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| Exposing the Many Reasons Not to Trust GoDaddy with Your Domain Names |
| Navigation | ||||
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| Introduction | Headlines | Alternative Registrars | ||
| GoDaddy Horror Stories | Forums | NoDaddy Girls | ||
| Free Speech Organizations | Acknowledgments | Legal Threats | ||
| Introduction |
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Many people don't think much about choosing a registrar, and simply pick one they have heard of. This often leads them to GoDaddy, who may be the leader in money spent on marketing and advertising (on the Super Bowl and elsewhere). Unfortunately GoDaddy doesn't seem to focus much on stability, security, or customer service. Instead that have devised innovative ways to overcharge customers and thwart customer attempts to transfer to superior registrars.
This site was created by Gordon Lyon (AKA Fyodor) after GoDaddy intentionally shut down one of my most important sites (SecLists.Org) without even giving me a reason. When GoDaddy noticed their blunder and reporters started calling them on it, they resorted to libeling me. A wired reporter even caught them in a lie as their General Counsel Christine Jones contradicted herself in a single interview. Since this site isn't just about my story, I've moved the full details here.
I created this site to document instances of customer abuse at GoDaddy. The goal is for GoDaddy to either improve their policies and customer service, or suffer continued loss of market share to their customer-focused competition.
While I gave this site its bare skeleton, it has become a community effort. As noted in the acknowledgments section, the site logo, some HTML work, the forums, and legal help have all been donated by volunteers. Even this domain name itself was donated by someone with his own horror stories about GoDaddy!
| GoDaddy Horror Stories, Issues, Problems and General Complaints |
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This section describes some of the most serious problems with the GoDaddy service (news reports and first-hand accounts):
GoDaddy suspends accounts without due cause. They often even levy an arbitrary "fines" and hold your domain name ransom until you pay it. GoDaddy stores your credit card number when you make a purchase, allowing them to levy "fines" without your consent (example1, example2, example3).
For example, when Nick Berlette exposed a serious security hole in the website of DynaDot.Com, they apparently responded by persuading GoDaddy to shut down his blog rather than fixing their pathetic security [agiorlando.com]. GoDaddy of course complied immediately, and sent him this shutdown notice. Note that GoDaddy used the ransom approach here, saying he had two options: Pay a "$199 non-refundable reactivation fee" and GD will put his web site back up, or "if you choose to transfer the berlettefx.com domain name to another registrar, we first require that you pay a $75 administration fee ... to cover the costs of responding to or "cleaning up" the situation caused by your web site.
The author of this web page had a similar experience.
GoDaddy loses customer domains. Tim Ziegler learned this the hard way. He founded the site FamilyAlbum.com. Someone filed a complaint that his whois data was invalid. GoDaddy responded by sending him an email asking him to confirm or correct his whois registration data. When he didn't respond in time, GoDaddy took the extraordinary step of deleting the domain name he had paid for and selling it to someone (possibly the same guy who filed the whois complaint) who had already placed a backorder on FamilyAlbum.Com. GoDaddy refused to return the domain name to its rightful owner. There is a good writeup at Domain Name Wire, along with a GoDaddy response where they disclaim responsibility. DomainNameWire also asked other registrars what they would have done. None of them had the GoDaddy policy of "send an email then delete the domain if no response comes in time". If you hold domains at GoDaddy, you better not go on any extended vacations, suffer hospitalization, or use a spam filter which might drop that critical email!
GoDaddy uses dirty tricks to block domain name transfers. If you make the mistake of becoming a GoDaddy customer, you may find it difficult to leave. ICANN is supposed to regulate registrars to ensure competition, but GoDaddy is constantly pushing the boundaries. For example, this section just discussed how GoDaddy may delete your domain if you don't keep your whois information up-to-date. But whenever you update the information, a checkbox pops up saying "For security purposes I authorize the rejection of all transfer requests for all selected domain names for a period of 60 days...". If you don't check that box, GoDaddy won't let you update your contact information. And if you do check the box, GoDaddy refuses to let you transfer the domain because they claim you "expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means" to the transfer. There is a thread about this on NoDaddy forums. GoDaddy imposes the 60-day transfer embargo in other cases too, such as when you transfer a domain name between accounts. If they make you wait long enough, you may have to renew the domain name so it doesn't expire. Renewals cause another 60-day transfer embargo.
GoDaddy knows they are violating ICANN rules with the whois-change-embargo, and will back down if they believe you will file an ICANN complaint. Detailed instructions for what to say have been posted at the forums.
GoDaddy charges extra for a privacy service, then gives up your contact information to anyone who threatens to sue. In News.Com's Private domains not so private?, Alan Cordle pays extra for GoDaddy's privacy service on his poetry contest review site (Foetry.Com), then is outed by GoDaddy at the first sign of trouble.
Want to read more horror stories or post one of your own? Check out the NoDaddy forums!
| Forums |
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We have just launched the NoDaddy Forums at Forums.NoDaddy.Com. This is the best place to discuss your horror stories, alternative registrars, etc. Some of the best postings will be showcased on this page. Big thanks to Rohan Sheth for setting these up!
Remember to stay level-headed and professional in the forums! A reasoned argument is far more persuasive than an obscenity-laden tirade, even when GoDaddy really deserves the latter.
| Latest Posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Category | Date |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | News | Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:35:31 GMT |
| Godaddy Victims and Obesity | Horror Stories | Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:26:13 GMT |
| Re: Questions For Ex-Employees | Whistleblowers | Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:12:17 GMT |
| Re: Questions For Ex-Employees | Whistleblowers | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:17:06 GMT |
| Re: I might be a GoDaddy employee in about a month | Whistleblowers | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:59:56 GMT |
| Re: GD/WWD alleges trademark infringement against their own reseller | GoDaddy Reseller (Wild West Domains) | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:48:25 GMT |
| Re: Thieves or incompetents? | Horror Stories | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:24:29 GMT |
| Re: Adam Dicker is not new to controversy | News | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:51:07 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | News | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:57:07 GMT |
| Re: It's so hard to say goodbye.. | Horror Stories | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:45:13 GMT |
| NoDaddy Girls and Comic strips |
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Nothing hurts GoDaddy worse than biting satire! Plus, everyone needs a good laugh. We're hoping you'll submit your own creative work mocking GoDaddy. Here are some ideas:
You may think GoDaddy treats women (and midgets) in a degrading and disrespectful fashion, but customers get it even worse!
You can post your creations to the NoDaddy Forums or mail them to Fyodor (or both) to be posted to this section.
| Alternative Registrars |
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We haven't performed any significant evaluation of these yet so please don't treat these as our recommendations. Do your own research. But we have heard at least some good things about each entry on this list, so it is a good place to start. And they can't be much worse than GoDaddy! We are only listing ICANN accredited registrars, not resellers. They are in alphabetical order.
To read about other people's experiences with different registrars, or to share your own, check out the NoDaddy forums!
| Headlines |
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| Latest News Posts | ||
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| Title | Summary | Date |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | I have t say that I have used TDNAM a lot i the past with great success. I have paid more than i wanted to for some of the domain names that i won, but never bothered to look up who i had been bidding against. such is the way of auctions, it shouldnt m... | Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:35:31 GMT |
| Re: Adam Dicker is not new to controversy | It is amazing how much mis-information everyone throws around on this site. When registering with the forums everyone agrees to post accurately, but most of what I read on this site is a bunch of bias bogus garbage. No hosting provider is perfect, and ... | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:51:07 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | I can see the potential for conflict of interest but I also see the other side of the coin, in that it doesn't make sense to me to prohibit so many potential buyers from bidding on a... | Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:57:07 GMT |
| Adam Dicker is not new to controversy | WOW what a shocker Adam Dicker in a state of controversy. It is really sad that GoDaddy has allowed this scumbag to be VP of their company considering he is a DirecTV & EchoStar hacker who use to operate DSSFileXchange.com and SatansPlayhouse.com and m... | Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:03:40 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions |
I can see the potential for conflict of interest but I also see the other side of the coin, in that it doesn't make sense to me to prohibit so many potential buyers from bidding on auctions. I'm sure that Godaddy employees have an interest in domains... | Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:34:52 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions |
Wired has a follow-up to this story: http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/06/godaddy-vp-caug.html The story is mainly about Dicker having his finger in many pies. It also includes a reply from GoDaddy: Quote The company adds that Dicker didn't hide hi...
| Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:11:04 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions |
last week, i found a keyword rich domain name ( definetly good ) with http://www.iyiz.com/free-domain-name-business-tools/ , and i check it on Godaddy to see it is available and 2 minute ... | Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:55:44 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | GoDaddy isn't bad. If the guy wants to buy a domain then let him. | Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:16:29 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions | The "Go Daddy has reviewed the auction and found nothing improper" comment was posted by GoDaddyPR at Digg. That Digg Userid describes themself as "Melanie Schmitt (GoDaddyPR) = A 25 year-old female from Scottsdale, AZ (US) who joined Digg on March 27t... | Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:51:05 GMT |
| Re: News: GoDaddy allows executives to bid against own customers in auctions |
Errr...what does Godaddy say about this matter, if he's just joined then his previous bids shouldn't mean a whole lot... I'm not too sure where this comes from but it was pos... | Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:30:27 GMT |
For the very latest news on GoDaddy, try Google News Search. Whenever you see a new GoDaddy fiasco in the news, please post a link at the NoDaddy Forums.
| Free Speech Organizations |
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While we don't accept donations, there are plenty of great organizations fighting for free speech who do. They also generally have tons of free information on their web sites. Examples are the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Citizen, and Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Also take a look at Chilling Effects, which archives content takedown attempts all over the Web.
| Acknowledgments |
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We would like to thank the many people who made this site possible. Big thanks to:
| Legal Threats |
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One thing GoDaddy has actually done right is that they haven't (yet?) threatened to shut this site down or sued us. Hopefully they won't stoop to that level, as their heavy-handed antics are what got them into this mess in the first place. But if we receive any threats or summonses from GoDaddy, we will post them here.
While we hope it doesn't come to this, several excellent attorneys with experience winning domain name cases very similar to this one have offered pro-bono assistance in case GoDaddy does attack. Big thanks to them!