
Desperation: Go Daddy calling customers, begging them to stay - thatdrew
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/12/24/desperation-go-daddy-calling-customers-begging-them-to-stay/?utm_source=HackerNews&utm_medium=share%2Bbutton&utm_content=Desperation%3A%20Go%20Daddy%20calling%20customers%2C%20begging%20them%20to%20stay&utm_campaign=social%2Bmedia
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dangrossman
I know I'm not the first to ask this, but I'm still having trouble figuring
out who to move to.

1) Namecheap has been the most recommended on HN. They don't take American
Express and they don't offer auto-renew. Going back to manually checking and
renewing domains every month after years of not having to do that feels like
using rotary phones again. And they'd be my only business expense not on my
Amex card.

2) Gandi.net gets mentioned in every thread, but they're in France, people
have commented on trouble getting phone support because of a language barrier,
and they're expensive. That extra $150 a year it would cost me compared to
GoDaddy/Namecheap is a lot to waste.

3) Moniker has some very concerning reviews since some kind of management
change, about silent price hikes and lying customer service.

4) Hover.com seems to have a rep here advertising, but I've never heard of
them and they're too expensive given that fact.

Is name.com all that's left? That's the only other one I see recommended in
these threads, despite some less than ethical practices of their own, like
hijacking the * A-record of your domain for ads if you host DNS with them.

~~~
mdasen
I use DreamHost for my registrations (with no hosting account).

They accept Amex and will auto-renew. They're $9.99/yr (or within a few cents
of that) and that includes private registration if that's something you're
looking for. I've had no problems with them, their interface isn't perfect,
but it's a lot nicer than most registrars' systems that I've used.

Now for the bad. They don't offer DNS service without a hosting package. I
actually use NameCheap's DNS. NameCheap (being kinda a stand-up company)
offers free DNS service to you even if you aren't their customer. And,
frankly, their DNS control panel is nice enough that I would switch to them,
except for the fact that they don't auto-renew and they charge extra for
private registrations.

If you don't need DNS, DreamHost seems to work nicely. Decent control panel to
make changes in, private registration included in the fee, auto-renewal, $9.99
price, and accepts Amex. It isn't their primary business, but they are ICANN
accredited - and they aren't that small
([http://www.dotandco.net/ressources/icann_registrars/details/...](http://www.dotandco.net/ressources/icann_registrars/details/position.en),
see New Dream Network - not that far off from Name.com or Gandi).

~~~
jackowayed
I do this, and I actually have DNS. I think it's because what I did is:

* Sign up for a hosting plan one of the times that it was super-cheap (I paid like $9 for a year of hosting and got a free domain for the year.)

* Cancel hosting after cheap period is over

So all of my DNS stuck around, and I can change it and everything like normal.
I think I can even buy domains elsewhere and use Dreamhost as my DNS server
for them.

The one complaint I have with them is that their forgot password scheme is
"email your password in plaintext", which makes me feel a little bit like my
domains aren't safe. So if I were to find my ideal registrar (~$10, not evil,
decent interface, free DNS), I'd switch for that reason.

------
zoowar
Stick to your guns. If you decided to leave, leave. Teach corporations that
they must serve customer interest at all times. Let Go Daddy be the example.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Its a tough choice. If you stick to your guns then GoDaddy says "Gee it
doesn't really matter what we think they left anyway." and go back to their
SOPA money. Or people don't leave after they switch and they internalize that
they have to be a bit more aware of their customers concerns and get better.

Of course there could be no level of 'customer' rational discourse at all they
could just be trying to mitigate the damage and move on. But one would like to
believe they could be trained by rewarding them for good behavior.

Just sayin'

~~~
Adaptive
This isn't behavioral modification. You don't need to reward GoDaddy for this
change in stance after threatening punishment.

Let me state that again: You are under no obligation to pat them on the back
so they don't feel sad that customers are still leaving and so go back to
their old ways. If it were that easy for them to reverse (again) this
decision, do you think they warrant a pat on the back in the first place?

They are engaging in a craven, cynical ploy to retain customers. There are no
market-rules you need to play by. If you think that GoDaddy still stinks after
this quick shower, walk away.

And I for one think they still stink.

------
iamandrus
There's no reason to use GoDaddy anyway. There are a lot of better domain
hosts out there (Namecheap, Name.com, and more).

~~~
kennu
Does Namecheap have automatic credit card billing for renewals nowadays? I
wouldn't consider it "better" if it still doesn't.

~~~
acabal
Shockingly, no. A few months ago I started registering new domains with them,
and was very surprised that you had to buy credits for your account instead of
having an auto-renew.

I went with name.com instead when moving from Godaddy today. Name.com is about
the same price as Namecheap, and they do appear to have automatic billing. The
only nicer thing about Namecheap was the cheap SSL certs you could get with a
domain purchase.

~~~
aiscott
I went with name.com as well. With the "NODADDY" coupon you get 10% off on
transfers. My .coms were 6.65 I think.

~~~
iamandrus
I use Name.com as well. Excellent interface, support staff, and easy-to-use
website.

------
mythz
Well to their credit begging is a better PR strategy than "it's not noticeable
impacting our business, so we don't give a shit".

Although it appears that GoDaddy were to be exempt from SOPA, so they were
just pro-actively pushing a law that would only affect their competitors:
[http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/sopa-hearing-
wi...](http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/sopa-hearing-will-never-
end.php)

------
Adaptive
Do not think for a second that they were unaware of what support for SOPA
meant. The lesson for them and others only gets stronger the more continued
damage is done. Every registrar and SOPA supporting business watching this
should see GoDaddy continue to lose customers despite this superficial about-
face.

We're really not this stupid.

------
kabdib
Just curious: Why does it cost $10 a year to maintain a database entry?

Does this aggregate into hosting a DNS lookup service (hardware + bandwidth +
support staff)? It still seems expensive for what it is.

------
andrewflnr
So one call was actually reported, and this constitutes "desperation" on
GoDaddy's part? Maybe there's more going on (one other person on this thread
got called as well), but this story by itself falls far short of its headline.

I'm not familiar with GoDaddy's practices, but couldn't the volume of the
transfer alone have triggered the call?

~~~
chops
I tweeted[1] yesterday and today I get a call from Godaddy (I didn't take it,
they just left a message). I can't imagine that they are literally calling
anyone they can trace back to a name, but hey, maybe they are.

<https://twitter.com/#!/jessegumm/status/150134421612265473>

~~~
andrewflnr
But you hadn't actually started to do the transaction yet? Interesting.

------
evandena
They weren't "begging them to stay", merely asking if there was anything they
could do to keep the customer.

------
yuhong
Do anyone has stats on exactly how many domains were transferred so far?

~~~
digitalsushi
I will be looking for a Christmas Plateau on a netcraft report sometime in
early February.

~~~
rosser
Plateau or canyon? (Maybe even abyssal trench?)

------
ForumRatt
They didn't learn a thing from the Netflix fiasco, moron's. Spank their asses
and leave GoDaddy.

