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Founders Hub Support Staff Need Training

Shaun Tonstad 15 Reputation points
Oct 23, 2024, 5:16 PM

I am five weeks into the verification process, and I've hit roadblocks that can be attributed to training issues among support staff.

  1. Support staff do not appear to understand that a DBA ("Does Business As") registration is a legal operating name for a company. For example, if the Company Name is "Microsoft", and there is a registered DBA (assumed name registration) for "Activision", both Microsoft and Activision SHOULD be recognized as valid company names for the purpose of business and domain registration. Support staff should understand how to identify and read DBA/Assumed Business Name filings.
  2. Support staff do not understand how to access or read domain WHOIS information. If the company name is "Microsoft" and public WHOIS registration for a domain states "Microsoft" is the business registrant, this should be sufficient.
  3. By design, some domain names are not publicly registered. This protects the telephone and address information of the registrant. A PDF export of the registration from the domain issuer should suffice for domain validation.

As a result of this lack of training here is the experience I encountered:

For business registration I provided a state-issued certificate of business standing, assumed name registration (DBA), corporate annual report filing, bank statement with mailing address, and secretary of state business registration. These documents were repeatedly rejected en masse.

The first reason given was invalid dates, which is false. The second reason given was use of a DBA name in the Founders Hub with documents showing the corporation name. The support staff did not understand that the provided assumed business name filing connects the two registrations.

Separately, for domain registration I provided PDFs of the domain sales receipt and the product dashboard. Both documents clearly showed the domain name and ownership. When this was rejected, I made the domain registration information public. The support staff rejected this WHOIS registration when it clearly shows the business name and address.

As of today, my domain is still not validated.

I hope Microsoft can get this figured out. I imagine that each business registration requires multiple support inquires with several emails exchanged. This is wasteful and unnecessary.

Thank you.

Azure Startups
Azure Startups
Azure: A cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying and managing applications and services through a worldwide network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.Startups: Companies that are in their initial stages of business and typically developing a business model and seeking financing.
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