Anyone Else Have a Problem with Go Daddy?:

[Robert Druse]

After years of registering and  maintaining many domain names with Go Daddy (as well as a being a very satisfied customer even vehemently defending them against criticism) I am now severing all ties with them ASAP:

Someone received an "Invitation" from a member of my Ning Network. The member did not know this recipient nor did she know that this recipient was just some lonely Internet troll with a lot of time on her hands and nothing to do.

I immediately began to receive email messages from the recipient that she is reporting me / us, and I simply ignored it as I have no time nor will I make time to engage in such drivel; Like most of us, I receive many "spam" and unwanted messages every day that I just delete and ignore then and move on with my day.

A couple day later I received a message from Go Daddy indicating that I was indeed "reported" and a request was made to not send any further unwanted messages. I replied saying that I will indeed cease and will make my network members aware of this too. I also called their 24/7 customer service number and spoke with a helpful young man who assured me that all was OK now.

Apparently that was not good enough as I received yet another email message and this time I was quite terse in my reply- I then received yet ANOTHER message saying that I must pay $199 to keep my account with them- No I am not kidding and can even show this!

This is nothing short of extortion in my "humble opinion" and I told them exactly that and that I will see to it that everyone I can possible reach knows this, and I am doing just that!

Anyone else have this or a similar problem or problems with trolls like this?

[Patrick Chappelle]

Really??? Hmmm. That's not at all good. Did they explain what was going on in the first place? What I mean is, were those emails indeed coming from your network? I use GoDaddy, and this is the last thing I want to hear.

As far as trolls, it's possible. There was a Ning network creator who joined my network recently, I have been told does just that, but he mysteriously vanished before I could ban him.

[Robert Druse]

Yes Patrick, They went into detail and I evened verified this was a real message from GD with a customer service rep (the phone reps are and have always been great). Amanda (next comment) provided a good link on some of this discussion. I would even go so far as to post the email messages here but not sure I can do that nor do I really want cause any potential problems for Ning- I just want people to be aware; We really do have no control over what our members do- I have more than 4,000 now and am sure none of them (I would hope, anyway) do these things with any malice.

[Patrick Chappelle]

I just read the discussion at the link Amanda provided. Unbelievable! I use CloudFlare at the suggestion of Phil at Ning. It should help with your problem, and it's free.

[Claudius]

I have looked at CloudFlare and I was just about to install it when I was asked to add any DNS records that are missing before they "take over" the network.  What does this mean?

[Patrick Chappelle]

They will be hosting your DNS controls. Believe me, there is nothing underhanded about that company. Keeps the spammers away, and they provide other services (free of charge) that can help optimize your site.

[Rob]

I must admit I'm intrigued, I've got a godaddy account as well, Patrick, why do you think using Cloudflare would prevent this kind of situation?

[Patrick Chappelle]

If it's spammers you're worried about, CF helps a lot.

Despite the numerous documentation I've seen about this problem, I'm not sure how frequent something like this may be. There are social networks with tons of members, and I'm sure there's lots of spamming going on at all of them. I would just rather not have to deal with it. 

[Rob]

If I decide to sign up with Cloudflare, do you know offhand where I would find the DNS info they request? Thanks

[Amanda Bears]

 Wow~ I use Godaddy as well, for every single site I own. I researched this, and I guess they do this when a website has been reported as "spamming": Check out this link: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?740952-Godaddy-askin...

[Robert Druse]

Thanks very much for this thread Amanda; This is very helpful and I will comment on it as well- This also shows that I am not just some disgruntled customer looking for a bones to pick, this is real!

[Amanda Bears]

 I ran into a few threads about this, one was a lawsuit thing. I didn't read the whole thing but my jaw dropped, I had no idea they did this. Makes me disappointed to say the least. :/ sorry Robert you are going through it. 

[Robert Druse]

Thanks again Patrick and Amanda- I saw also a few more posts on that thread including this one today:

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?347385-Go-Daddy-Conf...

This is something we all need to be more than just a bit concerned about especially because we have members who could (unknowingly) create problems for us...