I just ran into this thread because it seems they over-billed me at regular price when it was supposed to be $4.99. It's a bit odd because a month earlier I registered one for $0.99.
The past 5 years I've had no trouble at all, personally or at work for clients. Their support, though obviously outsourced to a third world country (my guess is India), is very good. Hosting is cheap and most importantly their servers are pretty fast compared to other cheap hosts. Go to net firms but they're over-priced in everything imo. If you're going to transfer it out after the year's up, it might be a good idea, but that's why I like 1and1. I don't think you can beat a regular price of $9.99 a year? Even with the hosting, sure you get a decent 'Sales' rate for a year or two at NetFirms, but after that you're spanked with at least twice the cost.
I'll be calling 1and1 tomorrow and see how it goes. I might have to threaten transferring everything out for my $5 lol, which even though is a pain, I have no problem doing. It's too bad I didn't take screen shots or something, because I have no real proof, but hopefully I won't need them.