Game On QuiBids. We received a letter today from an Oklahoma law firm, on behalf of “QuiBids LLC,” apparently the preeminent of “penny auction site” confidence scams, who took exception to our earlier look-see into their rip-off operation. Frankly, I assumed our cries of foul were latecomers, while someone more responsible was ringing the OK attorney general. As QuiBids has the temerity to threaten “whatever action is necessary,” I’ll make the call personally. As it is I already feel duped for reprinting the letter below, because it reads like typical QuiBids fake advertorials. Name-dropping Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, yada yada. And of course: “Sadly, the same cannot be said about some of QuiBids’ competitors,” the we’re-not-like-the-other-con-artists routine. The phoniest passage pretends that QuiBids “was forced to file suit against another online penny auction site for its unlawful activities.” HAHAHA. Unlawful activities are prosecuted by the state, you flunkies. As you’ll learn presently.
Actually I am 100% certain that charges are already filed, and this aggressive PR is a smokescreen. I’ll post all ensuing developments.
By the way, consumers can contact BBBs to register complaints, but a business membership does not imply endorsement. Same with the Chamber of Commerce. And WHO considers the chamber any kind of arbiter of ethical business practice? That mindset comes from someone who didn’t stray beyond the business school building. Hohoho. Who does QuiBids take us for? Their marks?
To be clear, QuiBids and the “penny auction” ilk are neither auctions, nor gambling sites. Whether or not they deploy shill bidders or mischievous software, the QuiBids money-for-nothing scheme is fraud.
A penny auction website pretends to offer “dibs” to the last customer who puts money in the pot, and proceeds to collect “bid” payments for a virtually unlimited time span, until the last desperate player decides he’s lost enough.
Whether or not the victim is entitled to purchase the item at full retail price, as a consolation, does not mitigate the fact that they were duped.
Look no further than QuiBids’ own protestations. QuiBids differentiates itself from “the other penny auction sites” which it asserts without a hint of irony, are inherently guilty. Oh do go on, QuiBids, expound for us on the illegality of your competitors…
Add to the fraudulent transaction, the deceptive methods used to promote QuiBids. And now, contriving a legal threat to fain legitimacy. McAfee &Taft appears to be a significant law firm, why does this letter read like a QuiBids promotional blurb? We need to forward this to the partners McAfee and Taft themselves, to show them the sophomore crap being circulated under their letterhead.
At the risk of simply spreading the Quibids PR drivel, here it is.
McAFEE & TAFT
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
10TH FLOOR – TWO LEADERSHIP SQUARE
21 NORTH ROBINSON – OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102-7103
(405) 235-9621 – FAX (405) 235-0439
www.mcafeetaft.comRyan L. Lobato
Attorney at LawSeptember 3, 2010
VIA EMAIL AND CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Eric Verlo
editorial @ notmytribe.com
Not My Tribe
29 E. Bijou, Room 222
Colorado Springs, CO 80903Re: Trademark Infringement
Mr. Verlo:
We represent QuiBids, L.L.C. (“QuiBids”) in intellectual property and other matters. It has come to our attention that on June 19, 2010, you authored an article on your website titled “Scriptmatix ‘penny auctions’ such as Quibids are less scams than pure fraud.”
QuiBids takes great exception with your article, which calls QuiBids a “scam,” “patently dishonest,” and a “con game.” Your allegations are manifestly untrue. QuiBids presently has a ‘B+’ rating from the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau rating will improve to an ‘A+’ rating once QuiBids has been in business longer than a year. QuiBids offers its services in a forthright and moral way and works hard to distinguish itself from its less-ethical competition. QuiBids does not use shills or bots to drive up the price or decieve consumers, and QuiBids strives diligently to ensure customers know exactly what is going on at all times, without hidden fees or rigged competitions. Sadly, the same cannot be said about some of QuiBids’ competitors. In fact, QuiBids was recently forced to file suit against another online penny auction site for its unlawful activities such as inducing customer confusion and employing deceptive advertising techniques.
QuiBids’ reputation for being above-board is the driving force behind its success. Within the course of a year, QuiBids has become the largest online penny auction website and it continues to grow. QuiBids closes more than 6000 auctions per day and is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce. QuiBids is, in short, a valued member of the community and is not a “scam” or a “fraud.”
In view of the above, we are writing to ask you to retract your article. Publishing false, malicious and defaming material about a business is against the law. Damages for such conduct include actual and punitive damages, for which you may be held personally liable. It is precisely because QuiBids cares about its good name and reputation that QuiBids will, if need be, take whatever action is necessary to protect it. It is sincerely hoped that such further action will not be required, but instead a speedy and amiable resolution can be reached.
Please let me know within seven (7) days of the date of this letter your intentions with respect to deleting, removing or retracting the above-referenced article. I would be happy to speak to you personally about this matter should you so require.
Sincerely,
Ryan L. Lobato
Consider this certification of our receipt dude. You have my number. All communication will be recorded and forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
And they’re not attempting to sue their company shills who used the post-a-comment function to advertise for their company.
Like the ones who are publishing an e-book entitled “how to win penny auctions”, meaning that the author, one whose IP address matches up with the Qibids web domain, says that the system is rigged and can be manipulated using “his” techniques.
If it were an honest and straightforward proposition and not subject to being manipulated, then their own employee is lying and causing far more damage to their credibility than any criticism from outsiders possibly could.
I’m curious to know if anything further has developed over this legal threat? I noticed that the letter was Re: Trademark Infringement, yet the letter read more, as you indicated, a PR piece designed to defend the site.
Interesting, I know of a current domain dispute with this mob and their CFO called me the other party a ‘terrorist’ which they are about to pursue action over.
No, it seems like the kettle is calling the pot black. lol
There are many people who have been scamed by this sleezy hustle, believing the fake news cast and then having refunds denied because you bought a bid. Also, to “qualify” for refund you must submit a reciept they promise (repeatedly) but fail to produce. I believe they have recently changed their name.
I’m a little confused. I’m not saying that these penny auctions are necessarily honest, but I’m not 100% sure why you feel that the bidders are “duped”.
First, let me just say: if shills or bots are used, or if any other unscrupulous method is used to “rig” the system, then that’s obviously wrong. These methods are obviously illegal, and in those cases, I completely understand where the “duping” is coming from.
But your article says that regardless of whether these methods are employed, that the bidder is duped. And that’s where I become a bit unclear. The rules of the game seem laid out very clearly in advance, all of the bidders understand (or should, or could understand) these rules from the outset, and nobody seems under any misconception about the fact that only the final bidder is going to end up with the item. It’s true – only one person is going to end up with the prize in the end, and many people are going to have paid into the pot without getting anything in return (other than being allowed to play the game – think midway games and stuffed animals?). And it’s true that the owners of the site are likely making off like bandits in terms of their profits. But none of that necessarily constitutes duping. If everyone understands the rules from the start, then I don’t understand where the “duping” is coming from.
Perhaps you could explain?
Thanks
The article for which the lawsuit threat was issued is chock full of tacit admissions that the scam is a scam, is rigged and they do indeed use bots and shills.
They start with fuzzy math and faked advertising. So much for the conditional IF statement.
Since (which is a much more concrete conditional) they started off with a faked news story, and devolved from there, that would be a safe assumption, that the rest of their long long list of advertising disguised as rebuttal would only be fruit of the poison tree. You start with flawed data and you get flawed results.
There’s a psychologist saying “assume” merely makes an Ass of U and Me. On the other hand, if you go to a horse race, and bet on a horse, and your horse comes barreling out of the gate, leads by ten lengths at the first turn then drops dead a few paces later, you can assume that you just lost your bet and it would be pointless to even consider the rest of the race.
Safe assumptions, for those who want to put their money into a lighter-than-air scam like this, would include noticing that the only GOOD things said about the company have been paid for or generated by the company itself. Three of their shills were traced to one website, which promises to teach how to game the system. And is owned by Quibids.
That’s enough evidence for another safe assumption.
It’s also called a Red Flag.
It’s not very likely that if the company WERE on the up and up, they would lose anything due to being criticized or scrutinized. Or that they would have to resort to the use of shills.
Quibids.com doesn’t have to dupe anyone. They are making mucho money. I recently was observing a laptop auction on Quibids. They claim that the Apple was worth $1,799.00. The people that bid on it got the bid up to $274.00 and counting. Do the math: $274 x 100= 27,400 pennies x $.60 (each mid price) = $16,440.00. They don’t need to dupe anyone, they are making a killing on these auctions.
They might not HAVE to dupe anybody but they de it anyway.
We’ve had responding to our other thread about this three or is it one employee talking to himself, chirping about how wonderful it is that they “win auctions” but their IP address traced back to a company owned website, which they tried to pass off as being an apartment they shared. And which offered for a fee an e-book on “the secrets to winning penny auctions”.
In other words, that the system was foul and could be manipulated. That would be, in itself, fraud, that a corporation would have a rigged or badly flawed auction that its employees could take advantage ofi it, do take advantage of it and even publish a how-to on scamming their own company… and/or the other people who signed up hoping that it was an honestly run affair.
Sure they make a lot of money.. So does Halliburton by providing shit service to the Army. and having the competition intimidated, at public expense, or killed at public expense, and then cheating their workers, their customers and the American Public by taking all that tax-funded money and paying naught back in taxes.
I suppose if ones measure of morality is the amount of money one has accumulated one could worship any tyrant. Have you ever heard of a dictator who was anything but rich?
Me neither.
Just for shits and giggles, what would you like to bet that Quibids also sells E-doses? .wav files of automatically generated Brainwave Entrainment tones that supposedly have the effects of various drugs?
Something they recorded for free from either AutoZen (a free brainwave tone generator) or the Free To Try Brainwave Generator program that they didn’t pay to install in the first place?
The same “News” team which ran the commercial ooops I was supposed to say “documentary” on Qibids ran a
commerc errr “Expose” of the E-dose business where they simply made up nonsense that schoolchildren were getting high on computer generated sounds, addicted somehow to tones that the E-Drug Dealers controlled the supply thereof…Even used some of the same actors.
They even had a narcotics officer of the Pueblo County Sheriffs Department with a straight face telling frightened parents that their kids could simply go to double-u double-u double-u.whateverthehell dot com and use mom and dads credit card to purchase the e-doses.
As big a scare rumor as Puff the Magic Dragon and just as stupid. Sales skyrocketed.
Kids, if you’re reading this, the name of that program is, again, AutoZen and it’s free to download and run. It works also on Windows but best on Mac or Linux.
Now, I’m not certain that Quibids are the ones who pulled that scam. They had a lot of cooperation and support from the same “News” reporters.
The scams smell worse than last weeks tuna salad.
I just had the pleasure of viewing this bordering on peramid like operation…. many have to pay so few can proffit or gain. Feels to much like the lottery and lotteries are governed strictly in canada. I think this is profiteering and paying for bids and then using those bids to bid on bid packs is both wrong and briliant (for the seller)
hey there folks.
I recently was emailed by a lawyer from Quibids stting that I had done Trade Libel. For a video I posted on my youtube channel titled “Quibids Scam” Thiey stated that my statments were false and threatned me with legal action if I did not take the video down. My questioin to everyoe here is cannot someone have an opinion about a company? This video hit over 100K views and now because of having to set it to privet I have only 47K showing for views.