Add stating "300 Free Bids" on September 1'st, 2010 to which my wife responded by creating a 'user account'. You had to give credit card info supposedly for the express purpose of debiting an account if your bid was successuful. One bid was made with the express understanding that this bid would be from the "300 Free Bids" that I had signed up for. Instead a debit to her account for $159 to charge card was made as a result of that bid. Upon contacting them, she was told that was the 'membership fee' that was disclosed (09/01/2010 09/05/2010 Sale AW-SWIPE-BID.COM(Services and Merchandise) 24907630246905106046271 $159.00 )
No disclosure anywhere in the registration site discloses this fee (see http://www.swipeauctions.com/registration_pg1.php). After bidding she received an email with the following (Non Public information deleted) "Date/Time:01/09/10 03:47:16 Order ID: 642623 Should you ever have any problems whatsoever, please dont hesitate to contact our live technical support staff - available 5 days a week. We can be reached directly through our LiveChat links on SwipeBids.com or by Clicking Here. DONT FORGET TO PAY ATTENTION TO OUR DAILY BID PACK CONTEST! Everyday we will be giving away prizes for the players who win & buy the most bids. Top winners are eligible to win a Macbook, variety of Walmart Giftcards and many more bids. Click Here to learn more. Your credit card statement will read AW-swipebids.com- 18663893870 Should you ever have any problems whatsoever, please dont hesitate to contact our live technical support staff - available 5 days a week. We can be reached directly through our LiveChat links on SwipeBids.com or by Clicking Here. " Nowhere in the above was any mention again about a 'membership fee'. When she looked at her credit card statement she found out she was debited the amount above and proceeded to disput the charge first through her credit card company and then with the fradulent company SwipeAuctions.com . Upon calling the toll free # above, during the several minute wait, there's an announcement about this fraudulent fee being charged and she than waited for someone to answer after several minutes waiting. It appeares several others have now found out about this scam and undoubtably are also holding for a live person to address this rip off as well. She was than told that by bidding she signed up for the membership by SwipeAuctions.com- that is was the 'account setup fee'. After disputing it she was directed to their site and printed out the "mail-in refund request form". Now, it's a matter of praying for a refund, if were lucky.
Ronny g
North hollywood,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, September 13, 2010
Although I did not fall sucker for this gambling site, I did investigate it pretty carefully.
Some are claiming that the "by clicking below you will be charged $159 and receive 300 bids", which is exactly from the screen shot I posted several replies back, was or is not there the first time you go to the registration page. The only way to test this yourself, is by going back to register but from a different computer that has never been to that gambling scam site. There is also a chance that they have corrected this due to all the threats of legal action.
The customers do need to take some blame as well...anyone who will give credit card information to a web site online without carefully investigating who they are giving this information to, is subject to going through a major hassle to get any money charged back.
And as stated, anyone who does any investigation (as simple as a few seconds on google or other search engine), would find out how this gambling site works..and how the owner of this site has scammed many with the same deceptions. Whether a gambling site, colon cleansing, Acia berries, tooth whiteners etc..does not matter. It is always a similar type complaint of being mislead that something was free..and charges showing up on the card that are either non refundable, or the consumer needs to jump through all kinds of nearly impossible hoops to cancel.
If anything really has a value, there is no reason to make canceling any more "difficult" then requesting to cancel... and get a refund.
kb948
Edmonton,#3Consumer Comment
Mon, September 13, 2010
The real issue here is, Do you want to do business with swipeauctions? To answer that, find out the owner of the site.
1. Search "swipebids BBB". Swipeauctions is a new name but you will see by referencing the above with the BBB, you will see swipeauctions.com on the list.
2. Confirm whether Jesse Willms owns swipeauctions.com.
3. Now type in W5 and Jesse Willms and Just think twice. The W5 video link should pop up. Watch the video.
Now, decide. Is this who you want to do business with or not?
racefan
USA#4General Comment
Mon, September 13, 2010
If you read the page, directly above where you enter your credit card information, it CLEARLY states "by clicking below you will be charged $159 and receive 300 bids".
Ronny g
North hollywood,#5Consumer Comment
Fri, September 10, 2010
...however it is too late for those who were already scammed. And those who were not yet scammed are another story.
The good news is for anyone who investigates online before submitting credit card information, would have the sense to google swipebids, or use any search engine. They would have no trouble finding out this site and a few like it are fraudulent, deceiving and flooded with complaints.
A major cause of the sudden influx of all these complaints, was actually the main stream media. They were doing special reports on how great these penny auctions are for getting a great deal on expensive items. So these reports..which were really no more then advertising or false advertising if you will, gave some of the more illegitimate penny auctions, a sense of legitimacy.
Unfortunately, too many found out the hard way there is not very much legitimate about swipebids.
And now the problem is international. Not only are lawsuits being formed here..but abroad as well. There is a petition on line to request for a class action probe and lawsuit against swipebid.com and Jesse Willms (also the same guy from all the Dazzle White and Acai scams we see here and everywhere else)..copied from the site...
To: FBI, FTC, DHS, US Congress
This petition is to request a thorough investigation into the legality,
impropriety, financial activity, and the debiting of $150.00 from
unsuspecting internet visitors to the web site www.SwipeBids.com. This
includes a thorough investigation into every facet of operation of the
companies Sphere Media LLC, Just Think Media, SwipeBids.com and its
owner and proprietor Jesse Willms.
You can read the request in it's entirety by searching "swipebids lawsuit". They have 99 signatures to date for this specific probe request.
kb948
Edmonton,#6Consumer Comment
Fri, September 10, 2010
From my research, swipeauctions relies heavily on Google to get the people to their site. Google has a STELLER reputation and does not want anyone to ever think they would knowingly promote a controversial site.
As you know, if you cut off Google adwords, you severly reduce their exposure.
To do this, search google contact us and go to security. They have a feedback form online.
1. Tell them a brief background of swipeauctions
2. Point them to who owns swipeauctions and give them any links to the past business practices.
3. Give them a couple of sites like here to see the concerns brewing.
The will investigate and make a determination of whether to cutoff their account.
The more complaints sent to them the better.
Ronny g
North hollywood,#7Consumer Comment
Fri, September 10, 2010
It never seems to end with this swipebids. I was on a site reading that now Facebook may "face" fraud charges just for allowing swipebids and quibids to advertise on their site..if they knew they were conducting fraud. of course at the end was the usual blogs with more complaints against swipebids. Figured while we are on the topic..I would share some more "testimony" from "satisfied" customers..First about the possible Facebook charges..I do not know if the information is valid..I just copied and pasted sections directly from the site.
http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/facebook-facebook-knowingly-involved-fraud
Facebook ,Is Facebook knowingly involved in Fraud.
Share: Email Story Twitter Facebook Stumbleupon Add to Any
by hongkongwillie | September 3, 2010 at 11:04 pm
242 views | 0 Recommendations | add comment
Facebook ,Is Facebook knowingly involved in Fraud.
UpdatedSeptember 10 2010
Is Now Public Next, The Quibids advertisements could be the same.
Facebook do they know their advertisers, Is Facebook agreeing to Swipebids fraud,Is Facebook a company that is involved in Fraud. Facebook has a advertising agreement. Now should Facebook be investigated and charged with Fraud. The FBI unithttp://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes is reviewing Facebook , Swipebids, as reliable sources have said. Facebook has been informed that federal indictments could be coming.
"I too got scammed. Was not till later in the day I went back in was checking on how to make the auto bid thing work, when I went over the video how it works and noticed they said there was a small charge for joining, well when I registered I did not see that I was going to be charged, as they make you scroll down through a whole page of crap to go to step 2 you miss the thing that at least is there now about charging 159.00 and getting 300 bids,and I also when I did it again but used a fake name, and did not actually put in the info on step 2 noticed they had something written above the submit button that says if you hit the submit button you will be charged 159.00 but you really don't notice it too well, now that made me feel really crazy as I never saw it when I did it the first time, so don't know if they added it later that day or what, but I was looking I thought, but being it was never mentioned before you start the registration, I guess I could of missed it. hmmmm"
"Hi Elsie, Don't feel crazy because when you tried that log in the second time you did see the "something written above the submit button that says if you hit the submit button you will be charged 159.00". This will happen to anyone who tries this test from a computer that has already logged into SwipeBids. They identify you by your IP address and show you that last page you saw to just make you think you missed it the first time. If you want to try this test and get results like you saw (or didn't see) the first time when you were charged you need to use a friends or relatives computer for this. Any home computer that hasn't logged on to SwipeBids can do this test but you would be wise not to use your credit info and be able to prove your results with screen captures and witnesses"
If this is true....it explains a lot..and may explain why I only noticed it the second time
I went back..using a made up info of course. If swipebids is smart they will fix this quick if they have not already.
"Also I noticed that I was in there early this morning doing a case study on the top winner for the month, and they said I won a bid on a 5000 bids for 249.00. It was in my won auctions. I never bid on anything after i contacted them to get my money back on 8/27/10 so I don't know what that was about unless they think... I might bid on something like the 40 bid packs and go to pay for them and click on the 249.00 by accident or think that it is such a great deal that I will pay for it, go figure. And my case study is to prove that they are using bots as the top winner it said he put in over 3 million bids, now you do the math, and with one day only I had proof he supposedly bought at least 4000.00 worth of bid packs and at the 40 for a 1.00 he would have spent 220000.00 or so this month to win the 16999.00 car. yeah right."
They claim no bots or shills or employees bidding etc...but I read stories like this over and over. Some are even more compelling but they all are certainly suspect and have not been explained in any reasonable way.
"I completed the money back guarantee refund form and did everything exactly as directed and contacted the live agent online and they told me that I qualified for a refund and they would be mailing me a cheque and I should receive it in 2 weeks. Well after 2 weeks went by, I went back to the online agent who told me th...at due to strict credit card regulations they would not be able to send my refund by cheque and that I needed to contact my bank and have them credit the refund back to my account. So I called the bank and they didn't have a record of the transaction. So I go back to the live agent and they told me that I needed to dispute the charge with my bank. By the time I got back with the bank, it had just passed the 60 days that you could dispute the charge and I'm not able to do that. So I guess their moneyback guarantee is also a scam. I'm not giving up. I have never dealt with someone so crooked in all my life. Those of you that got a refund are just plain lucky."
You read stories like this over and over..why do they made it so difficult for many to receive the refund? Why would so many want a refund if they did not legitimately feel swindled?
"you're so right. I'm sorry to say I was scammed into thinking I would win Mac book + iPad +10,000 bids. Unfortunately. The few people that wins are probably their own staff, friends of the company that knows the game and they are winning all the big "25,000" bids auction. I'm uploading a couple of photos of the same guy who won in the last two weeks, everyone of the "25,000" bid auction. Basically, you are bidding against some guy that according to my calculation have over 1,000,000 + bids to win the higher price item. Let see I have 400 bids against his million. Hmmm... I wonder who wins?? You got it. The same guy. Clems11ryan. He's won so many Mac books and iPads he's making a killing. Maybe it is just all a scam to make other buy bids and never win anything."
Here again..I don't know..does this seem suspect to anyone else? Is a legitimate auction supposed to work like this? One "person" wins all the big auctions for the last two weeks and this poor guy is just flushing money down the toilet think he has a chance? I know on eBay, if you don't win..it don't cost a dime. I believe they call THAT...an auction?
Ronny g
North hollywood,#8Consumer Comment
Fri, September 10, 2010
You just have to scroll down all the way down..this website has some issues regarding posting anything but text at times. I can see the current screen shot does have the $159.00 fee listed...and so can others..but apparently some are missing it regardless. I did not click it because I do not wish to join because I do not gamble. I was just doing some investigation for the OP and others.
You should read what people post before replying..then you would know I am not actually a member of your site, but a consumer advocate....well I try to be an advocate of right..and rights, I do at times side with the merchants.
So, I am not looking for a refund since I did not join. I only hope you refund those who have realized they authorized the funds minutes after they clicked the link or when they see their bank statements, and contact you right away to kindly return the funds, they did not intend to pay the $159.00...and you would see all these complaints dwindle down. It would also be nice if you would more accurately disclose that this is a form of gambling and not really an "auction"...
And it would be nice if the terms for qualifying a refund were not nearly impossible to achieve. Now I am not one to tell you how to run your business..I am only giving you suggestions. If your site is really that great...you do not need to make it so difficult for someone to cancel membership and get a refund. As wouldn't they WANT to..by CHOICE, remain a member if the site delivered what it promises? I have a strong feeling if you continue to run it this way..that law suits/legal issues will shut you down. I know there are members currently organizing a class action and they seem to have enough plaintiffs to get the ball rolling if they have not already.
kb948
Edmonton,#9REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, September 10, 2010
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks for showing you are visiting by responding. Now I know you have seen my questions above regarding the link between justthinkmedia/swipeauctions.com. The power is in your hands to clear this up.
1. Where is your main address? Are you posting it prominantly on your site? Why all the other addresses? Is this a camoflague or do you have a good reason for it? If so, what is your reason?
2. Was your owner sued from Oprah for misleading advertising?
3. Does your owner have other law suits claiming misleading/deceptive tactics? How about the "Dazzlewhite" one? Wasn't there a mountain of complaints there? I think (correct me if I am wrong) this one was also about unauthorized credit card charge allegations.
4. Based on his past record, tell us how we can be assured that past practices won't continue with swipeauctions.com?
Please, please clear up your name! You have the chance right here and right now!
Evading answers just confirms there is a problem here in my mind. You promised integrity and transparency, right?
Jennifer, I will not go away. Just answer honestly and allow ME to help you clear your swipeauctions name. I am a master at marketing and can do that if you can be honest with me.
Thanks!
Ronny g
North hollywood,#10Consumer Comment
Fri, September 10, 2010
SwipeBids Scams: Their Most Faithful Bot Tryagain2 won a Honda Civic
By BPAW Admin
August 17, 2010Posted in: News, Penny Auction Monitoring, Penny Auction Scams
Tryagain2 Honda Civic Winner!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) Aug 11, 2010 Sandy, UT
SwipeBids, a new but growing penny auction site, gave away a Honda Civic and other bonus prizes worth more than $25,000 to its most dedicated players in June, the company announced yesterday.
That is FANTASTIC! Swipebids doesnt only lure you with bots and shills! Their bots have faces and drive cars! Do you know how many auctions this bot won?
You are not dreaming! LOL 51920 and counting!!!
See what he is saying on Swipebids homepage (their bots speak too!):
"Thank you SwipeBids! Winning 52,000 auctions didnt make me rich enough, I really needed a car." That guy is speaking like a poor FFS! I dunno if you are reading us, SwipeBids, but this guy won 52,000 auctions (including 1,801 iPads, 2,451 Macbook and so on) You could at least make him sound rich for god sake!
Do you guys really think that this guy looks like someone who burnt $3M last year and won at least $15M? I dont.
Dont use the photo of a guy who obviously is a salesman for a car dealer!!!
The Math:
For the non believers, tryagain2 would have won 51920 auctions. The average RRP on SwipeBids is between $300 and $500. Thats a minimum of : 51,920*$300= $15,576,000
The average gain from the very best powerbidder (over 100 wins) on all penny auction sites is between 70% and 80%.
It means that it costed him a minimum of $3,115,200.
I dunno what you think about it but I say that this guy is a bot and that SwipeBids is a SCAM. They can keep spamming me about being honest. Those guys are scam artists. I know that they are reading us. I know that they correct everything that we point out. Thats the reason why we dont say much about our auctions verification. We dont want pro botters around.
A consumers reply on "Blogger Boon"...
I have been told they will refund my $150.00 when I have not won
anything and participated in the auction for 30 days AND HAVE NO BIDS
LEFT. It is impossible because you can not bid without signing in and
you get 60 free bids each time you sign in and the only one bids you
will get purchased bids. Hurry and get these people. SCAM
From Hubpages.com ...
DO NOT USE THIS SITE, SWIPEBIDS.COM, they are a scam penny auction site.
They use bots to bid against you to push up the price and to use up
your bids that you have to pay for. You can not win the high priced
items and if you do they tell you there was a tech problem and your win
is invalid put will offer you free bids in compensation for the
inconvenience. The only items you can win retail for $10 to $25 and they
charge $4.95 to $9.50 for shipping. They have a winners page listing
recent winners with the persons users name ,city and state, and a
shipping tracking number of the item won. I check on all the tracking
numbers and they are all bogus. The numbers are ether invalid numbers or
the numbers are for things ship to a different city and state then the
so called winner. One example was a winner of a macbook laptop and the
tracking number showed the item shipped to a different city and state
and the items weight was 80 pounds. Do not use this site it is a scam.
There are hundreds of complaints about this site on Penny Auction Watch
.com and other web sites.
Another interesting fact. According to the BBB, this site and others are owned by the same
fraudster. His name is Jesse Willms. We have seen some of these others on this site before as well..BTW swipebids has a b- rating because it is so new (give it time it will be an F soon). But if you click on the bottom for ratings of other business owned by him...F rating...no surprise there.
(((Redacted)))
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
SwipeBids
USA#11UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 09, 2010
Good Morning Real Estate Loan QC & Ronny G,
As Hernan has previously stated I am the Head of Customer Service and I would be more than happy to assist in any concerns you may have. I sincerely apologize if you feel you have been mislead by our site as that is not our intention. The link 'Real Estate Loan QC' is of our first registration page and
will not show the membership fee, where as the second page where you
credit card information is inputted does. I have attached a screen shot of our final registration page for a better look at what Ronny G was trying to show, please make note of the 4 highlighted sections. I assure you we have no intention of unknowingly charging any credit card, even all purchases from within an account go through a confirmation process.
I would gladly help you in receiving a refund, please contact me personally at [email protected]. Please include your first/last name, user name, email linked to your account as well as the link connected to this post. I look forward to hearing from you.
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
Our Customer Service Page: http://www.swipeauctions.com/contact.php
kb948
Edmonton,#12Consumer Comment
Thu, September 09, 2010
Jennifer/Hernan,
Please, no hype. We know you think your site is legit. Just tell us why the multiple addresses and link between justthink media and swipeauctions/swipebids.
This same owner apparently has law suits. One I see is with Oprah who claims she didn't endorse one of the past marketing concepts. Is this true? How about the Microsoft lawsuit with the present owners (but past businesses)? I know this one was settled.
And lastly, tell us specifically about the past owners legal battles in UTAH dealing with "toothpaste".
If you can clear all this up, I will be the first one to openly admit to not being concerned here.
Thank you.
HernanSA
Sherwood park,#13UPDATE Employee
Tue, September 07, 2010
I am the Head
of Public Relations here at SwipeAuctions.com, I had a chance to read your
concerns and I would like to let you know that we do not have any bots. We do not allow our employees or employees' family members to
have accounts with us as this is against our company policy. We pride ourselves
in being the beacon of moral and ethical business practices in our industry.
Being a top manager of the company, I can guarantee that we do not have any bots. And every auction is real and shipments are 100% traceable
by the tracking numbers which we post on the site.
Since our launch in February 2010, we have become the top ranking penny auction
site on the internet, this is why we keep access to our members area very
exclusive and only paid members can enjoy the incredible auctions that we offer.
Thank you
for your time.
Hernan
Our Winners: http://www.swipeauctions.com/all_past_winning_auction.php
Our World Vision Charity: http://www.swipeauctions.com/world_vision_charity.php
Our Customer Service Page: http://www.swipeauctions.com/contact.php
Hi Ronny G,
I am the Head
of Public Relations here at SwipeAuctions.com, I had a chance to read your
concerns and I would like to let you know that we do not have any bots. We do not allow our employees or employees' family members to
have accounts with us as this is against our company policy. We pride ourselves
in being the beacon of moral and ethical business practices in our industry.
Being a top manager of the company, I can guarantee that we do not have any bots. And every auction is real and shipments are 100% traceable
by the tracking numbers which we post on the site.
Since our launch in February 2010, we have become the top ranking penny auction
site on the internet, this is why we keep access to our members area very
exclusive and only paid members can enjoy the incredible auctions that we offer.
Thank you
for your time.
Hernan
Our Winners: http://www.swipeauctions.com/all_past_winning_auction.php
Our World Vision Charity: http://www.swipeauctions.com/world_vision_charity.php
Our Customer Service Page: http://www.swipeauctions.com/contact.php
Ronny g
North hollywood,#14Consumer Comment
Tue, September 07, 2010
..that is implying it is a legitimate auction site? Yes, they use deception..but they use this to prey on human nature...aka GREED. And with all the glitz and dazzle and distractions of this website..and promises of great deals for pennies on the dollar for ipads and honda civics..it is no wonder so many fall SUCKER for this.
The link you left is for the registration..which correct, no where yet is the 159 dollar charge clearly disclosed. BUT...if you do choose you register..the NEXT page askes for your credit card info. I used a fake name since there is no way in hell I would ever fall for this...but on the top AND the bottom it does state that by clicking below you will be charged. So once you click...you will not get an ipad for 43 dollars..you will not get a Honda Civic..what you will get is $159.00 worth of useless valueless "cyber" poker chips..to gamble away. Oh...you may win some more worthless cyber poker chips to gamble away..or a 10 dollar Walmart gift card for 3 dollars but cost you 10 dollars for shipping...but one thing is for sure. As soon as you bid and win anything, you forfeit your chance according to their terms to get a refund. So might as well bid away the rest of the poker chips.
There is a chance your bank may do a charge back since this site is a notorious rip off with tons of recent complaints...but if your bank sucks..they will say there is nothing they can do since you authorized this charge. Below I have copied and pasted this from the link you left using my made up name to access it...
![]() | |||
Shipping Information | |||
First Name | |||
Last Name | |||
Street Address 1 | |||
Street Address 2 | |||
City | |||
State/Province | |||
Country | |||
Zip/Postal Code | |||
Coupon Code (optional) |
| ||
| |||
Credit Card Type | |||
Credit Card Number | Please do not use spaces or hyphens | ||
Expiry Date | |||
CVV/CV2 | (what is this?) | ||
By clicking below you will be charged $159 and receive 300 bids. |