un-mediocre
06-28-2006, 12:32 PM
You're probably wondering why we've been experiencing a lot of downtime... The answer is: Go Daddy is Evil.
GoDaddy.com is great for domains, but dont EVER think about purchasing any of their hosting plans!
It all began on the 22nd of June 2005. Gamer Disclaimer went down for the first time. I was shocked! I logged into my Godaddy account and found that it has been suspended. My credit card was expiring that month so I assumed that was the problem.
I emailed godaddy that day:
Subject: Account Suspended
Hello, my account has been suspended because my credit card expires in 40 days. I had my credit card renewed and updated my payment information. How can I get my account activated again?
Thanks,
XXXX
So far, godaddy has provided excellent customer service. They'd always reply the same day, or in a maximum of 24 hours.
Re: Account Suspended
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for contacting customer support. It would appear that the account was actually suspended for CPU overutilization. If you require further support, please contact us.
Thank you,
XXXX
Advanced Hosting Support
The reply was fast, but I didn't get the information I needed so I sent another email.
I've emailed support before about my suspended account (incident #XXXX). I assumed my account was suspended because of an expired credit card but the support staff told me "that the account was actually suspended for CPU overutilization." They did not actually answer my question, which was how do I activate my account again? My account has been suspended without notice or instructions on how to activate it again.
Thanks,
XXXX
I got another quick reply and I was pleased with how understanding the customer service was.
Dear Sir/Madame,
Thank you for contacting hosting support.
We have reinstated your hosting for gamerdisclaimer.com. It appears that the site generated a high load on our server. We will monitor it and alert you if we see further issues.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Regards,
Advanced Hosting Support
Gamer Disclaimer was up again! Hurray! I figured this was a problem with Godaddy's servers and didn't put much thought into it. I was just glad to have GD back up again.
So everything seems fine for a while, until the 26th of June. Guess what? GD goes down yet again! And what else? I find this email in my inbox:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Your site, gamerdisclaimer.com, is causing a very high load on linhost144. Your php scripts are also eating up 35-90mb of memory each. This site has already been suspended previously. as this is the second strike, this site may not be re-enabled due to the downtime it has caused. Please contact abuse@godaddy.com for further information.
Sincerely,
Advanced Hosting Support
But wait! That's not even the worst part. You know what sucks about having one company control both your hosting AND domain name? They've got total control over you!
Subject: Cancellation Confirmation
************************************************** ****************
ITEM CANCELLATION CONFIRMATION
************************************************** ****************
Dear XXXX,
Per your request, the items listed below have been cancelled
from your account, XXXX:
Private Registration Services: GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM
If you feel this cancellation has occurred in error or you need
further assistance, our support staff is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week via:
+ Online Support:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/support.asp?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=wwbb566
+ Email: support@godaddy.com
+ Phone: (480) 505-8877
Thanks again for being a GoDaddy.com customer.
Sincerely,
GoDaddy.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2006 GoDaddy.com. All rights reserved.
What the hell?! Why would GoDaddy cancel my domain because of an issue concerning my hosting account? They're two different services!
Anyway that didn't matter. I understood the problem.. Godaddy's shared servers cannot handle the pressure of GD (forums, flash portal etc..). So I decided to move to a virtual dedicated server on GoDaddy.
I wrote GoDaddy yet another email... Their abuse department doesn't even have a phone number.
Subject: Account Suspended - Moving to a Virtual Dedicated Server
Acct #: XXXX
I understand that my website gamerdisclaimer.com is causing a very high load
on the shared servers which is considered "abuse". I was wondering, if I
were to purchase a virtual dedicated hosting package, would it be possible
that I get all my data moved to the new host? If it is possible, what steps
must I follow?
I would like it if you could move the files for me or at least give me ftp access to my old account so I can do it myself.
And regarding my domain, I understand that you cancelled it? How can I get my domain back?
Thank you,
XXXX
I thought I made myself clear in this email. I hoped GoDaddy would move the files for me, but I wouldn't mind doing it manually. (Moving the mySQL dbs is a pain!) Here's the reply I got:
Re: Account Suspended - Moving to a Virtual Dedicated Server
Dear XXXX,
The domain name and web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM has been suspended for violating Go Daddy's Terms of Service.
Go Daddy’s Abuse Department was recently alerted by Go Daddy’s Security Operations Center that the web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM was consuming an excessive percentage of server CPU time. This over utilization of server CPU cycles is a violation of Go Daddy's Terms of Service for your web hosting account. As a result, your domain name and web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM has been suspended.
At this point you have two options:
----- Option # 1: Remain a Go Daddy customer, reactivate your domain name and web hosting account.
If you wish to remain a Go Daddy customer and reactivate your domain name and web hosting account you must reply to this message with the following:
1. A statement that you will not initiate, or allow a third party to initiate, this type of malicious activity in the future.
2. A statement that you have reviewed Go Daddy's terms of service policies, with your assurance that these policies will not be violated in the future. Go Daddy's Legal Agreements and Terms of Service policies are located on Go Daddy's "Legal Agreement" page. Click the following link to access Go Daddy's "Legal Agreements" page:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/agreements.asp.
3. Authorization for GoDaddy.com to charge the credit card on file for your account a non-refundable $199 reactivation fee (you may want to log into your Go Daddy account and confirm that the card on file is valid and has not expired).
Please understand that if the problem persists, after your domain name and web hosting account has been reactivated the first time, the services in question will be immediately canceled.
----- Option #2: Move your domain name web hosting account to a new registrar.
If option #1 is not agreeable to you, or you are unable to abide by Go Daddy's policies, you will need to move your domain name and website to another provider. To do this you will need to reply to this message with the following:
1. A statement that you will initiate the transfer of your domain name to a new registrar and website to another web hosting provider within the next 24 hours.
2. Authorization for GoDaddy.com to charge a non-refundable $50 administration fee to the credit card on file for your account. This fee is used to reimburse Go Daddy for the costs we have incurred in addressing this matter (again, you may want to log into your Go Daddy account and confirm that the card on file is valid and has not expired).
Every Go Daddy customer that has services suspended for violating Go Daddy's Policies must choose one of these options if they wish to resolve the situation. These options are not negotiable. The fees cannot be reduced or waived.
We appreciate your cooperation and willingness to address this issue. Please let us know what course of action you choose to take. If you wish to discuss this situation via telephone Go Daddy's Spam and Abuse Department can be reached at 480-624-2505.
Sincerely,
Spam and Abuse Department
GoDaddy.com
ARID103
WoW! His reply was pretty harsh! I thought this must be some kind of misunderstanding... I'm being redirected to the spam and abuse department?! I had to send another email to figure this one out and consider other options.
Acct #: XXXX
Can't I set up a virtual dedicated server or dedicated server instead? My site will consume a lot of memory because of the scripts I use like the forums, and flash portal cms. The only solution I see is upgrading my hosting with more memory, this upgrade being a virtual dedicated host.
I would like to know if this would be possible.
Thanks,
XXXX
I got a very blunt reply...
Dear XXXX,
If you would like to set up a virtual dedicated server you are more then welcome to do so. However you will first need to resolve the abuse issue with your account before this can happen. Upgrading your account to a virtual or dedicated server is not a resolution for resolving the abuse matter with your account. If you wish to resolve this matter you will need to choose one of the previous options that we had provided to you.
Regards,
GoDaddy.com
Spam and Abuse Department
ARID103
What he basically said was that I had no choice... I have to pay up! By this moment I flipped... I don't think I should be treated this way, I've done nothing wrong... So yes, another email.. :P
This is an outrage! I have been a loyal customer of Go Daddy for more than half a year. My website's content never broke any of the rules. I've been contacted about bandwidth usage, and I've upgraded my account from economy to premium hosting accordingly... That's how much I care.
And what happens now? My website uses too much CPU power, which by the way I have no way of calculating or verifying, and you suspend my account. How in the world is this considered abuse? It's not like I planned for this to happen.
I'm such a nice guy that I wouldn't even rant about that... Heck, I even decided to remain a Go Daddy customer and upgrade my account to a dedicated server. Logical conclusion eh? "Your site takes up too much memory!" - "Hey, I'll upgrade to a dedicated server! More memory for me! Yay!"
You'd think that would solve the memory problem? Noooo... Go Daddy holds my account hostage!
Choice 1: Pay 200 bucks and remain a Go Daddy customer. What? So this can happen all over again?
Choice 2: Pay 50 bucks and leave. Tempting, but I still don't understand why I owe you money. If anything, you owe me for the two months I've paid for and haven't received yet.
Now I want you to think hard, think reaally hard... How the hell is this my fault? You're treating this "CPU overutilization" as if it was spam or pornography. I have no control over the CPU usage, and I don't have any means of calculating it. But I figured out a way to resolve this-- by moving my site to a dedicated server. You don't seem to care though... Seriously now, your ToS needs a lot of revising or you will lose more loyal customers everyday. I would understand this kind of conduct being enforced on people purposefully abusing the shared servers in order to take them down, but I can assure you that was not my intent.
I hope this email doesn't come off as "rude" or "disrespectful", but I'm getting quite frustrated with your service. Even more frustrated when I find that I am being blamed and fined.
You suspended my account without notice which unfortunately is legal according to your ToS, but horrible customer support. You claimed that the "options" I must select from are non-negotiable which sickens me. I feel like I'm being wronged, and I have no idea why I'm being treated in such a manner. I would like to speak to a higher management because I can predict that your generic reply will get me nowhere.
Former Go Daddy Customer,
XXXX
And guess what? I did get an unhelpful generic reply.
Dear XXXX,
Every Go Daddy customer that has services suspended for violating Go Daddy's Policies must choose one of these options if they wish to resolve the situation. These options are not negotiable. The fees cannot be reduced or waived.
Regards,
GoDaddy.com
Spam and Abuse Department
ARID103
By now I realized there was no point in arguing with these idiots...
Acct #: XXXX
Alright, it seems like non-negotiable really means non-negotiable...
I would like to select Option 2.
I hereby state that I will initiate the transfer of my domain name to a new registrar and website to another web hosting provider within the next 24 hours.
I authorize GoDaddy.com to charge a non-refundable $50 administration fee to the credit card on file for my account.
I hope you can sleep at night.
So I packed up the site and moved it to another host...
Stay away from GoDaddy's hosting plans! Their abuse department is just horrible... They won't even listen to you.
Moral of the story? GODADDY IS EVIL!
GoDaddy.com is great for domains, but dont EVER think about purchasing any of their hosting plans!
It all began on the 22nd of June 2005. Gamer Disclaimer went down for the first time. I was shocked! I logged into my Godaddy account and found that it has been suspended. My credit card was expiring that month so I assumed that was the problem.
I emailed godaddy that day:
Subject: Account Suspended
Hello, my account has been suspended because my credit card expires in 40 days. I had my credit card renewed and updated my payment information. How can I get my account activated again?
Thanks,
XXXX
So far, godaddy has provided excellent customer service. They'd always reply the same day, or in a maximum of 24 hours.
Re: Account Suspended
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for contacting customer support. It would appear that the account was actually suspended for CPU overutilization. If you require further support, please contact us.
Thank you,
XXXX
Advanced Hosting Support
The reply was fast, but I didn't get the information I needed so I sent another email.
I've emailed support before about my suspended account (incident #XXXX). I assumed my account was suspended because of an expired credit card but the support staff told me "that the account was actually suspended for CPU overutilization." They did not actually answer my question, which was how do I activate my account again? My account has been suspended without notice or instructions on how to activate it again.
Thanks,
XXXX
I got another quick reply and I was pleased with how understanding the customer service was.
Dear Sir/Madame,
Thank you for contacting hosting support.
We have reinstated your hosting for gamerdisclaimer.com. It appears that the site generated a high load on our server. We will monitor it and alert you if we see further issues.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Regards,
Advanced Hosting Support
Gamer Disclaimer was up again! Hurray! I figured this was a problem with Godaddy's servers and didn't put much thought into it. I was just glad to have GD back up again.
So everything seems fine for a while, until the 26th of June. Guess what? GD goes down yet again! And what else? I find this email in my inbox:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Your site, gamerdisclaimer.com, is causing a very high load on linhost144. Your php scripts are also eating up 35-90mb of memory each. This site has already been suspended previously. as this is the second strike, this site may not be re-enabled due to the downtime it has caused. Please contact abuse@godaddy.com for further information.
Sincerely,
Advanced Hosting Support
But wait! That's not even the worst part. You know what sucks about having one company control both your hosting AND domain name? They've got total control over you!
Subject: Cancellation Confirmation
************************************************** ****************
ITEM CANCELLATION CONFIRMATION
************************************************** ****************
Dear XXXX,
Per your request, the items listed below have been cancelled
from your account, XXXX:
Private Registration Services: GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM
If you feel this cancellation has occurred in error or you need
further assistance, our support staff is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week via:
+ Online Support:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/support.asp?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=wwbb566
+ Email: support@godaddy.com
+ Phone: (480) 505-8877
Thanks again for being a GoDaddy.com customer.
Sincerely,
GoDaddy.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2006 GoDaddy.com. All rights reserved.
What the hell?! Why would GoDaddy cancel my domain because of an issue concerning my hosting account? They're two different services!
Anyway that didn't matter. I understood the problem.. Godaddy's shared servers cannot handle the pressure of GD (forums, flash portal etc..). So I decided to move to a virtual dedicated server on GoDaddy.
I wrote GoDaddy yet another email... Their abuse department doesn't even have a phone number.
Subject: Account Suspended - Moving to a Virtual Dedicated Server
Acct #: XXXX
I understand that my website gamerdisclaimer.com is causing a very high load
on the shared servers which is considered "abuse". I was wondering, if I
were to purchase a virtual dedicated hosting package, would it be possible
that I get all my data moved to the new host? If it is possible, what steps
must I follow?
I would like it if you could move the files for me or at least give me ftp access to my old account so I can do it myself.
And regarding my domain, I understand that you cancelled it? How can I get my domain back?
Thank you,
XXXX
I thought I made myself clear in this email. I hoped GoDaddy would move the files for me, but I wouldn't mind doing it manually. (Moving the mySQL dbs is a pain!) Here's the reply I got:
Re: Account Suspended - Moving to a Virtual Dedicated Server
Dear XXXX,
The domain name and web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM has been suspended for violating Go Daddy's Terms of Service.
Go Daddy’s Abuse Department was recently alerted by Go Daddy’s Security Operations Center that the web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM was consuming an excessive percentage of server CPU time. This over utilization of server CPU cycles is a violation of Go Daddy's Terms of Service for your web hosting account. As a result, your domain name and web hosting account for GAMERDISCLAIMER.COM has been suspended.
At this point you have two options:
----- Option # 1: Remain a Go Daddy customer, reactivate your domain name and web hosting account.
If you wish to remain a Go Daddy customer and reactivate your domain name and web hosting account you must reply to this message with the following:
1. A statement that you will not initiate, or allow a third party to initiate, this type of malicious activity in the future.
2. A statement that you have reviewed Go Daddy's terms of service policies, with your assurance that these policies will not be violated in the future. Go Daddy's Legal Agreements and Terms of Service policies are located on Go Daddy's "Legal Agreement" page. Click the following link to access Go Daddy's "Legal Agreements" page:
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/agreements.asp.
3. Authorization for GoDaddy.com to charge the credit card on file for your account a non-refundable $199 reactivation fee (you may want to log into your Go Daddy account and confirm that the card on file is valid and has not expired).
Please understand that if the problem persists, after your domain name and web hosting account has been reactivated the first time, the services in question will be immediately canceled.
----- Option #2: Move your domain name web hosting account to a new registrar.
If option #1 is not agreeable to you, or you are unable to abide by Go Daddy's policies, you will need to move your domain name and website to another provider. To do this you will need to reply to this message with the following:
1. A statement that you will initiate the transfer of your domain name to a new registrar and website to another web hosting provider within the next 24 hours.
2. Authorization for GoDaddy.com to charge a non-refundable $50 administration fee to the credit card on file for your account. This fee is used to reimburse Go Daddy for the costs we have incurred in addressing this matter (again, you may want to log into your Go Daddy account and confirm that the card on file is valid and has not expired).
Every Go Daddy customer that has services suspended for violating Go Daddy's Policies must choose one of these options if they wish to resolve the situation. These options are not negotiable. The fees cannot be reduced or waived.
We appreciate your cooperation and willingness to address this issue. Please let us know what course of action you choose to take. If you wish to discuss this situation via telephone Go Daddy's Spam and Abuse Department can be reached at 480-624-2505.
Sincerely,
Spam and Abuse Department
GoDaddy.com
ARID103
WoW! His reply was pretty harsh! I thought this must be some kind of misunderstanding... I'm being redirected to the spam and abuse department?! I had to send another email to figure this one out and consider other options.
Acct #: XXXX
Can't I set up a virtual dedicated server or dedicated server instead? My site will consume a lot of memory because of the scripts I use like the forums, and flash portal cms. The only solution I see is upgrading my hosting with more memory, this upgrade being a virtual dedicated host.
I would like to know if this would be possible.
Thanks,
XXXX
I got a very blunt reply...
Dear XXXX,
If you would like to set up a virtual dedicated server you are more then welcome to do so. However you will first need to resolve the abuse issue with your account before this can happen. Upgrading your account to a virtual or dedicated server is not a resolution for resolving the abuse matter with your account. If you wish to resolve this matter you will need to choose one of the previous options that we had provided to you.
Regards,
GoDaddy.com
Spam and Abuse Department
ARID103
What he basically said was that I had no choice... I have to pay up! By this moment I flipped... I don't think I should be treated this way, I've done nothing wrong... So yes, another email.. :P
This is an outrage! I have been a loyal customer of Go Daddy for more than half a year. My website's content never broke any of the rules. I've been contacted about bandwidth usage, and I've upgraded my account from economy to premium hosting accordingly... That's how much I care.
And what happens now? My website uses too much CPU power, which by the way I have no way of calculating or verifying, and you suspend my account. How in the world is this considered abuse? It's not like I planned for this to happen.
I'm such a nice guy that I wouldn't even rant about that... Heck, I even decided to remain a Go Daddy customer and upgrade my account to a dedicated server. Logical conclusion eh? "Your site takes up too much memory!" - "Hey, I'll upgrade to a dedicated server! More memory for me! Yay!"
You'd think that would solve the memory problem? Noooo... Go Daddy holds my account hostage!
Choice 1: Pay 200 bucks and remain a Go Daddy customer. What? So this can happen all over again?
Choice 2: Pay 50 bucks and leave. Tempting, but I still don't understand why I owe you money. If anything, you owe me for the two months I've paid for and haven't received yet.
Now I want you to think hard, think reaally hard... How the hell is this my fault? You're treating this "CPU overutilization" as if it was spam or pornography. I have no control over the CPU usage, and I don't have any means of calculating it. But I figured out a way to resolve this-- by moving my site to a dedicated server. You don't seem to care though... Seriously now, your ToS needs a lot of revising or you will lose more loyal customers everyday. I would understand this kind of conduct being enforced on people purposefully abusing the shared servers in order to take them down, but I can assure you that was not my intent.
I hope this email doesn't come off as "rude" or "disrespectful", but I'm getting quite frustrated with your service. Even more frustrated when I find that I am being blamed and fined.
You suspended my account without notice which unfortunately is legal according to your ToS, but horrible customer support. You claimed that the "options" I must select from are non-negotiable which sickens me. I feel like I'm being wronged, and I have no idea why I'm being treated in such a manner. I would like to speak to a higher management because I can predict that your generic reply will get me nowhere.
Former Go Daddy Customer,
XXXX
And guess what? I did get an unhelpful generic reply.
Dear XXXX,
Every Go Daddy customer that has services suspended for violating Go Daddy's Policies must choose one of these options if they wish to resolve the situation. These options are not negotiable. The fees cannot be reduced or waived.
Regards,
GoDaddy.com
Spam and Abuse Department
ARID103
By now I realized there was no point in arguing with these idiots...
Acct #: XXXX
Alright, it seems like non-negotiable really means non-negotiable...
I would like to select Option 2.
I hereby state that I will initiate the transfer of my domain name to a new registrar and website to another web hosting provider within the next 24 hours.
I authorize GoDaddy.com to charge a non-refundable $50 administration fee to the credit card on file for my account.
I hope you can sleep at night.
So I packed up the site and moved it to another host...
Stay away from GoDaddy's hosting plans! Their abuse department is just horrible... They won't even listen to you.
Moral of the story? GODADDY IS EVIL!