advice Don't Abuse GoDaddy Promos: They will delete your account!

[Chris Hydrick]

Hi...

I was just informed that a newly created GoDaddy account of mine was deleted for coupon abuse. The pun is this is I'm Jewish, and well, I didn't know that was such a thing. In my culture, coupons are as good as cash. I am very upset right now.


Dear GoDaddy Customer,

Thank you for being our valued customer. Your account has been reviewed by our verification office as a precautionary measure to defend you from possible misuse of either your payment method or products in your account. As a result of this review, your recent order(s) in shopper account ######## have been cancelled. Please note that refunds issued to the original payment method are normally processed by your payment provider and/or issuing bank within five to 10 business days. However, some payment providers may hold the funds for a full billing cycle or longer. For further information regarding refund processing timeframes, or if you require assistance locating a refund submitted back to your original payment method, please direct your inquiry to your financial institution.

If you feel this action has been taken in error and would like to request reinstatement, please login to your account with us today. During the login process, our secure site will prompt you to upload a viewable, scanned copy of the payment method account holder's government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or passport. In the comments box, we ask that you also provide a brief explanation of how you intend to use the product(s) purchased.

Upon receipt of the requested documentation, we will re-evaluate the status of your account. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,
Verification Office

 

[ulterios]

Does anyone now exactly, how many coupons you can use before you get your account locked / domains repossessed ? Or how many coupons did you use without ever paying full price for a domain?
I joined godaddy just because of the coupons. One account. When I run out of .99 codes, I can switch to 1.49, then 1.99 and so on. Untill 5. Probabbly you all done it before, so, how many did you use?

There is no hard number of how many coupons you can use before they lock an account. The number of coupons doesn't matter, but they look at other things like how many different types payment methods, the addresses associated with those payment methods, anything that looks like someone is trying to use a coupon many times by creating more accounts to use the same codes that you already used.

GoDaddy isn't going to say exactly what they look at. They just give vague overviews. If they let the way their system works be known then people would find ways to beat it.

One way to get flagged is to register a whole lot of domains in a very short period of time. Many have gotten flagged BC of that. Another is to use credit cards with different names/addresses/etc.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Happy Ending!
​

GoDaddy has since released my domains, and I was able to pick them back up.

 

[ulterios]

Happy Ending!
​

GoDaddy has since released my domains, and I was able to pick them back up.

That's great. So did you have to re-register them or did they just release them to your account?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

So did you have to re-register them or did they just release them to your account?

Re-register.

 

[ulterios]

Re-register.

At regular price or with codes?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

At regular price or with codes?

With codes I hadn't used before (1.99), and all registered with my original aged account.

they never said don't use promo codes, just don't abuse them.

 

[ulterios]

With codes I hadn't used before (1.99), and all registered with my original aged account.

they never said don't use promo codes, just don't abuse them.

Good, especially the original account. Just in case they go crazy again.

I actually keep a record of which codes I have used just for my own records.

 

[DomainZombie]

More than 2 accounts is leaning to coupon abuse.
To me it seems like in this case the combination of GC with a different name and coupons triggered a flag.
Good that the domains were not snatched before you could re-register them

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I have determined the following led to me getting flagged:

• 8 Domains reged in newly created account w/ 24 hrs
• Only used $1.17 coupons
• Changed typo email used to verify first domain reg
• 3 hours after last domain reg, warning email issued
• Acct with warning email unaffected

• Two accts cancelled used mostly $1.17 x 5+ times w/ 24 hr
• Cancelled accts all created after warning email
• New regs using cards from flagged accts cancelled in aged acct but other domains in aged acct unaffected.

When talking with customer service regarding cancelled accounts, they noted an email sent to a current active account. The one in which recieved the warning after drawing attention to myself for the typo email. I did not attempt to cover any tracks as I used my name, and address on multiple cards throughout various accounts. Point of this is Godaddy does track you, and does have the option to cancel your orders if they catch you pushing the limits.

I believe I brought this on myself. Don't draw attention to yourself with the verification department, ie mispeling your email used for your new account and changing it after the verification email had been sent to typo email. That, and of course abusing the codes by clearing my cookies. I'm continuing to use Godaddy as my sole registrar. I will be sure to update this thread should any further repercussions arise.

I don't want to post any more in this thread (unable to lock) as I want this post to remain relevant as the conclusion.

I will gladly answer any questions through PM, but I will no longer be posting in this thread.unless updates arise

 

[cdboard]

I believe I brought this on myself.

haha. yeah, I think that is a certainty.

 

[brandnow]

I got the the dreaded "verification e-mail of doom" for the first time from GoDaddy a few days ago.

My fault. :p Created a new account and reg'd a domain for .99 cents.

I don't want to e-mail my passport, birth certificate, marriage license, etc. to GoDaddy. What happens after you ignore this e-mail? Do they always cancel the domain and refund it automatically? Will this affect my other GoDaddy account(s)?

 

[brandnow]

also, the domain I registered that triggered the e-mail from GoDaddy.. I'm on the fence about whether the domain is important enough for me to try to send a copy of my ID and credit card. Is there a simple way to get GoDaddy to release the domain name so I can just simply register the name with NameSilo or NameCheap?

Or even if you do send a copy of your ID and credit card.. is it likely GD will just use that info to locate my other accounts with them? Thanks for any insight into this. Just considering what steps to take next.

 

[brandnow]

It's been well over 48 hours.

I still haven't sent GoDaddy a copy of my I.D. Mainly because I'm concerned they might locate my other accounts with my I.D. Although the name I registered a week and a half that triggered their e-mail still has not been canceled nor refunded. The account is locked still.

I would like to keep this domain. Preferably I wish now that I would have registered the domain at NameSilo as it is one I'd like to keep. What's the best course of action to make sure I don't lose this domain or compromise my primary GoDaddy account?

 

[ulterios]

It's been well over 48 hours.

I still haven't sent GoDaddy a copy of my I.D. Mainly because I'm concerned they might locate my other accounts with my I.D. Although the name I registered a week and a half that triggered their e-mail still has not been canceled nor refunded. The account is locked still.

I would like to keep this domain. Preferably I wish now that I would have registered the domain at NameSilo as it is one I'd like to keep. What's the best course of action to make sure I don't lose this domain or compromise my primary GoDaddy account?

That's a tough one. It's not against GD rules/policies to have multiple accounts. They just don't want them being used to get around the code restrictions.

If you send them your ID you might be able to get it worked out and maybe worse case scenario be able to pay the regular reg fee.

When you went through that BS with them before, how was that handled as far as what happened with the domains, price, etc.?

 

[brandnow]

That's a tough one. It's not against GD rules/policies to have multiple accounts. They just don't want them being used to get around the code restrictions.

If you send them your ID you might be able to get it worked out and maybe worse case scenario be able to pay the regular reg fee.

When you went through that BS with them before, how was that handled as far as what happened with the domains, price, etc.?

It's my first time going through this B.S with them. :p So I guess I'll find out. I'm thinking the same thing to send my I.D and see what happens?

 

[ulterios]

It's my first time going through this B.S with them. :P So I guess I'll find out. I'm thinking the same thing to send my I.D and see what happens?

Oh, my bad. I thought you had this issue a while back but I think I confused you with someone else.

I guess that's about all you can do. IDK what they will do if you don't send the info they want. You might lose the domain/s.

Whatever you decide, post up the results so we know how they treat this issue.

Good luck.

 

[Nick]

I don't want to e-mail my passport, birth certificate, marriage license, etc. to GoDaddy.

NO CHANCE IN HELL am I sending my identity to some unregulated institution, which I have no idea about who has access. Regulated institutions, like banks, can't even keep hold of personal info. I'm supposed to trust a domain registrar??

CrazyDomains tried to get me to send my things over on multiple occasions for some silly .INFO domains, when they were running their $0.99 promo. I sent a copy of my credit card, as asked, one time for a $8 invoice. The second round of reg's I did days later, they tried to get me to send it again with my ID. I said "no thanks", cancel the reg's. Well...they deleted all of the domains in my account (which I previously paid for) from the registry. Had to email the CEO to straighten it out. Would never send them another penny.

 

[forge]

It's been well over 48 hours.

I still haven't sent GoDaddy a copy of my I.D. Mainly because I'm concerned they might locate my other accounts with my I.D. Although the name I registered a week and a half that triggered their e-mail still has not been canceled nor refunded. The account is locked still.

Just wow. Did you ever stop to think all it takes is a GD rep stumbling upon this thread? I know the chances are pretty slim, but... oh, never mind.

Best of luck with your strategies.