I had domains with GoDaddy and register.com. I always thought of the latter as more legit - they upsell a bit less, they have a cleaner interface, etc - they're more expensive but I was ok with that given the interface was better.

Well, when I transferred my domains from GoDaddy to DNSimple, they provided the authorisation codes immediately. There were a few hiccups along the process, but nothing that seemed deliberate.

Fortified by my success with transferring domains from evil GoDaddy, I started the process with register.com. Well, turns out they arbitrarily impose a 4-5 days delay just to get the authorisation code so that you can start the process.

Turns out GoDaddy is not the most scummy registrar.

uhhhh, how so? Their upselling is questionable (although as long as you never select an option you'll have no problems) as it misleads "naive" consumers, but impossible to unsubscribe? I often cancel domains and other products with them, I've never had a problem. What's the problem you've had?