A few years ago I got sucked into GoDaddy’s low prices and (seemingly) cohesive capabilities across a wide technology spectrum. For the better part of a year, however, I’ve been reminded of the maxim, “You get what you pay for.”
I finally gave GoDaddy the boot, and I’m already pleased with the results. I wish I had enough time to recount all the GoDaddy-induced pain, but I just don’t. A few quick points:
- Customer Service was terrible. Yes, I received the “we promise to respond within 24 hours” email, but I frequently had to reply back (days later) asking, “what’s the status of this issue?” Of course I’m not privy to GoDaddy’s inner workings, but I am left with the impression that SOP is to do nothing until the customer makes a reminder contact (calls by phone, send an email, etc.)
- Charged more for less. It’s still hard for me to believe, but it’s true. I hosted 2 WordPress blogs with GoDaddy. One was measurably faster even though it contained less content and used fewer plug-ins, etc. Unfortunately, it is also the less important blog. After demonstrating (with measured results) that one was slower than the other, GoDaddy said there was nothing they could do about it. If I were to upgrade to the next package level (Economy to Deluxe if memory serves), performance would improve substantially. “Sucker” is now emblazoned on my forehead. I continued to measure the performance of my more important (and now more powerfully hosted) blog. There was absolutely no change (other than the amount GoDaddy charged me). I disabled WordPress plug-ins and did everything I could to give GoDaddy’s host server the opportunity to deliver the promised performance. Nada.
- WordPress Upgradability – During the tenure of my blogs at GoDaddy, there have been at least a half-dozen upgrades to the WordPress platform. I can only remember one of the dozen working correctly (2 blogs x half-dozen upgrades = ~dozen total). GoDaddy’s Customer Support personnel blame WordPress. But when I talk to other bloggers, their upgrade from 3.0 to 3.1 (or whatever) is flawless. We take the same steps; their blogs (not on GoDaddy) upgrade; mine don’t.
Have I already written that much? I really didn’t want to spend much time on this topic, but my fingers just couldn’t hold back. Frustrating!
Ok. Take a breath; think positive thoughts. I’m moving on now. Good riddance!