We just received the following comment from a user who registered on the penny auction site SwipeBids.com. 
Here’s the comment from our reader:
“I was scammed by the site called www.swipebids.com for $150 and $24 two days ago when I did a live chat on that site. I checked online credit card for my account and saw new activity to realized I was charged. Two nights ago, when I did a live chat with the site, Chat person said, that you can click on purchase bids in order to get your free 500 bids coupon code to come out. After I did with her instruction there was no coupon code input. The live chat person said go ahead and close your account and open a new account with new user name then you will see a 500 free bids code for input. I chat with her are you sure your not going to charge? She replied yes. When I contacted the live chat tonight chat person said no refund and didn’t want to listen. I called my credit card company and they said that we will send you a dispute form and will investigate. I just want you people to beware of the scam site called Swipebids.com and check your credit card as well to make sure your ok.”
Please let us know what your experiences have been with SwipeBids.com
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I was concerned with the fact that they have 800 page views a month and it seems that they have more bidding than swoopo. How can they only have 800 views a month but it appears that thousands of people are bidding like crazy?
I was charged twice on my credit card too. I did live chat and the site said nothing we can do. No refund policy and said that it's my fault for not reading their sites policy. I was told on live chat that they are on testing mode and said will give you 500 free bids if you closed your account and open with new e-mail address. I did that instead of free 500 bids I see a two charges on my credit card bill. Please be very careful with that site. It's the worst I have encounter. They just open and already not living up to be a good penny auction site. I had contacted my credit card company for dispute and waiting for the result. The live chat on their site said we don't take phone calls and cannot give out phone numbers to speak with their manager.
Not good..
"4. Payment Terms. Upon registering, providing the requisite Registration Data and ordering the Swipe Bids™ Products, the credit or debit card that you provided during registration or updated at a later date (“Active Credit Card”) will be charged a non-refundable fee for all bid packs the customer orders.
All fees are payable in United States currency. For so long as your Membership is active, you will be billed and you will be required to pay all applicable charges, these include all fees related to any items won and any bid packs purchased. All won items require to be paid within 30 days of final sale, if the won item is not paid within that time frame, the option to buy the product will expire and the bids that were used to win the auction item will not be refunded upon expiration . Failure to use the Swipe Bids™ Products does not constitute a basis for refusing to pay any of the associated charges. Subject to the conditions set forth herein, you agree to be bound by the Billing Provisions of Swipe Bids™ in effect at any given time. Upon reasonable prior written notice to you (with e-mail sufficing), Swipe Bids™ reserves the right to change its Billing Provisions whenever necessary, in its sole discretion. Continued use of the Site and/or receipt of the Swipe Bids™ Products after receipt of such notice shall constitute consent to any and all such changes; provided, however, that any amendment or modification to the Billing Provisions shall not apply to any charges incurred prior to the applicable amendment or modification.
Swipe Bids™ authorization to provide and bill for the Swipe Bids™ Products is obtained by way of your electronic signature or, where applicable, via physical signature and/or voice affirmation. Once an electronic signature is submitted, this electronic order constitutes an electronic letter of agency. Swipe Bids™ reliance upon your electronic signature was specifically sanctioned and written into law when the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Transactions Act were enacted in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Both laws specifically preempt all state laws that recognize only paper and handwritten signatures. Where you fail to make any scheduled payment for accrued fees, such overdue amounts will be subject to interest charges in the amount of one and one half percent (1.5%) per month, compounded monthly. Your Member account may be deactivated, and access to the Site denied, for non-payment."
From their terms.
i was watching a nintendo wii it was on the last page no one was watching it i won it an the clock reset at 24 hours i ask the live chat person he said i was lying this sight is a total scam thats SWIPEBIDS.COM
That sort of stuff never happens on CrazyBidNow.com!!!
Check it out!
http://bit.ly/aICLrr
Great job everyone. This is what makes this site great!
I too got screwede by them got charged 150.00 for signing up too. I am looking into them being a predatory company and taking advantage of senior citizens especially in Florida..
they are a scam!!HAVE BEEN FOR SOME MONTHS NOW.I COULDN'T FIND ANYWHERE TO LET EVERYONE KNOW. HAS ANYONE EVER RECEIVED ANYTHING THEY WON???I WON LOTS OF ITEMS BUT HEN I DID THE CHAT AND CALL 800 NUMBER -CHAT SAID THEY EREN'T SENDING THOSE WINS OUT AS IT WAS A TEST SITE.AFTER YOU GIVE CREDIT CARD INFO AND SPEND ALOT OF TIME ON THERE SITE INSTEAD OF THE LIGIT ONES.YOUR BIDDING FOR NOTHING. THE 800 NUMBER DIDN'T SEEM TO KNOW OF THEM THAT WELL.SAID THE HAD JUST SIGNED UP WITH THEM.I HAVE THE PAGES OF ITEMS WON IN MY EMAIL AND THINK WE SHOULD SUE FOR MONEY LOST,ITEMS LOST THAT WE WON AND TIME SPENT ON THERE SITE.AND I BETTER LOOK AT MY CREDIT CARD AGAIN.THEY TOLD ME THEY NEVER CHARGED IT AS ITS A TEST SITE UNTIL FEB 18.2010.THAT CHAT PERSON HAS BEEN ON THERE SINCE AT LEAST OCT/2009.I ALSO NO IT SCAM BECAUSE OF MY NAME I USE ON THERE. THE LAST I TRIED IT AFTER IT SUPPOSLY OPENED,2 OTHER NAMES RELATED TO MINE SHOWED UP ONLY TO BID AGAINST ME,THE ONE BELONGS TO MY BOYFREIND AS HE WAS WATCHING IT WITH ME,JUST COULDN'T BELEIVE IT.LOOKED LIKE HE WAS BIDDING AGAINST ME.SOOO WATCH OUT IT IS THE WORST SITE I'VE EVER SEEN.KEEP LISTTING ON HERE FOR IT .
.YES THEY ARE SCAM.DELT WITH THEM IN JAN/FEB BUT THEY HAVE BEEN UP SINCE OCT/2009.I REGISTERED CREDITCARD AND ADDRESS YA KNOW ALL THEY NEED.BOUGHT BIDS AND WON TV-COMPUTERS Wii,WALMARTCARDS 46 ITEMS BETWEEM JAN/FEB.2010,NEVER RECEIVED ANY.FIRST THEY SAID THEY WERE A TEST SITE.THEN THEY WERE SUPPOSE TO OPEN IN FEB/STILL A SCAM BUT MORE OF ONE TO ME CAUSE THEY USED MY BOYFREINDS USERNAME TO BID AGAINST ME.HE STOOD BESIDE ME AND WATCHED.GUESS I RAISED TO MUCH HELL WITH THEM.ANYWAY I FEEL WE SHOULD LAWSUIT THEM-FOR OUR MONEY OUR WINNINGS &OUR TIME.HAVE MY COPIES.REACH ME AT [email protected] AND KEEP WARNING OTHERS HERE
Unlike some good auction sites, SwipeBids is a real scam. 90% of the usernames you see are bots — please don't be foolish and try it, because you're not going to win regardless of how many bids you purchase, they must have over 100 bots continuously bidding on each of the products.
I've been watching this website since the beginning and I can 300% confirm they're fake and use continues bots to prevent people from winning anything.
an another note, read their disclaimer carefully, you will see that they basically put in their disclaimer to rip you off and that no matter what, no legal action can be taken against them. It's basically a disclaimer to save their ass from being sued by everyone. Here read: http://www.swipebids.com/content.php?content_id=N…
They also give themselves the right to use all your personal information and share it with third party companies. (stated in their privacy policy) quote "Your Personal Information (other than credit card information) will be shared with advertisers on an aggregate and non-aggregate basis."
Don't fall for it guys, go to other auction sites.
I was reviewing there site today and YES they are a scam. Without reviewing fully I was emailed confirming my registration and billed $150.00!! I thought i was just reviewing there site, but they got me. I contacted them immediately to cancel and they said they will not refund any monies. I guess I will wait for the dispute from my CC company. I hope hsbc has my back?
BEWARE OF http://www.swipebids.com!!
These people are crooks, I simply registered with their site to look around and within less than a minute they had charged my debit card 150.00!!! I called them and they said too bad by signing up I had bought their service and they would not rescind their charge. I have gone to the bank and reported their fraudulent practices and also blocked my debit card (what a pain). I wanted to write them a letter but they refused to give me an address. I ordered nothing from them but, because my computer is set up to "autofill" they were able to fraudulently access my bank account. BEWARE SWIPEBID.COM!!!!!
I dont understand how they can steal peoples money and get away with it. Yeah I was taken too, wish I would of researched them before I signed up now its to late this is not a good time to steal from honest people .WOW THIS SUCKS!!!!
Me neither Eric, this is really concerning. Please contact the FBI's IC3 http://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx
also contact the FTC and file a report online via the FTC's complaint assistance https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
They E-mailed me today this is what they said We regret to inform you that there was an error in the swipebids system and the auction you were bidding on automatically ended. We sincerly apologize for this and have refunded you for the product. To make up for this inconvenience and ensure your success in the new auctions we have added 1350 free bids to your account ($495 Value). Management Well looks like I will have to start calling my bank before I get charged for something Im not doing anymore.
Just a further note on swipebids.com: I have also complained to the attorney general of indiana and complained to my congressman regarding this site. If anyone needs a phone number here it is: 1-866-336-6735 and I have an address (of sorts) of swipe bids po box 22100 east 26th ave. aurora, colorado 80019. so i hope thousands of people who have been ripped off by them (as I have) call and complain. I think we should sue them.
Well I just came from my bank (chase) they say that swipebids.com put their unauthorized charge of 150.00 through as a third party charge. They told the bank that i signed up for a trial on another site and the other site billed them and they paid 150.00, and due to the fact that i had autofill all the info was correct and so, they are paid and there is nothing i can do.
I called BitterBuyer and they said if it's not over 500.00 they can't do anything. I am asking all of you who have been ripped off by swipebids.com to email me at [email protected], maybe if there are enough of us someone will help! This company knows just how much money to steal so the law won't come after them and they know just how to put it through the bank so they will pay no matter what the account holder says. I am going to go on youtube with this and maybe they won't give us our money back but we can sure cost them some money in lost customers and maybe someone with some power will notice and help the victims of swipebids.com
So contact me and let's put up a fight!
sorry my email is [email protected]
I bid on swipe bids at 2 am after accidently clicking continue, and buying 75$ worth of bids since it's non refundable decided to bid away. Well I won a cam corder worth 999$ two days ago I noticed I had way more bids on my account then I should So I first checked my bank then went on live chat they said it was a technical error and it would be fixed soon. Today I got on to live chat because they had refunded me 24 dollars I asked where my winning cam corder was since it has been over a week now and they said I won on a technical error… So I said I won it over a week ago the technical problems was days ago so they said It happened the day I won it too… Uh huh. Right . I'm done with them biggest waste of my time and money ever.
And I just got an email saying they gave me 1350 free bids cause an auction I bidded on suddenly ended….Yea a week later they send me this. How sweet of them. I don't think we are even talking to real people on live chat anyway takes them forever to respond and they always say basically the same thing, and every one of them has amazing grammer. Hmmmm.
I too was ripped off for $150.00 just for signing up. I also requested a refund and they refused. I have reported them to the BBB and the FCC with no response as yet. I also requested a hold on payment from my card Co. Haven't heard from them yet. The address I have for them is: Sphere Media LLC, 906 W. 400S., Oren Utah 84058. These crooks need to be shut down. Either nobody wins on their auctions, or they have an enormous inventory of the same items. They sell the same items over and over again. They may not even have any inventory to start with, just a bunch of pictures. [email protected], please include me in your list. They advertise 10 cent bids but charged me 50 cents for each bid.When I asked them about that, they said it would be 10 cents a bid on the next BidPack I bought not the first. I asked them where it said that on their website and he admitted it wasn't on there. SwipeBids is a bunch of crooks and something needs to be done about them. I'll be glad to do my part. I will contact the FBI's IC3 and the FTC as "auctionwatcher" suggested. I hope everyone else will do the same.
I too am a victim. I admit that I was being greedy and wanted to try my luck. I clicked the $1 sample package of 10 bids and just thought that $1 wouldn't hurt even if it's scam. HOWEVER, I was charged $150 for 300 bids. The account showed that I ordered both the $1 and the $150 packages, but only 300 available bids were shown, instead of 310. I contacted them via live chat, they immediately agreed to add 10 bids to my account, admitting their errors, but refused to refund me $15o, claiming that I have "PURCHASED" and pointed me to their registration page as a proof of my purchased when I asked them for the proof. How could that prove anything?? Anyway, no matter how inconsistent they are and how lacking proof they are, they refused to refund me the money but offered me 500 fee bids as a make-up for their mistakes. I refused, but still can't get the $150 back to my account. I believe that the company is properly registered and even legally sound, from the surface. Their business practice is definitely unethical.
I really should have known better that a deal that sounds too good to be true just can't be.
sorry… lots of typos above.. i am enraged…
whew… I'm so glad I checked out all of your reviews… I was just about to go on swipebid to look for a laptop… so glad my son suggested I read reviews first… thanks guys.
Thanks to everyone who has commented on Swipebids.com. I'm always suspicious of something that sounds too good to be true, so before I register, I google the site and reviews, and found all of your reviews! Needless to say, I *won't* be registering there, and will spread the word of their scams. As a matter of fact, I think I'll e-mail the site where I saw their ad and let them know that one of their advertisers is a complete scam and operated by criminals (thieves and liars). Thanks again, I'm so appreciative that you all are here.
Also feel free to post your review here: <a href="http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com/penny-auction-reviews/showproduct.php/cat/2/item/44 _www.SwipeBids.com” target=”_blank”>http://www.pennyauctionwatch.com/penny-auction-re…” target=”_blank”>_www.SwipeBids.com
Thank you!
I got ripped off too
Charged $150 to my card and I have no way of ever getting that money back. I hope they burn in hell.
I too have been scammed for 150.00 live chat credited me 500 bids but still refused to give me my money back. I know there has to be bots bidding with ridiculous bids available and a lot of the same people win all the time. I have disputed the charge on my credit card but not sure what they will do about it. I was billed as swipebids.com so hopefully the third party thing won't hurt me. I am seeing how to cancel my account. Has anyone known anyone who as actually gotten anything from them?
It is obvious and understandable for person with a common sense that this can not be truth! Sorry folks – but this is a hard lesson for you all. I hope you will learned well. Also advice: search internet first to see is it real or not.
SWIPE BID IS A SCAM FROM HELL!!!!!!!
This site is crap.The better business bureau really needs to get involved.I went on the site out of curiousity and got ripped off.when i entered in my paypal number i clicked the one dollar aution just to give it a try.well,the bank transfer to paypal didnt go through yet and it wiped out all but my name in the info.so i entered in my debit card not realizing that the little dot to the left went to the $150 so called deal.my computer did a double click and before i knew it i was charged $150.i called the customer service number after being rudely talked over,and interupted i asked to speak with a supervisor.He refused to allow it serveral times and hung up on me.Someone really needs to put a virus on this site to prevent others from the same misfortune.PPL STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!
I got scammed =(. I purchased 10 bids for $1 and then 40 for 24$. I decided that I would give it a try. Knowing that 50 bids would not likely win me anything, I bid on extra bids. Wow I won. I was enthused…..I purchased a total of $70 worth of additional bids. Having almost 2,000 bids I figured I would at least have a shot of winning an auction. I saw a camera that I had been wanting for year, but the auction was late at night, so I had my husband stay up late and watch the auction for me. Here is the email that he sent to me describing their practices.
I spent the hour before the bidding started on your camera watching other bidders. I then spent the next 5 hours both working on your item as well as studying all other high price items on the site that went up for auction (500+ retail). In the end I spent nearly all your bids (around 40 left). There was at least 5 instances where there was no more human bidders left. I suspect this site is using bots to hold the items. Some of my evidence listed:
1st-
Whenever a person I thought was human bid the timer would increase to at least 9 seconds when the bidding was at 1 second (including myself).
The avatars I suspect are bots would appear when there was 0 seconds left on the screen and the timer would go to 4 seconds.
2nd-
On multiple occasions when the timer hit 0 and one of these “bots” would bet it would spam their name 3-7 times but the bid amount would only increase 1 cent.
Though whenever the “human” participants would bid multiple times lets say they hit the button 4 times in a row before anyone else the amount would increase that many cents (person hit it 4 times the bid would go up 4 cents).
3rd-
When I got near the end of the bids I was wiling to put out there I left the bid alone to another human who had basically outbid me on autobids.
The person I suspect was a “bot” jumped in after no activity for nearly 1 hr (me and the other human had been going at it for that long).
The both then proceded to bid at 0 and jump the counter to 4. After approx 75 of these he finally won the auction.
4th-
This same behavior happened on 3 other items, 2 laptops and 1 digital camcorder. Basically the person I perceived as “human” finally drove off all competition and then suddenly a new bidder would appear at 0 seconds with all the things I mentioned above. In the end the one I suspected a “bot” won each time.
Whether these are bots setup by the site or by other players I suspect you can not actually win the bigger prize items. They expect you to win bids in their bid auctions and eventually lose them to other humans or to their “bots”. I then went online and did some research. I was not able to actually find one person who verified they won a higher price item on this site. I’m sorry hunny but I think this site is a scam. I did look into some others and there is some potential but again your only real garuntee is that you can buy the item with the money you already lost when bidding for an item. More than one person did say they won, but it was on other sites. Also those other sites all offered to let you still buy the item.
The following day with the bids that I had left over…I decided to try out another bid to see if I could see the same thing. I had the bids and already lost the money, what more did I have to lose. Low and behold what did I find….Another bot.
Please avoid this website. You can win bids, but don’t expect to win any merchandise (unless you consider your email being spammed a product worth winning)!
I dont know what made me go to this website. But first sight of swipebids.com and I couldnt take my eyes off of it. Everything seemed too good to be true. But after staring at the site for couple of minutes, I realized that this website is a scam.
First thing I noticed was how fast people were bidding, which can be totally possible knowing how many poeple are on the internet. But as I look closely to the bidders, there were nothing but 2 individuals going for this camcorder. They would bid a penny higher in average of 6 seconds apart. Which didnt make a lot of sense for someone like me who has hardly any knowledge about auction in general. It costs 10 cents for you to bid each time, yet they were bidding a penny higher? . Does it make sense to you to spend 10 cents each time to raise bid by a penny? Like i said I’m new to penny auction so i might of missed something there.
Luckily I didnt sign up nor had intention to sign up for a auction website because im not interested in it. But scam website with live chat? couldnt miss that.
So as we chat, I told her i “might” sign up (this will get their attention a little bit). And I asked many questions, but I wanted to share only one with you guys. There was this bidder who bid $10 giftcard from walmart for a penny and won. So i asked about what kind of shipping and handling he has to pay. They charge $9.50 shipping and handling for ANY product you win (yes even gift cards). so this bidder paid $9.51 for $10 giftcard which he has to wait for few days to get (if they send them).
Now let’s think the opposite. I looked FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section to find “We are currently offering SwipeBids to residents of United States, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand”. Imagine 42 inch TV sent from the US to New Zealand just under 10 bucks. Yes, there are other possiblities of having at least 5 different branches in each country mentioned above with huge inventory with same exact items, but 42″ TV S&H for under 10 dollars? They didnt plan this too good.
Yes I have to agree with what people said above. They are definately using bots so that you can never win. And the winners are made up avatar by their company. Doesnt most auction have buyout price? Without buyout price set or a.k.a. BuyNow from ebay theres no way to find out if these merchandise really exist.
These people collects your hard earned money and feeds you with hypes and nothing more. (very similar to slot machines in casino). I miss “you get what you pay for” days. Now, those days are over and slowing turining into “you dont get anything for the hype we’re offering”
Hi Everyone;
This conversation speaks for it's self. So far, I've had no problems with Swipe Bids. So when I can get the chance to figure out the best Bidding Choice. I could be back. Until then, comment on what you think of my live chat.
TY
[email protected]
————————————-START HERE—————————————-
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Natasha'
Natasha: Welcome to SwipeBids. May I know, whom am I chatting with?
you: hi, how do I change bid levels?
you: Ray
Natasha: Could you please rephrase your question so that I can best assist you?
you: I'm set for $11.00 automatic charge after 30 days. How do I change that to increase or decrease my being charge.
Natasha: Could you please provide me with your full name and email address, so that I can pull up your details?
you: ray echevarria
you: [email protected]
Natasha: Please wait while I check your order details in our system.
you: TY
Natasha: The auto replenish program is a bonus feature from SwipeBids, which ensures your account has 50 fresh bids each month at a discounted rate. Your active card is charged only $11.95 every 30 days. There is no obligation at all, so you can cancel any time. It’s the best way to keep your account active and always be ready to bid on all the hottest items!
Natasha: This charge cannot be increased or decreased.
you: So if I wanted to increase from the $11.95 level to the $150.00 level I can not. If I started at the $150.00, I can not decrease back to the $11.95?
Natasha: When you sign up for Swipebids.com you are given a variety of valuable Bid Pack Options to choose from based on your preference. The choices are listed below for easy reference.
* SAMPLE PACK, $1.00 (10 BIDS).
* MINI BID PACK, $24.00 (40 BIDS).
* REGULAR BID PACK, $75.00 (125 & 10 BONUS BIDS).
* LARGE BID PACK, $150.00 (250 & 50 BONUS BIDS).
you: TY, so how do I change my choices?
Natasha: One moment please.
Natasha: The Autoreplenish program is a monthly membership in which you got charged $11.95 and got 50 bids, 30 days after signing up.
Natasha: You need to purchase the Bids to start the bidding process from any one of the above options.
you: OK, so how do I change the AUTO REPLENISH AMOUNT?
you: So every time I buy bids, I can change my choices?
you: !
Natasha: The Auto replenish amount cannot be changed.
you: Then I'll need to CANCEL MY ACCOUNT NOW.
Natasha: One moment please.
Natasha: I have effectively cancelled your Auto Replenish program. Please note: all past charges are non-refundable. However, I will personally ensure you will never be charged again.If you later change your mind please contact us back and we will gladly activate it again. Your Cancelation # is
Natasha: 1785
you: I'll open a new account later with a different choice.
Natasha: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
you: TY Natasha, you've been very kind. Have a nice night.
Natasha: Thank you very much for chatting with us today. We hope the rest of your day is an excellent one.
Natasha: Please feel free to come back for any further assistance.
you: I will, good night Natasha.
Natasha: Good Bye.
—————————STOP HERE—————————————————-
Hey guys. I recently signed up on swipebids.com stupidly before doing any research. Luckily I only purchased $1.00 worth of bids and haven't been charged yet. After watching some items, I decided to give it a shot with my 10 bids. I ended up winning 2 of th 125 bid "items" so I now have 250 bids. After watching some more items for awhile, things just looked strange. So, I did some searching and found this site with tons of negative comments about swipebids.com.
Before I even started bidding, I realized that the best choice would be to bid for more bids before trying for items. I watched a bunch of bid "items" before I tried. When watching, I realized that the bidding was very frantic and there were a lot of different people involved. Figuring I might as well use the bids I just bought, I gave it a go. I went for the 125 bids and put in a bid. Lucky me, I was the only one bidding on that item and won. I decided to try for another 125 bids. I found one that had no bids and placed my own bid. Lucky me again, I was the only bidder and won. Maybe that was purposeful on their part, maybe not.
When reading all of your comments though, I was really discouraged about what they have in their privacy policy. I decided to open a live chat with them to ask them some questions about their privacy policy. When I asked if they shared all personal information with third parties, the representative said, "No, we do not do that". So, I went to the privacy policy, copied and pasted, and asked them what that was about. The representative said, "Oh, please disregard that message. That was an error." No matter what I said, all the rep had to say was please ignore that. She basically said to disregard their entire privacy policy which is quite fishy indeed. If any of you are taking action against them and would like my chat transcript, (1 hour and 23 minutes long), I would be happy to email it to you. My email address is: [email protected] so shoot me a message if you want it.
I had been watching a Toshiba laptop on Swipebid since noon yesterday. I checked it again at 4:30 am this morning and once again at 6:30 this morning. It was still being bid on. That's nearly 18 hours of bidding. Something definately smells here and I told the live chat gal exactly that. It's now 9:32 am and its still for sale.
I learned about swipebids.com about a week ago, and I got excited and put all 300 bids, which costs $150, on autobid for an HTC Nexus One, retails for about $599. I figured $150 investment is worth it for the value of $599. Unfortunately, 300 bids and 45 mins later, someone else is still outbidding me. Stupid me, I refused to lose the $150, I purchased another $150 package of bids to assure that I will win the cell phone. Another 300 bids and 45 mins later, I'm still getting outbid. The funny part is the same Bidder has been bidding against me from the very beginning, with 1-3 others bidding once every 100 bids. This Bidder has been bidding manually, not by autobidder, for about 1-1/2 hours, which mean this Bidder sat on his computer chair and click "Bid" every 5-10 seconds for 1-1/2 hours. I put mine on autobidder, and I had to use the restroom or get out of the computer room during this bidding time. Anyways, this is when now that it's somehow fix. The website
is somehow pretending to be someone bidding, encouraging you to either lose all your bids count until you finally quit.
If anyone is coordinating in suing this website, I'm in. Just let me know, [email protected].
When will I ever learn? Probably never. Did I ever get suckered. All those expensive toys that I've always wanted going for a fraction of their retail value.
How do they do it? Who cares? Hey wait a minute. It's fifty cents a bid. Well that's not much. I'll buy seventy five dollars worth of bids and cream the opposition. Yeah right!
Here it comes at last . The last ten seconds. Let's try autobid forty bids. Winning winning. Shoot! Outbid. There goes twenty bucks. Ok lets auto bid the rest . Shoot! Outbid. I've just blown seventy five bucks for nothing to show. Hey look at this thing go . Everytime it gets near zero someone bids it up.
What a way to sucker people. Charge them fifty cents to bid then as soon as it looks like they are going to win find someone to out bid. Give them ten thousand bids and tell them to outbid everyone else until the cost of the article has been covered one hundred time over.
Ask yourself how long is a piece of string. Without a time limit the zero bid could keep going for hours taking suckers for a ride at fifty cents a try.
Steer clear of these auctions unless you want to throw your money away.
I actually am very cautious about sites and im glad i reviewd it first. Thank you everyone for making others aware of this, and this is my way of trying to help. Though little good it did maybe something might come of it.
i looked up all the names on their winner page according to their city and state and what do you know…. no such people exist…. just look at the names.. that right there should tell you that those names are made up..
Wow that was a fun conversation well i dont know if this helps at all if anyone wants to take legal action but we never know right.
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with ‘Natasha’
Natasha: Welcome to SwipeBids. May I know, whom am I chatting with?
you: Nelson Marine Cortez venezuella Rodriguez Rodriguez Mannolo Marlon Alfonso Alberto Constantine Vincent Peraza Quanaco
Natasha: Hi, how may I assist you today?
you: I’ve had a few problems in the past with sites that offer insanely low prices on merchandise that is usually expensive and i wanted to know what your customer satisfaction rating is
you: also the legiticy of your site i mean it must have a buisness authorization code and a way of charging your bidders
you: my only concern really is f i dont receive what i orderd how do i go about actually getting the item
Natasha: We stand by the customer service and quality standards of the Better Business Bureau. That’s why we are offering our customers complete customer satisfaction day in and day out.
Natasha: We will ship your product within 24 hours of receiving the final payment from you. If you are in the continental United States you should receive it in 5 to 7 business days. If you live outside of the USA, shipping normally takes an extra 3 days.
you: thats not answering my question i wanted to know what your customer satisfaction rating was
you: im sure you must be able to have a least some knowledge of this
Natasha: Customer satisfaction is our number one priority.
you: because if im going to bid on an item and win it i want to know i will receive it and in good condition
you: well that is very reassuring
Natasha: All of the products you see on SWIPEBIDS are brand new. We take great pride in providing top of the line products which are supplied directly from the warehouse
Natasha: There is nothing to worry about as all of our products are brand new and are covered by the Manufactures Warranty.
you: well you see my friend has used swioebids before and waited over 2 weeks to receive her item. She went to the bank to check her statement and noticed that the was billed for an item that she never order
you: as you can see its a little disconcerning for me to make any purchases through the business you work at as ive had a number of people having the same feeling
you: and if you stand by customersatisfaction as makingg your number one priority how come these people are not satisfied
Natasha: Please let me know the name and e-mail address of your friend’s account so that I can assist you regarding this.
you: they never received the item, others got charged for the $150 large bid pack and never won anything, another friend while bidding ended up reseting itself
you: it seems to me your system is having a lot of problems
you: i would realy like to purchase many of the items up for sale but with all friends of mine having problems with this site im not sure i would like to use it
Natasha: Ok, Could you please let me know the name and e-mail address of your friend’s account so that I can assist you regarding this.
you: what do they have to do with you reassuring me i will be served justly and not have any problems
Natasha: We are offering our customers complete customer satisfaction day in and day out.
you: do you offer local pick up or an office i could go see to check out all the products
you: maybe i could appy there as im looking for a job right now
you: after all with such a large amount of products you must have a large building to store everything
Natasha: For security and privacy reasons, we are not able to disclose our address.
you: thats a little odd wouldnt you say
you: i mean every type of bidding service has an office to which they can be contacted to i mean how are people supposed to know where to apply if they cant even find the place
Natasha: We are located in Utah, USA
you: do you at least have an email i could send my resume to?
you: ok well thats a start
you: it basically narrows it down to the entirre state
Natasha: You can e-mail us at [email protected]
you: thank you very much
Natasha: Thank you very much for chatting with us today. We hope the rest of your day is an excellent one.
Natasha: Please feel free to come back for any further assistance.
you: im enjoying our conversation lets talk a little more
you: ok please expain to me how sites such as ebay even have their address listed but swipebids cannot
Natasha: We are not allowed to do so.
you: you said security reasons but why do you have to worry about safety
you: what if somebody breaks in and needs to call anambulance and your on the phone with an emergency officer you would have to tell them the address right
you: i mean ive never heard of a company who could not disclose their address for those reasons
you: come to think of it isnt that illegal
Natasha: Yes, but we can only provide the information that we authorized to give.
you: according to section 19 a subsection b of the better buisness bureu it states that all legitimit buisness must state their location for customer services
you: either this is and illegal site, or its under hot water for a situation it made in the past i mean its all way too strange for me
Natasha: Though given how great some of our bargains are, I can understand why you might be suspicious. We are a company that sells products directly to consumers after they have won one of our auctions. Because of the high volume of sales we have and the income we generate through bids, we are able to let people purchase products at a much lower cost than normal retail. And because we are the ones shipping the products, we have much more control over the process – unlike other auction sites that let people sell their own products.
Natasha: Is there anything else I can help you with today?
you: could you please transfer me to another agent i mean that really didnt answer anything im still confused
Natasha: Please hold while I transfer you to a Managing Supervisor. He should be able to better assist you with this matter. I apologize for any inconvenience up to this point.
Please wait while I transfer the chat to ‘Jackie’.
You are now chatting with ‘Jackie’
Jackie: Hello, I am Jackie (Supervisor on duty).
Jackie: Can you please allow me few moments, while I review your chat.
you: Hi Jackie how you doin?
you: yes of course
you: i mean i can even get the address of a buisnes in Japan and all the legitimit ones what does swipebids have to hide
you: its peakead my curiosity now!
Jackie: For security and privacy reasons, we are not able to disclose our address.
you: listen Jackie im not asking for your home address, or any of the employes addresses or anything like that. All i am requesting is that if customer satisfaction is your number one priority and after sending and email about a problem im having about receiving my product and i cant settle it with a live chat rep then maybe i should send a letter to your office sending it to your president to fix this problem. what if hypothetically speaking lost my internet connection for over a week but i remember the address and i want to send a letter because i cant send it electronicaly and i cant reach you by phone because i cant have that number either. whats my last option but a simple letter
you: i mean its not a residential place, its a commercial location so its must have an address i can send it to
Jackie: I am sorry, but I am not authorized to disclose the addressd.
Jackie: To get assistance via phone, please call this number: 1-866-389-3870 (Mon – Fri 5 am – 8 pm & Sat from 8 am – 5 pm Mountain Time). However, I am here to provide you immediate customer service.
you: if i cant even get a simple address for this purpose what kind of security do i have about a purchase
Jackie: You can simply call us regarding any query to the above mentioned phone number.
you: to be quite honest i dont think ill be doing buisness with swipebids now or in the future if its not possible to even know that swipebids is hiding even though i fully mentioned that its illegal to hide such information
you: anyway im getting tired of speaking with you its seems to be swipebids is a dishoorable company that should be forgotten. you must be very proud of your self to work in such a fine establishment.
you: dishonorable pardon the typo
Jackie: We are most certainly not a scam company.
Jackie: You can solve your problem via phone or via live chat.
Jackie: We are located in USA.
you: well if you cant even abide by a simple law enforced by the United states government then how can i even beleive your not
you: and to think i had my hopes up on all those deals
Jackie: I do apologize for the inconvenience caused, but I am sorry I cannot disclose the address.
you: alright then could i please be sent to someone who can so that you dont take the heat for disclosing such private and confidential information
you: its really interesting because if i win an item it should show on the packing slip the address of where it was sent from in case it gets lost on the way it could siply get sent back
you: why is it that only if iwn something will i know
you: About SwipeBids Our goal is to help people have fun while getting great values on popular consumer products. We are a dedicated, ethical company that thinks fun and profit should go together to create savings
Jackie: All I can say is we are located in Utah.
you: its seems like this is a lie
you: utah! like i said earlier its a state that doesnt tell me anything
Jackie: I am sorry, but I cannot disclose anything more than that.
you: How We Use Personal Information The Personal Information that you submit to us remains your property, but by submitting such information to us you grant us the right, subject to applicable state and federal law, to use the Personal Information (other than credit card information) for marketing purposes. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, we reserve the right to share, sell, rent, lease and/or otherwise distribute any and all Personal Information with/to any third-party for any and all uses permitted by this Privacy Policy and applicable law
you: its amazing but since when did personal informaion become a legal comodity
you: The Site is an Internet property of Sphere Media Limited and its affiliated companies. its interesting how i can even find the address od sphere media but i cant find swipebids
Jackie: I am sorry, but I am not authorized to disclose the address.
Jackie: I hope you understand now.
you: no i dont but it doesnt matter i wont be doing buisness with swpiebids have a good night bye
Jackie: I do apologize for the inconvenience caused , but I cannot disclose the address as I am not authorized for that.
Jackie: However, if you have any issue you can simply contact us via phone or live chat.
Here is the full chat I had with swipebids.com regarding their payments/dispute resolution policies – in plain english.
START PASTE
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Sherry'
Sherry: Welcome to SwipeBids. May I know, whom am I chatting with?
Kelly: kelly
Sherry: Hi, how may I assist you today?
Kelly: I'd like some clarrification on payment issues.
Sherry: Ok, how may I assist you?
Kelly: 1-If i buy a bidpack for 40, assuming the bids are .60 cents each, the charge would be $24.00. Are there any additional fees?
Sherry: The auto replenish program is a bonus feature from SwipeBids, which ensures your account has 50 fresh bids each month at a discounted rate. Your active card is charged only $11.95 every 30 days. There is no obligation at all, so you can cancel any time. It’s the best way to keep your account active and always be ready to bid on all the hottest items!
Kelly: If i bid $300.00 for an item, but i don't win the item, do i still pay $300.00?
Sherry: If you do not win the auction the bids that you purchased upfront and used during the auction will not be credited back to your account.
Kelly: is there anyway to avoid paying for an auction you don't win?
Sherry: I am sorry, But your used bids during the auction will not be credited back to your account.
Kelly: What is the non-refundable fee for all bid packs ordered?
Sherry: The price of the bids pack which you buy are non-refundable.
Kelly: How do i notify swipebids of cancellation, and how long does it take to deactivate my credit card?
Sherry: You can cancel your membership at anytime by contacting our live chat service.
Sherry: And your account will be de-activate immediately.
Kelly: Can i easily re-register lets say 2 weeks later?
Sherry: Yes, you can re-register again.
Kelly: Do you realize the number of negative online reviews there are of swipebids? Most concerning to me are complaints of unauthorized charges and swipebids refusal to even discuss, let alone remedy these problems. Whats with this?
Sherry: I'm sorry I don't quite understand – could you please rephrase your question so that I can best assist you?
Kelly: OK, a different approach.
Kelly: Does the 'American Arbitration Association in New York City' offer online dispute resolution, or must one attend in person?
Sherry: I am sorry, I have no idea about it.
Kelly: Is a rather important question because If my credit card is overcharged, for example, your 'Dispute Resolution Provisions' require that i agree to using 'American Arbitration Association in New York City'. But i live in b.c. canada, and cannot fly to New York to attend this neeting in person. Essentially, i'd have no way to seek resolution.
Sherry: Please be assured for best deal with swipebids.com.
Sherry: We stand by the customer service and quality standards of the Better Business Bureau. That's why we are offering our customers complete customer satisfaction day in and day out.
Kelly: i've checked swipebids on bbb,org where you have 2 listings. One reads NR and the other a C rating.
Sherry: We have pending approval with BBB till date.
Kelly: However, you have no disputes listed for me to see how you resolve problems. So you bbb reports tell me little about you except that your business is very new.
Sherry: Yes, Our website is started on February 25 this year only.
Sherry: I can understand why you might be suspicious. We are a company that sells products directly to consumers after they have won one of our auctions. Because of the high volume of sales we have and the income we generate through bids, we are able to let people purchase products at a much lower cost than normal retail. And because we are the ones shipping the products, we have much more control over the process – unlike other auction sites that let people sell their own products. I hope this clarifies your concern.
Kelly: what do you mean by "We have pending approval with BBB till date."
Kelly: One final question – thanks for your patience -
Kelly: If i win an auction for $20.00, do i pay any fees other than the $20.00 i've already bid plus shipping? Total $29.50?
Sherry: You need to pay sold price + shipping fee only.
Kelly: Have i paid the sold price from my bids, or do i pay the won price again?
Sherry: You have to pay the won price again.
Kelly: OK – thanks again for you patience and exhaustive info. Have a great Easter Sunday!
Sherry: Thank you very much for chatting with us today. We hope the rest of your day is an excellent one.
Sherry: Please feel free to come back for any further assistance.
END PASTE
Thanks for all the postings. I almost signed up but wanted to research first. That is one site I will not join.
Here is some maths for you.
An article is listed for auction as having a R.R.P. of $990.
The bidding goes for hours and the article is won at $300
Bless his little soul the winner came in at the right time near the very end and spends $24 in bids to win.
Now for the maths.
$24 buys 40 bids
$300 represents 3000 bids.
3000 bids collectively from all the bidders translates to $1800 ( 3000 divided by 40 and multiplied by 24)
The auction company gets $1800 from all the bidders plus $300 from the winner bidder , total $ 2100
The auction company probably buys the article wholesale fro far less than $990. Let's say $900.
The auction company is laughing , it makes $ 1200 . The winning bidder is laughing because he paid $324 for an article with an R.R.P of $990.
Guess who is not laughing.
Yeah right! All the suckers who contributed their bid money to the $300 winning bid.
Can you imagine holding a garage sale auction where you charge people to bid and keep the clock going until you have made 200 % profit.
There must be thousands of suckers out there for the auction companies to thrive . I unfortunately was one of them until I starting doing a bit of maths.
True . You can win. True. You can win first prize in the lottery. If you think you can do better on these auctions than on the lottery then go ahead , make your day. You feeling lucky punk?
Hi,I was not sure about swipebids.com either at 1st.The reason all those people lost $150 was because they were not paying close enough attention.When you sign up it takes you to the second page where you can buy your bids,but you don't have to fill this section out yet.You can always just go into your account and fill it out in the my address section.When you come to the page that has you put in your credit card info,please make sure you click the sample bid pack for $1 or whatever one you want.How this site keeps getting all you people is by using a double meaning.They have the $150 bid pack highlighted and it says its the most popular.The bubble beside this pack isn't checked,but it really is.They have an arrow there that says something like currently selected bid pack,it makes you think that its the bid pack that most people currently select,but really it means that you have the $150 bid pack selected,but there is no blue dot in the bubble,making it appear that its not selected.Really,it is selected and you think that you are just filling out your info,but your actually buying a bid pack.If you click on a different bid pack,you will see that the $150 becomes un-highlighted and the new bid pack becomes highlighted in its place,you will also see that the bubble is blue for the new bid pack.If you go back and select the $150 bid pack the blue dot will be filled in this time.This site has this set up to make you think that you are just filling in your info,but you are really giving them the go ahead with charging your card $150 and there is nothing you can do about it because if you go look again you will see its all legit and you bought a bid pack because you were fooled by the double meaning of the bid pack page.This site taking peoples money is not the reason its a scam,its your fault you were not careful enough to pay attention,and make sure you never put in your CC info unless your sure what your getting.I know that it tricked allot of people,but I caught onto it right away because there are all kinds of sites that try to use mis-leading words or words with double meanings.It really sucks that these sites do this to everyone,but you have to be more careful.The reason I thought this site was a scam besides them using bots was because that I read allot of users who when they would win an item they would just get bids back and it would say that they won due to error,so they just give you allot of bids back to make you happy,but what are bids unless you can use them to win an item.Its just an electronic number to them.I thought that was bull that they just give you bids back unless you win a bid pack,then you get to pay for it.I thought that this site was a total scam and that they never had any intentions on sending you your won auction.My girlfriend was watching my auction sites for a second while I was busy and she clicked on a $10 Walmart Card and I was mad at her because I told her how they just give you bids back and that's it a scam,plus the card cost $4.95 shipping,which is bull when you can just put it in an envelope.She offered to pay for it with her money and she did,that was 10 days ago.I just went down to the post office and I had a large envelope down there and I opened it and to my surprise it was the $10 Walmart Card I had won.I couldn't believe it.They sent it out on April 1st,so they waited a little bit before they sent it.I don't know of anybody who actually got any Won Item besides bid packs.I'm still not sure if they will send you a high priced won auction or if they will just give you bids back,but I do know that they definitely send you the smaller items.Well,they sent the Walmart Cards anyways.So I am here telling everyone that I have actually received a $10 Walmart Gift Card in the mail and it did come from SwipeBids.com,so at least they are not 100% scam,but they were doing shady things at first.I would have to say give it some time for them to pick up and they hopefully will turn into a 100% legit site.They should have no problems with fiances considering how many people fell for the double meaning of the $150 bid pack and lost there money.The site should not be hurting anymore at all.I hope this info helps anyone trying to decide weather they want to be a member of swipebids or not.Thanks.
(Important) – They limit the $10 Walmart Gift Cards to 2 per customer.More than likely its because this is the only Item that they just started to send out and they don't want everyone just bidding on these.
whats the old saying again, if its too good to be true it probably is!
people, if you seriously think you are going to get a $1700 laptop for $290 you are sadly mistaken. you think any company would be in business if they let products go for 75% less than retail?
I too have been scammed for $150.00–charged to my credit card. If anyone has had success in getting that charge removed–please give details of how you accomplished that!
hi do you advice me to join ?
I just was blocked from the site after winning a bid pack and a digital camera card. Luckily I only paid for a $1 sample pack, but I'm concerned that they have my credit card, address and e-mail. I am wondering how many people need to be scammed before we can organize a class-action lawsuit?
There might soon be a lot more comments about this site because I just received an invitation from MyPoints.com to join SwipeBids for 500 points. That was also how I found out about BidCactus. MyPoints has always been legitimate, so this could be a new experience for them.
Also, the comments made by AnthonyM84 are correct regarding the $150. As you are signing up, you are being charged $150 for a bid pack. You have to physically check another bid pack button to avoid the $150, even though the $150 button is not checked. Very nice scam there, but "technically" they are following the same rules as the other auction sites in not refunding amounts paid to buy bids. The only difference here is that most people did not know they were buying bids.
I bought the sample pack so I could get my 500 points from MyPoints.com, and I won a bunch of those WalMart $10 gift cards, with the $4.95 shipping. It seemed like all I had to do was click on the auction, and I won it. Very strange. Now I have to wait and see if I actually receive them. I won more than 2 (I saw the limit notice, but I thought it was actually on the Wal-Mart card itself, not the site's policy), so why did it let me continue to win 6 of these cards. If I receive the cards, I save $4/card ($10 face value – $5 S&H – $1.01 cost).
So I am going to be angry if I don't receive those 6 cards, and I am going to be very angry with MyPoints.com for perpetuating a fraud.
Joanne, I wondered this myself because I saw people keep bidding on those 10 dollar cards even after it says limit two per person, but I confirmed with three different operators in live chat that you can bid on as many of them as you like, but that you cannot PURCHASE more than two items in any one day (Note: bidpacks do not count as items). This means if you bid for them, you can only buy them two at a time per day. Since you have 14 days to purchase things held in your wins area, just go in and buy two a day. You clearly saw that it said two per person and bought six anyway, so it's up to you to ask the right questions.
I won more than 2 Walmart cards,but I didn't purchase any more than the 2 because I didn't want to get ripped off.Please let me know if anyone wins and pays for more than 2 of them in a single day or at the same time and if you actually get them in the mail.I don't know if its 2 per day or 2 per customer for the cards.If anyone has any proof on how they do this,Please post here to let me know.Thank You:)
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