Thursday, May 17, 2012

Closed Sites

Georgia Orders Wavee Shut Down

We have kept you abreast of the issues surrounding the closure of popular and now-defunct penny auction site, Wavee.com, and just yesterday, we learned some more interesting news.

In an alert received by CBSAtlanta.com, the public was informed that the state of Georgia has ordered the shut down of Wavee. From the article, State shuts down penny auction site, orders refunds:

"State officials said Wavee was operating illegally because they were not registered with the Georgia Auctioneers Commission. Wavee has been ordered to stop operating and pay more than $200,000 in customer restitution."

Jon Sours, with the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection, was quoted as saying, "They have agreed to go out of business and remain out of business and we intend to absolutely hold them to the letter of that agreement... What they have now agreed to do is pay restitution in excess of $200,000. They will also pay civil fines and penalties of $50,000 and establish a trust fund to compensate other people who may not have fully come forward."

Click to read the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance issued by the State of Georgia.

This should be a lesson to site owners to make sure that you are properly registered within the state in which you operate.

On the front page of Wavee.com, they have issued the following statement:

"We appreciate everyone who has supported Wavee, and we have done our best to provide the best entertainment shopping platform. Unfortunately, due to many challenges with this business, Wavee is now out of business. We intend to ship out any remaining product(s) that you may be expecting."

PennyBurners member, Sandman, has reported that he received an email this morning from Wavee, stating that they will ship his winnings by August 15, 2011. Have you received any communication from Wavee since they went down in early May? Tell us about it on the PennyBurners Penny Auction Forum.

Check back here for further updates on Wavee, and tune in to PennyTalkRadio to hear discussion on the latest penny auction news.

07 July 2011 Katie "Hijinks"

Closed Sites - Wavee

Lawsuit Against Willms Not Lawsuit Against Penny Auctions

Within the past thirty minutes, we were alerted to a recent news article produced by CBC News (Canada), stating that the Competition Bureau of Canada executed a search warrant on May 12, looking for sales revenue records and other data in the Edmonton-area offices of internet entrepreneur Jesse Willms.

As many within the community know, Jesse Willms is the owner of the infamous and now-defunct SwipeBids/SwipeAuctions penny auction site. SwipeBids/SwipeAuctions sparked a lot of conversation in the penny auction industry when complaints began to surface that consumers were being charged varying amounts "without their consent" after signing up to the site.

Jesse Willms also became connected to websites that sold things such as tooth whiteners and weight-loss aids. The article states that court documents show "sales of Wu Yi weight loss tea totaled $121 million in under two years."

In the article, Lisa Campbell, the bureau's deputy commissioner, was quoted as stating, ""Mr. Willms and his companies were advertising these products as free trials when in fact they were soliciting sensitive personal information from people including credit card information and unwittingly committing people to ongoing subscriptions."

(To read the full article, please click: Competition Bureau probes Alta. web entrepreneur)

As we've reported recently in the case of BidRack.com, many consumers have filed complaints against various penny auction sites, citing "unauthorized charges" and stating they weren't aware they were going to be charged anything, despite the face that they gave the site their credit card information. While many complaints against these sites may be completely valid, it appears that there are also invalid complaints due to poor due diligence on the consumer side, or even due to "buyer's remorse".

Just as was the case with BidRack, SwipeBids/SwipeAuctions did encourage new sign-ups to buy a Bid Pack immediately. After signing up on the site, you were directed to a page where you entered your shipping and credit card information, acknowledging that you were about to buy a Bid Pack. When the PennyBurners Team spoke with Mr. Willms' lawyer prior to the site going down, we were shown 6 places on the page where the fact that the customer would be charged was displayed.

We maintain that it is the responsibility of the consumer to be aware of what they do with their credit card information, and that you should only give that information when you are ready to buy something and you know exactly what you're buying.

The charges outlined in the case against Mr. Willms the charges are interesting, but completely unrelated to normal penny auction businesses and practices.

We have a tentative interview planned with Willms' lawyer early next week in regards to this lawsuit. For more information, and the full story, keep checking in with PennyBurners.

Join the PennyBurners Penny Auction Forum to learn more about the penny auction industry!

15 June 2011 Katie "Hijinks"

Closed Sites - SwipeAuctions