89 queries they say. Impossible gan.

No capitalization because im too angry to press shift.

Thinking to move to Vultr tonight. Cheap and no query fees... anyone used them before??

carlos2

Member

#7

Class-action already filed against Hetzner for same practice last month. Different registrar, same phantom queries. Which providers take XMR and don't do usage-based billing? I want flat rate only.

Privacy coins aside, this is why I self-host DNS on my own nameservers. Less trust, more verify. InterServer and Hetzner both off my list.

not your keys, not your coins
larryjeong

Member

#8

281 phantom queries seems high, got raw logs to share

$3/year. 128MB RAM. Pure happiness.
JokoNord

Member

#9

47 extra. That's still $0.94. Did you dispute it yet...

traffic worse than my packet loss
annexbi

Member

5 #10
larryjeong said:
281 phantom queries seems high, got raw logs to share

I would also like to see these logs (though I understand if you prefer not to (privacy concerns (even for WHOIS queries (which are public by design (but the timing data is not)))))

What I can share from my own audit: I wrote a script that captures InterServer's API response headers including their x-query-count field. Compared against my own counter incremented only on successful 200 responses. Divergence starts on day 3 of every billing cycle. Consistent. Not random.

The parenthetical rabbit hole continues.

push. done. coffee.

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