[geeks] call for help (fwd)

[Kevin]

Damn this sucks hard.  I really wish we had registered with
GoDaddy so that i could pull out now, and take our list of
clients with us.

/KRM

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 21:36:54 -0600 (CST)
"Jonathan C. Patschke" <jp at celestrion.net> wrote:

> I'm sure many of you remember Dave McGuire, formerly of this
> list.  I thought this might be of interest, especially given
> how popular GoDaddy is in the techie circles.
> 
> Unfortunately, this won't get resolved as quickly as the Panix
> thing did a few months back, as Dave's mom's company isn't
> nearly as large as them.
> 
> -- 
> Jonathan Patschke   )   "Let me hear you make decisions
> Elgin, TX          (     without your television."
> USA                 )        --Depeche Mode, "Stripped"
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 22:26:22 -0500
> From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
> Subject: call for help
> 
> 
>    Hey folks.  This is an unusual one, but I need your help.
> 
>    The short version: The domain name of my mom's largest
>    customer, registered 
> with GoDaddy a few years ago, was just stolen...by GoDaddy
> themselves.  The  customer is fuming, and has begun the process
> of migrating to another service  provider.  This has the effect
> of cutting my mother's income approximately in  half, less than
> a week after signing a lease on a new house.
> 
>    The domain disappeared from the root nameservers a few days
>    ago, and we 
> called GoDaddy's support people who started an investigation. 
> A few days went  by with no resolution, until tonight when she
> basically got fed up and called  them again to see what was up.
> 
>    Tonight, they said the domain was "unavailable", because
>    they "received a 
> complaint from a third party indicating that the contact listed
> in the whois  database was unresponsive".  Said contact was my
> mother, who's had the same  phone number for seven years, and
> the same email address for twelve  years...unresponsive, my
> ass.  Further, this domain had just been renewed this  past
> December, paid in full for two years.  And even further, they
> just charged  my mother's debit card another ten bucks due to
> the "query" regarding the whois  database!
> 
>    They acknowledged that this is a popular scam.  According to
>    statements by 
> one the support people she spoke with, this is a frequent
> occurrence, and  involves...you guessed it, cash.  It works
> like this.  Someone figures out that  they want a domain that
> is registered with GoDaddy.  They hop onto GoDaddy's  website,
> and "pre-buy" the domain...paying money to be the first in line
> to get  it if it becomes available.  Then, they make a
> complaint that they were unable  to contact the current owner
> of the domain (whether that is true or not), then  GoDaddy
> yanks the domain...which then magically becomes "available" to
> the  person who paid to be the first in line.  And oh by the
> way, the previous  owners' money is not refunded.
> 
>    To make matters worse, they flatly refused to allow her to
>    speak with a 
> supervisor, saying that she had no recourse, and if she had a
> problem with  that, she could go file a complaint with ICANN. 
> They refused to provide  contact information for anyone of
> authority within the company.
> 
>    I know GoDaddy is popular in this crowd...to be honest,
>    until tonight, they 
> were popular with me too...so this probably comes as a tough
> pill to swallow.  But this has plainly exposed them as a bunch
> of suited thieves who have just  stuck a knife in my mother's
> back.
> 
>    I humbly and sincerely request that you, my most trusted
>    friends, immediately 
> dump that company like a hot rock and move your domains
> elsewhere.  I realize  this is a pain, and may involve a few
> bucks (which I'd offer to pay if I didn't  foresee sending all
> of my spare money to my mother now), but this company needs  a
> whack on the back of the head.  I'm counting on there being
> enough  GoDaddy-registered domains in the hands of people here
> to make them notice a  little exodus.
> 
>    Again, I know this is a big pain in the ass, and I wouldn't
>    ask if these 
> suits hadn't just lobbed a hand grenade into my mother's
> business, and her  livelihood.  Please consider helping me with
> this by dumping GoDaddy, and get  as many people as you know to
> do the same.
> 
>              Thanks,
>              -Dave
> 
> --
> Dave McGuire              "I've watched Harley people throw up
> Cape Coral, FL                      on the ceiling."    -Krissi
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