Swipebids.com – possible ‘illegal’ scam – refund request

I use the word illegal loosely, as I am no lawyer and don’t know the laws.

So after actively trying to win a Cannon T1i, Apple iPad, and various other items on the swipebids.com website, I have run out of bids. I printed the refund request form and filled it out. It basically has three requirements:

• Must actively participate in auctions.
• Must us all bids credited to your account upon the purchase of your membership
• “If you have not won an auction with Swipebids.com, us the completed request form along with the email receipt to receive a refund. If you need more assistance with obtaining a refund, please contact us via our LiveChat service.” Verbatim, from the form.

After checking my bid history over the last week, I’ve realized it gets wiped. Perhaps this is their strategy to indicate you have not participated in any auctions. I counter this, I printed out my current bid history, which consists of 11 pages, 155 bids. I do have my original e-mail, which sadly has my password in plain text, so I printed it, as instructed, and marked out the password. Also worried they may claim I’ve won something, I printed the ‘My Information’ page you get when you first log in that states I have zero bids, zero unclaimed auction wins, zero claimed auction wins, zero daily prizes, and zero monthly prizes. It also includes my name, address, customer ID, and other various things requested on the refund request form.

Now, my plan is to send this in and NEVER log back in to swipebids.com again. Not only because I feel they’re a scam, but I also know that every day you log in, you get 60 bids. If I log in, I’ll get 60 bids, thus no longer be at zero. To curb my possible thoughts of logging in, I generated a rather long random alpha-numeric key, did a copy & paste into the change password field, changed my password and logged out. I then quickly cleared my clipboard by copying the letter ‘A’ so I cannot retrieve the password.

I also opened another chat with the lovely people of LivePerson about the time frames and requirements of the refund. I basically clarified that I could send it in any time before the 90 days.

I’m going to document everything I’m doing on video so when I send it in, I have hard copies, as well as a video of everything I sent in. Then I will contact my bank, let them know what’s going on (already asked about the possible scam transaction), and keep them posted if I do not get a refund.

Anyway, so here’s the chat log:

info: Please wait for a site operator to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Carol'
Carol: Thank you for visiting SwipeBids. We are here to help you win auctions, save money and have a great time. Who am I speaking with?
Luke: Luke
Luke: I'm about to send the required documents for the money back guarantee and have a few questions
Luke: it says I have up to 90 days to send it in
Luke: do I have to wait a specific time period before I can send it in?
Luke: for instance, do I have to wait 30 days before I can send it in?
Luke: Hello?
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to xxxxx@xxxxx.com at the end of your chat.
Carol: Could you please provide me with your full name, email address and Zip Code, so that I can pull up your details?
Luke: xxxxx@xxxxx.com
Luke: #####
Luke: why do you need my details for a simple question?
Carol: Please wait while I check your order details in our system.
Carol: Every new customer is covered by a Money Back Guarantee which provides access for a full refund of your original bid pack purchase if you have not won any auction items. For full details please CLICK HERE. Once we review your account and confirm you qualify for our Money Back Guarantee, we will process a refund for the initial purchase amount back onto the credit card originally used at the time of sign up.
Luke: what is it with the chat people for this site
Luke: I'm asking you a straight forward question
Luke: I know about that link
Luke: I'm asking this: Is there a specific window of time I have to wait before I can send in that documentation?
Carol: One moment please.
Carol: Please go to the link provided above and it will help you to find all the answers regarding refund.
Carol: And, we need your details for our records.
Luke: it's vague and does not answer my question
Carol: Which one?
Luke: in that document it says to go to chat
Luke: I'm asking this: Is there a specific window of time I have to wait before I can send in that documentation?
Luke: "If you need more assistance with obtaining a refund, please contact us via our LiveChat service"
Carol: You first have to use all you bids.
Luke: I know
Carol: Will you ask one question at a time??
Luke: I did
Luke: it's you who is redirecting me
Luke: Is there a specific window of time I have to wait before I can send in that documentation?
Luke: one question
Luke: Is there a specific window of time I have to wait before I can send in that documentation?
Carol: You have 90 days to use all your bids and send the refund form to us.
Luke: do I have to wait 90 days before I can send the form?
Carol: No, it is your time frame to do all that needs to get the refund.
Luke: Do I have to wait 30 days before I can send in the form?
Luke: hello?
Carol: No, you may send it after using all your bids.
Carol: But, you do not have won anything on Swipebids for it.
Luke: I've been trying
Luke: I just missed the iPad by chatting on here
Luke: I was bidding and missed the end
Luke: I have another question
Luke: Why does my bid history keep getting wiped?
Luke: I placed 109 bids last week, but none showed up today
Luke: hello?
Carol: Please login and go to:
Carol: http://www.swipebids.com/bidding_history.php
Carol: You can see all your bidding history on that page.
Luke: I know
Luke: why does it keep getting wiped
Luke: how long does it keep the history?
Carol: Sorry, but it do not get deleted or wiped.
Luke: yes it does
Luke: I printed out my previous bidding history
Luke: checked today and it's empty
Carol: Please check it is provided in pages.
Luke: what?
Luke: you're misunderstanding me
Luke: I used over 100 bids before today
Carol: So, your may history may be shifted to another page as you have 6 pages in all.
Luke: When I checked today, there was absolutely zero history, no pages, nothing, it said no entries
Luke: when I started bidding today, it listed my history as of today
Luke: where's my history from last week?
Carol: Please check again, as it shows that you have made 87 bids today.
Luke: correct
Luke: what about last week?
Luke: page 6, item 87 is the Apple iPad 16 GB I told you I was bidding on today, and is dated 07/05/2010 13:32:pm EDT
Luke: Do you think it's possible the owners of the company have it set to delete bid history so they can say I I'm not participating in any auctions so they can deny my request for refund?
Carol: Ok, but normally it do not get deteted.
Luke: it does
Luke: I checked every day and it's always deleted
Carol: Ok, sorry for that.
Luke: Do you think it's possible the owners of the company have it set to delete bid history so they can say I I'm not participating in any auctions so they can deny my request for refund?
Carol: No, the point of refund is that you must not have any bids in your account.
Carol: With that, you must have not won any product on Swipebids.
Carol: So, if you do it without bidding on anything then it will be fine for us.
Luke: correct, but it says "Must actively participate in auctions"
Luke: if my history is blank, it appears I did not participate
Carol: Does not matter.
Carol: You just have to use all your bids without winning anything on Swipebids.
Luke: but it says I have to participate
Carol: Yes, it is understood for us that if there is no bids in your account then you must have used them .
Luke: okay
Luke: thanks
Carol: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
Luke: help me win?
Luke: :p
Luke: since you can't help me win, that's it
Carol: Thank you very much for chatting with us today. We hope the rest of your day is an excellent one.
Carol: Please feel free to come back for any further assistance.

I’ll keep this thing updated with any information I have.