Swoopo auction issues

**rockybiduser** · 09-16-2009, 12:56 AM

Hi All

Need your suggestion as well.Today I was participating in a nokia N97 auction and was upto the last few bidder (about 3 hours). Just before 2 sec i placed my bid , but the timer didn't increment and the winner placed one more bid at 1 sec and the auction ended. I am really frustrated at this and send an email to swoopo csr (with little expectations). As these auction runs for long time we cann't record those as well.Have you encountered similar timer issue /auction glitch. I can't believe that it is a time lag of my PC etc because I saw that my bid was accepted at 2 sec and it was visible in the bidding history.But timer didn't increment.

Now they are not showing the last bidding history of the auction and that could be due to these type of complaint where user cann't prove anything unless they record the stuff.

Just a bad experience..Please do share your thought on these type and how we can counter ..

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by rockybiduser

Hi All

Need your suggestion as well.Today I was participating in a nokia N97 auction and was upto the last few bidder (about 3 hours). Just before 2 sec i placed my bid , but the timer didn't increment and the winner placed one more bid at 1 sec and the auction ended. I am really frustrated at this and send an email to swoopo csr (with little expectations). As these auction runs for long time we cann't record those as well.Have you encountered similar timer issue /auction glitch. I can't believe that it is a time lag of my PC etc because I saw that my bid was accepted at 2 sec and it was visible in the bidding history.But timer didn't increment.

Now they are not showing the last bidding history of the auction and that could be due to these type of complaint where user cann't prove anything unless they record the stuff.

Just a bad experience..Please do share your thought on these type and how we can counter ..

I have seen this several times, it is not that unusual, however for software as mature as swoopo, I am surprised. I record most auctions and it has paid off big time. I usually record in 10 minute increments and delete the last 10 minutes if no problems occured. This is real easy and only 3 mouse clicks deletes the last 10 minutes and starts the next. I use Blueberry flashback express2 recorder with that to flash (flv)so file sizes are very manageable and upload to youtube easily. When I 1st started bidding at Zoozle I found saw that there bid buddy would double bid at the same second sometimes or bid two of my bidbuddy bids to one of the opposing bidbuddy, I recorded actual video and made PDF's of this to force them to fix it as they were cheating the bidders by taking extra bids without the bidder knowing it. That was just one of several issues I caught. Funny though it took them about two weeks to correct it and it is funny that no audit was done and bids returned that I know of except mine.

However swoopo does have the time log of each bid and you should request that they provide it, In fact I would demand it here it here with others supporting you and then point them to this thread...

**ProtoProtoss** · 09-16-2009, 07:56 AM

Wow, same thing was happening to me on zoozle as well, but they responded and said that the other person's bid really DID go through, and I just couldn't see it, but if I refreshed my browser I would. It happened a few other times while I WATCHED others bidding, and I refreshed to see the same 2 names stacked... you guess it, no correction from the refresh. I figure it was b.s. justification, but whatever... also had an issue where it was lagging when i won/should've won a netbook where it froze on the final, but they said it was a delay to tally the last bids, etc. but if a bid came through it should have went through just as any other time, so I don't see why that would be any different. All in all, they do come with some pretty good excuses, likes of which I'd never seen, lol. I liked their last excuse so much that I actually bought $200.00 worth more bids to test them, lol.

I've always used Camtasia to record my auctions ever since I had my first issue. I figure, there has to be a way for me to prove these issues in case any foolishness arises or to spot errors/bugs to bring to IT's attention.

**suzyq** · 09-16-2009, 10:23 AM

Just wanted to remind everyone that Swoopo has "Swoop It Now". I don't use Swoopo on a regular basis anymore. But when I know I'm going to have to buy something anyway, whether I win it or not -- I just purchase some bids with the hopes of winning it, figure out where that bidding cutoff point is so I don't end up overpaying, quit bidding at that point, and just pay the suggested retail less the value of the lost bids. I've done that several times and walk away without that "loser" feeling.

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 11:13 AM

Also note that there is typically two places on the auction page that shows who the current bid was, the bid hidtory and right around the bid button area, be bid history is the most reliable and they do not always sync well. This is often a user side issue and refreshing often can reduce this. Always do F5 refresh

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by ProtoProtoss

I've always used Camtasia to record my auctions ever since I had my first issue. I figure, there has to be a way for me to prove these issues in case any foolishness arises or to spot errors/bugs to bring to IT's attention.

Recording doesnt alway get your bids back especially with zoozle as I was in an auction where I had loaded 1000 bids in the bid buddy and after several bids the auction ended with me loosing, mind you that I already had 1300 + bids invested, I had a screen capture PDF and the video of the end of the auction wich clearly showed my bidbuddy activated. This all happend in the last couple weeks when they admitidly had bid buddy problems. Even with my documentation they would not return my bids, (here is some good news for some of you) hence I have cashed out all my remaining bids and will not participate in any more zoozle auctions. Below is the PDF of the end of tthat auction.

For some reason my autobidder stopped bidding when PJ123 quit his and you can see that it used 4 bids with many left to go.

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 11:44 AM

Whats wrong with this picture?

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 11:53 AM

Here is an extreme account of what Proto is talking about. I actually won this auction. and below resale value, however these issues effected the outcome of this auction as I ended up using more bids than needed. It took 3 weeks to get it reversed and bids returned (I had to fight tooth and nail). So this auction was canceled I am courious if the others in this auction got there bids returned since the auction was eventually canceled or did zoozle just return my bids and keep the camera and the others bids, or did they do the right thing and return everyones bids? This auction was 8-14-09. AllForanM you bid on this one I believe. RWB you maybe had a couple on this as well, did you get any bids back?

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 12:01 PM

RWB63 here is one for you (by the way you did not stand a chance in that auction and niether did I) Notice the two Kenshin back to bak bid buddies,. the one at 23:03:57 should have been RWB so it was a double bid. Watching this auction this happened many times and to both bid buddies thus charging the bidder more bids than needed.

**realbidtowin** · 09-16-2009, 12:14 PM

Let me say this in closing, I understand that these glitches exist, every site has its issues, however what sets the sites apart is how they stand accountable and resolve the issues. The honesty and integrity of the sites ADMIN is what draws me to the sites I bid on, and for this reason alone and by my choice I no longer bid at zoozle.

Here is a bone for Bidrodeo, I have NEVER seen a single glitch on any of your auctions, only the typical very, very minor timer lag (which is likely user side anyway) and that is even rare.

**rwb63** · 09-16-2009, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by bid-to-2-too-win

RWB63 here is one for you (by the way you did not stand a chance in that auction and niether did I) Notice the two Kenshin back to bak bid buddies,. the one at 23:03:57 should have been RWB so it was a double bid. Watching this auction this happened many times and to both bid buddies thus charging the bidder more bids than needed.

Now I know why I haven't seen you on zoozle bidding
I now record my auctions too!
Thanks for the heads up.

rwb63

**PapaD** · 09-16-2009, 02:26 PM

Rockybiduser,

I had a very similar experience on Swoopo about 4 weeks ago, coincidentally also on a Nokia N97 phone. I sent them an email and got an immediate automatic response with a ticket number and stating that they would get back to me.

After a week, I had not heard, so I send another email using the ticket number. About a week ago, I finally received a response from them and they acknowledged that there was a problem on their site. They did refund all of my bids, about 500 of them.

Obviously, it took a lot longer than it should have, but they did handle it properly when all was said and done. FYI, I did not have any evidence to send them, such as a screen shot.

I hope that your case gets resolved in your favor.

**rockybiduser** · 09-16-2009, 03:16 PM

Thanks everyone for your feedback.So looks like its not rare and happened to all before and will happen again and again.BidToWin thanks for your suggestion regarding recordings.Will do that next time onwards. Hope they should return my bids

**ProtoProtoss** · 09-16-2009, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by bid-to-2-too-win

Let me say this in closing, I understand that these glitches exist, every site has its issues, however what sets the sites apart is how they stand accountable and resolve the issues. The honesty and integrity of the sites ADMIN is what draws me to the sites I bid on, and for this reason alone and by my choice I no longer bid at zoozle.

Here is a bone for Bidrodeo, I have NEVER seen a single glitch on any of your auctions, only the typical very, very minor timer lag (which is likely user side anyway) and that is even rare.

Exactly. I was just in the running AGAIN at Zoozle (silly me) and besides the earlier time when it would not let me finish bidding due to it saying (you are exceeding your win limit) and timer freezing on the final second... In the beginning of the auction under $2.00 range, there were about 4 times where it froze at the final seconds for OVER 3 seconds, then a bid would come through. I'm like, no way.

But anyways... this LAST time, I was going all in as usual, then decided to see if anyone else was watching us fight so that I could let them drain some bids and not spend so many of mine so my challenger would lose 2 to 1 instead of 1 to 1. After I let it get down to about 2 seconds to bid, only 1 person had bid so I went ahead to set my bid buddy back up. THIS time, It showed as if it accepted the bid buddy, but nothing displayed on the right, then i tried to hit single "bid button" again, like wtf? and it said i was over my limit. I'm like WHAT!? Before I could even attempt to add the bid buddy again it closed, (with no serious delay this time mind you).

That site is ridiculous. I threw $500.00 into the site to test it, but am going to have to fight and get my money back, cause there is no way any of that was fair. From bid buddies not being entered, to bid buddies not even placing their bids, to site freezes at the last second for long durations... just not worth the hassle.

**rwb63** · 09-16-2009, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by ProtoProtoss

Exactly. I was just in the running AGAIN at Zoozle (silly me) and besides the earlier time when it would not let me finish bidding due to it saying (you are exceeding your win limit) and timer freezing on the final second... In the beginning of the auction under $2.00 range, there were about 4 times where it froze at the final seconds for OVER 3 seconds, then a bid would come through. I'm like, no way.

But anyways... this LAST time, I was going all in as usual, then decided to see if anyone else was watching us fight so that I could let them drain some bids and not spend so many of mine so my challenger would lose 2 to 1 instead of 1 to 1. After I let it get down to about 2 seconds to bid, only 1 person had bid so I went ahead to set my bid buddy back up. THIS time, It showed as if it accepted the bid buddy, but nothing displayed on the right, then i tried to hit single "bid button" again, like wtf? and it said i was over my limit. I'm like WHAT!? Before I could even attempt to add the bid buddy again it closed, (with no serious delay this time mind you).

That site is ridiculous. I threw $500.00 into the site to test it, but am going to have to fight and get my money back, cause there is no way any of that was fair. From bid buddies not being entered, to bid buddies not even placing their bids, to site freezes at the last second for long durations... just not worth the hassle.

Hope you get that resolved I have not been that active on zoozle lately
My wife had bid buddy issues when bidding on a netbook.
She had 100 bids on bid buddy after 13 of 100 bids run the auction ended and she lost.
It was 5 days until they replaced them and she got a answer.
So we have used zoozle on a very limited basis since.

rwb63

**rain2112** · 09-17-2009, 12:08 PM

I had a similar problem yesterday with a camera auction that I'd already put 500+ bids into. I was unable to place a bid at the end, the timer was still at 1 second when the auction ended, and I was very upset. When I looked at the ended auction, the bid history was blank.

Additionally, it was clear that the site was having problems, as the counters were reset once and should have been in one other instance that I know of (all of the counters stalled for at least 3-4 minutes)

Then it happened AGAIN this morning with a 300 bidpack nailbiter auction.

I too have emailed Swoopo, but they have never once responded to an e-mail I sent them, and I doubt they'll start now. Does anyone have a phone #?

**rain2112** · 09-17-2009, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by bid-to-2-too-win

I have seen this several times, it is not that unusual, however for software as mature as swoopo, I am surprised. I record most auctions and it has paid off big time. I usually record in 10 minute increments and delete the last 10 minutes if no problems occured. This is real easy and only 3 mouse clicks deletes the last 10 minutes and starts the next. I use Blueberry flashback express2 recorder with that to flash (flv)so file sizes are very manageable and upload to youtube easily. When I 1st started bidding at Zoozle I found saw that there bid buddy would double bid at the same second sometimes or bid two of my bidbuddy bids to one of the opposing bidbuddy, I recorded actual video and made PDF's of this to force them to fix it as they were cheating the bidders by taking extra bids without the bidder knowing it. That was just one of several issues I caught. Funny though it took them about two weeks to correct it and it is funny that no audit was done and bids returned that I know of except mine.

However swoopo does have the time log of each bid and you should request that they provide it, In fact I would demand it here it here with others supporting you and then point them to this thread...

Thank you for posting the information on Blueberry flashback. I just downloaded with it, and will NEVER bid without it again.

**rwb63** · 09-17-2009, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by bid-to-2-too-win

Here is an extreme account of what Proto is talking about. I actually won this auction. and below resale value, however these issues effected the outcome of this auction as I ended up using more bids than needed. It took 3 weeks to get it reversed and bids returned (I had to fight tooth and nail). So this auction was canceled I am courious if the others in this auction got there bids returned since the auction was eventually canceled or did zoozle just return my bids and keep the camera and the others bids, or did they do the right thing and return everyones bids? This auction was 8-14-09. AllForanM you bid on this one I believe. RWB you maybe had a couple on this as well, did you get any bids back?

No never heard or received anything.

rwb63

**izard** · 10-02-2009, 08:01 AM

Hi, this is my first post i know. but i was reading about swoopo and the 2 second delay.

at 2 seconds the time slows down to 4 seconds (so im told by them) then at the end its another 20 seconds.

plus iv never heard of anyone actully recieving or winning.

oh and Nice to meet you all ^^
Craig

**craig** · 10-31-2009, 04:50 PM

Hi Guys,

Craig from Zoozle here. I must apologize about the delay in my response time, I'm out of town for business a lot and also involved in other companies, but I will do my best to better Zoozle's social media & community involvement here and elsewhere. For faster responses, our support team is on hand to reply to you from our website contact forum.

I will outline all the issues that were mentioned in this thread and provide some important details that will help clear up what happened.

----------------The complaints from bid-to-2-too-win-------------
09-16-2009 02:26 AM

When I 1st started bidding at Zoozle I found saw that there bid buddy would double bid at the same second sometimes or bid two of my bidbuddy bids to one of the opposing bidbuddy, I recorded actual video and made PDF's of this to force them to fix it as they were cheating the bidders by taking extra bids without the bidder knowing it

The "Double Bid" issue was actually two separately occurring issues.
1) Because one of our developers tried to do something fancy and make the system more efficient, a user's web browser could miss updates to the bid history, making an anomalous looking history feed. If the update was missed because of browser or internet lag, it would skip and create the appearance of double bidding or another problem. Refreshing usually loaded the correct info from the database and displayed the missing bids. This was fixed by sending the entire bid history each update.

2) We had some users setting up overlapping bid buddies and if another user had a bid buddy ahead of theirs, then the second bid buddy would also fire, and create an actual double bid. That is how our software worked when we got it, but when the situation was brought to our attention we changed it within the week. We found this to be more of an end user issue rather than a software bug, since we found that some users wanted this so confuse or scare others from bidding. Nonetheless, we did not receive any requests for bid refunds because of this and we would have happily issued any requests since we agree the software should restrict this.

That was just one of several issues I caught. Funny though it took them about two weeks to correct it and it is funny that no audit was done and bids returned that I know of except mine.

We perform an audit of every auction when we are aware of an issue and when a user reports a problem. Zoozle does not publicize when an audits is performed so you would not have been made aware of this. When refunds are granted, depending on the exact problem, either individual users are informed or all auction participants are informed. I must say though, we sometimes used to only let the winner know via email because our software didn't provide an easy way to communicate with all participants of an auction. We have since implemented policies and back end features to improve communications and inform all bidders in an auction when a it is voided or requires their attention.

Recording doesnt alway get your bids back especially with zoozle as I was in an auction where I had loaded 1000 bids in the bid buddy and after several bids the auction ended with me loosing, mind you that I already had 1300 + bids invested, I had a screen capture PDF and the video of the end of the auction wich clearly showed my bidbuddy activated. This all happend in the last couple weeks when they admitidly had bid buddy problems. Even with my documentation they would not return my bids, (here is some good news for some of you) hence I have cashed out all my remaining bids and will not participate in any more zoozle auctions. Below is the PDF of the end of tthat auction.

We investigated this and our system logs show that your bid buddy was deleted at Aug 24th, 04 : 36 :58 and subsequently stopped bidding as expected. We normally refund bids in the event that a problem is evident, but in this very unique case, never seen before, we found no bug other than the display on the web browser did not update to show the bid buddy was deleted. No other users reported issues on the auction. When a decision is considered, all bidders in an auction are considered. Zoozle takes into account everything while making decisions, so in this case, to be fair to all, we did not refund any bids since we found our core system operating properly and have evidence that the bid buddy was deleted and operated correctly.

Also noteworthy is that the unrelated bid buddy issues bid-to-2-too-win mentioned were accompanied with proper evidence of malfunction and all bids in these cases were refunded and auctions void.

09-16-2009 12:44 PM

bid-to-2-too-win Whats wrong with this picture?

This is an example of the bid history feed bug as mentioned above. The client side web browser would update the history only when an update happened, and if the request for that timed out or lagged on the browser end, the bid would get skipped in the feed. This affected bidders on an individual level, since most bidders would see the accurate feed. We dealt with this on an individual level since it would only sometimes affect the actual auction outcome.

The bug has been fixed for a while now, we simply make each update send the entire bid history over the pipe, so no bids get skipped in the display.

09-16-2009 12:53 PM

bid-to-2-too-win Here is an extreme account of what Proto is talking about. I actually won this auction. and below resale value, however these issues effected the outcome of this auction as I ended up using more bids than needed. It took 3 weeks to get it reversed and bids returned (I had to fight tooth and nail). So this auction was canceled I am courious if the others in this auction got there bids returned since the auction was eventually canceled or did zoozle just return my bids and keep the camera and the others bids, or did they do the right thing and return everyones bids? This auction was 8-14-09. AllForanM you bid on this one I believe. RWB you maybe had a couple on this as well, did you get any bids back?

This is another example of the bid history feed bug. We ended up canceling this auction and refunding all bids. Unfortunately we only notified bidtowin about the cancellation. As per our new policy mandates, all bidders are now informed in all such cases when an auction is voided & reversed.

09-16-2009 01:01 PM

bid-to-2-too-win RWB63 here is one for you (by the way you did not stand a chance in that auction and niether did I) Notice the two Kenshin back to bak bid buddies,. the one at 23:03:57 should have been RWB so it was a double bid. Watching this auction this happened many times and to both bid buddies thus charging the bidder more bids than needed.

This is a great example of what was happening when bidders set multiple overlapping bid buddies and another bid buddy was in front of theirs (as mentioned above in "Double bids" #2. The system would deploy the second bid buddy after the opponents would fire, thus putting the bidder on top again and deploying two bids. I think in this case and most other cases like it, bidders were aware of this happening and used it as part of a strategy to reduce confidence in Zoozle's system or confuse other bidders. Nevertheless, we shortly released a software update that only let's one bid buddy fire at a time within a certain price range.
----------------The complaints from ProtoProtoss-------------

09-16-2009 11:29 PM ProtoProtoss

Exactly. I was just in the running AGAIN at Zoozle (silly me) and besides the earlier time when it would not let me finish bidding due to it saying (you are exceeding your win limit) and timer freezing on the final second... In the beginning of the auction under $2.00 range, there were about 4 times where it froze at the final seconds for OVER 3 seconds, then a bid would come through. I'm like, no way.

But anyways... this LAST time, I was going all in as usual, then decided to see if anyone else was watching us fight so that I could let them drain some bids and not spend so many of mine so my challenger would lose 2 to 1 instead of 1 to 1. After I let it get down to about 2 seconds to bid, only 1 person had bid so I went ahead to set my bid buddy back up. THIS time, It showed as if it accepted the bid buddy, but nothing displayed on the right, then i tried to hit single "bid button" again, like wtf? and it said i was over my limit. I'm like WHAT!? Before I could even attempt to add the bid buddy again it closed, (with no serious delay this time mind you).

Zoozle's win limit system prevents users from bidding on more auctions than their allocated number of win slots. What you experienced was a little common with our old 4 price range limit system. Sometimes a bidder would bid on another item in the same price category and inadvertently block themselves from bidding on an auction they were involved with. We hope our new simplified system eliminates this confusion and affords more flexibility to bidders.

09-16-2009 11:29 PM ProtoProtoss

That site is ridiculous. I threw $500.00 into the site to test it, but am going to have to fight and get my money back, cause there is no way any of that was fair. From bid buddies not being entered, to bid buddies not even placing their bids, to site freezes at the last second for long durations... just not worth the hassle.

We are sorry that you signed up during our worst month, September. We experienced lots of DDoS attacks, bugs, & network issues, but believe we handled all reported cases. If you have an unresolved complaint, please contact us and we will address it.
----------------The comments from rwb63-------------

09-17-2009 12:48 AM rwb63

My wife had bid buddy issues when bidding on a netbook.
She had 100 bids on bid buddy after 13 of 100 bids run the auction ended and she lost.
It was 5 days until they replaced them and she got a answer.
So we have used zoozle on a very limited basis since.

Thanks for your patience with the bugs we've had. This auction you refer to was victim of our server running out of semafor memory and was investigated and determined to have indeed been a problem on Zoozle's end. A number of bid buddy bugs were chalked up to this bug and we have patched our system with a solution last month.

No never heard or received anything.

We apologize for leaving you uninformed. All bids were refunded in the camera auction referred to by bidtowin. Our current system eliminates the hassle of emailing every user individually, and our policy change mandates us to inform all bidders when an auction is voided & reversed for any reason.

I'd like to say in closing that we look at every case and report of malfunctions or bidding anomalies . Sometimes we get bogus complaints, other times lag on the client side causes timers to stick. In either case, we check our web server logs and application logs to determine the situation. Usually our IT team and software engineers take a day or two to fully determine what is wrong and then double check their conclusions to confirm their findings and fix the problem. We try to respond as quickly as possible and take action.

September was a bad month for us, a large number of DDoS attacks caused a lot of lag issues that prevented bidders from bidding, also our software update caused a number of bugs and our hosting provider had some network problems that hurt us as well. We've since been able to address all issues and our system has been performing well this month. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to regain all your confidence. Please contact us if there are still concerns or questions about anything. Thank you for your understanding.

**realbidtowin** · 11-01-2009, 02:39 PM

Craig when I first notified you of the double bidding we both know the system was actually double bidding as there were multiple double bids in the same second, that was not a refresh issue, i agree that the ones you had at lated dates were refresh related, but the original issue per you r on admision at the time was real.

Who in their right mind would want to set up overlapping bid buddies to double bid, that is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. The reason most did not complain is they were simply did not notice it, for you to assume 100% of the affected bidders set it to double bid on purpose is insane. You did fix this issue took a few days and you still allowed auctions using the bidbuddy during that time, that does not look to good if it is malfunctioning SHUT IT DOWN. However you never notified anyone of the issue. You could have completed a audit of bids to see who had double bids, and returned them or at least notified your customers of the issue and the fix.

That camera auction you claim was canceled, if so rwb63 who placed a few bids in that auction stated here he did not revieve his bids back?

The auction that you clamed was canceled was clealy not canceled, I provided the video of the last few minutes of that auction my mouse coursor never when near the red X, in addition, had it been a refresh it would have not shown active through 4 cycles of the timer.

Craig as you and other auction site owners know I am very detailed and document everything, including the numerous emails we have exchanged. I only asked you to be accountable, obviously that is not in your DNA, It is clear that several of these auctions were not canceled you may have refunded my bids but not the other unsuspecting bidders who were not shown as the winner. There were other auctions where I only had a few bids in that I documented issues and emailed you the information, I stopped bidding in those auction because of the malfunctions and someone else won, I was never returned any of my bids. You should have thought about the repercousions instead of the greed. Nice job of spinning the truth, I have backed up all my claims and even posted some of the documentation here, where is yours???

ADMIN Maybe this should have it's own Thread ...

**rwb63** · 11-01-2009, 03:11 PM

It's sad that it took this long to get a reply from Craig.
This was truly one of the better sites after the issues stated by BTW I was not very active on the site.
I recently started bidding again but have to wonder how long I will there was no reason to take this long for a reply and really it wasn't much of a answer to the problems.
Also the shipping for this site is the worst and Craig didn't answer this issue.
I have items that I have been waiting for for almost 4 weeks now.
There is no excuse for this if we need to wait this long they should pay us interest.
I do agree with BTW's post we needed a explanation a long time ago.

**mparzy** · 11-12-2009, 04:10 PM

Ok so here's the deal. I decided the other day that I was going to win a tv - AT ALL COSTS - and this was mostly because of the type of auction it was. It was a fingerbitter auction where no bots are allowed (I hate them) and had a very nice 46" TV that I really wanted.

So I go on the site - load up with some bids and get ready to go, I was gonna purchase a few more bids and "houston we have a problem" moment occurs because for some reason their site is having an issue and won't talk to paypal's site. well anyway - 3, 2, 1 and we are off to the races - I watch for about 1/2 an hour before i place my first bid - then another 1/2 hour and i place my second bid - finally i start to see some light and decide to try the brute force approach to clear out some lookey loo's and fend off others - I zip through almost all my bids and keep a few in reserve just in case - i hop over on the other tab of my browser to try and buy more bids but no - site is still messed up - I e-mail tech support earlier so i'll just keep trying - back to bidding - now i'm getting scared because i'm down to like 2 bids left - I bid them out and hit the other tab to try again, all the while the auction still going and hoping that it keeps going long enough for me to get some more bids. I try again and again to no avail - finally after an hour and a half i give up trying and go to bed but not after sending them yet another e-mail.

Well this am I recieve no e-mail - apparently noone works there at night it all just kinda takes care of itself and they hope for no problems. Anyway I find a phone number (yes they do have a phone if you know how to find the number) and give them a call - voicemail says they open at 8pt and since it's 11:30et shouldn't they be open - anyway about 11:45 i finally get someone on the phone who says her manager isn't in but she can have her give me a call because she can't do anything for me accept refund my bids.

So i wait and she calls back - well not to sound all condecending and stuff but if your going to claim company policy then you should really know what it is. After quoting to her, her own companies policy on system outages she stated that there was nothing she could do more than refund my bids. I said well not for nothing that's not right and I feel that it should be fixed correctly, the proper and correct way being to reopen the auction for 10 minutes like it says you will do in the TOU of your site.

Well get this - she says that they can not do this, they don't have that much control over the system and can't just force it to do things like this. Well then why does thier TOU say that they will.

We continue talking for about 20 minutes for her to see my point and that she and her company were wrong. No avail - basically they admit that thier site had a problem because apparently a bunch of people had that problem too - BUT are not willing to follow through with what the TOU says by reopening the auction to allow those of us that were stuck without bids to get in and try to get this back.

So I ask her what I should do with my bids and she explains they have other tv's that will be closing soon and i should look at them. Anyway - I'm not wasting another 6 hours in the middle of the night just to go through this again - and since Swoopo can't live up to the part of the TOU that i've included below - I think that we should all boycot them until they begin doing so.

Section 12 of thier TOU state:

A system outage has occurred if no bids can be submitted for items due to an unforeseeable disruption in a system. In such a case, auctions will be temporarily halted and the remaining times for the auctions, the current bidding price and the current highest bidder will be maintained. After the disruption has been resolved, the auctions will be continued and 10 minutes will be added to the remaining times for the auctions. Temporarily halted auctions are clearly indicated. Bids placed on a temporarily halted auction shall not be credited back on a user’s account and are not eligible for a refund for bids used or other costs incurred.

Apparently - even though they admit thier was a problem and that i wasn't the only one - They don't have to follow through - but i'm sure that if you and your significant other or one of your children wanted to have an account they would ban you for life because you are only allowed 1 account per household. which is kind of funny because only one person in each household is allowed to have an account?

See here from section 2

Each user may register only once using their postal address (registration using PO Boxes or equivalents is not permitted). Additionally, only one user registration per household is permitted.

but don't share (also from section 2)

The user account may be used only by the user and not by anyone else. Any abuse of the user account, be it to the detriment of third parties or to the detriment of Swoopo, shall result in the disqualification of the user and the reporting of a crime. In general, the user shall be liable for all activities that are undertaken using the user account together with the associated password.

This is all kinda starting to make me wonder what other parts of thier TOU they don't feel they should have to live up to and enforce - I can almost guarantee that this one is overlooked time and time again and they probably even promote doing it

Employees and relatives of employees of Entertainment Shopping, Inc. are not eligible to participate in Swoopo auctions under any circumstances.
Swoopo’s products and services are offered exclusively to private users and not to commercial or partly-commercial resellers. Swoopo reserves the right to exclude commercial resellers from the participation in the auctions and to close their user accounts at any time.

- BUT - I'm not sure - just seems like alot of things sell real cheap when there is noone really bidding on them but those same bidders that won those items never show up when the bidding is going crazy

Anyway - i've vented and i'm good now - guess i'm gonna have to find someplace else and more reputable to spend my hard earned money

PS. they did give me a some free bids and refund my bids but that wasn't the point.

- NEW COMMENT - So I decided i'm gonna go to the BBB and complain. Mostly because I'm just out to annoy them now since i lost hours and hours of sleep for nothing and I told my friend lizzy that I wasn't done yet - The kicker is that in my BBB claim I'm putting the claim for the amount of savings I should have had, had I been able to buy more bids and win the item. This means that I'm claiming the difference from the retail price they list, minus the auction end price, minus the amount of bids it would have taken to win. There is no way to know for sure what this number is so i'm going to use their tried and true method of posting exactly the lowest possible numbers. Others have one this TV with as little as 45 bids so i'll use this number plus my already placed bids and whala - a Winning scenario. I think this is perfectly fair I'm using their math how could i be wrong

**613bid** · 11-13-2009, 07:26 AM

Yes I also had a problem with the handshake between Swoopo and PayPal. I could not pay for the Laptop i won via paypal, i kept getting an error "ERROR CALLING CHECKOUT 1" I started to FREAK OUT. THought, damn - i got scammed... tried to find a phone number - NOTHING to be found - I see you found one - PLEASE SHARE IT!

Anyways i sent an email and got a reply the next day - they actually called me, and asked me to try paying with visa instead of paypal because they were having problems with it.

I am sad to see you had such a harsh experience, but at least you got your bids back.

**mparzy** · 11-13-2009, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by 613bid

Yes I also had a problem with the handshake between Swoopo and PayPal. I could not pay for the Laptop i won via paypal, i kept getting an error "ERROR CALLING CHECKOUT 1" I started to FREAK OUT. THought, damn - i got scammed... tried to find a phone number - NOTHING to be found - I see you found one - PLEASE SHARE IT!

Hey - Congrats on your win - I was a little creative in how i found it - First i tried the simple stuff - you know yellowbook and google business listings and wouldn't you know it there is no listing - so then i said how about the whois for the domain - well that also led nowhere - so then i figured i couldn't be the only person who has ever had a problem with this company so lets go to someplace that stores that information and wouldn't you know it - they have the address, the phone number and even the name of the person you want to talk to - here's a link to the report but i'll also just put the phone number in for those that would like that. <a href="http://sanjose.bbb.org/Business-Report/Entertainment-Shopping-Inc-1000000550>Click here</a> or the phone number is (650) 567-9611

Originally Posted by 613bid

i sent an email and got a reply the next day - they actually called me, and asked me to try paying with visa instead of paypal because they were having problems with it.

Yeah, even though they claim to never have problems it is clearly apparent that they do, I just wish they would hold up their end of the agreement for when things like this happen. I'm sure they would if you did something wrong hold you to it, but i guess it only works when it's to their benefit. I wouldn't give them your credit card number directly though - I use paypal because at least that way i'm protected against fraud and BS.

Originally Posted by 613bid

am sad to see you had such a harsh experience, but at least you got your bids back.

It wasn't about the bids, I could have cared less about the bids, and the money involved with getting them. I wanted the tv and was gonna do whatever it took to get it. I wanted that specific tv in that specific auction format because I don't paticularly care for those stupid bidbutlers and i'm gonna start looking for sites that don't have them. It has become very clear that the only person that makes out with the bid butler (bid buddy or whatever they decide to call it) is the company because they can take 48 bids in the matter of 1 second from several people.

As a follow up I did recieve an e-mail from "liz" with a nice gift of some bids to use. GREAT FOR ME - more bids and um about the auction being closed during a network/site problem here was her response.

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch.

I do apologize again about what you went through. I know that Jehnna put those
bids you used in the auction back into your account. They are available for you
right now. As we discussed over the phone, we cannot give you the auction item as
it is not part of our protocol. However, I do encourage you to try again in our
auctions. I added FreeBids to your account in hopes that you can win an item.
If this is not acceptable to you, please let me know and I can assist you in
another way. I can process a refund for the purchased bids available in your
account under your request. Unfortunately, we cannot sell the TV at the ended
auction price. As we want to make the situation right again, we believe that it is
fair to give back what you have spent in the auction. Please accept our sincere
apology as we do our best to prevent these things from happening.

I hope this clears things up, but if not, please don't hesitate to get back in
touch. You'll also find lots of helpful information at http://www.swoopo.com/help.html

Regards,

Liz

Well, Lizzy, Are you listening - I only said that I should be allowed to purchase the TV at the auction price because you guys did not follow through with your PROPER PROTOCOL which would have been to extend the auction after the issue with your site was cleared up. YOUR TOU CLEARLY STATES THAT DURING A SYSTEM OUTAGE ALL AUCTIONS ABOUT TO END WILL BE PAUSED AND TEN MINUTES WILL BE ADDED. You should restart the auction, add ten minutes to the clock and let it roll (I won't be there because i'm disgusted with this company but someone else may be able to benefit from it).

And about the only thing helpful on the sites help section is where it allows you to NOT be able to find the Phone number for customer service or maybe the TOU which you guys don't live up to anyway. Other than that the rest of it is useless except to someone who really doesn't understand your site.

Have a great day all

ME

**kw344** · 11-17-2009, 05:01 PM

I am also having issues with swoopo. I actually won an auction and have not received my tv. They kept telling me it had been shipped, however could never provide a tracking number. Today I put my foot down and they admitted that it had not been shipped yet because they had not paid the vender. They have now told me that they will be giving me a refund of the full value of the tv plus shipping. They stated I should receive it in 7 days.

The telephone number for swoopo is (408) 540-6148 It is on the Better Business Bureau website.

**613bid** · 11-20-2009, 08:00 AM

Got my 18.4" Sony Vaio last night. I won it on Nov 9th. VERY pleased with how fast shipping was - UPS. It is an amazing machine.... its actually 2 model numbers better than the one i thought I was getting! i didnt realize how big an 18.4 inch Laptop is....its a beast!!

**EllaJames** · 11-20-2009, 09:31 AM

I still haven't received my item won on Oct 19th. I haven't heard from them as to the status despite the 4x that I tried to email them. I just keep getting computer generated responses. I'll try the phone number. Thanks.

**chrissurra** · 01-10-2010, 04:42 AM

I still havent received my item that I used the bid "discount" on, I didnt win but bought the item. Since they have my money there should be no issue with paying the vendor and shipping my item.

If I dont get my item in 1 week I will be contacting them and issuing a chargeback via paypal.

I FINALLY got them to answer an email after sending about 10 with a "form" letter stating it hasnt been shipped yet but will be in the next few days.

**chrissurra** · 01-22-2010, 09:21 PM

Finally received my auction, took about 3 weeks. Wish they communicated better with winners but I am enjoying my win.

**mp25bs** · 01-22-2010, 11:28 PM

what was the item you were waiting for? im waiting for the nokia n900 from them for a bit over a month now, and their support was telling me (this is few days back) that they dont know when they will have it in stock.

**chrissurra** · 02-01-2010, 12:44 PM

It was for the Onkyo home theater system, I called them and threatened a charge back. Once I did that they had a confirmation number and told me that it would ship via Fedex the next day.

I won a PS3 game also and that took about 2 weeks to arrive.

**candy** · 02-01-2010, 01:22 PM

In my humble opinion, Swoopo is nothin but problems. Every auction I was in, timed out & I was sent to try again page.

Their bid butler/buddy eats bids at an astounding rate too. If I was told that they had not paid a vendor & that is why your item did not arrive, that would be a HUGE Red Flag.