PlunderHere and AlsoShop: A Web of Privacy Violations, Backstabbing, and Deceit

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=xwpopper link=topic=9139.msg69101#msg69101 date=1208195767]
I still haven't seen a reply from Superdeals on any forum regarding why the old Bidz users were transferred onto PH-EU. The question has been brought there from here on another forum, and never responded to. Considering PH is comprised of many, many ex-poppers and ex-Ewaey members, I am sure they would have a vested interest in knowing that the new PH owners used the same practice of transferring unsuspecting members private information from one site to another.

Mo, as much as I respect your statement about not being in the EU loop, was this ever even mentioned in all the months of negotiations, that a name you owned and are forever associated with would be linked to such a blatant privacy infringement? If the members didn't sign up on Plunderhere.eu, then they have no business being on there without their explicit written consent. There goes the reputation of the entire PlunderHere name that you have worked so hard to build in one extremely poor business decision by the new owners, less than a week after the announcement.
[/quote]

I reposted your question over on TCH because Mo was logged in over there...she logged out without answering it so it would appear the question is being ignored. :

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On a different note, we all know that Alexa's ratings are crap because they can be easily manipulated.  Here's a Quantcast manipulation tip from PH's admin:

I always go thru the front page as that get counted on Quantcast and others for the traffic.

PH has Quantcast tags on its RScript pages (auction script) but not on its VBulletin (forum) pages hence the reason for the admin to "go thru the front page" to get counted by Quantcast rather than taking the normal non-manipulative route of going directly to the forum :

FYI, the best example of Quantcast visitor count manipulation can be seen by looking at the short lived sharp upward spike in Wagglepop's Quantcast traffic charts just prior to WP's introduction of an advertising system (Flagship Banner) which bases its ad rates on Quantcast visitor counts.

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AlsoShop.com is an alternative to ebay auction site where registered users post ads offering merchandise which they possess and wish to sell in an open auction environment

Totally off topic (or is it?): lookee here what I stumbled upon when doing a lookup of PH's old ns1.hostedinflorida.com nameservers, a new RScript auction site called www.alsoshop.com hosted on the same nameservers [link to whois] that plunderhere is being forced to move from. 

Hey, look at that, PH and AlsoSold aren't the only auction sites using those name servers!

domains sharing nameservers
allalexandriamls.com
antiqueswapper.com
auctionmods.net
auctionquests.com
autoquests.com
bladeauctions.com
clearwatercharterboat.net
clearwatercharterboats.com
clearwatercharterboats.net
clearwaterflatsfishing.com
clearwaterflatsfishing.net
dealquests.com
deepsouthhosting.com
electronicsswapper.com
eproentertainment.com
eproflix.com
eprogames.com
eprojewelry.com
eprotoys.com
gun-works.com
hostedinflorida.com
hostedinflorida.net
imagebucket.net
pagerankstats.com
phpprolist.com
phpprolist.net
plunderhere.com
plunderhere.net
probidscripts.com
sportcardswapper.com
sportsfanauctions.com
torrentdigger.com
tutoringbasics.com
tutoringbasics.net
xposur.com

Hey, lookee at this--one of PH's current mods has discovered the site too!  Hey, several other current PH sellers have found it too! What a coinky dinky! How'd they find it?  Who helped them find it? Will PH's new owner wind up with less than he bargained for when he bought PH? Questions, questions, questions!

Mo should be alerted to this covert migration (since I'm sure this is the first news she's heard of it) so she can nip the migration in the bud!!!!!  arcasm1:

Stay tuned boys and girls, fun time in the sleazy world of eBayalternativeland is just getting started...

Edited by Mandy to fix link

[sneakymagenta]

Stay tuned boys and girls, fun time in the sleazy world of eBayalternativeland is just getting started...

Two topics on TT featuring two different slimy boinktard weasels named Ray playing starring roles could lead to confusion amongst the  popcorn eating  viewers and fighting  in the aisles . :blinkie:


popcorn eater #1: Ray is such an asshole.  I can't believe the censorship on his forum!
popcorn eater #2: I've seen Ray boink over other site owners but I've never seen him censor his forums.
popcorn eater #1: I wasn't talking about that Ray doofus!
popcorn eater #2: Who the boink you calling doofus you stupid assmunch?!?!?!

[BellisimaJ.]

Hey, lookee at this--one of PH's current mods has discovered the site too!  Hey, several other current PH sellers

And PSU dorks.......... :

[mandy]

Bidz.org.uk was an active auction site in 2006 and 2007 but the site's owner Palgold Europe Ltd , which now owns Plunderhere.eu, filed as a dormant company last year.

Accounting Reference Date: 31/03
Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/03/2007  (DORMANT)
Next Accounts Due: 31/01/2009
Last Return Made Up To:
Next Return Due: 26/04/2007 OVERDUE

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/WebCHeck/findinfopage/ (note: searching via this link is available from Monday to Saturday 7.00am to 12 Midnight UK Time - even websites need their beauty rest :twistedevil: )

The instructions for Inland Revenue's CT41G Dormant Company form state:

We treat a company as dormant if it has not started, and is not about to start, any business activity.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctsa/ct41g-dci.pdf

One can only surmise by Palgold's dormant filing status that Inland Revenue has issued an edict stating that operating an eBay alternative auction site isn't tantamount to conducting "business activity" - given the minuscule GMV of current and past Palgold owned auction sites I would have to agree with the assessment that no business activity is taking place.

[BellisimaJ.]

I am completely, and thoroughly confused. 

[bargainbloodhound]

PlunderHere.eu's owner Mark,who is based in Labuan Malaysia, and  Palgold don't have the best track record when it comes to running auction sites: their previous efforts Bidz.org.uk, and Palgold (http://web.archive.org/web/2007042520484...boutus.php) were anything but successful and left a stream of angry users in their wake.

Here's a post from August 2007 by a former bidz.org.uk user who was worried that his personal information would be misused after the site disappeared without notice

What really gets to me about this type of situation is the cavalier attitude of whoever now owns the site. At the very least they could have sent an email to their members - not a big task and other sites seem able to manage it. I should imagine people who have stores there are hopping mad.

And what about the personal data they are holding. How can one be sure it has been destroyed if the business has ceased?...

I'm not happy with my personal details registered with this site just disappearing into cyberspace or more alarmingly into some unknown person's posssession. Having already had a fraud on a credit card I've decided to be less passive about these things. So I'm going to write to Palgold (doesn't seem much point in emailing as the email address is via the site which won't load). And if I don't get the assurance I require about what has happened to the data they hold on me, then I'm going to complain to the Data Protection Registrar. I think it's time these sites got a lot more accountable so Bidz.org.uk/Paygold/Mark/whoever if you're reading this please respond and save me a postage stamp.

Amazingly after an absence of well over a month the site has popped back into existence without explanation, apology or comment! Meanwhile any goodwill it might have developed must surely have evaporated with the four winds.

Another seller discusses her experience with Bidz and Mark (whose company now owns PlunderHere):

Needless to say, after non-existant CS and the disappearance of the site for months on end, I doubt if I'll bother with it again.

http://www.pheebay.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=208&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25&sid=82e50be23195df7aa205166970f32f84

Another forum, another disgruntled user complaining about lack of communications and the inability of the site's ownership to provide a smoothly functioning site:

Not to be confused with the much bigger and better known Bidz site in the USA which mainly deals with jewellery. www.bidz.org.uk is a UK based site which has been around for a couple of years. I joined as a buyer not as seller, which was just as well because the site completely disappeared from view for well over a month. It would not load and all you got was various messages which told you nothing about what the root problem was. Being a persistent person I kept trying and a few days ago it suddenly re-emerged but not surprisingly the amount of items listed had nose-dived to less than 300. Also most of the stores were empty.

http://www.auctionlotwatch.com/forum/vie...php?t=3813&sid=34579d60494bca1dece48664001984ed

PlunderHere.eu and PlunderHere.com's users are in for quite a treat based on the new owner's past efforts. :

[BellisimaJ.]

PlunderHere.eu and PlunderHere.com's users are in for quite a treat based on the new owner's past efforts. Roll Eyes

Does sound that way.......why oh why do people fall for these kinds of scammers??  :

[xwpopper]

I do think that post stirred up a hornet's nest at TCH!
Look at the big picture:
A US site, run by a UK company, but based in Malaysia, and associated with international privacy violations.
Add into that the fact that Mark actually said he was justified in copying the member database details onto an entirely different domain, since it is really the same business. Did eBay transfer all eBay member details into Skype and automatically setup their accounts for them? NO! Why??? because of privacy laws.

Then, he politely insults everyone by saying "Palgold (USA) has now acquired the rights to Plunderhere.com and its trademarks... We have every right to change the name of any one of our businesses, auctions and/or anything else we own."
Boy, if that isn't a disaster waiting to happen... He does have every right to change the name, acquire a new division, and operate it however he chooses. But, he cannot take on trademarked name, and change it to a purchased trademarked name, copy the member database to a different domain, and not violate every member's privacy.
It was wrong when Ray kept the details of 7,000 sellers and spammed them for WP2.
It was wrong when Alex started registering hundreds of former Ewaey members on the new site.
But, it's OK for PlunderHere to do it now?
I see this as being a BIG issue once the big supporters of PH get wind of it, especially with so many ex-poppers on board. There really are laws. There really are privacy acts. And they really are being violated.

And to close, one last quote from Superdeals.
"First answer to this thread is we do not visit nor have time to go running around and answering every
question to every forum everywhere on the net. My apologies but I am running a business here and
I don't have time to be a member of every forum out there!"

And still... No changes to the privacy policies, including the mis-stated "AuctionQuests" statement on PH-EU's privacy policy. That's how to run a business.

[BellisimaJ.]

Guess the name of the new admin at alsoshop.com, you said?  Mo. Now where is my prize??

[bargainbloodhound]

A US site, run by a UK company, but based in Malaysia

The US site is owned by Palgold Card Services LLC (a Delaware LLC formed in '06) and the UK site is owned by Palgold Europe Ltd (a UK co also formed in '06) .  The old Palgold auction site was owned by Data Consultants Inc (a Malaysia company).

Based on various statements made by Plunderhere (and statements made on the .eu site's about us page) I'm assuming that users' information is being shared between all 3 of those companies.

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corporate records can be found here:
https://sos-res.state.de.us/tin/controller
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/WebCHeck/findinfopage/ (7am-12am UK time)

There really are laws. There really are privacy acts. And they really are being violated.

With Mark's apparent limited knowledge of EU/UK/US laws I'm sure there will be many more that are violated.

Glancing at the Plunderhere.eu website, right away I see one UK law that is being violated.

Companies in the UK must include certain regulatory information on their websites and in their email footers before 1st January 2007 or they will breach the Companies Act and risk a fine.

Every company should list its company registration number, place of registration and registered office address on its website as a result of an update to the legislation of 1985. The information, which must be in legible characters, should also appear on order forms and in emails

PH.eu lists the company name and place of registration (on their about us page) but omits the company registration number, and registered office address, and email address (cotact us forms don't meed the requirement) which is a violation of the Companies Act

FYI, this requirement which went into effect early last year, applies to all websites which are owned by a UK company, not just ecommerce sites

http://www.out-law.com/page-7594 (links to the full laws are at the bottom of the page)


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[quote author=BellisimaJ. link=topic=9139.msg69167#msg69167 date=1208399061]
Now where is my prize??
[/quote]

DeepRiverMan will be scampering up the tree outside your window shortly to serenade you with songs about the mother of all tribes..