User Review #48 by Nevada on April 10th, 2010 at 10:15 AM CDT

Name

I had 10 domains with GoDaddy for over 8 years. Then one day I get an email from the "Abuse Department" claiming I have been sending out spam. They have blocked my domain and want $199 to unblock it. Now I know that I have never sent out any emails, let alone spam so I call GoDaddy. A guy named Will answers the phone and says he has a copy of an email sent from my domain. I reply that email headers can be faked and he agrees. So I ask him why does he want $199 to unblock? He replies that it is because he has evidence that spam email has been sent. I again note that he does not have evidence because the email he has can be faked. He agrees and then repeats himself 6 times. Basically I know and he knows he has no evidence, but he just keeps repeating "I have a copy of a spam email sent from your domain." I also note that the spam email reported to him could have been sent by a competitor trying to drive me out of business. To no avail... I send him additional information about my server, including IP address. I get a reply that for $75 Godaddy will let me "transfer out". By now I am pretty riled. It's not that I don't have $75, but this is just blackmail!!! I try to transfer the domain to another registrar but GoDaddy won't give me the authorization codes needed. I look at my options and complain to Better Business Bureau, ICANN and Internic and also let Godaddy customer service know that I am complaining. Like magic I get my authorization codes for the transfer! Essentially, Godaddy will accept any forwarded email (which can be edited to make it look as it came from your domain) and shut down your domain. A wonderful oppotunity for your competitors to drive you out of business! Bye, bye Godaddy... you lost a customer who had been with you for many years because of your attempted blackmail.

I had 10 domains with GoDaddy for over 8 years. Then one day I get an email from the "Abuse Department" claiming I have been sending out spam. They have blocked my domain and want $199 to unblock it. Now I know that I have never sent out any emails, let alone spam so I call GoDaddy.

A guy named Will answers the phone and says he has a copy of an email sent from my domain. I reply that email headers can be faked and he agrees. So I ask him why does he want $199 to unblock? He replies that it is because he has evidence that spam email has been sent. I again note that he does not have evidence because the email he has can be faked. He agrees and then repeats himself 6 times. Basically I know and he knows he has no evidence, but he just keeps repeating "I have a copy of a spam email sent from your domain." I also note that the spam email reported to him could have been sent by a competitor trying to drive me out of business. To no avail...

I send him additional information about my server, including IP address. I get a reply that for $75 Godaddy will let me "transfer out". By now I am pretty riled. It's not that I don't have $75, but this is just blackmail!!! I try to transfer the domain to another registrar but GoDaddy won't give me the authorization codes needed.

I look at my options and complain to Better Business Bureau, ICANN and Internic and also let Godaddy customer service know that I am complaining. Like magic I get my authorization codes for the transfer!

Essentially, Godaddy will accept any forwarded email (which can be edited to make it look as it came from your domain) and shut down your domain. A wonderful oppotunity for your competitors to drive you out of business!

Bye, bye Godaddy... you lost a customer who had been with you for many years because of your attempted blackmail.

User Review #47 by Lisa on April 5th, 2010 at 4:47 AM CDT

Name

My one week with Go Daddy has been a NIGHTMARE. I had read a couple good things about them so when I had some problems with my old web host I made the switch without researching. BIG MISTAKE. While they do offer 24 hour phone support, it took at least 5 long phone calls to different people to get the website actually up in the correct folder, and then it took 3 more days and 5 more longer phone calls to configure the email to my Apple mail. I never had any of these problems with my old host service, Directnic. (They had other issues like invalid certificates and bad outgoing email.) I finally was given all the technical info I needed when I called to ask about getting a refund; then they told me some mail settings that nobody else had even mentioned that finally made the email work. BUT I am still receiving my hosted email several hours after it gets sent. If I didn't have to wait 60 days to switch servers I would switch today, probably to Hostgator after doing some actual research. And Go Daddy's website is the worst, most frustrating site I have ever used. Ever. Every time you click on something a new window pops open, you get 10 windows and still can't get the information you need, and it does seem like being in a used car lot, as someone mentioned. Oh, and did I mention the phone people are pretty high pressure when it comes to selling stuff so I ended up shelling out for a couple years in advance; I was told I'll get a full refund on unused hosting time, so I will test that out in 60 days when I switch!

My one week with Go Daddy has been a NIGHTMARE. I had read a couple good things about them so when I had some problems with my old web host I made the switch without researching. BIG MISTAKE. While they do offer 24 hour phone support, it took at least 5 long phone calls to different people to get the website actually up in the correct folder, and then it took 3 more days and 5 more longer phone calls to configure the email to my Apple mail. I never had any of these problems with my old host service, Directnic. (They had other issues like invalid certificates and bad outgoing email.) I finally was given all the technical info I needed when I called to ask about getting a refund; then they told me some mail settings that nobody else had even mentioned that finally made the email work. BUT I am still receiving my hosted email several hours after it gets sent. If I didn't have to wait 60 days to switch servers I would switch today, probably to Hostgator after doing some actual research.

And Go Daddy's website is the worst, most frustrating site I have ever used. Ever. Every time you click on something a new window pops open, you get 10 windows and still can't get the information you need, and it does seem like being in a used car lot, as someone mentioned. Oh, and did I mention the phone people are pretty high pressure when it comes to selling stuff so I ended up shelling out for a couple years in advance; I was told I'll get a full refund on unused hosting time, so I will test that out in 60 days when I switch!

User Review #46 by Shelli on March 22nd, 2010 at 3:02 PM CDT

Name

I feel like I stepped onto a used car salesman lot as well. Not just from purchasing a domain, but also subjecting myself to their extremely horrible service. Godaddy is a clear case of a company that has gotten too big to care about their patrons. From the men to the women, their like vultures when it comes to getting your money by any means necessary, including ripping you off and then throwing their hands up with no solution or intentions of giving your money back. I don't like them. I will never use them for webhosting. I've been researching. I think I will go with hostgator. They are out of Texas, and living in Texas and knowing what I know, if their customer service is anything as wonderful and texan hospitality, I should be in good hands. ..

I feel like I stepped onto a used car salesman lot as well. Not just from purchasing a domain, but also subjecting myself to their extremely horrible service.

Godaddy is a clear case of a company that has gotten too big to care about their patrons. From the men to the women, their like vultures when it comes to getting your money by any means necessary, including ripping you off and then throwing their hands up with no solution or intentions of giving your money back. I don't like them. I will never use them for webhosting.

I've been researching. I think I will go with hostgator. They are out of Texas, and living in Texas and knowing what I know, if their customer service is anything as wonderful and texan hospitality, I should be in good hands. ..