April 7, 2010A Go Daddy check-out mine-field – taken by tactics
I just bought a new domain name at Go Daddy. There has to be a better way! I felt like I was navigating a check-out mine field. I started with a one year registration and when I clicked proceed, it had 5 years selected. So I deselected that and continued through about five pages where the button for what I wanted was hard to find, and more than I wanted was set up to seem like the natural next step.
I like being offered choices I might want, but this went far beyond serving me options to attempts to trick me into ordering things I neither want nor need. I confess, last year I registered a few domains for five years when I only wanted one. Now I’m on to the game, but isn’t it nicer when vendors help us get what we want rather than trick and manipulate us into getting what we don’t?
It’s convenient to have my accounts in one place, but I think it’s time to find a new vendor anyway.
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I wonder if we are so bombarded with marketing messages and advertisements that companies feel they need to be sneaky instead of honest in order to increase profits. I personally think there is a moral and potentially ethical issue going on here. Online purchasing opens doors for more manipulative practices…I can’t remember a time when my cashier added a pack of gum to my cart without asking me, so what makes it okay with an online vendor?
Comment by Ashley — April 11, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
This is clearly a case for the “Undercover Boss” only they don’t need an entire episode. If the CEO were to have his/her spouse go through the signup process online and experience the pain of becoming a repeat customer, the problem would probably get fixed pronto.
Several months ago I saw a news story on TV covering the Airline Passenger bill of rights. One of these rights was the right to return to the gate if the plane was going to be delayed on the tarmac for more than 3 hours. In his respsonse, one of the airline CEO’s agreed, but said the time limit should be closer to 6 hrs. I think his tune would change drastically if he had to spend even 1 hr stranded on the tarmac without air, food or water.
Today there is no reason for CEO’s to be out of touch with their customers. With social media technology at our fingertips, customers do not hesitate to vocalize concerns. The customer is speaking strong, now it is up to the companies to listen and respond.
Comment by Nathan — April 13, 2010 @ 4:55 pm
I have experienced the same thing and it is frustrating. I register all of my domains with Network Solutions. I have never (and I can honestly say never) had a problem registering a domain name either online or over the phone. It takes about 5 minutes to do. The cost with Network Solutions is a little more, but my time is worth money and also there is no frustration with Network Solutions. Whenever I call they are so helpful. Switch – you will be glad you did.
Comment by Tracy — April 14, 2010 @ 9:15 am
I agree with Nathan. Do the Web site developers ever actually try their own procedures? If so, they approach the process with advance knowledge. They should get opinions from others on how their process works. Is the process clear? If not, what would make it more clear?
Yes, please have your spouse or a friend try using your site or reading your instructions. Require the CEO to sit in that airplane for 6 hours. This is what makes the best customer service companies. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” makes the best customer service.
Comment by Iris S — April 14, 2010 @ 11:15 am
Nathan, I think that’s the appeal of The Undercover Boss – leaders get to sleep in the bed (plane) they made. Tracy – thanks for the tip. I just might switch. All the go Daddy hype tires me out!
Comment by merylrunion — April 14, 2010 @ 11:38 am
When I was a manager, one of the things I really liked to do was to have new employees, especially new managers, take some time to look at the business from the customer’s point of view and report their observations. We started putting it right into our new employee orientation process as well as encouraging managers to do it on a regular basis. The benefit was two-fold; new employees see a customer perspective and thus become more aware of how their own workplace behaviors affect the customer experience, and their observations are also a fresh perspective for the seasoned manager.
GoDaddy (I’ve gone through their domain process too, including being billed for the renewal with no notice whatsoever, ugh!) is being woefully shortsighted and it is costing them, I have no doubt. It costs six times more to create a new customer than to keep an existing one. Add that to the fact that, on average, every dissatisfied customer will tell 10 people about their experience (and as was pointed out in another post, probably more nowadays). They may be gaining short-term profits and, who knows, maybe with the sheer volume of people online they will be profitable for a good long time yet. But far-sighted, ethical, customer-focused business practices will always eventually win. (Just ask Bernie Madoff how well short-sighted greed pays off in the long run…)
Comment by Grace — April 14, 2010 @ 10:17 pm