GoDaddy domain autorenew "trap"!

I stopped using Godaddy back in 2008 because of the exact same problem.

I now use Namecheap - less problems and less hassle.

Glad I never opted for privacy. I had over 300 domains with Godaddy and I wanted 2/3 of them to expire. Thought I had them all set to manual renew. All of a sudden, I get an email saying I was just charged via Paypal $150 for domain renewal. I called them up immediately and told them to please refund ... and to just make all my domains manual renew if they weren't already. They did both, thankfully.

WOW, the lock is a feature added YEARS ago, but it is usually just another switch, a box you can uncheck, with NO special effort!

Steve

go daddy is the pits, Namecheap is the the way to go.

That's the protection you've been paying for. If it was easy to turn off, it wouldn't be very good protection, would it?

Nick,

Try ringing them and get the telephone jockey to put you through to their line manager or supervisor. I've found that they can normally get round what was supposedly written in stone.

The UK phone number is:
020 7979 2661

If nothing else you'll have the satisfaction of costing them the price of an international phone call to ease your annoyance

Good luck,

Nigel

its quite easy to set it to manual renew, you can do it in the domain manager.

I've always used Godaddy without any problems and I have domains with privacy and I've let some expire all of which without having them auto renew. I was able to switch them from auto renew to manual without a problem and have never been charged for something I didn't indicate I wanted renewing or not.

I just set 50 domains on manual renew (some have privacy enabled) and i didn't encountered any problems or additional steps required. maybe it's owner's country based.

I like Godaddy but I do not like the way they make you jump through a million offers prior to getting the domain and the way they set up manual/auto renew.

I took domain renewal off but was charged for the privacy on it.

Dropped them an e-mail and after a quick hoop jump in the admin panel~
, they refunded the privacy fee.

Use namecheap now, prefer the interface and less of a tiresome upsell /downsell process.

Wow! all of mine are set to manual, so I'd better check them.

I've not had any trouble like that with Godaddy but I'm always expecting it, with any company, not just them. The best way round it is get yourelf a pre-paid credit card and only keep what you need on it. When a company tries something like that, make sure there isn't enough on the card, they have no problem cancelling when that happens.

I had the exact same issue as that guy but I was able to cancel the security from my admin panel , they even then refunded me the security fee they had charged.

The postal thing is ridiculous.

It's amazing that different responses seem to apply to different people.

Phone has worked better for me in the past vs email Nick.

I know you're trying to let these expire, but here's one thing to be aware of with privacy and GoDaddy...

If you are trying to transfer away from them and the domain has privacy enabled, they will deny the xfer.

If you remove the privacy so you can do the transfer, they will deny the transfer. Their policy is that removal of privacy is a change of registrant. (at least 3 months ago)

There are ICAAN rules that say a domain transferred to a registrar can't be moved for like 90 days (don't remember exact time). GoDaddy adds to this in their terms and says that a registrant change (who the domain is registered to) fits this description and therefore they won't transfer.

So, you want to move to registrar x, try it and your privacy enabled domain transfer gets denied.

You remove the privacy so you can transfer it and it gets denied because their TOS says that you've changed who the domain is registered to. (BTW, this has nothing to do with locking, just privacy).

So, you're about to move to a new registrar (normally when the domain is about to expire). You get locked into a spot where they won't approve the transfer for like 90 days (might be 30) and whammo, you have to renew with them so you don't lose the domain.

Of course, you can move it after their penalty box time frame, so if you've planned far enough ahead you're ok, but if you wait until the last couple weeks to move an expiring domain, you'll be paying them once again like it or not.

Happened to me about 3 months ago and was refused by two managers via phone. (and yes, I was polite).

Hope you get it straightened out!

Gary

I know. Very annoying. Sometimes I want to rename them Gogetscrwd.

I have been using both Namecheap and GoDaddy for my domains have never had an issues with either. I did remove the privacy feature for all my domains and have them all set up for manual domain because I prefer that option over the auto-renewal.

As a sidenote, does anyone know of a third souce for domain names that can be trusted?

Respectfully,
Tim

There are always two sides to the story. If you ask them (Godaddy), they will say it is in the fine print or something similar. Usually companies like Godaddy are right. Because most people assume that they know what is in the fine print, and don't usually read them. Companies with lots of fine print depend on this attitude by consumers to get away with their 'ridiculous clauses'.

A few people have said it before but it is worth repeating. Use namecheap. I love their service and
you get automatic privacy free for the first year.

Go Daddy strikes again lol they are the kings of upsell auto renew continuity programs lol

ClinTonio

Godaddy has called me more than once, without my requesting
it. Godaddy is king of upsells, but their customer services
is also very, very good. They want to keep you as a customer,
not piss you off.

I turn off all the auto-renew, all the special features with
Godaddy. I haven't had any problems since I started doing
this.

With GoDaddy if there are domains you don't want, then it is just as easy to delete them entirely. If you go into your domain manager you can choose to delete a domain. Much simpler than just setting it to not renew. Once it is deleted GoDaddy has no way of putting that 2 year auto renew on a domain.

Dennis

Just to clarify, the reason I am having issues is because I have "Protected Registration", which I think is different to your standard private registration feature, which is probably why others haven't experienced this.

Although it's great that the protection is working, I just wish I could cancel within my own account, without giving them so much personal/private data to prove who I am.

And maybe I'm just being paranoid, or maybe I'm not...


Lol, do you know what's ironic about this video? In Youtube, a GoDaddy ad just popped uo as I was watching it.

Couldn't make it up...lol

No problems with Godaddy here, I just un-check the auto renewal and I'm good. I have all my domains protected too. I get good service when I call in too. That being said, I only use them for domains, I won't be caught dead using their hosting.

I turned the auto renew of on my domains and I still got that email telling me that they had charged it to Paypal. I had the proof that I canceled it because of the email they sent me. So I took that to my bank and got my money back.

They make it real hard to cancel that 'feature'. I don't consider it a feature at all. If I want to renew the damn thing, I will do it.

I had no idea what exactly the private settings even meant. This has been a very helpful thread! I will have to go and see what Name Cheap has to offer. Thanks!

Wait so is this an extra service you pay for or what?

I loathe GoDaddy.

I really do.

I would recommend using namecheap.. They havent failed me yet

I use cheap domain registration.com Never had any hassles with them. Their UI is a clone of go-daddy's. Not sure how they get away with that. Dot coms for $8, has to be the best deal around.

You know, I've never had a problem with GoDaddy, but honestly - the stories I've heard? I honestly feel like I should get the hell away from them before I do.

Because while not having a problem with GoDaddy is pretty much the same as not having a problem with some other registrar, it seems like in the end - any problem you have there ends up being several times worse than having the same problem somewhere else.

And while part of me keeps going "pfft, you've never had a problem, why bother?" another part is going "well, I'd like to keep things that way."

But for the moment, the "pfft, why bother" is winning

I don't like GoDaddy. They care more about making money by squeezing every possible penny out of their customers that they can get. All of those little things that have been mentioned + the hundreds of upsells = ANNOYING. There are so many other hosting companies that provide a great service to all of us internet marketers.

Consider a scenario where there is unauthorized access to your account.

Now do you see the problem with doing what you want to do, as easily as you want it to be?


p.s. GoDaddy is still the best registrar out there. Yes, there are a lot of complaints, but that goes with having the most customers. Besides, pretty much every complaint I read about wasn't really GoDaddy's fault. It's people who don't understand how to buy, maintain or cancel a domain name or related services.

I have hundreds of domains at GoDaddy and no complaints worth talking about. Been using them for many years.

Personally I find GoDaddy absolute garbage. I won't buy a domain there or host there ever again. Useless.

namecheap is the way to go mate. Been using them for a while and have never had an issue.

Interesting information, I haven't had this problem, but I'll be sure to keep it in mind. Godaddy has all the bells and whistles a pretty slick setup. They've done a great job of marketing there product.

I definitely won't be using protected registration at GoDaddy.

Thanks for the heads up!

Cheap Domain Registration is not a replication of the GoDaddy UI.

They are a reseller of Wild West Domains, the underlying organization behind GoDaddy. All resellers get access to that UI. You can go and sign up for it yourself if you choose to.

I've used Cheap Domain Registration, GoDaddy and Namecheap, and in my personal experience Namecheap is far and away the best provider.

If there were any more upsells and sneaky checkboxes on the GoDaddy / Cheap Domains registration process I'd have a seizure.

Namecheap works for me because when I want to register a domain it should be a five minute job, not an exercise in ducking 15 pages of upsells.

I'm all good with upsells, but geeze louise lighten up a bit.

Namecheap for the win.

Whois Guard included in the registration fee is also a win.

I never heard of namecheap but I will check them out... even though right now I'm happy with godaddy...