I moved all 60+ of my domains over to namecheap.com after GoDaddy pulled the rug out from under Fydor. See http://www.nodaddy.com for the details and other alternate registrars.
some shocking stories in there, I knew it was bad, I've had a pretty bad experience myself with godaddy long ago, but nothing to compare with what these guys report.
Makes network solutions look like a professional outfit.
Have had no problems with namecheap, dotdnr was good too but they upped their price by 5 bucks (not much but makes you wonder if they would do it again).
A lot of the large domain owners use Moniker or Fabulous for their domains. They both have good prices and good support. Plus they don't lead you through a mine field of extras just to buy a domain.
I personally have had good luck with Moniker. They also have a great API.
When moniker was acquired by oversee.net I was pretty skeptical, but they've been really good about it and so far no glitches because of the takeover.
As long as Monte is in the drivers seat there I'm pretty sure things will be working fine. His attention to detail and the fantastic customer service there are the reason why moniker became that big so fast.
Really, I think the question is more like, "what are the good and cheap alternatives?" GoDaddy is inexpensive, but dealing with their constant up-sells and their various ploys to get more money can be frustrating and annoying.
I host my domains at GoDaddy because it's cheap. I preferred GANDI prior to that because their quality of service was high and their willingness to keep the crap to a minimum was one of their primary objectives. (I still use GANDI's VPS service.)
I would love to find a cheap, good alternative to GoDaddy, but every time I look for one, I come up dry.
Godaddy is not cheap, they seem cheap. Their whole game is to get you in the door with their prices, then they'll try to fleece you every chance they get. Tanstaafl.
About 1.5 years ago, I compiled something to answer this very question. It seems that now there's something new to add to the list for why GoDaddy should not be trusted.
