Godaddy.com WEB HOSTING and DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION is a total HOAX!!! The domain names we registered with godaddy - which they said were available were in use...the WEBSITE TONIGHT they claimed we would have online that evening because it was so easy to setup-never worked right!
They talk you into protecting your domain names in case someone steals them, this is the biggest HOAX of all. The protection they are offering, that you do not have to show a Federal EIN or DBA registration, can only be cancelled if you have a Federal EIN or registered DBA...when they are scaring you into purchasing this said protection for your domain name -that is already in use, can only be cancelled if you show these documents. They keep your bank account information and charge it automatically until you can produce said items-with your government issued ID with your picture, that you may or may not have-I might add these docs were not required to get the protection but are required to get out of the protection. After they spin you for months, of course, they claim your use of the protection for those months, so you get next to nothing of your money back.

WARNING: DO NOT TRUST GODADDY.COM...

Transaction occurred between 9:00 and 9:30 am pacific time.

Complaint against Customer Service personnel regarding threats to damage my web site

I was aware that all of my nine domains leading to my primary account were up for renewal at the end of this Spring. I have been getting large numbers of reminders from your company reminding me of this.

Today I thought I would take care of it. Using the link on one of those emails,
https://www.godaddy.com/icann/domain_search.aspx?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=BBCNAA
I saw a yellow box which said (25% off your order of $75 or more). I have just rechecked it after this discussion, and notice that this offer has been removed by your personnel. Go figure.

But it was this offer which encouraged me to make an even larger purchase than I would have. I assumed that clicking through that page would have allowed the discount to show up at the final purchase. See below. It did not.

I immediately called and after several minutes was put through to [email protected]. I am afraid that I did not catch his name on the first conversation. I sent him copies of the page I had looked at and he agreed that it said (25% off your order of $75 or more) and when I clicked for (details) it said the exact same thing.

He told me it was a moot point because I had gotten a discount already off of the bundled purchase. I told him that I believed the (25% off your order of $75 or more) involved bait and switch tactics. I would not have done such a large purchase (2 years) unless I anticipated getting that discount. I requested that he cancel the purchase and I would make a decision at a later date. He told me if I canceled the purchase, I would immediately lose all of my domain names -- even though they did not expire until May and June.

I asked to talk to his supervisor. Dirk Cyr was the name given to me when I requested it. He reiterated the threat. I said it was BAIT AND SWITCH. He told me I should have read the fine print at the bottom of the page. I told him that most people do not read beyond the CLICK HERE and the place where the KEY needed to be pasted. Again I asked to have the transaction, based on the (25% off your order of $75 or more) to be voided. Again he said that, by doing so, I would lose all rights to my domain names and my web site. And I could not change the order. He said I had already gotten a bulk discount regardless of the (25% off your order of $75 or more).

I told him this was unrealistic and I asked for contact information for the Legal Department of Godaddy. He said there was not a Legal Department at GoDaddy. Go figure.

Then, to my surprise, he kept repeating my name and said he could no longer hear me and that we obviously had a bad connection. He said he would hold on for 90 seconds and that the time was ticking away.

It took me only a few seconds to find this email address [email protected], I wanted to provide the link with the initial offer and it no longer appeared on that page. I believe this is BAIT AND SWITCH. I believe I have been duped by this offer to purchase more than I had intended. I feel that I was trick. I was not provided Customer Service by the department of that name.

If you are not going to honor the offer, then at least allow me to cancel without ruining my company by crashing my web site. That is an ugly threat. I will take my business elsewhere -- after 12 years with your company, this is unconconcionable.

I am copying this email to the California Department of Consumer Affairs and every single Consumer Affairs reporter I can possibly find on the Internet.

Sincerely,

Penny Goforth
Grant Writing Specialists
4281 Lowell Street #19
La Mesa, CA 91941-6061
619.460.2738

THIS IS A WARNING: DO NOT USE GODADDY AS YOUR INTERNET HOSTING PROVIDER There are other website companies out there: http://www.top10hosts.net/ GODADDY IS RATED the WORST. I'VE HAD BAD EXPERIENCES WITH THEM FROM SERVERS GOING DOWN TO TRYING TO EXTORT ME OUT OF $199 FOR SENDING TOO MANY EMAILS. NO WARNINGS, JUST AN EMAIL SAYING IF I DIDN'T PAY $199 THEN THEY WOULD SUSPEND MY WEBSITE. I'VE PAID FOR 2 YEARS UP-FRONT AND WAS NOT SENDING SPAM EMAILS. I'VE SENT MESSAGES TO [email protected], [email protected], AND [email protected]. LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

I think GoDaddy ARE a RipOff, I have hundreds of domains with numerous registrars and GoDaddy is the only site that seems to be designed to trip you up. The site is always trying to sell you things you don't need and it uses language that would confuse new users making them think they were obligated to take certain services.

I would also WARN potential customers that GoDaddy has some RIPOFF terms and conditions and is really inflexible.

I had a domain due to expire in July 2010, I logged into the GoDaddy portal and requested a password to transfer it to another registrar. I then had do dig around to find the place where you unlock the domain. Whilst I was there I noticed a typo in my WHOIS info and corrected it.

I went to my main registar and kicked off the transfer with the auth code, but instead of receiving the email telling me to confirm the transfer I get a message saying:

"The transfer of YOURDOMAIN.COM from GoDaddy.com, Inc. to another registrar could not be completed for the following reason(s):

Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. - email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means).

The express written objection may be the result of a pending or recently completed Change of Registered Name Holder. This is an opt-in process during which the new Registered Name Holder agrees not to transfer for 60-days. This domain will be transferrable on 8/6/2010.

The language alone is enough to drive you nuts, “express written objection”, well when I called to find out who had objected it turned out that it was GoDaddy itself.

I have made changes to my domains dozens of times but at GoDaddy this kicks off a restrictive practice and what is worse is that when you inform them of it they refuse to fix it. Worse still the GoDaddy rep is obnoxious, keeps you waiting 23 minutes and then tells you that you should know their full terms and conditions.

Now when you transfer ownership and usually registrar there is an ICANN rule that says you cannot transfer it again for 60 days, but RipOff GoDaddy adds it own 60 day restriction when you correct a typo, the ownership did not change and even when they were advised of this they refused to be flexible and release the hold.

So now if I don’t renew my domain will expire in July and I can’t transfer away till August. Well this is one paltry domain of over 150 that I own, GoDaddy will rip me off for less than 10 lousy dollars but they have created so much bad will. I am a domain investor, I like to use a single supplier to make admin easier, so when domains come to expire I move them to my preferred supplier. However, once a year or when prices go up (like next month) I take another look at my single supplier and compare them to the market. Well this stunt means that GoDaddy will NEVER be considered as a supplier, moreover, I warn other buyers to steer well clear of GoDaddy and I urge others to spread the word about GoDaddy.

GoDaddy, well yes Daddy I am going, you may get your $10 but I will be out of here when you can’t stop me on 8/6/2010.

GoDaddy has the worse reputation in the industry for domain and hosting services. No matter who I talk to, they view GoDaddy is poor service, mediocre hosting quality, and is quite the scammer with payments. GoDaddy will keep any payment information on file and harvest the information to collect money from you for renewals or orders you have never authorized. They keep charging and charging endlessly whether you approved for it or not and they will automatically go through any payment method you have ever used and charge on that even if it is not related to the purchase of the product in question. With GoDaddy the customer is simply never right. They will never provide refunds and argue endlessly to justify any charges they do. Customer support is so bad it's a joke. At best you get a response back that has no relation to the question you ask. And they go on and on like that so you get nowhere with them.

What the company does is no different than the old AOL guerilla tactics, where a subscription became impossible to cancel. Customers could try even for 1-2 years to cancel their service with AOL and they would simply not do it. GoDaddy is like this. For this reason I don't use this scam company anymore. In addition, a friend of mine who is a web developer had so many problems with GoDaddy he gets nautiated if the name is mentioned. He has canceled hundreds (yes, HUNDREDS) of domains and hosting accounts with GoDaddy and transferred them to another service for the same reasons and experiences I had.

I've tried other hosting companies since, and never once had the bad experiences I had with GoDaddy. GoDaddy is by far the WORSE domain and hosting provider out there and truly on the bottom rung of scammers.

DON'T WASTE TIME AND MONEY ON GODADDY UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR CREDIT CARD TO BE MISUSED!!! YOU WILL NEVER GET ANY SUPPORT OR CUSTOMER RIGHTS IF YOU BUY FROM GODADDY.