Pool.com win notification 5 months later????

**Acro** · 08-31-2007, 11:10 PM

A couple of days ago I got the usual Pool.com email notifying me that they successfully acquired a domain for me.

This was for a secondary TLD of a domain I've held for years.

At first I did not recall placing a bid for it any time recently. So I shrugged it off thinking, what the heck, I got it at only $60.

The following day I get the registrar email with access codes etc. So I spend a bit more time trying to determine when exactly did I place a backorder on it. It turns out that the successful backorder does not appear in the daily filter of 1, 2 or even 30 days. It only came up when I selected "all".

So I check the WHOIS and it shows that registration date is April 1st, 2007.

Is this some kind of a joke?

I have a cinch that the domain was won by a non-paying bidder and I was 2nd on the list, having bid only $60 for it.

So now Pool holds the domain, parking it at their DNS servers etc. monetizing it for 5 months and eventually decides I am the winner?

Be VERY WEARY when using Pool. I would recommend using Snapnames and Club Drop instead.

**Ed30** · 09-01-2007, 04:24 AM

Originally Posted by Acroplex

So I check the WHOIS and it shows that registration date is April 1st, 2007.

Is this some kind of a joke?

Could be a late April Fools joke

**DomainMagnate** · 09-01-2007, 04:32 AM

hehe that's some serious lag

**katherine** · 09-01-2007, 08:47 AM

Could it be that the domain was caught by a taster, tasted over and again then released and pool finally attempted to grab it back ?
But 5 months is way late...

**Argie** · 09-01-2007, 09:57 AM

Don't use Pool, they s**k. Snapnames is the best (or at least the only one that i've used and never had a problem with them)

**FuseFX** · 09-01-2007, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Argie

Don't use Pool, they s**k. Snapnames is the best (or at least the only one that i've used and never had a problem with them)

Question -- How can you claim that Pool sucks when Snapnames is the only one you've used?

Please enlighten me.

**Poker** · 09-01-2007, 12:11 PM

LOL LB

Anyone that catches the domain your after is good enough...provided they treat you well of course.

**Argie** · 09-01-2007, 12:17 PM

Sorry Lord Brar, i made a mistake expressing myself. Next time i'll try to do it better.

Let me see if i can enlighten you...

I've used both, Pool and Snapnames.

What i ment was that Snapnames is the one that never gave me any troubles. Pool, on the other hand, has giving me nothing but headaches, including charging me for 2 succesfull backorders more than 10 times exceding my monthly CC budget causing me a lot of troubles with services that i pay with my CC every month automaticaly. It took me more than 2 months to fix the problem, and thanks to me, not to pool, if it were for them, i'd still be waiting for my money...

So that's why POOL SUCKS (allong with other reasons you can find here on DNF and other Domain Forums)... just my two cents

**DomainMagnate** · 09-01-2007, 12:22 PM

I once caught a PR6 domain on pool.com for $60 and sold it for $550 less than a week later

~MG

**Argie** · 09-01-2007, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Michael_Goldman

I once caught a PR6 domain on pool.com for $60 and sold it for $550 less than a week later

~MG

Nice...

**BELLC1** · 09-01-2007, 01:29 PM

It could be a lot worse. A few years back, I registered a domain at Register.com.
Almost 6 months later when it was fully developed and making money, register.com took it away from me. They claimed that an internal audit revealed a guy in Japan beat me to the name by 2/100's of a second and they had to take it back from me right away and give it to him.

I moved the hundreds of domains I had with them the next week. Horrible, horrible people.

**FuseFX** · 09-01-2007, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by Argie

Sorry Lord Brar, i made a mistake expressing myself. Next time i'll try to do it better.

Let me see if i can enlighten you...

I've used both, Pool and Snapnames.

What i ment was that Snapnames is the one that never gave me any troubles. Pool, on the other hand, has giving me nothing but headaches, including charging me for 2 succesfull backorders more than 10 times exceding my monthly CC budget causing me a lot of troubles with services that i pay with my CC every month automaticaly. It took me more than 2 months to fix the problem, and thanks to me, not to pool, if it were for them, i'd still be waiting for my money...

So that's why POOL SUCKS (allong with other reasons you can find here on DNF and other Domain Forums)... just my two cents

Gotcha! I've never used pool or snapnames but was planning on using them. I guess I am better following the current strategy that I am.

I don't want to give the makers of Aspirin some extra business. Heh

@BELLC1 -- Wow! That is JUST Plain shocking. I'd hate that happening to me -- EVER!

**whitebark** · 09-01-2007, 03:36 PM

Pool plays games with .ca drops as well. Taking days or weeks to get back to you on domains you won. Their shady pool of registrars takes days to respond to any changes. I've just plain stopped using them because of this. I lose out on some domains but so what.

**Acro** · 09-01-2007, 05:25 PM

No response from Pool so far. The registrar used is Germany-based Secura.

Here's their info email:

Order Details
Order ID: 99*****
Domain Name: ****.***
No of Years: 1
Expiry Date: Mon Mar 31 23:59:59 GMT 2008

I guess to them "1" year started 1 second before April 1, 2007 and yet Pool hands it over 5 months later.

**Seraphim** · 09-01-2007, 06:26 PM

The drop game seems to grow more fungus by the day.

**Acro** · 09-01-2007, 06:31 PM

I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

**Raider** · 09-01-2007, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by Poker

Anyone that catches the domain your after is good enough...provided they treat you well of course.

I agree, I'd rather have these Auction services grabbing domains than them falling in the hands of greedy leaches like Buy Domains or Name Admin, who had Registrars grabbing domains exclusively for themselves, robbing the rest of us of the opportunity.

It was Pool.com that changed all that, but lets face it, they too have shown signs of greed, One only has to look back to what they did with that nonsense Sealed bid auction, pissed a lot of people off and exposed them for what they are.

**Acro** · 09-01-2007, 07:49 PM

But the issue here is not whether they keep the names for themselves for good; it's that I am expected to keep a domain - that I might have lost interest in - just because 5 months after it was caught, Pool decides that I should get it because apparently the 1st bidder was disqualified. And I am supposed to swallow down the fact that I am paying the same fee regardless of the fact that the domain expires in 7 months!

**Acro** · 09-17-2007, 05:41 PM

Pool's explanation was that they failed to charge my card 5 times in succession when the domain was acquired. Then, the domain was placed in limbo and they were able to charge my card again on the latter date.

When I asked Pool why they never attempted to contact me during these 5 months via email or phone as listed in my account, their excuse was that there was a change in the personnel.

Bah, humbug.

**Pool.com** · 09-19-2007, 12:18 PM

Hey Acroplex,

Sorry for my late entry into this thread, my name is Richard Schreier and I am the CEO at Pool.com. Sorry for the delays, however caused, in getting the domain to you. I will PM you in regards to your registration.