Beware of networks.ca owner

[axeman]

Small claims is an option but like you said, proving loss/damages would be difficult and frankly our court system is a joke, barely willing to even learn what a domain is... I learned this the hard way years ago.

As for sedo and it not being in their control, not so, the name should have never been available via their service once Wayne contacted them.

I agree with JP, why sedo would allow a domain to be resold when a sale was already pending is just plain wrong, complete lack of integrity from sedo IMHO.

Not that this surprises me mind you.

[msn]

Go to small claims against sedo for $2000 - the difference between the agreed amount and the reported sale amount. It is not a domain matter, it is a sales issue, and sedo had a fiduciary duty to you to enforce the deal. Your loss is easily proven since if you were the owner, you would have had the ability to sell for $3000 as well.

That is the easiest option.

Other than that you could spend $10k on a lawyer to go after the domain itself, or you could lick your wounds and just leave it at that.

[airmax]

Depending on this persons relationship with sedo, most likely he would get a warning, if he owns a good enough portfolio and is making sales, and money for the company.
I am not saying this is right, but this is what will most likely happen, I don't think ontario small claims which most likely you will have a face to face sit down with a mediator intially is well versed enough with domains to rule in your favor, it would most likely be a goose chase, and I doubt the owner would think twice about compensating you, as if he is sly enough to do what he did for that amount, he is probably a % penny pincher.

[Maxwell]

Depending on this persons relationship with sedo, most likely he would get a warning, if he owns a good enough portfolio and is making sales, and money for the company.
I am not saying this is right, but this is what will most likely happen, I don't think ontario small claims which most likely you will have a face to face sit down with a mediator intially is well versed enough with domains to rule in your favor, it would most likely be a goose chase, and I doubt the owner would think twice about compensating you, as if he is sly enough to do what he did for that amount, he is probably a % penny pincher.

This is not legal advice

I would honestly be shocked if this even got to a physical courtroom. The expenses sedo would have to bear just to defend themselves in a case in which they were clearly negligent would far exceed the $2,000 in question here, so it would be in their better interest to settle out of court.

If I were in Wayne's position - that is what I would do. The cost of filing in the Small Claims Court is $85 if I remember correctly, so even if he has to drop the case, whether it's because Sedo settled or not, it's at a minimal expense.

Another route you could try is getting a hold of whoever the top dog is at Sedo and telling him what went wrong, everything that you've done for them, etc., and as the CEO, president, or whatever he is, he has the power to make things right. This has worked for me in a few cases, and especially worked for a family member of mine who got duped out of $xx,xxx by a Sears subcontractor - he contacted the president of Sears Canada and got the whole problem solved.

[msn]

This is not legal advice

I would honestly be shocked if this even got to a physical courtroom. The expenses sedo would have to bear just to defend themselves in a case in which they were clearly negligent would far exceed the $2,000 in question here, so it would be in their better interest to settle out of court.

If I were in Wayne's position - that is what I would do. The cost of filing in the Small Claims Court is $85 if I remember correctly, so even if he has to drop the case, whether it's because sedo settled or not, it's at a minimal expense.

Another route you could try is getting a hold of whoever the top dog is at Sedo and telling him what went wrong, everything that you've done for them, etc., and as the CEO, president, or whatever he is, he has the power to make things right. This has worked for me in a few cases, and especially worked for a family member of mine who got duped out of $xx,xxx by a Sears subcontractor - he contacted the president of Sears Canada and got the whole problem solved.

Sedo and its top people will ignore him or say he should go pound sand: go to small claims for $2k and then follow it from there.

[katherine]

Name and shame is probably the best (worst) you can do to that person.

[6sons]

Update from sedo. A senior manager out of Boston called my office to inform me that in accordance with sedo policy and procedure the seller is no longer able to use their services until such time as he rectifies this situation with me. Furthermore the domains will not simply be able to be listed via anyone else as they have been flagged. So far I have noticed that the for sale links are gone from his domains. The pages are still resolving however the dns has not been changed. This action is what I asked for on May 2, and I am pleased with this development. It is one thing to make an error such as what Sedo did by being a conduit for the subsequent transaction. It is quite another to be dishonest which is the more important issue to me.

[msn]

This sounds promising, but what good will it be that the seller must 'rectify' this with you when the domain is already with a new registrant, thanks to sedo itself?

[6sons]

Like I said, sedo made a process error and presented that to me with appropriate humility. That I can forgive. This seller was dishonest. That is another matter. If he was honest then the rest would not matter. The reality is he could have done the deal outside of sedo anyway. None the less, if he cannot rectify the situation with me because he is unable to recover the domain then he will not be able to deal with Sedo again. For what that's worth that's his problem.

[Maxwell]

Like I said, sedo made a process error and presented that to me with appropriate humility. That I can forgive. This seller was dishonest. That is another matter. If he was honest then the rest would not matter. The reality is he could have done the deal outside of sedo anyway. None the less, if he cannot rectify the situation with me because he is unable to recover the domain then he will not be able to deal with Sedo again. For what that's worth that's his problem.

Do you know just how active/dependent this guy is on Sedo?

It seems to me that you'd be able to threaten to take him to court for the $2,000 difference (or offer him to settle it out of court for, say, $1,500), and he's best off paying it to you, since he can't give you the name anymore, and he's bound to lose more than that in revenue if he can't sell on Sedo any longer.

Just remember... if he's truly optionless (i.e. you don't want any more dealings with him, and knowing he can't ever sell on Sedo again is the only payment you relaly need), not much is stopping him from starting another Sedo account - and even if they block his name, address, etc., forming a corporation to hide his true identity is a fairly simple thing to do. So, I would push for rectification of some sort, especially since going the workaround route would present much hassle in terms of transferring domain ownership and not slipping up so as to not reveal who he really is, and paying Wayne off with a low $x,xxx amount could prove to be worthwhile for him in the long run.

[msn]

Do you know just how active/dependent this guy is on sedo?

It seems to me that you'd be able to threaten to take him to court for the $2,000 difference (or offer him to settle it out of court for, say, $1,500), and he's best off paying it to you, since he can't give you the name anymore, and he's bound to lose more than that in revenue if he can't sell on sedo any longer.

Just remember... if he's truly optionless (i.e. you don't want any more dealings with him, and knowing he can't ever sell on Sedo again is the only payment you relaly need), not much is stopping him from starting another Sedo account - and even if they block his name, address, etc., forming a corporation to hide his true identity is a fairly simple thing to do. So, I would push for rectification of some sort, especially since going the workaround route would present much hassle in terms of transferring domain ownership and not slipping up so as to not reveal who he really is, and paying Wayne off with a low $x,xxx amount could prove to be worthwhile for him in the long run.

One issue here is how Sedo operates: the seller could claim any number of things, such as having confused your bid with the winning bid, not getting any instructions from Sedo, being in hospital during your bid and believing you no longer wanted the domain after so long, or any other thing you can think of.

If you do not want the domain then send him an offer to settle privately for $1000 - half of the difference between the offer you made and that he accepted, and the ultimate sales price. It is a tolerable amount and he has then still made a gain of $1k over your deal, but you avoid the effort required to get $2k from him through other means.

[mikeyboy]

Networks.ca now listed on showcasemanager.com for BIN $48,888

http://www.showcasemanager.com/networks.ca

[Maxwell]

Networks.ca now listed on showcasemanager.com for BIN $48,888

http://www.showcasemanager.com/networks.ca

Whoever this guy is that duped Wayne out of the deal would have been real sorry by now if he was dealing with me.

[westcoaster]

Thanks for the information. Always good to know who to look out for.

[Adam Dicker]

It's no secret that I now own the domain, I have spoken directly to Wayne about this.

Wayne's grudge is with the seller who backed out of Wayne's original deal and I believe he is dealing with the issue.

Wayne is welcome to have the domain for what I paid for it.

-=DCG=-

[bgmv]

It's no secret that I now own the domain, I have spoken directly to Wayne about this.

Wayne's grudge is with the seller who backed out of Wayne's original deal and I believe he is dealing with the issue.

Wayne is welcome to have the domain for what I paid for it.

-=DCG=-

Adam - this just shows everyone what a stand up guy you are and says a lot about your integrity and transparency when it comes to selling domains. It's more than just the $, you have a reputation to uphold as being a pioneer in this industry.

Cheers!

[Adam Dicker]

Thank you,

I can tell you the moment I saw the thread I called Wayne.

My relationship with Wayne is worth way more to me than any domain.

Wayne is an incredible guy and we have done many transactions together.

Adam

[msn]

+1 for Adam!

At the same time, this does reflect badly on sedo.com, and we have been jilted before on a purchase through their platform.

Full disclosure: Over the years, we have not carried out two separate .ca purchases on Sedo, but this was due each time to the seller being unable to prove or confirm ownership, which was not the case with what Wayne has experienced.

Generally, these kinds of hassles and the long transaction closing times, along with the miserable pay per click rates, have led us to decide to cease working with sedo.com entirely.

If you want to sell your domains, talk to us or use the marketplace Adam created; just do not go to Sedo.com any more!