Thanks to Darthcoder for pointing me to this topic !
Regarding domain registration prices, please be aware that the Registry charges a basic minimum fee from the registrar/reseller per domain. For the .com/.net TLD, it is US $5.75 - So in case you find an offer (unless the Registry is having a promotional offer, which is rare for .com/.net TLD) from a registrar/reseller that is less than US$ 5.75 per year, there must be something hidden behind it. Most probably they will makeup for the loss by charging a higer renewal price (and might even lock the domain so that you cannot transfer it elsewhere) or maybe they will force you to take up a web hosting plan from them. The same applies for other TLDs as well, for .in it is around Rs.500 set by the .in registry.
Regarding the Godaddy discussion, they do have a very large customer base. When there is a large customer base, support for everyone will get difficult for them to provide and *everyone* may not be satisfied in the end. However, due to their large customer base, loosing a few unsatisfied customers won't dent their business and they would just move on. It is the same with any service provider and with competition hotting up and prices going down, acquiring more customers is their main motive rather than maintaining an existing customer. That doesn't mean they won't support their existing customers, but one might feel they are more interested in marketting, rather than after-sales service. As Arya pointed out earlier, domain registration stuff doesn't require much after sales support (unlike web hosting), and Godaddy just did some good marketting and that is the reason why they are one of the leading domain registrars in the industry now. So bottom line is that, you cannot say Godaddy is bad just because a small percentage of their customer base is not happy, it just happens when you have such a large customer base.
But for web hosting, the story is different. Godaddy oversells a lot and wherever there is overselling, it eventually breaks apart after the initial joy ride. Site5.com which is a very renowned web hosting company is going through a "break down" phase now, thanks to their overselling. When overselling happens in a shared web hosting environment, support and server performance will take a hit since there are too many clients trying to grab a share of the pie ! There is always an "uncertainty" feeling if you opt for web host that does overselling, so Godaddy may not be the best choice for hosting your *mission critical* websites.
Back to the topic... Most Indian registrars will be having the offer for .org/.info till the year end (December 31st, 2006) and is applicable for the 1st year of registration. Normal renewal prices will be applicable from the second year onwards. There is also a promotional offer running for .biz/.us TLD till December 31, 2006.
). Every service has unhappy customers, the ratio always determines a company's success and Godaddy has been successful to a very large extent.
. Godaddy is excellent for people with small use. they are great at overselling. so as long as you"re not making full use of what they give, you'll be happy. i'm pissed off at them mostly coz of hosting reason. i HAD a domain with them, which i moved out within two months.
That is LOW for an online service.
