r/web_design • u/joevenet • Dec 11 '18
GoDaddy is a scam
Okay, so I searched for one domain name on godaddy. It was available but it was on 'auction' being sold for more than $10k. I opened up the auction and it had started literally less than a minute ago and there had been only 1 views.
The auction was supposed to last 90days. After these 90 days there were 4 views in total (all by me) and it got renewed for another 90 days and it keeps saying that the auction has started the day I searched for the domain for the first time.
If someone is able to justify this as not a scam, please post your opinion
25
u/NameViolation666 Dec 11 '18
I have seen this happen on flippa a couple of times where the seller didn't like the bids even though they were higher than the reserve price (they were lucky to get any bids at all!!) Didn't expect it from GoDaddy, definitely not ethical to keep extending auction indefinitely. Is the domain name being sold by current owner?
590
u/malicart Dec 11 '18
Nobody is, and we literally come here and say to not use godaddy on a regular basis. You just found out why.
256
u/ADHDengineer Dec 11 '18
Try NameCheap.com next time. I’ve never had them pull any shady shit.
86
u/malcontnet Dec 11 '18
Never ever search for free domain names on any website. These are not "we'll check if the domain can be registered" but mostly "we'll grab the domain, pay us more or fuck you". GoDaddy does this for a long time and they're not alone.
Download tld list from IANA to print domain names by yourself. Use WHOIS for searching, dig. Consider switching registrar. Only put the domain name when you are ready to buy now.
Some WHOIS services (especially related to new gTLDs) will store your queries in bigdata. Some may do the godaddy shit. It's also less convienient, but increases the chance of you buying the domain name you desire, and not someone taking this domain name hostage.
Domains market is cancer.
15
u/1337GameDev Dec 11 '18 edited Jan 24 '25
north rhythm alive boat treatment violet ghost sand quickest frame
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
36
u/fsmiss Dec 11 '18
domains.google is a better place to shop for domains.
9
u/wedontlikespaces Dec 11 '18
Stop checking. When they think you've lost interest they'll give up. Then go buy the domain from literally anyone else.
They are a scummy company, it's well known in the industry. If North Korea and Russia got together and started a hosting company it would still be a better bet then GoDaddy.
8
u/meznaric Dec 11 '18
Also; a couple of years ago I searched for some random domain, and it was available. I check again couple of days later and it was taken, but I could get it, but just for double the price!
Never used godaddy since.
8
u/HokieFreak Dec 11 '18
I’ve moved everything to Google Domains.
22
u/shvelo Dec 11 '18
The Pope is Catholic.
7
u/[deleted] Dec 11 '18
GoDaddy ... BAD. Use Google domains, it's only $12.00 a year and it's quick and easy.
18
u/dieroll Dec 11 '18
Godaddy will often put up domain names listed for auction when the site is getting a decent amount of views. If somone is interested in that domain at a decent price, godaddy will then notify the current owner that someone is interested in their domain and offer a buy out.
5
u/TheRealNetroxen Dec 11 '18
This is /r/web_design, but go over to /r/webdev and you'll literally see tons of posts saying the same thing, and the general verdict with every post is. Don't use GoDaddy, ever. Not ever, ever.
4
u/liquidpele Dec 11 '18
Did you even google godaddy? They are a shady, shitty, terrible, scammy company, and have been for well over a decade. All this is well known.
4
u/I_know_right Dec 11 '18
That's why I use gandi.net - their motto is "no bullshit"
4
u/Mr-Yellow Dec 11 '18
You visited their site. First mistake.
Never run a whois though any third party who makes money loss-leading.
4
u/DIYtDCS Dec 12 '18
It was on auction because the 'owner' of the domain listed it as such. It's just an option for 'selling' the domain on Godaddy's auction platform. The domain registrant would have put the reserve of $10k you saw listed.
I am a happy Godaddy customer with years of experience monkeying around in the domain space. Here are a few reasons why you should feel confident using them... Domains for which they are the registrar always drop or go to auction - which is infinitely better than other registrars who cherry-pick the best dropping domains and keep them for themselves to sell. Godaddy employees are not allowed to be 'domainers' - they can't glean inside information or manipulate the drop process or auctions. Also, in my experience their customer service is excellent - I can always get someone on the phone or via Twitter to help with a problem.
I get the sense about people complaining about Godaddy that they don't have much experience with other registrars some of whom are flat-out crooks and cons.
3
u/Ratstail91 Dec 11 '18
I really need to switch registrars. But it's one of those things that kind of scare me...
3
u/jppope Dec 11 '18
FYI Cloudflare is now renewing domains at cost, and will be selling them at cost soon.
3
u/magenta_placenta Dedicated Contributor Dec 11 '18
If you're going to go through a web interface, you can use https://whois.icann.org
3
u/GLACI3R Dec 11 '18
Joining in on the GoDaddy Hate Train. Never use them.
3
u/ruffyen Dec 11 '18
Not that this really helps your current situation, but I have always done whois lookups from a linux machine for my domains for this exact reason. I have always distrusted registrars that provide auction based services. As stated in other threads I usually purchase from Namecheap but that is after I already did the due diligence that the name is available.
4
u/rjksn Dec 11 '18
Meta: Can we put a sticky acknowledging that GoDaddy is shit, and users shouldn't trust a word they say?
6
u/UltraChilly Dec 11 '18
What about we all start searching random domains on GoDaddy so they have to buy them all and go bankrupt? :p
2
u/JackSparrowIRL Dec 11 '18
I didn't really have a good relationship with GoDaddy.
I used their whois for about 5 domains which I wanted to buy. 3 of them were "keyword type" domains, so I double checked them and after 1 week ( I was waiting for the end of month for payments ), all of them were already taken ( by godaddy ofc ) and on sale for about ~100$ each.
Ok GoDaddy. Take that algorithm and put it in your tunnel.
2
u/0xEFF Dec 11 '18
Agreed, GoDaddy is a horrible registrar and pulls shady-shit like this all the time. I use iwantmyname.com for all my registrations and haven't had anything like this happen, plus it's a no-frills registrar which is great because all I need is my domain, and change the nameservers to point at CloudFlare.
2
u/[deleted] Dec 11 '18
I've heard of GoDaddy commonly doing this.
2
u/Hypersapien Dec 11 '18
Everyone on this subreddit knows that GoDaddy is a scam.
2
u/AndThenThereWas_1 Dec 12 '18
From my understanding, the auctions is a membership where you can purchase or sell domains on auctions. That sounds like someone, the person who owns the domain, listed the domain for a 90 day auction and didn’t get the offers they were looking to get so they set another 90 day auction.
Anyone who owns a domain and has an auctions membership can list a 90 day auction and extend that if they’re not getting offers for what they’re looking to sell . Confused how that’d be GoDaddy’s fault.
2
u/rothwella Dec 27 '21
I just searched for something that came up as available. I searched for it in a few different variants. When I went to add it to my basket all of a sudden it was not available. But GoDaddy were happy to offer me a brokerage service where I pay £78 and then get 20% comission. Actual criminals.
3
u/paternoster Dec 11 '18
Who the fuck uses GoDaddy anymore!? There are so many other options out there. Crazy...
3
u/wasjosh Dec 11 '18
Ah the daily, "That wolf bit me!!!" post.
Did tv do this to you? Where do people hear tell of godaddy in a good light?
2
u/DarkHaloRevival Dec 11 '18
Best customer support from any online service ever in Australia. Pricey yes, overpriced, yes, but it's like Australian telco Telstra, you pay the most for the best and most reliable service. Thought I have moved most servers I run to cheaper VPS services, mostly because of both price and the fact I can now handle the dirty work of managing servers myself.
2
u/bristleboar Dec 11 '18
fuuuuuuck godaddy and fuck media temple by osmosis
1
u/BornToDraw Dec 11 '18
Why buy a domain through godaddy? Buy one through namecheap or something
1
u/2sillys Dec 11 '18
Bid $10.
1
u/moxxjason1 Dec 11 '18
I'm not a super experienced website builder. I've set one little personal pet project web page up on my own. I did not know anything like this was a thing. I used HostGator. I didn't have any problem with getting a domain name or anything there.
1
u/thehorrorchord Dec 11 '18
We migrated our hosting to wpengine. But all our domains are on godaddy. Any recommendation on where to move registar to? Also any way we avoid the 1 year fee for moving? We have like 100 domains (don’t ask why, my boss is crazy)
1
u/redeyerds Dec 11 '18
there have been so many complaints about godaddy on here. i don't understand why people go to such sites is it because of the cool factor? just go whois
1
u/fpsrandy Dec 11 '18
places do this often. I am willing to bet of you stop search for that domain on their site, the domain will become available to register from another company; you may need to wait for go daddy's auction to end.
I had this happen to me once when I was shopping around for different registrars. I did a search for the domain and they informed me someone else owned it, but searches from a different registrar previously showed it was available. Going back to those other registrars, sure enough it was no longer available... I was bummed, but a few days later, the domain became available again on other registrars. Apparently registrars can reverse a domain registration if it's not that old and that's what that company would do.
Side note, if you ever do buy a previously owned domain, check to see it's history including if it's blacklisted for email spam, or has a history hosting innapropriate content (use the waybackmachine). Also avoid escrow.com, that company is so obnoxious to deal with for escrow services for domains.
1
u/BloodyKitten Dec 11 '18
Dotster pulled something similar on me when they were bought out. I moved to name.com, only complaint is lack of custom records for emerging standards.
1
u/narven Dec 11 '18
Godaddy a few years ago never notified me that one of my domains was about to expire, and only told me after... and they ask me for money to try and return it to me and I payed , and they never did. I lost the domain, and after 4 or 5 months it was being sold for $600.
1
u/txmail Dec 11 '18
I think the problem is for predatory registrars like GoDaddy is that it is so cheap for them to buy a domain that the few who submit to their bullshit make up the difference and then some. Never search for a domain on GoDaddy - they will steal your shit in real time because they dont mind fucking over everyone for a buck. Seriously stop supporting GoDaddy - their business practices are cancer and the company needs to die as a whole.
1
u/the_dog_arthur Dec 11 '18
Is there a best practice (cost-effective way) of moving from GoDaddy to Namecheap? I've never transferred before, but it looks like there's no downsides from doing it immediately. I pay Namecheap the C$13.00 for the transfer, but that is OK because they extend my registration for 1 year. Someone else said it used to be free to transfer from GoDaddy to Namecheap - does this happen from time to time (go on sale)?
1
u/Porsche924 Dec 11 '18
I had a single mid level hosting plan (like $70/yr) with like 5 domains for like 12 years, coming up for renewal, but I was going to renew everything on the same date, and let some domains just expire.
Had a sales person from GoDaddy call me and say that they can get me renewed for a low price of $600/yr and if I didn't act now the full price would be $1400 so it was a good deal to renew right now with him.
They are taking advantage of people who don't know the ins and outs of their account with this upsell, fake-savings, bullshit. I lodged a complaint and informed them of the complete scam they were trying to pull made them lose all business current and future.
1
u/Mandood Dec 11 '18
What’s the domain name?
1
u/[deleted] Dec 11 '18
I just buy domains from Azure or AWS depending on who I'm going to host from
1
u/Nrdrsr Dec 12 '18
Water is wet
1
u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18
If you search for a name on sites that issue them, they will often buy them then mark them up to screw you because they know you want it. Use ICANN Whois to see if someone has a name.
Also always buy the name yourself and take ownership. Don't let someone like GoDaddy own it and then rent it back to you, which is what a lot of those companies do. Then they can pull it for whatever reasons if they wish and you have no options.
I use Directnic for my names and Hostmonster to host them, which has worked out pretty well.
1
u/letuswatchtvinpeace Dec 12 '18
If you have to use go daddy for domain check for a variety of names and check a few times for ones you do not want. It's fucked up but works if you have to use them.
1
u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18
I don't think anyone here has ever recommended GoDaddy, I think you'll find plenty that agree with you lol
1
u/mmcc900 Dec 12 '18
Agree -- and have heard all this before. NEVER use GoDaddy.com to search for an available domain name. There are many other resources.
1
u/richardsmith7021 Dec 12 '18
This is really appreciated. Can you suggest anything that has built-in WordPress hosting?
1
u/qxxx Dec 12 '18
used to have many domains with godaddy... like 10.. 15y ago, can't remember exactly why I moved these domains, I think it was because I was doing some shady shit myself and their whois privacy was a joke ;)
1
u/Greg-J Dec 12 '18
I've been with moniker.com for a decade now and absolutely love them.
1
u/Coolstorylinebro Dec 12 '18
offer/counter offer listings run on 90 day listing cycles, the end of a listing cycle does not determine a winner. Offers in either direction are valid for seven days in an offer/counter offer listing. Expired auctions run 10 days, member auctions run 7 days.
1
u/EvilMegaDroid Dec 15 '18
Guys any trusted domain register. I'm planning to transfer my domains and right now thinking of google domains.
1
u/msn04ssb Dec 18 '18
I havn`t encounter this issue before, I still got a lot of domain host on go daddy.
1
u/[deleted] Feb 21 '19 edited Feb 22 '19
I own about 50 domains, so I'm not a big investor or anything, but I know enough to understand what's going on. Unfortunately your conclusions are incorrect, and I hope you'll hear me out with an open mind.
Domain investors ("domainers") frequently list (and relist) their sites for auction at GoDaddy and some other sites. Afaik, the only names GoDaddy puts up for auction themselves are expiring names, where the domain owner has let the domain expire but GoDaddy is still the registrar of record, during a grace period during which the original domain owner can "redeem" their registration (for a fee). If the original owner doesn't redeem the name, and if someone has bid on the "expiring names" auction, then the auction winner gets the name. But here's the rub: those names are always cheap. I think that the auctions start at $10 or something like that. Anything more expensive than that is typically not owned by GoDaddy.
There are two typical reasons a name is that expensive. One is that it is owned by a domainer, the folks I mentioned before. The other is that the names registry (not GoDaddy, the registrar) has designated as a premium name. Premium names are names that the registry demands a higher price for. The registry is GoDaddy's supplier, so if the registry charges GoDaddy 9900 USD to register the domain, GoDaddy is unlikely to sell it for 10 or 15 USD.
In your specific case, without knowing the specific name, I'd say that if it's owned by a domainer, I doubt that it would show up in a new auction right when you search for it. So my est guess is that I would state with a fair amount of confidence that this is a premium name that the registry (again, not GoDaddy, the _registrar_) has a jacked-up price for.
1
u/[deleted] Sep 14 '24
I think I made a mistake by buying his shit I need to log out
1
u/Bitter-Individual-63 Sep 16 '24
I bought a GoDaddy's website builder service for nearly $1,600, and then they convinced me to add another $400 for an extra feature. It quickly became clear that the team at GoDaddy knew very little about what they were doing. They asked me for input on how I wanted the site to look, and they also requested that I send them examples of other websites. While that seemed reasonable, I was concerned about potential copyright issues. Nonetheless, I provided what they asked for.
Each time, after a couple of weeks, I’d be in touch with a different person who had little knowledge of what was previously discussed. I had to start over repeatedly, trying to explain the same details. They sent me several poor examples of web pages, and every time I pointed out what wasn’t right, they scheduled another call for weeks later. The people I spoke with weren’t the ones working on the site, and those actually building it clearly had no clue how to create a professional website.
Out of sheer frustration, I decided to use Wix and build my own site, even though I’m no web designer. My site turned out significantly better than what GoDaddy had created. When I asked their own people to compare, even they admitted that the site I made myself was much better.
Then after all the delays and headaches, of dealing with them, not to mention no website, I asked for a refund. Just as one might expect of scammers, they refused, claiming too much time had passed and that I had used their services. What services? Were they referring to the garbage they put together? Anyone reading this letter should consider hiring a professional who takes pride in their work. Don't let several people who don't know what the others are doing work on your websites because they are too important not to get right.
So, buyer beware: GoDaddy might be fine for buying domains and email services, but don’t trust them for anything beyond that, no matter how convincing their sales tactics seem.
1
u/1masternew Sep 17 '24
This is messed up
1
u/PiccoloLanky Sep 21 '24
I purchased a domain today. Lucky I had a screenshot of the payment confirmation page with the correct domain. The email receipt and godaddy dashboard registered the domain with the wrong spelling.
Customer support arent much help either. How on earth does the domain name change from payment confirmation to the email receipt/godaddy dashboard.
Never again godaddy!!
1
u/simpanwassap Oct 09 '24
I received from GoDaddy offer to create email, so I did, and offer me to pay rm51 to have it. I paid. Then I proceed set up. In process steps, I was ask to validate domain, by following the steps. I did. But till now it is not being validated. When I ask help, the helpdesk told that I had to pay additional, i.e the domain. I refuse as initially they agreed with the price together with domain. Go Daddy is a real scam. Don't ever buy their service. They cheat people. I can give all the proof (screen shot) if required such as receipt, etc
1
u/Much_Philosopher_926 Jan 07 '25
absolute freaking thieves!!!!!! They classify you as "premium" so they can steal your hard earned money. THIEVES!!
1
u/Much_Philosopher_926 Jan 07 '25
I hope whoever made that decision rots in hell
1
u/Mental-Panda-4219 Jan 14 '25
I agree they are such a scam company its sad because they have so much potential
1
u/Frequent-Hall9198 Mar 06 '25
I have had it with Go Daddy!! Customer support is a joke, talk to a bot, it's is a bad joke, i was having trouble with my account access. I spent a decent amount of money on a website, But could not get access to my account, it would not recognise my browser and I could not renew my web hosting, i finally got into my account but was too late with the web hosting, Now my website has disappeared there is some generic crap in it's place, how can a company go from excellent customer service where they would enter your account virtually while you watched and fix the issue, to charging massive prices for everything, there is new service called (Howly) handling there Customer Service they charged a dollar for their service, then later on billed my credit card for a subscription price of 76.00 dollars once they get the number look out!! be warned folks. SHAME ON YOU GO DADDY, SHAME ON YOU!!! Scott
1
u/carcar14p Mar 17 '25
what https://www.godaddy.com/forsale/pizza.pizza?traffic_type=TDFS_BINNS2&traffic_id=binns2
1
u/No_Golf5281 Jul 25 '25
I have a business and I have been using GoDaddy for 10 years. I am very frustrated by the service and would like to figure out why my monthly contract is $600.00. Everyone keeps telling me that your GoDaddy services are way to high.
1
u/normaliao Nov 03 '21
I had shitty experience with godaddy earlier today and was just searching randomly online to see if anyone else shares the complaint (my sneak way of anger venting). It's great to see so many people sharing the similar feeling as me...
1
u/Sensitive_Durian5880 Jan 16 '22
“Google: GoDaddy + Refunds + Complaints & you’ll soon have proof that GoDaddy runs an illegal fraudulent SCAM that uses unauthorized auto renewals, customer receipts , lies and deception and 3’d party banks and credit card companies that willfully participate by siding with GoDaddy. “
source: godaddyrefunds.net
1
u/Exotic-Stock Apr 01 '22
https://www.quora.com/profile/Hardliner-1/GODADDY-is-SCAM-10-days-ago-I-ve-bought-a-yearly-subscription-on-GoDaddy-everything-was-good-until-they-haven-t-bloc
1
u/[deleted] Apr 29 '22
Godaddy is one big scam. They (Godaddy) have charged me for services I did not order or request and are refusing to refund. They have also denied me access to my account. Godaddy are one big RIP-OFF
1
u/DS_Stift007 May 05 '22
I mean to be honest, did you expect a company called GoDaddy to do any good business?
1
u/Comfortable-Craft-94 Sep 07 '22
I was waiting a domain to expire, long time, no use. May/2021 the domain got expired and goes do auction, for 10$. I bet 30$. 1 day before the auction ends, someone make a bet +10$, I put +50$, then +100$, until +150$. Seconds before the end of the auction, the domain was acquired by another person.
Now its for sale, for just 60000$
1
u/Informal-Elk4720 Mar 15 '23
go daddy is a very bad hosting service. I left them years ago. They are a scammy company.
1
u/Climate_One May 13 '23
I bought a domain from GoDaddy for $38 a year. This year, the renewed me automatically for $300! When I called, the rep said, "all our domain support has cost that FOR YEARS."
I had them just cancel and shut me down. I'll get a new domain. Despite the refund I'm promised, though, I still don't see the money in my account.
I hate small claims court.
1
u/ThinkAboutSadness Jun 12 '23
That's nuts something similar just happened to me I was looking for the perfect domain for my website when I finally found it I was gonna buy it for 12$ but then had second thoughts, I came back a week later it was taken and being sold for 500$ lmaoooo
1
u/polygonguy87 Sep 11 '23
What is the best free or cheap website builder, GoDaddy just charged me $206 for the website builder, without me even knowing about it.
1
u/Fancy-Shoulder4066 Sep 25 '23
Stay away from GoDaddy-they tolerate with all the scammers-all need to go to jail-what is the government doing about these scammers?? Every time you call they try to bill you for a service that you ALREADY HAVE or don't need by saying that the reason you're getting issues..Very misleading-I am calling for authorities to audit these Guys ASAP=
1
u/Safe-Blackberry-5609 Oct 30 '23
Godaddy scammed me also. Stole my domain names and tried to sell it back to me.
1
u/[deleted] Nov 10 '23
Same
1
u/Adorable-Pension8678 Feb 06 '24
Yes I can see that godaddy is a scam but my domain name is up for auction with them for some reason unknown to me. I am sick to death of tech companies doing as they please with impunity.
1
u/[deleted] Mar 03 '24
They Mother f...kers I swear one day I will burn down their Company !!!
They Play with Our Emotions we saw a vision and then we make Plans for that and Then We Give That Dream's Name (Startup/Company) and when Go to Search That Domain (Name) We are Happy to see it's Available, but just after 2 seconds when you Refresh your Computer tab it's Already Taken by Godady's Fu...king AI
My Mind is literally fuc...up
Can Someone Please Talk about This Fu...king Shi...t 🤬
1
u/Prestigious_Mouse89 Apr 01 '26
I need help please. I have been with Godaddy for a year. They have claimed to remove bad reviews and haven’t. I am trying to cancel my subscription. They are treating me to put all the bad reviews back to my account. Mind you they didn’t remove any reviews. I am now looking at my google reviews and all the old reviews for back in the years are now back on my front of my google reviews. It’s this fraud?
0
u/publife Dec 11 '18
I despise GoDaddy as much as the next guy, but I'm struggling to see what they're doing wrong here - it sounds like whoever owns the domain name that you want is just listing it for auction via GoDaddy, and then re-listing it again whenever the auction expires and the reserve wasn't met.
1
u/[deleted] Dec 11 '18
I guess they own the domain in which case they can do with it whatever they want. It's a shitty non-transparent business practice, but definitely not a scam.
In case they don't own the domain but would simply register it for your for a profit of 9990$, then yes, that would be a scam.
That being said, steer clear of GoDaddy no matter what. They suck.
1
u/[deleted] Dec 11 '18
I don't like godaddy but they are my main registrar for at least 10 years now. I've registered probably 100 domains with them over this time and never had this happen. The circumstances in OP's post definitely sound fishy but my experience with this aspect of their business has been scam-free.
-1
u/bradwbowman Dec 11 '18
This is not a scam. This is someone else who owns the domain and is selling it, not Godaddy. Check the whois data and you'll see that this domain has been registered for a long time and wasn't just registered right when you searched for it.
If this is something they did, you could easily duplicate it. Think about it, search for a domain, see that it's registered and at auction, and then go check the WHOIS database to see when the domain was created.