Complaint Review: SwipeAuctions.com - Internet

Good Morning Kehlyer,

My name is Jennifer, I am Head of Customer Service for SwipeAuctions.  I have read through your post and I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Please contact me personally at [email protected] as I will gladly assist in providing a positive resolution to your concern. Within your email please provide your first/last name, user name, email linked to account and the link to this post. 

I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,

Jennifer
Head of Customer Service 

Our Winners: http://www.swipeauctions.com/all_past_winning_auction.php
Our World Vision Charity: http://www.swipeauctions.com/world_vision_charity.php

..and they may. Just keep at them. Tell them over and over you are going to report on every blog, ripoff report, consumer affairs sites, BBB , FTC, FBI, whatever about this. They will probably fold. They will probably offer you partial of your money back which is better then nothing. Or you may get it all. I don't know how much they will care about the BBB since whenever it gets to an "F", which happens fast, they change the name.

This site HAS to be aware that they are operating by the hair on their teeth before they are either shut down, or regulations are put in place as any gambling/lottery/raffle site would be subject to. This site is NOT a legitimate auction, nor is it the way anyone trying to get a deal should depend on to shop.

The only thing going against you...is regarding the refundability of the bid packs..which at least according to them..is a tangible good that you WON in an auction..as if it were a TV or ipod or laptop or camera.  If goes without saying that a bid is a commitment. Now..if there is some law that states they have to put this in writing..that is one thing. But I am sure if you dig though their terms and conditions...I would be willing to bet (no pun intended) that somewhere in there it states bids are non refundable.

Yes..these are slime bucket scammers..but they are not dumb. As a matter of fact..I think this is one of the most brilliant business models I have seen in my lifetime. Unethical?....totally. Immoral? absolutely. Illegal?..yet to be seen. Brilliant? Yes..yes it is. Think about this at every possible angle (other then ethics and legality)..it is truly brilliant.

Thanks again for your information.  I'm still going to call/write them.  There has to be a way to get my money back.  I understand what you are saying about them being a scam, but nothing was said about the bid packs being non refundable.  That should account for something.  Yes, they are a sham and a ripoff and I think the BBB should be alerted on this.  As far as I'm concerned, this site isn't going to get any more of my money.  They've taken enough of it, more that I was willing or expected to pay in the first place! 

..do as i suggested. take all the bid packs you won..plus the one you bid on by mistake..and use them. They will be gone quickly. Want to lose them even faster? Do the bidbot or whatever they call it. Gone in a New York minute.

...but the problem is...you state you bid on the bid pack by mistake. So now you expect a website that is a scam, scammed you for the membership fee, scammed you into thinking this was some kind of legitimate auction and gave you scam suggestions on how to LOSE all your money, conducting scams, to refund you because you made a mistake?

Not gonna happen. Granted I would want to complain as well if I made a costly mistake like that...but I would hope you would agree..the BIGGEST mistake was getting involved with an online gambling site believing it was some kind of auction that could save you money.

Thank you for your response.  I do now understand that bidding on a penny auction is different than the 'ebay' type auction.  I had no issue with the payment of the bid packs I was 'bidding' on.  My issue was with a bid pack that I did not bid on and that somehow I purchased by mistake.  When I went to customer service for help, then I found out that bid packs were non refundable which wasn't mentioned anywhere and the customer service person was far from helpful telling me 'buyer beware'.  That to me isn't very good customer service. 

I just want my $500.00 back.  I am more than willing to pay for the bid packs I bid on, just not something that was not bid on.

..is that when you "play" on a site like that..you are not a "buyer"..but a "gambler".

Of course it is easy to win "bid packs". Because that is not currency and has no actual cash value. They are nothing more then "virtual" poker chips.

Think about it. First of all, this is called a penny "auction". In any auction a bid is a commitment. Granted this site does not state the bid packs are not refundable.  Is this in violation of any online commerce laws or regulations? I do not know..perhaps that should be investigated.

However, this site is NOT...I say this again NOT NOT NOT a legitimate auction.

I state this because in a legitimate auction only the person who wins the item pays for their bids. On these type of penny auctions..EVERYONE who bids...pays. Win or lose. So there is ONE winner, and everyone else who bid and did not win the item, has thrown their money down the drain.

To make matters worse, in a legitimate online auction, there is a time when the auction is over..and that is when it ends. With these types of penny auctions...the clock is set back whenever someone bids. Since there is no way on Earth for any one bidder to know when this will end....it is concluded this is a form of online gambling. The only difference may be..is that you can not really document the "odds". All the site states is you are going to win. And it seems..you did. What did you win? The report states this pretty clearly.

Now..if you were in Vegas or Atlantic city and tired to get a refund because you made a mistake...it will not happen. In this case they told you "buyer beware". I agree with that, but the correct reply they should have given you..is "don't gamble if you can't afford it". I hope that does not come off as too harsh..but if others can be saved from a similar fate, they need to be aware of what this site actually is.

I have no other suggestions that can help unless it is concluded they must refund the bid pack because they did not state it is non refundable on the site. So in the worst case..gamble the bids away. If you are brave and aggressive..you might get "lucky" and win something nice or at least worth more then you already blew. Just like with any other form of gambling.