Hostgator - misleading cart balance w/ coupons

[fuzion]

You've probably seen fake hostgator reviews with websitemag coupons offering free domain and hosting for $25... don't do it.
The total for a domain ($15) and baby hosting ($9.95) is only $24.95 and processes without charging you anything when you use that coupon and choose paypal, HOWEVER, you'll get an email later:

You selected to purchase a domain name with your plan, and our records
indicate that as of this time, payment has not been made. Please contact
us once you have paid your balance so that we may register the domain
and set the DNS information appropriately. Once the DNS information has
been updated, propagation will take between 24-48 hours.

And when you reply to the ticket:

I apologize for your confusion. However, as stated in our terms of
service, coupon codes cannot be used towards domain purchases unless
otherwise specified. WEBSITEMAG does not cover
domain registration, but does over the hosting fees of your
account. I have created an invoice for your domain, xxx.com. Once paid,
we can proceed to register the domain for you.

Despite the SUPER MISLEADING cart balance at checkout:

Now, aside from that shit, they still haven't acquired my domain, and I'm thinking about getting it thru godaddy with one of the codes floating around here, then just pointing it to hg for the next month or whatever... I'm not spending $15 on a domain though.


Followup:

I apologize for your inconvenience. Unfortunately, since domain
registration is done though a 3rd party service (our registrar being
Enom), we are unable to discount the cost of registration. As stated in
our terms of service under section 14.) Coupons, It states "Discounts
and coupon codes are reserved for first-time accounts *or first-time
customers* only and may not be used towards the purchase of a domain
registration unless otherwise specified." ... I do apologize if you were
misinformed. If you happen to have the chat ID (or name of the agent)
from your text conversation with our agent, we'll be glad to follow up
with him.

Yeah, I asked about this on live chat before I bought it. They told me it wouldn't be an issue, but I didn't save a log.

 

[pyronaut]

From my experience. I never want to get domains with my webhost anyway. I like all my domains in one central place. Hosting has downtime, and when you realise that its shit hosting for what your paying for. Then you can go elsewhere with them not holding your domains.

Doesnt really help with your situation. But take it as a sign that you dont want to do it anyway

 

[tonlilaz]

From my experience. I never want to get domains with my webhost anyway. I like all my domains in one central place. Hosting has downtime, and when you realise that its shit hosting for what your paying for. Then you can go elsewhere with them not holding your domains.

Doesnt really help with your situation. But take it as a sign that you dont want to do it anyway

exactly....if you deal with alot of domains and sites, you should have some sort of a wholesale or reseller account at a registrar anyway

 

[fuzion]

added a followup

pyronaut, tonlilaz, good advice.. i think i'll just have my domains thru godaddy from now on