Google sells domain division to Squarespace - DNS edits are a nightmare

[bigredseo]

Sorry guys - it's time for a rant!

Google sold the domain division to Squarespace last year and are still in the process of transferring domains into Squarespace control.

I probably have about 50 domains that have transferred successfully, and the DNS for each of them are still using Google's DNS system or the web host directly.

Today however, I decided to work on a site that I had registered the domain name through Squarespace last month. I figured, If all my other domains would be there, I may as well push my registration through there too. Money wasn't a factor - it was purely convenience.

Well, I want to activate the site, but the DNS is pointing to Squarespace. I can't configure the Custom Records as there are already default records created by Squarespace that point to their system. So I then try to delete the Default Records (as instructed via the dashboard and docs) but it says "an error has occurred, please contact support for assistance with DNS edits".

I then had to open a chat window, which is a bot. I hate bots.

I fill out my details expecting to get passed to a support person, but instead it tells me "your info has been passed along and we will respond via email when we can"

So, now I'm supposed to sit around and wait for someone, at some unknown time, who will send me an email to say, "Click the trashcan to delete the record", knowing that it doesn't work and I'm stuck further.

So to resolve, I've bypassed the custom records at Squarespace and pointed the DNS directly at the new host, however now I have to wait on the DNS to release and propagate! Even with flushing ipconfig, there's no new polling data happening with the new request.

I modified the hosts record on my computer to get on with my day, but NORMAL people wouldn't know to do that.

So, my rant.... if you're going to offer a dashboard, make sure it works! This transition for Google has been interesting. Many of our collaborator settings have been removed on transfer, so that's it's own nightmare I have to deal with too. We don't sell domains for clients any more - they register where they want, and those with Godaddy we plug in via the Pro Panel (and that's it's own cluster*** too).

It's seriously not this hard!

 

[bigredseo]

Just an update.. SquareSpace took 41 hours to respond to my helpdesk ticket.
During that time, the site would have been offline and I wouldn't have been able to work.

The response from their staff was to try using a different browser, and to be sure to read the docs on how to do it.

I responded that I used a different browser, and incognito mode, and followed the directions. I then provided a video capture of what I was doing.

In order to get the site online for everyone else, I pushed through a Name Server change, since I couldn't edit the DNS A Records. About 30 minutes later, the site was populated via the new nameservers and I was off and running.

I received a response from Squarespace later to see "I see you resolved your issue, please let us know if you need anything further" and then they closed the ticket.

Issue is not actually resolved, I just found a different solution.

So 4 days is the expected resolution time for DNS issues I guess... wow!

 

[CanSpace]

I think that a company that takes 41 hours to respond to a support ticket without actually being helpful, is in no position to make any acquisitions until they resolve that first.

I agree, if you place that much faith and money in creating a dashboard, relying on DIY model, it better be working flawlessly. I am glad you were able to resolve it. An average consumer would have been waiting for days.

Oh, and I also absolutely hate chat bots.

 

[Greenhost.cloud]

Dealing with domain transfers and DNS can be frustrating, Especially when faced with errors and delays that are irritating. Squarespace's response time was slow, But finding a workaround was the way to go.
The problem that most busy companies have is that you can't really expect good support from them.