GoDaddy.com

After having been a customer of GoDaddy for over 3 years, I have come to hate it. 6 months ago, I was charged a significant amount over what I had expected when my web hosting auto-renewed. Although I was able to resolve the issue, I asked specifically to be notified of upcoming charges as a common courtesy.

But once again, I was billed automatically for my auto-renew services without being notified of the 450% (Yes, I actually looked back at the previous bill) price increase on the same exact service I signed up for 3 years ago. I was able to cancel my service, but was left the chore of migrating my email to Rackspace.

Bottom line: Don't sign up for GoDaddy. The nature of hosting is such that it's a big pain to migrate, so once they have you locked in, they jack up their prices and try to sneak them past you. They send dozens of emails to let you know when products that aren't set for auto-renewal are about to expire, but not a single one to let you know that they skyrocketed your prices and you're about to get socked with a $900 bill for email.

There are enough good businesses out there who have pricing that is straightforward. Save yourself the hassle and go with a company that communicates their prices to you.

GoDaddy--I was a loyal customer for three years. Why do you not care about your existing customer?

Watch out for godaddy hosting on sale at a reduced price. I now find that it means your email is hosted on a blacklisted server and half of your addressees will never receive your email. Also, Goaddy's customer support is "Sales and Support" with more emphasis on the sales than the support. They attempt to sell you another product that will solve your problem instead of taking the time to address your actual issue. I had multiple attempts to get them to pursue delisting the server they had our email hosted on, to no avail. They actually just refused to try, constantly telling me that it was someone else's problem -- the receiver's host, the blacklisting company's error, etc. They insisted that I would have to take care of it myself.

I've had a domain registered through them for a few years. I usually pay about a cheap $10 for a yearly fee. I was late this year in registering and they want to charge me $80 as a late fee! That's an 800% markup!! This is a horrible, unethical business practice. It's horrible customer service as I was not notified of this excessive late fee! I asked politely if they could work with me on the fee, and they refused. I feel like my domain name is being held 'ransom'.

I have a printed receipt that I have paid through October 2014. However, GoDaddy insists that I update my file with a new credit card. AND that they have now cancelled my Web Site Address. I have twice phoned to offer them my printed receipt but they will not accept it. This is rediculout. AND THE PHONE NUMBER & FAX # you state here on the Revdex.com site IS Not functional.

[redacted], Sarasota, FL.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have reviewed our customer's correspondence and would like to present the following. Upon purchase of services, our customer acknowledged and accepted the following...

agreements: • Universal Terms of Service Agreement• Domain Name Registration Agreement• Hosting Agreement The latest version of these agreements may be found at:  http://www.godaddy.com/legal-agreements.aspx. Our customer purchased two separate services, a domain name and hosting. To clarify what occurred with both services:• The customer's account settings instructed GoDaddy to not renew the domain, we honored this instruction. • The customer's account settings instructed GoDaddy to renew their hosting plan, we honored this instruction.  Account management is a customer responsibility and our customer agreed to this upon when they agreed to our terms.  Resolution: GoDaddy has upheld its agreements with the customer in good faith. As the customer has canceled their hosting, we have issued a full refund for the renewal and hope to earn their future business. Thank you again for the opportunity to address the concerns presented by our valuable customer.Kindest regards, [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.  However, I would like the company to be more honesty about their services.  They did not offer an agreement to universal services upon sign up.  As you can see by the screen shots, there is no offering of a user agreement upon sign up, it just takes you to sign up and nothing was granted as a cancel policy or a charge policy.  They just sign you up and you have to locate later on through contacting their customer service department how to find the policy for cancellation, user agreement, and refunds.  I have the screenshots where I found out that they don't tell you that you only receive a refund of in-store credit.

Regards,[redacted]

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have reviewed our customer's complaint and the GoDaddy account in question and would like to present the following.Upon the addition of our Protected Registration services to their domain names...

via an online transaction, our customer acknowledged the following agreements:• GoDaddy Universal Terms of Service Agreement• Domain Name Registration Agreement• Domain Name Proxy AgreementThe most recent version of these agreements can be found at the following URL:https://www.[redacted]One of the features of our premium Protected Registration service is to protect against the cancellation/expiration of the domain name. Domain names which have this service cannot be canceled until the Protected Registration is canceled. This is done by way of submitting a valid government issued ID, Business ID if applicable, and a signed form to our Domain Services Department.   Resolution:GoDaddy has acted in good faith to uphold its agreements with our customer.  The Protected Registration service functioned as advertised; keeping the domain from being canceled without proof of identification.  Our office has connected with our customer via phone and appreciate their candid feedback.  Our goal is to always provide clear communications.   Our customer has completed the process of removing the Protected Registration service from their domain names and have successfully transferred their domain as they had desired.   Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer.Kindest regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,

Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant. We have reviewed this matter and would like to present the following.

The complainant acknowledged and agreed to the following...

agreements upon conducting business with GoDaddy:

•    GoDaddy Universal Terms of Service Agreement

•    [redacted] Terms of Use

On August 7, 2014, the complainant purchased Email Essentials and Business Essentials, each for a one year term.

GoDaddy worked diligently to address the complainant’s concerns, however it was determined that the device in question was not compatible with these services.

RESOLUTION:

GoDaddy has upheld its agreements in good faith with the complainant and honored its terms of service.

GoDaddy cannot ensure that every device will be compatible with our services.  We have refunded the complainant’s email purchase, however we will not be able to compensate the complaint for their time to address their concerns.

Thank you again for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant.

Kindest Regards,

Office of the CEO - GoDaddy

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.However, I would like to add, 1) I did not request the "Protected" status of my account, 2) I tried numerous times to explain this to GoDaddy via phone and email whle attempting to cancel services, 3) Godaddy (along w many other companies) send numerous emails on a regular basis making the import emails difficult to funnel out 4) their online system continually rejected my attempts to cancel my account, 5) if it were not for the Revdex.com's help GoDaddy would never have refunded me, 6) there are probably thousands of people experiencing this daily from this company.

Regards,[redacted]

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,While we have not been able to locate a customer account based on the information provided by the complainant, we can state that due to changes made by [redacted], GoDaddy is no longer able to provide this service.  Resolution:If the...

complainant is a GoDaddy customer and they have paid for the custom [redacted] service, we are happy to refund them in full.  To do so, we need them to contact us directly at [email protected] and provide us with both their cr and receipt number for their purchase.  Note: for security purposes, the complainant should NOT email passwords or payment information such as credit card or checking account numbers.Thank you again for the opportunity to address and ultimately bring resolution to this matter.Kindest regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO – GoDaddy[redacted]Scottsdale, AZ 85260

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Go Daddy policy is to offer their customer's a refund to their original payment method if the customer cancels within five (5) business days of their online order.  This policy was clearly stated by their online support staff.Consistent with this refund policy, GoDaddy agreed via telephone to refund my original payment method on January 28 (Email attached). GoDaddy advised me they were making a partial refund of $11.34 (Email attached) but failed to acknowledge my payment of $63.06.  I contacted GoDaddy again on February 4 for refund of my $63.06 (Copy of my chat with GoDaddy's online support representative is attached, wherein [redacted] promised to refund $63.06).  Go Daddy shortchanged me $12.31, however, in this refund!  They refunded only $51.72. Go Daddy asked whether I wanted an In-Store Credit or a refund to my original Payment Method.  I stated a refund to my original Payment Method and [redacted] agreed. I am certain my $12.31 shortchanging has been repeated many times over by GoDaddy.  It is indicative of a bad business practice.

GoDaddy's obfuscated response to the Revdex.com is even more concerting.  It reflects a refusal to acknowledge their deceitful practice of shortchanging their customers.  GoDaddy's statement about in-store refunds is completely contrary to the evidence submitted herein.Moreover, GoDaddy's onlne chat service is non-functional.  Customers have to wait hours to chat online with a service representative and are repeatedly cut-off before any service representative responds online.  This is a blatant misrepresentation of what online customers are promised they will receive in terms of support on GoDaddy's website.

Customers are clearly promised telephone and online support  Once GoDaddy has lost the trust of customers like me, customers will only deal with the company where there is a record of the conversations--so I do not want to be told to use their telephone service to discuss my $63.06 refund.  I no longer trust GoDaddy.

Regards,[redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  Although we did not agree on how the domains were cancelled, I am satisfied with their response and appreciate its timeliness, and the courtesy and concern extended to me as a long time customer.  They have already provided the refund.  

Regards,

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant. We have reviewed this matter and would like to present the following.The complainant acknowledged and agreed to the following agreements upon...

conducting business with GoDaddy:•    Universal Terms of Service Agreement•    Domain Name Registration Agreement•    Hosting AgreementThe latest version of these agreements can be found at: https://www.godaddy.com/legal-agreements.aspxOn April 9, 2015 the hosting plan in question within the complainant's account expired. Per the complainant’s account preferences, GoDaddy was instructed to not automatically renew the Linux Economy shared hosting account in question and did so in a Good Faith effort to honor its agreements with the complainant. Account management is a customer responsibility.GoDaddy sent renewal notices prior to the expiration date on:•    March 10, 2015•    March 25, 2015GoDaddy also sent notices on and after the expiration date on:•    April 9, 2015•    April 19, 2015On the day the hosting expired, in this case April 9, 2015, the complainant’s agreed and purchased term of hosting ended. After the complainant's agreed and purchased term of hosting ended GoDaddy provided 10 days of live site service without receiving payment from the complainant. When this 10 day period ended, the site was suspended for nonpayment, at which time, GoDaddy will hold the data for an additional 10 days before the data is deleted.   RESOLUTION:GoDaddy has upheld its agreements in good faith with the complainant and honored its terms of service.As a one-time exception, we have extended the complainant’s hosting account by one month at no charge to them.  The complainant will need to download their files from the hosting account prior to its new expiration date of May 9, 2015.EDUCATION:The complainant should be able to recover their content via GoDaddy’s Hosting Control Panel, or via use of a third party FTP (file-transfer protocol) client and the hosting account’s IP address.The following articles from our help center may be useful to the complainant in accessing their content on their shared hosting account:Backing up Your Shared Hosting Accounthttps://support.godaddy.com/help/article/8480/backing-up-your-shared-host...⇄ can I download my shared hosting backups?https://support.godaddy.com/help/article/3382/where-can-i-download-my-sh...⇄ to Your Hosting Account with FileZilla (FTP)https://support.godaddy.com/help/article/104/connecting-to-your-hosting-acc...⇄ Your Hosting Account’s IP Addresshttps://support.godaddy.com/help/article/5232/finding-your-hosting-accoun...⇄ you again for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant.Kindest regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO - GoDaddy

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer. We have reviewed this matter and would like to present the following.Our customer acknowledged and agreed to the following agreements upon...

conducting business with GoDaddy:•    Universal Terms of Service Agreement•    Domain Registration AgreementThe latest version of these agreements can be found at: [redacted]On April 29, 2015 our customer completed two separate online purchases for two domain names listed as Premium Domains on the GoDaddy site. Premium Domains are listed for sale by third-parties, who determine the price for these domains.GoDaddy had unexpected technical issues which caused the domain names in question to be displayed at an incorrect sale price by the third-party sellers. GoDaddy worked quickly and vigorously to resolve the technical issues. On May 1, 2015 the transactions in question were refunded in full and the bernadine.com domain name was returned to the original registrant.RESOLUTION:GoDaddy has upheld its agreements in good faith with our customer and honored its terms of service.Per our Terms of Service, GoDaddy has provided a full refund to our customer for the two transactions in question. The domain names in question are both currently registered and unavailable for new registration.As a gesture of good faith, GoDaddy is offering our customer two new, unregistered domain registrations (choice of .COM, .NET, .ORG, or .INFO), each for a one-year term at no cost. Our customer will be responsible for subsequent renewals should they wish to keep the services beyond the first year. If desired, our customer may contact our office directly to redeem this offer.Thank you again for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer.Kindest regards,[redacted]

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for bringing our customer's additional comments to our attention.To reiterate, GoDaddy proactively sent email notifications to our customer which informed them of the pending product renewals.  These notices stated the services would be automatically renewed unless further action was taken. Account management is a customer responsibility.  Our customer had purchased several .CO domain names that are non-refundable. Upon contact with our 24/7 Customer Care teams on May 5, 2015, a refund was provided to our customer for one of thier domain name renewals in accordance with our Refund Policy.  GoDaddy has upheld its agreements in good faith with our customer and honored its terms of service. GoDaddy had provided the appropriate refund and cannot absorb the fees our customer had incurred due to non-action within their account.  Education:The customer may find the following articles informative.About .co Domain Names -https://support.godaddy.com/help/article/5806Refund Policy -https://support.godaddy.com/help/article/8849Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer.Kindest regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO - GoDaddy[redacted]@GoDaddy.com[redacted]Scottsdale, AZ 85260###-###-#### Phone###-###-#### Fax

I was not happy with the technical support on multiple occasions a day spent several hours on the phone just to discover that every next support representative tried to fix the mistakes the previous one has created. First of all, the training is not adequate,  not to mention that support representativeservices are RESTRICTED in helping customers. They need a special permission from the supervisor to make even the smallest change in the control panel. Shame on you. I have received numerous references and links to wrong solutions. You have to rethink how to treat your customers. When you work with them, provide the right documentation that is verified. At this point, my issue was resolved just yesterday after I contacted really knowledgeable professional.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer. We have reviewed this matter and would like to present the following.Our customer acknowledged and agreed to the following agreements upon...

conducting business with [redacted]:• Universal Terms of Service Agreement • Website Builder Service Agreement The latest version of these agreements can be found at: [redacted]On February 25, 2013, our customer purchased a Website Builder plan for a five-year term.  Website Builder is a template based product used to construct a website.  Our customer contacted [redacted] technical support multiple times via phone in August, 2015 stating they were unable to view their website on mobile devices. While our most recent version of our Website Builder product is version 7 (v7), our customer is currently using an older version (v6) of the product.   [redacted]'s technical support staff worked diligently and vigorously to resolve all technical issues the customer experienced.RESOLUTION:[redacted] has upheld its agreements in good faith with our customer and honored its terms of service. At this time, we have confirmed the mobile version of their website is live. Should our customer wish to upgrade to our newest version ofWebsite Builder (v7), as a gesture of goodwill we would be happy to offer a new plan of their choice at no cost for a one-year term.  Our customer would be responsible for any subsequent product renewals and would need to re-create their website within the new software. Alternatively, if our customer would like [redacted] to migrate their website to the newest version, the typical fee is $150.00. However, we would be happy to reduce the fee to $75.00. [redacted] cannot completely waive the cost of this service due to the labor involved in migrating any data. If our customer wishes to accept this offer, they may contact our office directly. Thank you again for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by our customer.Regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO - [redacted]

Dear Dispute Resolution Consultant,Thank you for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant. We have reviewed this matter and would like to present the following.The complainant acknowledged and agreed to the following agreements upon...

conducting business with GoDaddy:• Universal Terms of Service Agreement• Domain Name Registration AgreementThe latest version of these agreements can be found at: https://www.godaddy.com/legal-agreements.aspxOn September 10, 2015, the complainant attempted to renew the domain in question via online transaction in their customer account.  These three separate renewal attempts were completed successfully at 9:57 AM, 9:59 AM, and 10:12 AM respectively.Typically, the complainant would need to cancel the domain in question within 5 days of renewal to receive a refund of their payments.  GoDaddy as a registrar pays fees to acquire and renew the domains on our customers' behalf from the registry, and GoDaddy would be unable to recover any funds from multiple renewals of this domain.  The domain was renewed in a good faith effort to uphold our agreements with the account holder.  RESOLUTION:GoDaddy has upheld its agreements in good faith with the complainant and honored its terms of service.As a onetime exception to our refund policy, we have refunded the two additional one-year renewals to the complainant’s original payment method, a total of $30.34.  Future refunds will be provided in accordance with GoDaddy’s Refund Policy.EDUCATION:The complainant may find the following articles from GoDaddy’s help center useful:Refund Policy:https://www.godaddy.com/help/refund-policy-8849Thank you again for the opportunity to address and bring clarity to the concerns presented by the complainant.Kindest regards,[redacted]Office of the CEO - GoDaddy[redacted]