GoDaddy is REALLY Pissing Me Off

I own several domains through GoDaddy that were purchased years ago.  At that time, I made the mistake of using the “Privacy” feature so that my own name and contact info would not show in the public registration info.

Being a privacy-conscious person, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Big mistake.

Here I am, six years later, and I need to transfer those domains to another registrar.  No problem.  I click the “Privacy” options in my control panel to turn off the privacy featured (required to transfer a domain), and am informed I have to log into my account at Domains By Proxy, GoDaddy’s privacy service, and turn off the feature within that account.

No problem.  Only, it’s been six years and I no longer have the login information.  So they ask me to enter a bunch of information EXACTLY (like an address)… only I don’t know which address or have failed to enter it EXACTLY as they want.

No problem.  I can have the login information reset by printing out a form they provide and faxing them a copy of my driver’s license.

I’m getting annoyed by this point, but hey - they’re being careful.  So I do that.

Next I receive an email from them saying that the copy of my license is illegible and they need me to scan it and email it to them.  (The copy of my license that was faxed to them was PERFECTLY legible, by the way.)  Furthermore, they need one of several different types of documentation about the COMPANY listed as the “current account holder”.

So I checked my account.  My account shows no company name, it shows only my name.  So maybe they are referring to the name of the company I was using when I originally registered the domain.  No problem - I’ll go find out what that company is and find documentation for it.

Except - that information is protected by the PRIVACY feature, and even I can not see it, even though the domain clearly belongs to me.  So there’s no way I can find out which of the several companies I’ve been involved with may still show on the registration record.

Here’s the kicker:  These people are happy to take my money to extend the registration of the domain names.  They’ve done it for years.  But they absolutely, positively refuse to unlock these domains so that I can have access to them myself and transfer them to another registrar.

I used to be a reseller for GoDaddy, and my clients have registered hundreds of domains through them.  So have I.  But never again.

I use NameCheap.com now.  As far as I’m concerned, the only value of GoDaddy is the hot women in their TV commercials.  Because GoDaddy’s domain registration service SUCKS.