Rubenerd

I'm a month early, but I decided to get ahead on my NY resolutions and start transferring my domains from GoDaddy to Hover. So far, so good.

Screenshot by me on Flickr.

The Moves like Jagger

I was about to launch into a technical discussion of what transferring entails, however I'm half asleep and the super fabulous Dave Winer already wrote all you need to know. He's complimented me once and insulted me twice, which if you know the guy well enough is high praise ;).

His steps in a nutshell:

1. Log into GoDaddy
2. Unlock the domain
3. Request an authorisation code
4. Go to Hover
5. Transfer the domain using the authorisation code
6. Confirm with GoDaddy

The only step where I differed was his assertion that GoDaddy's transfer confirmation email only includes a link to cancel the transfer, not approve it. This is no longer the case; they provide a link to the page where you approve or cancel transfers.

That’s a lot of email

Every man and his dog is talking about this, so nothing I really could say would be anything new. What I will mention however is the difference between the number of emails I received from Hover, and from GoDaddy.

These were the messages from GoDaddy:

1. DOMAIN STATUS NOTIFICATION (unlocking)
2. DOMAIN INFORMATION YOU REQUESTED (code)
3. DOMAIN NAME TRANSFER – Confirmation of Registrar Transfer Request
4. AN IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR TRANSFER (successful transfer)
5. SORRY TO SEE YOU GO. WE’LL ALWAYS WELCOME YOU BACK.

And from Hover:

1. Please confirm your contact address
2. You transfer of [domains] to Hover has completed

I suppose the onus is on GoDaddy to confirm what could potentially be an elicit transfer, but still an interesting comparison. I'll be expecting far less spam from the folks at Hover.

Before you go, here’s some upselling!

More surprising though was GoDaddy's effort to keep my business till the very end… by doing the same sales tactics that drove so many of us away. From their second last email:

P.S. Visit GoDaddy.com and SAVE 15%* off your order of $50 or more. Just use source code [gibberish] when you check out to get your special savings. Start shopping now at GoDaddy.com or order by phone at (480) 505-8821.

And the footer of the final email:

SAVE 15% OFF* YOUR NEXT ORDER OF $40 OR MORE AT GODADDY.COM!
Use offer code [gibberish].

That was the same offer code as the $50 dollar deal above. It's as if they're bargaining with me.

.XXX IS HERE!
Block others from getting your domain name.
Register your .XXX NOW!

Yay, extortion!

CASHPARKING(R)!
Make money with your parked domain!
Let us show you how…

Yay, domain squatters!

I wonder if they expect to win much business back with those exact same tactics? Not that I'm suggesting anything, but the sign of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying Hover :).