Honestly,
I still think that is too much.
Others may disagree with me here, but not only is Verisign too much for all the services they offer, I recommend to all my clients to pick a different registrar.
Have you ever tried to transfer a domain name away from them….say 30 days before expiration?? Forget it, you can’t! You must transfer away from them 31 days or before….or they will make you pay the $35 before they will release it.
Ever tried to move a host record away from Verisign? Be careful with this one…It’s safest to just move the entire domain that carries your host record to a different registrar, and contact that registrar ahead of time to be sure the host record will move smoothly.
emg35, I’m not sure they can force you to pay the $200, unless they normally charge 200 for a restore. (in that case I would think you may have no option if you want to hold on to the name.)
Did you pay for the renewal with your CC? Was the card charged? If so, you could file a domain name dispute, but that would tie up the name for a considerable amount of time.
If you decide to transfer, many registrars will give you a year from the time you put the transfer order in. I personally run a front end for a registrar as a “transparent registrar” for my hosting clients and if you would like the link, send me a private message and I will reply with the link. (It would not be appropriate for me to post the link in this open forum)
Rick