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alert Why You Can't Trust GoDaddy Brokers

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jberryhill

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John Berryhill, Ph.d., Esq.
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It is important to understand that GoDaddy brokers are not working for you.

I'm currently defending a UDRP which, although it will be an easy win for the domain registrant, would have been completely unnecessary if GoDaddy was honest with its own customer.

In the course of fielding an inquiry to buy a domain name, GoDaddy broker John Campanaro received this email:


Screenshot 2023-05-18 at 10.19.56 AM.png



The "buyer" was claiming to have a trademark and threatening legal action.

Now, in the course of this negotiation, the parties ended up being extremely close. The margin between the final offer of the "buyer" and the domain registrant was around $1000.

Had GoDaddy's customer realized that the "buyer" was now claiming to have a trademark and threatening legal action, that would have given GoDaddy's customer an opportunity to consider whether to lower their offer simply to avoid a frivolous legal dispute, or at least to have some warning that GoDaddy knew what the "buyer" was going to do next.

So, what did GoDaddy broker John Campanaro do next?

He lied:

Screenshot 2023-05-18 at 10.20.50 AM.png


If you were formerly a Uniregistry customer and have been moved to GoDaddy, you need to understand that some very basic principles of customer service did not survive that transfer.

GoDaddy will withhold information from you, and will not tell you if the other side in a negotiation is making legal threats, so that you can make a rational and informed decision. Instead, they will drive you right over the cliff and even, as happened in the longer course of this negotiation, make up stuff, attribute it to you, and then it will turn up in a UDRP or other legal dispute filed against you.

GoDaddy will dig a hole and push you right in.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Thanks but I've moved on from the incident and I respect @jberryhill enough to not hijack his thread. I debated sharing at all and only chimed in to highlight the fact that this incident did not occur in isolation. Every domainer can decide what they want to do. There are pros and cons to doing business with the 800 pound gorrilla so each their own.

For the record, this shouldn't be a bash Godaddy party because they are a valuable global resource to our community.... more of a strong and passionate plea to "Do Better". I hope corporate is on top of this.

Fair enough.

It would be helpful if James Illes and Joe Styler chimed in, as they are the Liaisons between the Domain community and GD Corporate.

There has been enough evidence presented in this thread to indicate a need for an in-house investigation into the behavior of brokers at GD brokerage.

Is this deceptive, negligent behavior actions of a few rogue brokers, or has an unethical culture become the norm at GD Brokerage?

This is something James Isles and Styler can help determine.
 
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Hi FS, the buyer filed the TM case at WIPO, not J. Berryhill's client.
Yes true, that's why I also asked about the costs of adding more panelists in a subsequent posting. See @jberryhill's response as well.
 
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I think domain owners have a right to know where their lead is coming from, and a right to their domain lead data, whether they choose to abuse that is where the platform put's X's on them, but domain holders are giving away some of their most valuable data points.
 
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Yes true, that's why I also asked about the costs of adding more panelists in a subsequent posting. See @jberryhill's response as well.
Thanks FS, I was unaware that in this case J.B.'s client asked for more panelists.

Maybe this explains J.B.'s $5k figure
This unethical action on the part of the broker has already cost the seller at least $5K in legal fees.

Instead of us speculating I wish he'd chime in
 
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It's a frequently asked question. If he had to answer that every time, it would be costly.
I wasn't talking about John Berryhill Esq.
I was talking about J.R.

I don't want J. Berryhill Esq. to chime in.
I'd like to know why J.R. wrote $5k.

For the umpteenth time: I don't care about what J. Berryhill's fees are.
Rather I'm interested in this assertion
This unethical action on the part of the broker has already cost the seller at least $5K in legal fees.

Future Sensors, this whole discussion circle around that $5k figure.

The first time I asked J.R. why he mentioned that figure he came back lecturing about legal fees being confidential.

I told him, I don't care about J. Berryhill's legal fees, I'm asking you about the meaning of that $5k figure.
He didn't reply.

At this point you came up mentioning the costs of filing the case at WIPO.
I replied that J. Berryhill's client (the seller) bears no such costs as he is the defendant, not the compliant.

Then you suggested that maybe those $5k included the fees for requesting additional panelists.
At this point I said that we both could end our speculations about J.R.'s $5k figure if he would chime in.

With he I meant J.R. - the author of the post containing the $5k figure we are speculating about -, not J. Berryhill Esq.
 
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I wasn't talking about John Berryhill Esq.
I was talking about J.R.

I don't want J. Berryhill Esq. to chime in.
I'd like to know why J.R. wrote $5k.

For the umpteenth time: I don't care about what J. Berryhill's fees are.
Rather I'm interested in this assertion


Future Sensors, this whole discussion circle around that $5k figure.

The first time I asked J.R. why he mentioned that figure he came back lecturing about legal fees being confidential.

I told him, I don't care about J. Berryhill's legal fees, I'm asking you about the meaning of that $5k figure.
He didn't reply.

At this point you came up mentioning the costs of filing the case at WIPO.
I replied that J. Berryhill's client (the seller) bears no such costs as he is the defendant, not the compliant.

Then you suggested that maybe those $5k included the fees for requesting additional panelists.
At this point I said that we both could end our speculations about J.R.'s $5k figure if he would chime in.

With he I meant J.R. - the author of the post containing the $5k figure we are speculating about -, not J. Berryhill Esq.

Probably a rough estimate or a rounded up number from past experiences.

It can add up anywhere from a couple of to 10K. Depends on your lawyer, panel (more members), additional filings etc.

If you are taking it further, like contesting an UDRP, it gets costly. The domain we're discussing may be worth it.

Don't get overly obsessed with the number.
 
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Probably a rough estimate or a rounded up number from past experiences.

It can add up anywhere from a couple of to 10K. Depends on your lawyer, panel (more members), additional filings etc.

If you are taking it further, like contesting an UDRP, it gets costly. The domain we're discussing may be worth it.

Don't get overly obsessed with the number.
That makes sense - particularly the last line :xf.smile:
Thank you Branding (y)
 
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Maybe I'm missing something.
The buyer offering 4000+ fees, and the agent tells the seller, 4000+ fees is the last price, without mentioning legal action threat.

I don't see a lie here, it is incomplete info, rather than a lie.
If there is arbitrage effort it would be a lie.

Yes, incomplete info is also bad, but, maybe the agent was thinking, the offer would be accepted anyway;
and if the seller says, no I want more, then the agent would mention the legal action threat.
There is not much risk if I understand it correctly.

Bad thing: UDRP is not fair.
For example they invent excuses without allowing you to defend against them, and once decision is given unfairly and illogically, they say, there is no appeal, unless you take legal action in court. They win in all situations because this is legal business.
 
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Maybe I'm missing something.
The buyer offering 4000+ fees, and the agent tells the seller, 4000+ fees is the last price, without mentioning legal action threat.

I don't see a lie here, it is incomplete info, rather than a lie.
If there is arbitrage effort it would be a lie.

Yes, incomplete info is also bad, but, maybe the agent was thinking, the offer would be accepted anyway;
and if the seller says, no I want more, then the agent would mention the legal action threat.
There is not much risk if I understand it correctly.

Bad thing: UDRP is not fair.
For example they invent excuses without allowing you to defend against them, and once decision is given unfairly and illogically, they say, there is no appeal, unless you take legal action in court. They win in all situations because this is legal business.
Read post #35 in this thread by @jberryhill.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-you-cant-trust-godaddy-brokers.1302295/page-2#post-8922116

At first it was just about the TM threat, but then there are communications from the broker saying things that were misleading or false to both parties. One of those false statements ended up being used in the UDRP filing.

Brad
 
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A couple months ago I decided to transfer all of my domains away from GoDaddy to Dynadot and dust off my Efty account for another year. About a week ago I publicly stated that I prefer Sedo over Afternic as a company.

Threads like this confirm my 2023 Dynadot, Efty, Sedo direction wasn't a bad direction to go as this is beyond shady. At least with Sedo a buyer can make their offer/comment right in the control panel for the seller to see which trumps a buyer calling Afternic for a price and hoping ya get a broker with morals over a broker only out for their bottom line with no regards for the domain owner.

GoDaddy is the Gorilla as far as registration numbers go but collectively domainers can have insane power. Domainer A 500 domains out to Dynadot, Domainer B 20K domains out to Dynadot etc... Tired of the Gorilla? Make a move to whatever registrar you prefer.

1 Domainer making moves maybe not so noticeable. Group of domainers with large portfolios saying we've had enough and the Gorilla will start to lose weight.
 
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They don't want to lose the opportunity to make arbitrage profit (still not sure if it is the case here).
I set nameservers at Afternic, and try to list a domain with a price. There are two possibilities, either domain is not listed, and unless I make lots of noise, it will never be listed, or it will be listed with contact form, price will be hidden (visible on afternic but not on the landing page). And when people contact via landing page, we will never know about it. Lots of sales will be sacrificied to their arbitrage greed. This is how they are trying to profit with only 15 percent commission... Also quite often, people make an offer elsewhere, but when listed at Afternic with that price, they will not buy and ignore forever.
All roads lead to arbitrage effort.
But I'm sure there are agents doing their job perfectly and honestly, but the system is problematic intentionally from the beginning.
 
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Since the launch of the lead center, I have 10 leads in my account, 8 stalled and 2 confused.. The percentage of leads that turn to sales must be 5% or less. Hopefully, I had sales from the fast transfer network. I don't know if that's the average success rate using the NS3/NS4, but I'm trying the NS5/6 now..
I have one new lead for a 3K name, hope Nick will close that deal. Fingers crossed. But overall,not satisfied, maybe these nameservers lead to a ton of inquiries that go nowhere.
I had only one sale through NS3/NS4 and negotiation, a couple months ago, I know it, because the name was sold at the floor price.
 
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This industry definitely needs a serious competitor to root out godaddy's tyranny and monopoly!
These public-ipo companies are here to eat other competitors, anyway it can use equity transactions
 
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Thanks to all and esp. John Berryhill Esq.
Experienced domainers should have no illusions: GoDaddy is not your friend, and not nearly neutral. Look at the negotiation platform that existed at DomainNameSales already ten years ago then at Uniregistry, and the Dan.com innovations now disappearing (and remember the promised at-cost registrar function that was curtailed). GoDaddy is our enemy.

Yes, nice people sometimes work for repressive governments & cut-throat corporate masters. Is Mr. Senior Broker an anomaly? Does GoDaddy take funds from both ends of many / most transactions, with both buyer & seller believing GoDaddy represents their interests? Perhaps a GoDaddy whistleblower is even now uncovering fraud, or compiling material for a book. I read of "qui tam" whistleblower lawsuits brought under the US Federal False Claims Act. It certainly would be nice if this mess were cleaned-up...
 
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Been with godaddy a long time cant believe they want 22 to renew a dot com. I dont have the time now but will be posting everything I learned about the auction system over the years ,things that they probably dont even know ,and would not want you to know. Also never never ever never ever ever never ,a million times ,put fast transfer on your domains from other registras ,you will get fu--ked eventually.
 
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Thanks to all and esp. John Berryhill Esq.
Experienced domainers should have no illusions: GoDaddy is not your friend, and not nearly neutral. Look at the negotiation platform that existed at DomainNameSales already ten years ago then at Uniregistry, and the Dan.com innovations now disappearing (and remember the promised at-cost registrar function that was curtailed). GoDaddy is our enemy.

Yes, nice people sometimes work for repressive governments & cut-throat corporate masters. Is Mr. Senior Broker an anomaly? Does GoDaddy take funds from both ends of many / most transactions, with both buyer & seller believing GoDaddy represents their interests? Perhaps a GoDaddy whistleblower is even now uncovering fraud, or compiling material for a book. I read of "qui tam" whistleblower lawsuits brought under the US Federal False Claims Act. It certainly would be nice if this mess were cleaned-up...
With a market cap of almost 15 Billion dollars Go Daddy is the most corrupt company I've had the displeasure of dealing with since starting my first business over 50 years ago. My intentions to Sue the Bastards are very real, and their recent devaluation of my portfolio only adds fuel to my claims. You've read on NP where they sold me the domain reservations.online for a promotional price of $10.....then took/stole it back and attempted to sell it back to me for 500K:xf.wink: I then raised so much hell with my broker he was able to get the domain back into my account only for them to take it back a second time. btw, all of this is documented and not just a meritless claim.

That's all i have to say for now, but if there's anyone who would like to join with me to bring Go Daddy to justice, I'd like to hear from you. Thanks
 
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Is there an update or even a comment from GoDaddy reps about this? Was the broker fired at least?
 
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