pgrote
09-14-2001, 11:49 PM
Hello,
Wanted to pass on my experience with Go Daddy Hosting. Please understand that the representative from Go Daddy, Kevin a 2nd Shift Supervisor, has indicated that Go Daddy the Registrar and Go Daddy the Hosting Company are different companies.
Anyway, onto the story ...
On the terrible day, September 11, I was surprised that my daughter and her friends didn't understand the who, what, when, why, where and how of what had happened. My daughter is 11 and I coach her soccer team and that is how I came across the fact they didn't know.
I decided to finally implement an idea I have had for a while. Use the web to educate on a specific subject. I had bounced the idea of registering domain names based on events and then targeting the education of kids in that subject. The idea wasn't to make money or promote any view point. It was to give them the basic facts on a subject.
I use Go Daddy for all my domain registration needs. I think I have like 8 to 10 domain names with them. They are speedy, supportive and have a great interface. I looked for a domain name to register and finally decided on WTC091101.ORG. I know other areas were affected, but the subject I wanted to explain to kids was the World Trade Center terrorism.
I registered the domain name and noticed that Go Daddy offers hosting. I usually use Hosting Matters for hosting and I have fell in love with their support. I wanted to get my site up and running ASAP, so I thought using Go Daddy for hosting would be the quickest way of making that happen.
After the registration was finished I was sent a welcome note about an hour later. It included the "IP Address" of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/WTC091101. Hmmm. That isn't an IP address.
I sent an email off to Go Daddy Hosting support asking for the IP address. I got little more than a form letter back. Yes, it was personalized, but they didn't get what I was asking. I decided to wait till the next day to ping the domain name and get the IP address myself.
Wednesday evening came and went and no updates. Thursday morning came and no updates. I check the DNS entries on mulitple networks (my personal DSL, my corporate VPN and an emergency dialup). None of them had my domain name registered.
I then dashed another email off to Go Daddy Hosting support, waited a while and the response was once again little more than a personalized form letter. Yes, they did answer me personally, but it was just a rehash of what the first support tech said.
Frustrated I sent a response clearly detailing what I wanted. I gave them two hours to respond before I cancelled and moved. They didn't respond.
I then went to Hosting Matters (the best hosting company on the planet). I signed up and had my IP address for my site in less than 10 minutes. I then went to Go Daddy Registrar and did the domain management to move my site.
It was then I realized what the issue was all along. Go Daddy didn't add the name servers to my domain :-( Can you imagine that? A registrar sells bundled hosting and doesn't add the name servers for you. Worse yet, they don't even notify you when you sign up that you need to do it.
I switched the name servers to hosting matters and the next day the domain name was propagated.
The next day I received an email from Go Daddy 16 hours after I told them I needed an answer in 2 :-) I proceeded to cancel my account and request a refund. To me it seemed logical that A) I never used the service and B) It was their fault for not setting up the name server. A normal person would presume that the registrar would do that if they are also selling hosting services.
That is when my emails with Kevin began. We exchanged three. His first email detailed that you don't get a static IP address. My response let him know my technical background and explained how the DNS process works. I also let him know that I am a frequent contributor to this forum and my summary of the situation would be posted here whether it was negative or positive. I indicated that a $9.95 charge isn't going to kill me, but it was the principle of the matter.
The next response from Kevin showed he understood my technical skills, explained the registrar company/hosting company are different, explained that asking for a site's IP is different than a domain name resolution and that I was attempting to "threaten and intimidate" him.
(When I read this I chuckled. Had the two techs who looked at my issue actually had good customer service skills and actually troubleshot my issue instead of semi-blowing me off, they would have found the issue.)
I responsed that in no means was I trying to threaten or intimidate. I was merely letting him know that this was a chance to do something positive in terms of customer service. I explained we're a close knit group who share our experiences with hosting companies.
That should just about do it. I don't expect to hear from Kevin again. It is a shame, though. Think about it. They failed in three aspects:
1) If you're going to offer a complete, one stop solution, it has to be a complete one stop solution. No where in the sign up process did it indicate that the customer has to change the name server settings.
2) Go Daddy Registrar and Go Daddy Hosting are different companies? That is funny. They both seem to be under the Go Daddy Software umbrella. At least if you look at their site it looks that way. Go Daddy's name is stamped all over the hosting site and doesn't say Go Daddy Hosting. It says Go Daddy. I guess the Web Stock Photography section is a different company as well :-)
3) Basic customer service. Again, the techs should have seen that I wasn't happy after the first message. Instead of trying to force an answer down my throat, do a thorough job. I am slightly embarassed I didn't catch the error myself, but then again, I assumed that a registrar company selling hosting services would have me covered on that.
So there you have it. My experience with Go Daddy Hosting. To reiterate for everyone ...
Go Daddy Registrar ... Good.
Go Daddy Hosting ...... Bad
:-)
Wanted to pass on my experience with Go Daddy Hosting. Please understand that the representative from Go Daddy, Kevin a 2nd Shift Supervisor, has indicated that Go Daddy the Registrar and Go Daddy the Hosting Company are different companies.
Anyway, onto the story ...
On the terrible day, September 11, I was surprised that my daughter and her friends didn't understand the who, what, when, why, where and how of what had happened. My daughter is 11 and I coach her soccer team and that is how I came across the fact they didn't know.
I decided to finally implement an idea I have had for a while. Use the web to educate on a specific subject. I had bounced the idea of registering domain names based on events and then targeting the education of kids in that subject. The idea wasn't to make money or promote any view point. It was to give them the basic facts on a subject.
I use Go Daddy for all my domain registration needs. I think I have like 8 to 10 domain names with them. They are speedy, supportive and have a great interface. I looked for a domain name to register and finally decided on WTC091101.ORG. I know other areas were affected, but the subject I wanted to explain to kids was the World Trade Center terrorism.
I registered the domain name and noticed that Go Daddy offers hosting. I usually use Hosting Matters for hosting and I have fell in love with their support. I wanted to get my site up and running ASAP, so I thought using Go Daddy for hosting would be the quickest way of making that happen.
After the registration was finished I was sent a welcome note about an hour later. It included the "IP Address" of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/WTC091101. Hmmm. That isn't an IP address.
I sent an email off to Go Daddy Hosting support asking for the IP address. I got little more than a form letter back. Yes, it was personalized, but they didn't get what I was asking. I decided to wait till the next day to ping the domain name and get the IP address myself.
Wednesday evening came and went and no updates. Thursday morning came and no updates. I check the DNS entries on mulitple networks (my personal DSL, my corporate VPN and an emergency dialup). None of them had my domain name registered.
I then dashed another email off to Go Daddy Hosting support, waited a while and the response was once again little more than a personalized form letter. Yes, they did answer me personally, but it was just a rehash of what the first support tech said.
Frustrated I sent a response clearly detailing what I wanted. I gave them two hours to respond before I cancelled and moved. They didn't respond.
I then went to Hosting Matters (the best hosting company on the planet). I signed up and had my IP address for my site in less than 10 minutes. I then went to Go Daddy Registrar and did the domain management to move my site.
It was then I realized what the issue was all along. Go Daddy didn't add the name servers to my domain :-( Can you imagine that? A registrar sells bundled hosting and doesn't add the name servers for you. Worse yet, they don't even notify you when you sign up that you need to do it.
I switched the name servers to hosting matters and the next day the domain name was propagated.
The next day I received an email from Go Daddy 16 hours after I told them I needed an answer in 2 :-) I proceeded to cancel my account and request a refund. To me it seemed logical that A) I never used the service and B) It was their fault for not setting up the name server. A normal person would presume that the registrar would do that if they are also selling hosting services.
That is when my emails with Kevin began. We exchanged three. His first email detailed that you don't get a static IP address. My response let him know my technical background and explained how the DNS process works. I also let him know that I am a frequent contributor to this forum and my summary of the situation would be posted here whether it was negative or positive. I indicated that a $9.95 charge isn't going to kill me, but it was the principle of the matter.
The next response from Kevin showed he understood my technical skills, explained the registrar company/hosting company are different, explained that asking for a site's IP is different than a domain name resolution and that I was attempting to "threaten and intimidate" him.
(When I read this I chuckled. Had the two techs who looked at my issue actually had good customer service skills and actually troubleshot my issue instead of semi-blowing me off, they would have found the issue.)
I responsed that in no means was I trying to threaten or intimidate. I was merely letting him know that this was a chance to do something positive in terms of customer service. I explained we're a close knit group who share our experiences with hosting companies.
That should just about do it. I don't expect to hear from Kevin again. It is a shame, though. Think about it. They failed in three aspects:
1) If you're going to offer a complete, one stop solution, it has to be a complete one stop solution. No where in the sign up process did it indicate that the customer has to change the name server settings.
2) Go Daddy Registrar and Go Daddy Hosting are different companies? That is funny. They both seem to be under the Go Daddy Software umbrella. At least if you look at their site it looks that way. Go Daddy's name is stamped all over the hosting site and doesn't say Go Daddy Hosting. It says Go Daddy. I guess the Web Stock Photography section is a different company as well :-)
3) Basic customer service. Again, the techs should have seen that I wasn't happy after the first message. Instead of trying to force an answer down my throat, do a thorough job. I am slightly embarassed I didn't catch the error myself, but then again, I assumed that a registrar company selling hosting services would have me covered on that.
So there you have it. My experience with Go Daddy Hosting. To reiterate for everyone ...
Go Daddy Registrar ... Good.
Go Daddy Hosting ...... Bad
:-)