- Report: #646572
Complaint Review: SWAP.com - Boston Massachusetts
Reported By:
LetTheTruthBeKnown -
Belgrade, Montana, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
SWAP.com
Swap.com 500 Harrison Ave, 3rd Floor Boston, 02118 Massachusetts, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
www.swap.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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SWAP.com SWAP.COM Claims Free Trades But After You Sign Up They Demand Credit Card Fees and $1.05 Boston, Massachusetts
Swap.com is advertised everywhere on the internet as "trade" your books, movies, 'for free.'
Hey it sounded kind of fun. Trade online with people, a book for a book, or movie for a movie. That simple. With millions of people willing to trade their old copy of Lord of Rings for your copy of 1984, sounds fantastic. No fees, none of that, its just a trade for a trade.
I signed up. I listed a hundred items, and wasted my time.
Here's the catch, two days later, they demanded credit card numbers, and a 'verification' fee of $1.05. Also, they also demanded a fee for every trade. I never even got to the point of actually trading with anybody.
If a million people sign up, that's a million dollars in the bank for them, and they did nothing for it. It seemed like a good idea, a kind of 'facebook' for trading old books, but facebook doesn't charge fees to connect you with someone with similar interests.
So the scam is essentially this:
This 'company' promised a site to connect with people to trade 'for free' with all its ads and even write-ups on blogs. No fees. For Free. Now they want to control your credit card and here's how:
You supply this completely anonymous 'company' with your precious bank card info, and then you can trade on their site. You don't actually ever buy anything, but contact a person who aggrees to trade an item for an item, and they ship it, and you ship it...and that's it.
Then they steal $1.05 from every person who signs up for their 'fake' verification fee, as they call it. There isn't a reputable online company who demands a 'verification fee,' not AMAZON, not EBAY, nobody. So they claim that the credit card info is to prevent fraud.
Let me repeat that, they say that THEY want YOUR credit card number to PREVENT FRAUD. So that if you get shorted on a trade for a book, they JACK someone's account for FULL RETAIL PRICE of the item you wanted.
The obvious problem is this: It now ENSURES fraud, and you have just handed over control of your credit card to a completely anonymous agency.
How you ask?
Basically, one person can 'initiate a trade.' Let's say a book for a book. Both parties agree on the site to 'trade' used paperbacks, one for one. Well, if one party decides they want a fresh brand new copy instead of your used copy (even in good condition), all they have to do is 'claim' that your book is not in the condition you claimed, or they never recieved it, and bam, they jack $8.99 out of your account for nothing. Its a new way to recieve free BRAND new books and steal money from people, all because they want you to be 'secure.'
Well their answer is, 'not everyone is going to do that.' If this is true from their perspective WHY DO THEY NEED YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO TO HELP YOU BE SECURE? IF NOBODY IS GOING TO MISUSE THE SYSTEM LIKE THAT, THEN WHY DO IT?
Because they now control your credit card info, you have no recompense from this ANONYMOUS company with no valid phone number, and no way to contact them, short of getting on an airplane and visiting what will probably turn out to be an empty office.
The 'verification' fees alone will insure theft millions of dollars from unsuspecting people who can't even call themselves 'customers' since they are not purchasing anything from them.
The perfect scam. Set up a website like facebook, or myspace, or youtube, get people to sign up, list their items for 'trading' with other members, for no money, no transactions of currency take place, and then, demand a dollar from each of them, that a few million people, and a few million bucks, then demand that every 'trade' which they essentially have nothing to do with gets them another dollar, while they use your credit card information for whatever purposes.
The best thing to do is not believe in things that are 'too good to be true.' Do not give your credit card information to companies that have no intention of sending you any goods, there is no transaction, there is nothing they are doing for a fee.
Anyone can set up a trade for a trade on facebook, myspace, or an internet forum.
If you're willing to trade your old books, etc, to anonymous strangers on the internet, don't trade anything valuable, for more than what you're supposed to get back. Old books and movies that you can't sell for $1.00 on Amazon should be what your bargaining for and with, nobody with any intelligence is going to trade Lord Of The Rings Collectors Set DVDs for an old copy of Fahrenheit 451.
This 'company' is a scam, their bait is to set you up with 'trading' partners online, to help make a trade, but then they ask you for money for something they had nothing to do with, and to control your credit card arbitrarily. They claim it is free, and nothing about it is FREE. They even take money from you automatically when you sign up...FOR NOTHING!
The switch is when you sign up, you have no idea that is the case. The solution is not to deal with them at all, set up a free internet online forum, for say, 'old used star trek novels' and make your decisions intelligently. It is no different because you still have to get a person's address to send them a book for a book. There is NO REASON to sign up for SWAP.COM when you can essentially do it yourself with a free internet forum. The 'services' they provide, and the INSECURITY they offer by saying they are protecting you by jacking your account of money is NOT WORTH IT. It will only end badly.
Previously, people used the site, temporarily and successfully made some fun trades, before they got scammed. So it can work, but you don't need a greedy scammer's website to do this.
Never accept 'verification fees' this is a red flag. There is no reason for any company to do this, ever. Paypal actually deposits $1.00 to 'verify' your account, not take money from it. Its absurd, and an obvious dead giveaway that these people are scammers, probably investing a couple Million dollars on the stock market with that cash they got for nothing.
You have been warned, be weary of 'new' trendy sites that demand credit card info from you, if it seems too good to be true...IT PROBABLY IS!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Shay3624
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
Maybe You Recv. Spam, This Site Does NOT Charge
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, January 24, 2012
I was searching for something else regarding this site and came across this post. maybe I am late..but this site does NOT charge a dime. I have also talked to many ppl while Ive been swapping the last few weeks and none have mentioned a charge wither. With all the scammers out there these days..i think its VERY possible you were getting fraud email. I have never recv. anything that says I have to pay to play...nothing. However i just joined this year and was not apart of it in 2010. SO if they charged then..they surely do not now.
