I got a call a little while ago from my (was) GoDaddy.com executive account manager Justin and he informed me via voice mail that GoDaddy is moving the minimum amount of domain names needed in ones account to at least 300 domain names to qualify for an executive account.
The message started off btw with him stating that many clients have "30,000" or more domain names, so the minimum required had to go up…
Personally, the message really came across in a bad way. He said if I had "other domains" at other registrars I could move them over to meet the required 300 domains and he would be glad to help do it. If I wasn’t able to do this, this is where I felt he came across as saying…. "so long". No biggy to me really, as having an "executive account manager" via GoDaddy wasn’t anything special in the first place.
I would get emails from time to time that I had X amount of domains needed to be renewed or X amount of domains expiring and all I had to do was let him know the last four digits of the CC I wanted to use to renew them.. well, the thing was… every time I got one of those emails, I was already aware of what needed to be renewed. The "special rate" that I would get renewing through him.. was more than many of the GoDaddy coupon codes always floating around, so I never used the provided service anyway.
I was also aware that the executive account managers are "salesmen" and get commissions off of your domain name renewals etc. (I am not 100% if this is still the case, but it at least was in the past and likely hasn’t changed) Since they are more salesmen than having a dedicated person to help you on your account, sometimes money is the only thing on their mind and it shows. (Just IMO)
So if you get a phone call from a GoDaddy rep that you will need to boost your domain name portfolio to 300 domains minimum or you no longer will have an executive account manager, you know ahead of time. I have a feeling that many that have or did have an executive account manager and will be losing them, they will not be missed all that much.
In a way, the phone call makes me want to move my remaining domain names over to Moniker.com a little bit quicker than I was. 
I still like GoDaddy, just not as much as I use to. A domain registrar like Moniker at least still stays connected with it’s customers and it doesn’t take an "executive account manager" to do it.
jzatt
I never had an executive account manager at GoDaddy, or any other place for that matter. But I gotta agree with you that I don’t really see the point of it if all they do is e-mail you about expiring domains… I get those mails from them anyway, then I grab a coupon code and renew them manually
Have also moved over most of my domains to Moniker by now.
SL
Stunningly clueless on the part of Godaddy’s marketing droids. But not unexpected.
We should all be thankful there’s still competition like Moniker and Namecheap.
TriCounty
I have to say that my executive account and my rep have been great. The service has been stellar. I have several thousand domains with them.
I don’t know if it is b/c I spend a lot with them , in relation to you, that the service is better, but I am always impressed how good it is.
Brad Larson is my rep….best damn rep I have ever had at any company.
Sorry you feel this way Jamie. It sounds like they could have at the least handled the change a bit better. They probably did not breif the reps on what to say exactly, which would be a mistake.
Chef Patrick
I love my GoDaddy executive rep Tess Diaz
Jeff McGee
I have to agree with TriCounty and Chef Patrick, although I’m not sure if I have a “rep”.
I do have over 300 there and every time that I have ever called in for a question or service, I get the renewal reminder. But let them know quickly that they are set to expire that way and they always back off without me feeling like its a sales pitch. More of a friendly reminder, I always took it as just because its on the screen and they HAVE to tell you. Its always at the end and almost an afterthought. They are much more appreciative of the surveys you can take for them (I think their bonus’ are directly attached to those, IMO).
And only to reiterate, also the best service that I’ve ever had among all the registrars.
Sorry about your poor service there Jamie. Sounds like they definitely could have handled it differently.
Tom C
Jamie, maybe you had a “not so great rep”… but my rep, Scott G is the BEST! He helps me on all sorts of issues and I have directly made more money with my domains because of him.
I have domains at Moniker and I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten their voicemail machine and never been called back – and my rep there is pretty clueless. Go Daddy gets a bad rap by people and really doesn’t deserve it in most cases – and the pricing is awesome!
Scott, you Rock! Keep up the great work.
Loren
If you’re in the market for a new registrar I highly recommend Fabulous.com.
Mike Robertson and the crew are great. They have an unbeatable tiered pricing structure, support is very quick to respond, and they are super friendly.
Jacob
Pricing is decent, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve got the worst interface in the world.
Jamie Zoch
@ Tom C,
I had a couple reps over the years and the first one I had was the best of the bunch. I guess I just do not need much, if any help and the emails were about the only thing I ever got from my rep. I still like GoDaddy and have had good support in the past, but I don’t think you need an executive account rep to get it. I use Moniker’s support ticket system and never had a problem, so it is likely best to use that instead of calling.
Jamie Zoch
@Chef,
Nice to see you stop by!
I hope your wife isn’t a DotWeekly reader, unless it’s not that kind of “love”.
Sanjay
I must say I have had the complete opposite experience. Justin F (not sure if there are more than one reps named Justin in the executive accounts department at Godaddy) has always given me incredible support, even with server questions for servers that I don’t have with Godaddy. A friend in the business recommended I reach out to him to help with setting and reaching goals for my domain portfolio, best thing I’ve ever done. YOU’RE AWESOME JUSTIN F!
Jamie Zoch
@Sanjay,
Same Justin but as I stated above… it just may be that I didn’t have any questions similar to what others need to be answered. Glad to hear he is able to assist you.
rick
I have worked with godaddys executive account department for 6 years or so and I am really happy with the direction they are headed. If they didn’t have that department, nobody in the company would be of any help. I call in to support and feel like I’m talking to a 10 year old that just learned how to use their computer. I have met with many people on that team throughout the years and they have helped me grow my web income pretty substantially. Just make sure you get someone who is savvy. My favorite rep was Rick but he’s not with the company anymore… Maybe it’s just because he has the same name as me…
Ed Muller
If GD really offered something special to large portfolio holders other than the account rep, I might have stayed. But other than some nice anti-theft measures, I haven’t gotten much out of the program.
matt
I have always had GREAT customer service with Go Daddy and never used the Rep service because it was easy enough to just call customer service and they always handled what I need. About a year ago my account rep was changed to Justin F and he is THE BEST!!! Sometimes handling hundreds of domain names gets overwhelming, but Justin makes it easy for me. I like to review my domain names once a year, so I only renew for a year at a time. If it wasn’t for this service, it could be done, but not as smoothly. And regarding his “commission” motive: How much do you think he makes on a $6 domain name? Thanks GO DADDY and thanks Justin F.
Viper
I got an email (and a call) from my new Godaddy account rep a few weeks ago. His email was a long speel about how special his services were, blah, blah, blah. I sent back the following, “No thanks.”
By the way; Jaime, I started using Bido two weeks ago because of an article you wrote…they are AWESOME. I’ve sold 16 domains in two weeks there and have another 53 auctions set up over the next couple of weeks. Bido is a great resource to sell your “non-premium” domains.
Jarred Cohen
@Viper, thanks for the kind words. We appreciate that very much.
If you ever need anything at Bido, you may reach me at jarred@bido.com
Do you mind if we put your comment up on our testimonials page? http://www.bido.com/Info/Testimonials
Regards,
Jarred