Asif Ali is the latest to find fault with shifty domain registrar GoDaddy.
Me: "Why did you release a domain that belonged to me..the registration was still active. And two days before the domain expired, I renewed the .co domain at $30 for a year".
Agent: "Since the domain was close to expiry so we released it".
At Hacker News, Chris Acky points out the behavioral patterns that GoDaddy exploits to increase the likelihood of expensive renewals.
Not many people know this, but you pay 30% more for domain renewals if they are set to auto-renew. … Now, with the customers feeling outraged that they are being charged more, they cancel the auto-renew, and they get to put on an even larger charge. It is a horrendous dark-pattern that first of all exploits a customers continued goodwill by keeping up auto-renew, and then secondly, from trying to save money, GoDaddy exploit users who are trying to make their money stretch just a little further.
Buying domains from GoDaddy is like going to dinner with Hannibal Lecter: you have only yourself to blame if the chicken tastes funny.
