I’m taking the Snapnames rebate and here’s why …

The current argument over the Snapnames rebate seems to be that there is more than meets the eye in the recent Nelson “Halvarez” Brady scandal.

Both victims and non-victims of the “Hank Alvarez” scam, which materialized while he was a VP of Engineering at Snapnames, seem to want a lot more beyond transparency from Oversee – the parent company of Snapnames.

As far as monetary damages are concerned, my out of pocket loss is well-defined in the document sent by Rust Consulting, the company hired by Snapnames to investigate the forensic evidence of the shill bidding and auction tampering that Nelson “Halvarez” Brady engaged into.

The approximately $2,000 I stand to receive back from Snapnames is a well-timed holiday bonus. After examining the 49 auctions I participated in and won against “Halvarez”, the monetary loss is restricted to the amount offered in that rebate. Despite the fact that I spent time carefully researching and bidding on these domains, I do not feel that I lost an additional amount of money that could be accurately calculated, without engaging into some form of emotional and thus inaccurate demand from the company that inherited the problem.

I believe that a lot of other domainers feel the same; that the rebate offers an accurate depiction of the losses, with the addition of interest that rounds the loss up – clearly an attempt by Oversee to sweeten the bitter pill of shill bidding.

Furthermore, the announcement of the filing of a class action lawsuit does not resolve the issue of compensation for the class; it’s not defined in the lawsuit, and given the fact that the range of rebates varies substantially from the low hundreds to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, one cannot assume that a class action lawsuit would ensure higher payment for the class. In other words, the bulk of domainers who lost small amounts *might* not receive much more, with those that lost the most being at risk to receive less than the average amount.

It all comes down to logistics: what is the amount of effort needed in order to pursuit higher return from Oversee. Additionally, if the proverbial feces hit the fan, Oversee might attempt to file for Chapter 11  protection which would freeze the currently allocated funds for a prolonged period of time.

Would I like to see justice delivered, in the form of legal action against Nelson “Halvarez” Brady and whoever else is guilty of defrauding thousands of domainers over the course of five years? Of course. And that’s currently pending, the next move by Oversee against the sole identified person in this case.

But I don’t want blood money in excess of my losses.

Comments

  1. I admire the principle shown here. Some people love spending years with lawyers over accident claims and various law suits. I would prefer to settle for what I feel is justified expenses and move on with my life. The only ones that win with lawsuits are lawyers and I refuse to play that game. Enjoy your holiday bonus!

  2. Thanks Andrew. I believe a lot of domainers feel the same and once the initial shock, anger and head-hunting passed, reality kicked in.

    Obviously, the story won’t end here.

    Despite certain strong opinions over the language of the agreement required to sign, I believe that Oversee does want to compensate the actual loss of domainers and evidently, to minimize the financial and ethical impact one of their brands sustained.

  3. What is the exact URL to chexck the mount of the Xmas gift? I logged at SnapNames saw all my past auctions but no link about any Xmas gift anywhere?

  4. Francois – there is no URL. The email from Rust Consulting, the company hired by Snapnames/Oversee, was sent around the 6th of November to the email of each affected account. One slight glitch, however: in my case, it was sent to the email that handles the WHOIS/registration info for domains caught by Snapnames – NOT to the email administering my Snapnames account! So you might have to check that too, including any spam filters that might have placed it in that particular folder. If you still can’t find such an email and you believe that you have a claim, you must communicate with Rust Consulting and/or Snapnames.

  5. Cool!

    I recently erased all my spam folder.

    And now what?

  6. Well, you need to contact Snapnames at support@snapnames.com

  7. This remember me these rebates some brands give in the supermarket and where you get the money only if you contact them by postal mail. As a result most never do it and pay the product full price.
    Maybe they owe me my Xmas gift, mayb no, I don’t know. But I think the minimum is put it highly visible when a member log in SnapNames.
    Everybody know it takes several weeks to get a response from the SnapNames team!

  8. The email was sent to Snapnames account holders that were affected by the bidding of “halvarez” – the rebates will take a while to be processed. You need to examine all the past auctions and see if halvarez pushed up the auctions that you won, ending as the 2nd bidder. If the ended 3rd or lower at an auction you won, Snapnames does not consider this a refundable auction.

  9. It’s what I said, not only maybe I have been scammed but now it’s also me who must spend time to check it.

    Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr … NO COMENT.

  10. That’s the catch22, unfortunately. I hope Snapnames steps in and makes it easier to resolve such cases.

  11. I’m owed a really minor amount … and since we have a year to accept this offer, I’m going to hang loose and see what else develops during that time, rather than grab the cash right away. This seems like a common attitude.

  12. Acro,
    Very well stated. Coupled with the bankruptcy protection possibility, that’s exactly why I mailed the paperwork the day that Snapnames sent the rebate email.

    Figured they must want to clear out as many potential class action participants as soon as possible. Meaning the checks should be sent out quickly. We’ll see.

  13. It seems that any upcoming developments will be in the form of further action by Snapnames and/or Nelson Brady.

    At this point – as John Berryhill mentioned in Rick Schwartz’s blog – to be offered cash and be asked to sign an agreement that *might* not be denying us further action in the future – seems like a non-brainer.

  14. pitbullstew says

    I never waive my rights ever, nada, zip, bupkiss, especially where there is a pick pocket around like mr brady seems to have been for what 5 yrs? And an estimated 50-k people?
    As when so many people raised questions about the goings on and the company seemed to have never taken a moment to respnd to those concersn, then sold the compnay and took profits no doubt?
    How utterly tidy for them all?
    Yes indeed take your rightful rebate, why even take the revised rebate as well, the Nixonian cleansing of the history data now there boys and girls is a piece of work?
    I keep reading form you folks that write here about how up front every one has been but I never read how you realize how many people were duped by your industry and what is to be done about this, so far as I am concerned most pof you are parasites who drive up the cost of doing business with your little cottage industry, as one of your own made he and his cohorts a handsome harvest.

  15. pitbullstew says

    oh yeah SL they wanted to give away all that cash before they went belly up and the courts got involved?
    cause they are such civic minded folks? are you serious, they are bottom feeders who just could not play by the rules the rest of us strive to do.
    do you not realize how your theory comes across?
    What’s next,the quivelent of women and children first is what you are going to say as the robber barons get in to the life boats and slip away under the cover of their largess?
    Signing auld lang sine as all the little people do what?

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