Go Daddy Merchant Services Review
GoDaddy has relaunched its payment services under the new brand GoDaddy Payments. Please refer to our GoDaddy Payments review for more up-t0-date information.
Go Daddy (godaddy.com) is a privately owned domain registrar that provides web hosting and e-commerce software and services. It is the largest provider of its kind. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Go Daddy has been in business since 1997 but has only offered merchant accounts for online businesses since January 2013. The company was originally partnered with First Data and Frontstream to provide merchant accounts, but it then shifted to setting its users up with PayPal Here (mobile processing), Stripe (e-commerce processing), and Dwolla (ACH processing) through its “Get Paid” program. Currently, the company strongly downplays its credit card processing options, with the only mentions of this service on the Go Daddy website found in the support sections for its online shopping cart. Go Daddy's corporate headquarters are located at 14455 N. Hayden Road #226, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, and Blake Irving is listed as the company's CEO. Go Daddy is also often referred to as “GoDaddy” (one word) despite its official name being “Go Daddy.”
Key Points
- Sales & Marketing: Go Daddy Merchant Services no longer actively promotes its merchant services product.
- Costs & Contract: Go Daddy Merchant Services has offered a one-year contract through First Data as well as simple integrations with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net.
- Complaints & Service: Go Daddy Merchant Services has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: Go Daddy has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 1,157 complaints in the past three years.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Go Daddy Merchant Services
Go Daddy Merchant Services Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
| Total Online Complaints | <10 |
|---|---|
| Live Customer Support | Depends |
| Most Common Complaint | N/A |
We are currently able to locate three Go Daddy Payment Solutions complaints, but these complaints were filed regarding the company’s previous terms through First Data. There are no complaints related to the service merchants receive through Stripe, PayPal Here, and Dwolla. However, it is difficult to determine exactly how many Go Daddy complaints are related to the company’s merchant services program due to Go Daddy’s size and wide array of services. It it likely that merchants who process payments through Go Daddy will receive customer support through the provider they’ve used rather than from Go Daddy. The quality of customer support varies between these three providers.
Go Daddy Merchant Services Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
| Product & Service Complaints | 599 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 413 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 106 |
| Guarantee & Warranty Complaints | 6 |
| Delivery Complaints | 33 |
Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Go Daddy has been an accredited business of the Better Business Bureau since 2000 and currently shows an overall rating of “A+.” This is a remarkably high score given the fact that the company has had 1,157 complaints filed against it in the last three years. Of these complaints, 599 were due to problems with the product or service, 413 were related to billing or collection issues, 106 had to do with advertising or sales issues, 33 were due to delivery problems, and 6 were guarantee or warranty issues. Go Daddy has successfully resolved 383 of these complaints, while the remaining 774 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the complainant or did not receive a final response from the complainant. It is difficult to determine how many of these complaints are related to the company’s merchant services division, but it seems likely that the majority are related to its web hosting services. After taking all of this information into account, we agree with the BBB‘s grade.
Go Daddy Merchant Services Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
| Swiped Rate | Variable |
|---|---|
| Keyed-in Rate | Variable |
| Early Termination Fee | None |
| PCI Compliance Fee | Variable |
| Equipment Lease Terms | Variable |
Go Daddy’s decision to direct merchants to Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net means that its pricing will vary depending on the service selected. All three providers offer month-to-month agreements with no early termination fees, but their transaction rates vary. Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction and PayPal charges 2.7% for swiped transactions and 3.5% plus $0.15 for keyed-in transactions.
It’s worth outlining Go Daddy’s contract terms through First Data just in case the company is still selling these services without promoting them. At the time of our last review, Go Daddy’s merchant accounts through First Data were available in three different service packages: “Standard,” “Specialty,” and “International.” The Standard tier, which was intended for U.S.-based, low-risk online businesses, included a one-year, automatically renewing contract through First Data with a $75 early termination fee (ETF), a $59.99 non-refundable application fee, a monthly service fee of $10, no monthly minimum fee, and what appeared to be a fixed per-transaction fee of 2.5% plus $0.30.
The company’s Specialty merchant account, which was intended for high-risk business types (such as adult products or multi-level marketing operations), included a two-year, automatically renewing agreement through FrontStream Payments with a $250 ETF, a $199.99 non-refundable application fee, a $20 monthly service fee, and transaction fees starting at 2.39% plus $0.30.
Go Daddy’s International merchant account, which it marketed to all non-U.S. business, included an automatically renewing two-year agreement through FrontStream with an ETF of $250, a monthly minimum fee of $35, a monthly service fee of $20, transaction fees starting at 4.95% plus $0.40 (2.99% plus $0.24 for Canada), and a whopping $699.99 non-refundable application fee. In addition to this large one-time cost, the company’s small print added that most International accounts would likely be subject to additional fees ranging from $995 to $1,495. This type of account appeared to be intended for offshore, high-risk processing and was likely to be prohibitively expensive for most merchants to set up.
Overall, these prices did not compare favorably to the company’s online competition. There are no complaints filed regarding the company’s partnerships with Stripe, PayPal Here, and Dwolla, and those three providers are known to offer competitive pricing for the products they provide. We will therefore award the company an “A” rating in this category for the time being.
Go Daddy Merchant Services Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
| Employs Independent Resellers | No |
|---|---|
| Advertises Deceptive Rates | No |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
Go Daddy appears to primarily market its merchant services through its website as part of its online business setup process. Because Go Daddy is such a large provider of web hosting, it does not need to employ either an in-house or outside sales team in order to advertise its service to merchants. There are also no complaints online that accuse the company’s sales staff of deceptive advertising practices with regard to Go Daddy’s merchant services, but a few older complaints mention frustration with the fact that the company did not clearly outline its relationship with First Data. At the time of our last update, Go Daddy had removed any explicit rate quotes from its site and was simply directing users to the payment processors that could be integrated into its shopping cart. At this time, there is no page dedicated to advertising the company’s merchant services options, and Go Daddy appears to have shifted its focus away from payment processing for now.
Our Go Daddy Merchant Services Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
We are not assigning an overall rating to Go Daddy Merchant Services at this time due to the fact that the company appears to no longer actively sell merchant services, instead advising users to integrate Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net into the Go Daddy shopping cart. These three providers offer fair pricing and low-commitment contracts, and it appears that Go Daddy plays a minor role in the setup and maintenance of these accounts. The company’s previous terms through First Data were not competitive compared to industry standards, but Go Daddy does not appear to sell First Data merchant accounts anymore.
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Christopher Chase
Are use Go Daddy merchant processing as well. They hold onto my money I don’t get back to me in a timely manner. When I called to ask about it they gave me the runaround.
Justin Leader
I have had nothing but problems with Godaddy Payment Solutions, or FirstData. I was set up similar to *Alexander (the previous comment). Thinking that I was with GoDaddy. I can understand the $10 monthly gateway fee. It’s the 19.99 monthly PCI compliance fee. I was PCI compliant, it was GoDaddy security that was not. I was under the impression that they are the same company. That is how they introduced themselves when they called. GoDaddy states that they are compliant, but my monthly check from FirstData says they fail. On top of the $19.99 they charge $99.99 a year, whether you are compliant or not. I have also looked through all of the paperwork they had me sign to setup, nowhere does it state that I am signing a term contract. When I try to cancel they say there is a $75 early termination fee. How can I be charged this if I didn’t sign anything stating so? Do not do business with FirstData, and I am cancelling all of my products with GoDaddy because of them.
Scott
We were unhappy with the ‘bait and switch’ methods employed by GoDaddy with regard to their merchant services so decided to cancel.
The Go Daddy phone rep was extremely reluctant to give me the contact number for merchant services, asking continuously for details of the issue. Persevering, with my request, ( I knew he wasn’t in a position to assit me with my request) I was eventually given the number (855) 853-8333 for anyone who ever needs it.
The ensuing call to their merchant services provider, who in this case was ‘First Data’, degenerated into a farcical comedy within minutes as I was asked a series of verification questions, the likes of which I’ve never been asked in many years of business – the usual bank a/c number, business tax#, phone number (twice), address. Then I was asked for a landmark close to my business. When she couldn’t find that, names of nearby stores etc. Are you kiddin’ me? What next, shoe size?
Frankly, the whole ludicrous episode of the questioning process and the time it took was unnecessary and very annoying. “Just give me a minute” became the catch-phrase of the voice on the end of the line. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a great believer in security questions, but this was ridiculous and time wasting, the verification process taking 14 mins!
Finally, we get to the reason for the call and my questioning of monthly charges on the account. I’m told by the now obviously untrained phone assist, that one of the charges is because I failed to complete an online survey of compliance. What survey? We were never notified.
Next I request to cancel the 2 monthly payments. I’m told that I’m paying for 2 accounts although the debit is only coming out of one. I only have one account. So I’ve been screwed on that as well.
I had to repeatedly (3 times) request that I wanted these monthly charges to stop and sadly had to resort to basic elementary (but polite) English to make my request clear. I’m then informed that although I have cancelled both charges, I’ll still be charged for another month. Show me where it says that I question. Needless to say, no coherent answer from the delightful but ultimately unhelpful ‘Debbie’.
Then insult to injury, I’m told that there’s an additional $75 cancellation fee on both accounts = $150.
I’m pleased with the many years we’ve done business with GoDaddy – they’ve always been very professional with their customer service and support. And indeed, I’ll continue to do business with them. But as for their partner First Data, oh my. Paying them $180 to terminate the agreement is money well spent.
So if you’re a ‘First Data’ customer through Go Daddy or otherwise, do yourself a favor. Sit down with a few months of your bank statements and read the charges from First Data or whoever GoDaddy had an agreement with when you opted into the murky world of their Baite ‘n Switch deals. Then call them to verify the charges. And if you get put through to Debbie at First Data – JUST HANG UP AND TRY AGAIN.
I hope this is of some help to the public good.
Alexander Naula
Godaddy Payment Solutions appears as GodaddyPS in your credit card or debit card statements. Charges were not mentioned up front and after a few months was charged fee after fee. The way you get signed up and fooled into signing a contract is very deceitful.
This is how they get you.
1. You sign up for a Shopping Cart solution at Godaddy.com
2. You set up your store and during set up it offers you the option of collecting payments in your newly created store
3. You sign up not knowing all the charges up front.
4. All of a suden First Data services or another company contacts you about your merchant account. You go to various websites to initialize your merchant account.
5. Additionally you have to purchase a SSL secure https certificate; it costs like 99 dollars.
6. You sign up for a merchant account and get emails not from Godaddy but from Businesstrack. By doing it this way you do not connect the dots and ignore emails from Businesstrack because you never dealt with them. All along you think you are dealing with Godaddy. No no one tells you Godaddy has another subsidiary called Godaddy Payment Solutions.
7. You start getting charged a monthly fee for 10$ then another charge of 19.99 for not complying to something. After getting these charges it took me hours to put the puzzle together. A
8. I was so furious with all this confusing set up that I cancelled my merchant account only to find out I was charged $75 early termination fee.
All in all i lost about 300$ for services that I did not know I was signing up for.
This is a classic example of bait and switch. You think you are getting a a simple shopping cart and you end up being tricked into all this other commitments very deceivingly.
I do not recommend Godaddy Payment Solutions.