Leaving GoDaddy
Principle without action is empty. Yesterday we closed our accounts with GoDaddy, and are advising our clients to do the same. Here’s why.
Work with people you like and pass on the rest. We think this principle is critical to a successful relationship, and it underscores how we evaluate potential clients/partners.
GoDaddy has been our go-to domain registrar for years. We’ve always been happy with their domain services, and recommended them to clients despite their adolescent Superbowl commercials.
Yesterday, Bob Parsons (GoDaddy’s CEO) posted a video where he shot and killed an African elephant bull. The hunt was legal under Zimbabwe’s corrupt political system, but the tone was vulgar and ostentatious. Playing AC/DC’s Hells Bells as starved locals wearing GoDaddy hats butchered the animal crossed the line. Parsons defense of killing problem elephants has not held up under criticism from media and conservation groups.
We believe personal and business ethics are continuous. GoDaddy’s leadership has a skewed moral compass and GravDept can do better. We’re passing on GoDaddy.
It wasn’t hard to find an elephant-friendly registrar with a conscience. Namecheap publicly challenged Parson’s conduct and is donating $1 for every transferred domain to Save The Elephants: an organization dedicated to research, protection, and education that secures a future for elephants.
We transferred all our domains to Namecheap yesterday, and we’re volunteering to help our clients close their GoDaddy accounts. The world is safer for elephants.
Update 2011/04/18: NameCheap raised over $20,000 for Save The Elephants and donated an additional $10k to the cause. We’re thrilled with the impact, and haven’t regretted leaving GoDaddy one bit.
Natalia
I also took my business elsewhere. When I heard about this cruel act I was floored! How could anyone harm an elephant, well any animal for that matter. The reasons why he did it are not valid what so ever and I cancelled my account with GoDaddy.
Joanne Miller
I took my business elsewhere, as a direct result of this page. I found it today, 8/10/11. Thank you.
I will also be using your page as inspiration for our own, helping-clients-switch page.
Bob Barker
I left Godaddy because their abuse department is full of a bunch of arrogant ….’s and their terms of service contain absurd requirements. They never bothered to email me, and I never received a phone call prior to them cutting my entire business offline. Their reason for doing so was unfair and illogical. They held my domain “hostage” making me unable to transfer it away, telling me I have to pay them $75 to unlock it for transfer. I’ve been with them for 8 years and feel completely abused by them at this point. Tucows here we come.