Sebastien St-Laurent's (AKA Sebby) WebLog : scam

Moving my Main Blog From MSDN to WWW.SebbyLive.Com

sebby1234 — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:06:00 GMT

The time has come to finally move away from hosting my blog on MSDN. There are a few reasons for this transition but the two main deciding factors were that posting personal posts on a MSDN blog seemed odd (at least to me) and that I already had my own website to document my various side-projects so it would make more sense to have everything in a single place.

My blog now resides with my homepage at www.SebbyLive.com. In the future I may cross-post relevant technical posts onto MSDN but you should update your feeds to point to the new "main" blog...

The syndication link which can be used to subscribe to my blog directly is: http://www.sebbylive.com/syndication.axd

Nice Little Scam... Didn't Know I was that Important?!?!

sebby1234 — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:45:00 GMT

I didn't realize I was that important until I got the email that I pasted below, wow "You were recently appointed as a biographical candidate to represent your industry in the Madison Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals, and for inclusion into the upcoming 2007-2008 "Honors Edition" of the registry". Talk about some generic description, in fact would be 100% generic if it wasn't for my name... I obviously knew something was fishy but wanted to figure out exactly what was the catch...

Here is a general overview of similar schemes... http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27053

Overall, they say that they are an important registry of people and that an inclusion within their registry is not only an honnor but is also a great networking tool that can bring significant business. And of course, none of this is free. So, you pay to get included into their member list, which you apparently were so deserving of being in (even though all they had was your name and email). And truely, who has ever heard of Madison Who's Who???

This actually reminds me of the Picture.com contest scam (http://www.greenfreak.net/?p=11). It is quite clever and i'll admit i've fallen for it...

You send a picture to enter the contest, no problem. Of course, your picture doesn't win the contest but is good enough to make their next picture coffee book and you get an offer to pre-purchase the book at a pre-sale discounted price (I believe I paid $40 for it). In a way, they avoid being treated as a scam as they do print the coffee book and send it, so you technically get what you paid for. But the real truth is that you've been lured into a simple bait-and-switch scheme.

You entered for free with the intent of entering a contest but ended up buying a $40 coffee book (which costs less than $5.00 to manufacture) that contains your, and about 2000 other pictures... So assuming about 20% of the folks fall for it out of 2000 pictures and that a book costs them $5.00, they come out with about $10,000... Hmm, maybe I need to change my business model ;)

---- Email ----

Dear Sebastien St-Laurent ,

    You were recently appointed as a biographical candidate to represent your industry in the Madison Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals, and for inclusion into the upcoming 2007-2008 "Honors Edition" of the registry.

     We are pleased to inform you that on August 27th, your candidacy was approved. Your confirmation for inclusion will be effective within five business days, pending our receipt of the enclosed application.

     The Office of the Managing Director appoints individuals based on a candidate's current position, and usually with information obtained from researched executive and professional listings. The director thinks you may make an interesting biographical subject, as individual achievement is what Madison Who's Who is all about. Upon final confirmation you will be listed among thousands of accomplished individuals in the Madison Who's Who Registry. There is no cost to be included.

     We do require additional information to complete the selection process and kindly ask that you access this form on our website:

Click here to register

Or you can manually enter this address into your web browser:

http://www.madisonwhoswho.com/basiclisting

To ensure your biographical data is received in time, please complete the online form above as soon as possible. Our editorial deadline is quickly approaching.

Sincerely,

Matthew Johnson
Managing Editor

Madison Who's Who is not associated or affiliated with Marquis Who's Who or any other Who's Who.

Madison Who's Who, Inc. 30-01 Northern Blvd. Long Island City , NY 11101 USA

SCAM - Beware of Liquidation.Com Part 2...

sebby1234 — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:50:00 GMT

First of all, thanks to everyone who wrote. I already knew there was plenty of complaints about Liquidation.com out there (which I should have done my research before dealing with them). But I was surprized that a post on my blog would generate such an interest.

Well I myself ran into more problems with them after my initial post.

One auction I had bid for was for 5 video cards. And since the auction was listed as "new" then I though it might be a good deal. It was, well until they factored in the shipping charges. The item was warehoused in Canada, having shipped internationally, I knew roughly what it would cost to ship the cards (especially since the auction was listed as being for a 10lbs box) and did not bother asking for a shipping quote. The auction closed for a little over $400 which was good, knowing I could get about $130-$150 per card on eBay. But I was more than shocked when the invoice came in, it was for more than $850!!!

Well turns out they decided that about $450 was an apropriate amount to charge for shipment of a 10lbs box from Canada to the USA (when it could have been done for somewhere around $50-70 with UPS/FedEx/DHL). Reading the fine print. Turns out that any order from Canada is charged a minimum of $100 for shipping (and then a per pound extra). In addition, they charge a $150 documentation fee for custom forms (which is beyond ridiculous for anything less than a palette or truckload). Even so, the math would only add up to about $270 for shipping and they would not provide me an explanation as to there the additional cost was comming from. So obviously, I refused to pay....

As a consequence, they locked out my account for non payment. As of course, the fine print says, they charge $200 for non-payment of an auction. The main problem is that be locking out my account, I could not submit feedback for some of the other items that had just arrived (and you only have 3 days to file a claim for a mis-represented item). In other words, the account lockout almost seemed like extortion to me when they could have easily just precventing me from making new purchases but still let me manage the rest of my account.

In other words, I have to cave to the $200 as one of the items was clearly mis-represented and wanted to file a claim (although I realized it probably would not do any good). Well then they decided to play me around in circles for a whole week. Waiting 2 days to tell me I needed to submit a charge authorization form. Then 2 days later, I had to call to learn that something was not filled right on the form. Then another 2 days to learn they had not recieved the fax and then finally they said they got it but it takes their accounting dept 2-3 days to process.

So in other words, they kept the clock ticking for the other auctions I had bid on and kept me hanging for over a week so any chance of filing a claim on any of the goods was pretty much gone.

Buyer Beware of Liquidation.Com... Even a NASDAQ Listed Company can be a Scam!!

sebby1234 — Wed, 09 May 2007 17:43:00 GMT

As you have seen from posts in the past, I have been selling things on eBay alot over the years. With my recent inventory liquidation sale, I have gone back into being more of a full-time eBayer. So I have decided to take a look in some wholesale sources of goods I could resell on eBay for a little extra revenu (at least to possibly finance my projects). If you did a similar search, one the most likely sites you will stumble upon is Liquidation.com. When you look at the site, they have alot of information, a good selection and... Hey, they are listed on NASDAQ so it can't be that bad of a company, right? Well with my experience so far... NOT!!!

My Liquidation.Com Experience, Selling Junk!

My initial experience with them indicates that it is a company that any buyer or seller should be really careful about and stay away from as much as possible.

So I started by placing some bids on a few items for which the pricing was good (based on other eBay sales). One of the item lots that I bid on was a set of Hitachi 4GB Microdrives (same type as used in Ipods). The items themselves, were used and marked as salvage (I will get back to the salvage problem later). Based on ebay sales and my bidding, I aimed my maximum bid to be at about 25-30% of the average sales price of the same item in the same condition on eBay. This would allow for enough slack to take in consideration of defective parts since these were salvage items (I was assuming a yield of around 50% to be conservative).

Now, coming back to the topic of Salvage items. Liquidation.com's definition is the following "Salvage assets have been identified as defective for reasons concerning their functionality, appearance, or both. Salvage assets usually can only be used for parts." Which makes sense. If you buy a Laptop marked as salvage, the laptop itself doesn't work but it also means that working parts can be pulled from the item either for replacement or resale. My assumption (which was MISTAKE #1) was that if a sub-assembly part (such as a Microdrive and especially a non servicable part) is listed as salvage, it meant that it was pulled from a defective device and was not tested. This means that a certain quantity of items would be DOA and this is why I assumed a yield of about 50% when bidding.

Well the items arrived late last week, and I knew I was in trouble when I just started looking at them. Most looked in really poor physical condition. Scratched up, dented, dirty,... Which did not bode well especially for Microdrives which aren't solid-state. Although I have not tested them all so far, after going through about 90% of them, only about 5% of them are functional. And even those 5% look somewhat sketchy. So I was essentially sold a nice pile of non-servicable junk.

So as of now, I have filed a dispute on the transaction. But from the info on the Liquidation.com website, filing a dispute on a salvage lot is pretty much pointless and you are SOL! So this means the seller can essentially get away with anything. And of course, Liquidation.com does not care as the company makes their Buyer's premium of 5% and whatever listing fees they charged the seller. So I do not expect the dispute to get anywhere and since the form of payment accepted for this transaction was PayPal or Wire Transfer, there is not much of a chance of dispute from that end.

I have also ordered a lot of 1.8" Toshiba HDD from the same seller. So far, it seems like the same thing is happening. I have tested about 60% of them and so far my yield is way under 10%.

I also have a few other lots comming in this week (from other sellers) so I will see in which condition these items are...

My Liquidation.Com Experience, Abusive Fees!

Another auction I have won was for a small lot of new video cards. These were marked as new, so after my initial experience, I assumed this would be a safer bet. And although my markup on these would not be as good, I could still make a few dollars with the sale. There, my MISTAKE #2 was not to request a shipping quote ahead of time. The lot was to ship from Canada and was marked as 10 pouds. From my experience, such a shipment using UPS or FedEx would cost somewhere around $30-$50 to ship. After waiting almost one week for the full order price and a request for payment, the cost of "Shipping and Logistics" on the order is $400!!! Eh, what?

Well, reading the fine print on the shipping costs for international orders on their website indicates a minimum shipping charge of $100 and a $150 document fee. So even there, with the provided weight, the cost should be around $270. But even so, I wish I was paid $150 to prepare a simple customs form. And why a $100 minimum, how about charging what shipping actually costs? Seems like another ploy from Liquidation.com to line their pockets.

Of course, I will not pay $400 of shipping on an order that is only worth $450! But of course, more fine print on their website says that if payment for an order is not recieved within 2 days, they can charge 15% or $200 (which ever is greater) for non payment. Yet again, another way for them to line their pockets. At least this fee would be assesed on my credit card so I can dispute it.

Other Worries

In hindsight, several things about Liquidation.Com should have raised red flags for me.

No feedback mechanism for buyers and sellers
Little to no way to communicate to the seller about an order
Possible shill bidding. After looking at some auctions, the final price does not make sense. Who would buy a pair of two returned laptops for $1400 when they retail for about $1600. Seems like a big risk when the items are potentially defective and sold as-is. I have seen alot of auctions which close at prices really close to retail, which makes me wonder if they are not shill bidding on their own auctions in hopes to instigate an impulsive bidding war. Actually for most of the items I won, the closing price was always at (or close to) my maximum proxy bidding price.
Obscene fees such as $400 for the shipping of a 10lbs order from Canada to the USA.
Lots of little fine print which essentially either imposes several hidden fees or essentially gives you little to no chance of disputing a transaction.

For a NASDAQ listed company, the details sure look shady. If eBay had such terms, they would have been taken to court a long time ago!!

I am Not Alone Out There

Here is the content of another post taken from eBay forums:

Never trust the bulk auction site Liquidation.com. The only pockets that they like to fill are their own. Angry responses by the people duped by this company are found in many consumer forums and sites across the Worldwide Web. Most come from buyers who made bids in auctions that promise merchandise in good-enough (if not altogether good) condition. What these hopeful people got was a lot less than what was expected. And it is not only the buyers who have reason to complain. There are also a few incidences of sellers being ripped off by Liquidation.com.

If you are a first-time user of Liquidation.com, you will initially be impressed by their “Terms and Conditions” and “Help” pages. They want to assure potential buyers and sellers of what they are claiming as their “credibility.” So what do they do? They put in these dispute clauses in their terms and conditions, and made sure that the answers to the FAQ’s are quite detailed and very well organized. But as you start to avail of their services, you will notice that there are indeed some odd things about the auction procedures in Liquidation.com.

If you look closely at their site, you will find that there is no link or page where you can leave or read comments and feedbacks about the seller and the merchandise. Transactions are pretty much quiet, and in fact, too quiet for comfort. Buyer-seller contact is also very minimal. Everything from registration up to the payment (and most especially the payment) has to go through Liquidation.com. Sounds fishy, doesn’t it?

The only thing that the company is not willing to care of are the shipping costs and the taxes. They do offer arranging and managing shipment and also one hundred percent insurance for shipping, but until now I have not heard of anyone being able to claim any insurance. And I assure you that there are a lot of buyers whose goods have arrived in very bad condition. Perhaps the problem is not in the shipping but the merchandise themselves.

Another bad thing about Liquidation.com’s shipping procedures is their shipping cost calculator. Either the calculator is not updated, or it does not work at all. Or perhaps, Liquidation.com just has the gall to sneakily add extra costs in the actual invoice.

They also rush you for payment. If you do not pay on their demand, they close your account. If you are the owner of a small business with a small capital, and that you were counting on winning the auction you placed a bid on as your sole means of acquiring merchandise, then you have no choice but to follow their terms. The only one benefiting from the auctions is them.

In my case as a buyer, I received an invoice that proves how much they rip off from both the buyer and the seller. The amount of shipping cost I had to settle was 300% higher than the one given in the Liquidation.com’s shipping cost calculator. I sent an e-mail and got a reply explaining (or making an excuse?) that the shipping cost can vary up to 15% of the total projected cost. They also had the gumption to add that I should be happy about the deal. Outraged but still trying to be civilized, I replied and requested them to review the invoice. I told them that 300% is not 15%. Until now I am yet to receive a reply to that e-mail.

I got so frustrated after waiting for that non-existent reply that I tried calling them. At that time, I was bidding at some 40 plus auctions and I had some 30 auctions set up as a seller as well. I thought that since I have been a good customer, showing them good faith by using their services extensively, I also deserved to be treated with the same courtesy. Obviously, Liquidation.com also lacks in the ethics department.

I had to call several times since no one was answering the phone. When someone finally did, they told me, no, they ordered me to pay or else they will charge my credit card for non-payment and then they will close my account.

I took a deep breath and told them nicely, though with clenched teeth, to please look at the shipping cost estimator again. But what good did it do? None! All I could do was to stop all my bids and finish the last of my auctions.

Liquidation.com always insists on doing things their way while they neglect to tell you of miscellaneous fees until the last moment.

One seller was instructed to separate his merchandise. His watch merchandise sold a little less than what he expected but they were sold nevertheless. Liquidation.com wanted to charge him $200 or 15% of the sale, whichever was greater for the watches. Since the watches were sold for $246, the seller had to give the company the $200. Unfortunately the rest of his goods did not do as well. They were sold only for $175. Liquidation.com gave him two options. One was to give them the $175 or to pull off the auction and sell the merchandise elsewhere. The seller opted for the second one. But what the company did not tell him was that by pulling off the auction, he was required to pay $200 dollars as abort fee. What did the poor seller end up with? A huge loss and an even bigger migraine.

Where do these phantom fees come from? Why are not they included in the oh-so helpful “Help” and “Terms and Conditions” pages? The answer is obvious. Liquidation.com presents itself as a company interested in helping small-time entrepreneurs make profit when the truth is that they host a polished high-tech venue for scams and that the only profit they are looking out for is their own.

After what I have experienced and after reading others’ dreadful experiences with Liquidation.com, I have decided to do my part in warning others out there who are thinking of using the company for their own business.

Liquidation.com’s promise of a good deal turns out to be not just a spray, but a very cold shower.

Doing more research, I found more than plenty of complaints online scam sites such as RipoffReports.com...

Now What???

Although the experience will vary depending on the individual seller you deal with on their site, you can see from the above information that they are more than happy to facilitate seller fraud and line their wallets with hidden and riddiculous fees!

Scorned buyers and sellers need to gang up! If you have been scorned by Liquidation.com, please contact me. I would really like to compile a list of people's account and maybe gang up to put pressure on them. On my end, I was not hurt too bad (compared to other buyers) so depending on how things develop, I may simply take them to small claims if they are unwilling to cooperate but you would expect so much more from a so-called reputable company that is listed on NASDAQ!!