I now use aws to register my domains. I started with GoDaddy. I remember searching for some names (on GoDaddy) and found something that was reported as available. I went to register it and GoDaddy tells me that it is no longer available, but that they have some service that I can pay for where they will help me to negotiate/handle the purchase from the owner. I called the customer service to ask about this. I found out that it was GoDaddy itself that had purchased it right up from under me. That was the last time I ever dealt with GoDaddy.

This same thing happened to me. I was trying to register an obscure domain name (never before registered), left it for several hours, then came back to find it snapped up. The chances this was done without inside information on my lookups are surely slim. And with all the personal stories flying round like yours, I'm also inclined to believe a GoDaddy employee (or GoDaddy themselves!) sniped it.

So you hate godaddy because a lot of entities decided to register their domain through them?

I'm not sure I follow. Is there some previous godaddy history that I'm missing here and would explain such a statement?

No, I meant that any good domain is bought by godaddy so they can park it and sell it for exorbitant prices.

They are not actually used, just parked.

So, I just randomly made up some 2LDs, and asked whois about them. Sure enough none of them exist.

fakecheese.info fastdoris.net old-banjo.org spacefare.rs

These weren't the results of me trying dozens of things, just writing whatever came into my head and none of them exist. Your definition of "any good domain" just means "Names which are obviously valuable" and then you're surprised that, duh, those names are obviously valuable so a speculator owns them.

A few days ago I registered a 5 letter actually pronounceable .COM. You just have to be creative.

Ok, I understand. Yeah, that's scummy.