Why pool has OFFICIALLY lost my business.

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

I'm letting it all out ..because i am very frustrated with pool after being a very active customer that has spent thousands!

I would first like to quote from another thread a quote by Richard to a question regarding non paying bidders and re-auctioning names.

"Sometimes we do, it depends on how the auciton was bid-up. The auction can be easily gamed if two people bid it up at the last minute and then when the winner backs away, the legitimate winner is now the winner at one increment above the third place bidder, but there is a lot of bidding in between. So it really depends on the specific situation."

I get an email earlier this week from pool, telling me about two ".ca" names that i was in an auction in. Pool was not specific but told me that because i was second highest bidder, they would give me the price based on my last bid on auction.

Basically, it was a non paying bidder. Great, i do my research...and find out that that this was not just an ordinary auction. There was a bidding war leading up to that final price. Why would i pay the second highest bid? When that same bidder drove up the price by HUNDREDS of dollars higher...and then me..having to pay the second highest bid?

Does this seem fair? After explaining this to Pool, and letting them know that there was a lot bidding in between with me and this other person. It's almost like i am paying an inflated price just because of a non paying bidder who had no intention to pay.

Pool's response...well this is the price we are giving you...if you don't want it...then we will auction the names on friday. Oh that's nice...so if i don't pay an inflated price by a non paying bidder ...then you auction the names to try to milk even more money.

Well great...because guess what? I will never bid on a domain from Pool again. NEVER! Not because this is just plain wrong...simply because...this auction was back in APRIL and i don't get notified till now.....

So if i outbid this person in other names....because he knew he wasn't paying...i'm paying a high price for someone who had no intention of paying. So ..it's a win win for pool. Not anymore...

Adios...good luck Richard...i'm not a fan of these tactics and i hope everyone is aware of this!

I will be posting more information shortly! Stay tuned!

dcristo · Jul 15, 2009

No it doesn't sound unfair to me. Only bid up to what you are willing to pay. They are giving you the opportunity to buy the domain before it get's auctioned off again. Sounds pretty professional to me IMO.

DomainsInc · Jul 15, 2009

It can work to your advantage...sometimes. However you are right. Why would you pay a price that has been bumped up by the non paying bidder. In my opinion his bids should now be invalid.

GUA · Jul 15, 2009

Sorry about your problems, but I doubt Richard and/or pool really cares.
If you want the domains you have to use pool, and you have to pay what they want. Simple.

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

I think they care. ...i am an active .ca'er in the TBR game.

We'll see...Good luck to everyone this week...because i'm out of from pool.

This is what happens when you're a greedy company.

dcristo · Jul 15, 2009

Is this the first time it's happened on pool for you? You are kind of overreacting if it is. And by overreacting, I mean overreacting ALOT. They don't care about your business dude, they will auction the name off again and it will sell. You thought the domain was good enough to bid up to that much. So what's the problem? It's worth less now because the top bidder doesn't pay?

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

Of course it is worth less. Market conditions have changed and no one would pay that price now.

dcristo · Jul 15, 2009

theinvestor said:
Market conditions have changed and no one would pay that price now.

What a ridiculous statement. You can be sure of this how exactly? Pool is doing the professional thing by letting you buy the name before it's auctioned again. You are taking the risk that it will sell for less the second time around.

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

It's not a risk as i am unwilling to pay anywhere near the "inflated" price that it reached to because of a non paying bidder. I won't participate in the auction anyway.

You've never got excited in an auction and bid more than you were willing to pay but still got outbid? Give me a break!

dejanlesi · Jul 15, 2009

I agree with theinvestor. This is wrong! dcristo, then pool just should have paid bidders who would pump up the price and if you dont outbid them then they just dont pay and auction it again.. Does that sound like a business model to you?

I would also say that if the highest bidder does not pay then all of his bids should be void, because if he wouldnt have pumped the price then it would never get to that price.. Just my 2 cents

dcristo · Jul 15, 2009

theinvestor said:
You've never got excited in an auction and bid more than you were willing to pay but still got outbid? Give me a break!

It all makes sense now. You bid more then what you think the domain is worth, and now your pissed off. Thanks for the clarification. Taking it out on pool is pretty unprofessional IMO.

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

dejanlesi said:
I agree with theinvestor. This is wrong! dcristo, then pool just should have paid bidders who would pump up the price and if you dont outbid them then they just dont pay and auction it again.. Does that sound like a business model to you?

I would also say that if the highest bidder does not pay then all of his bids should be void, because if he wouldnt have pumped the price then it would never get to that price.. Just my 2 cents

Exactly, but i think in this case he was high bidder for every name he was bidding for. So thankfully no one got stuck with a big bill to pay. Although i saw names he won in 2 separate weeks at pool. In my opinion if you don't pay the first week ...you should not be allowed to bid in a different week at pool.

dcristo said:
It all makes sense now. You bid more then what you think the domain is worth, and now your pissed off. Thanks for the clarification. Taking it out on pool is pretty unprofessional IMO.

How is it unprofessional? I pay when i win a domain. I've overpaid for domains in auctions....it happens. No one really knows the value of a domain...but sometimes you have an amount you're willing to pay and you pay more than that.

The difference between me and a non paying bidder ...i pay. Nothing is unprofessional here. Just the tactics by pool to get every penny from an auction that was a sham.

dcristo · Jul 15, 2009

theinvestor said:
No one really knows the value of a domain...but sometimes you have an amount you're willing to pay and you pay more than that.

Bid up to what you are willing to pay to prevent any disappointment. Problem solved. That's the last thing i will say on this matter, i don't want it turning into an argument.

Designempire · Jul 15, 2009

Tell me - If you won the auction on your final bid. Would you be happy now?

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

Irrelevant, would i be happy after i won an auction that i found out it was rigged?

No one likes to pay more than they should have !!!

Designempire · Jul 15, 2009

True... How were you able to find out, that it was rigged?

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

The two auctions that they offered me were from the same bidder. (non paying bidder)

Other people on this forum were involved too and should have been offered the same deal i had. Those people are free to speak up and tell us how they feel about this. All those auctions were also run up and i would be surprised if those people agreed to pay the SECOND highest bid.

I found a total of 5 auctions that i was involved in that had the same bidder who ended up being the highest bidder for all 5 names.

Onward · Jul 15, 2009

I stopped using pool a while back because of these slimey tactics among others. They do not seem to care. That is fine...They have lost out on my xx,xxx or more...I think we are both happy....as there is no shortage of areas to spend my cash in the domain market....I just prefer to do it with companies I feel are not ripping me off.

I think plain and simple...if the high bidder does not pay - they are erased as a bidder....now it will be upto pool as to accept your high bid (before the phoney bidder entered) or to start the auction over....not expect to get the phoney bidders 2nd to last phoney bid price. I believe snapnames simply runs the auction again without the nonsense.

katherine · Jul 15, 2009

If I read this right, the whole auction was tarnished. They should reauction the domain (minus the deadbeat) or award the domain to the sole remaining bidder at entry price ($60).
Just because the OP was willing to pay that much does not mean he should be overcharged.
Perhaps pool would make a little less money here and there but they would keep more customers in the long run.

theinvestor · Jul 15, 2009

Exactly Kate. I'm a little upset because they offered for me to buy ONLY if it's at the amount which was one bid lower than the non paying bidder.

If they had told me they would just re-auction i wouldn't have been as upset. They are trying to profit off the non paying bidder though by trying to offer me the domain at a price which was overpriced by the non paying bidder.

Now, they will just auction the names. I will never deal with them...since it shows that if an auction is illegitimate they would stay shush about it unless it results in a NON sale for them.