| When I look over the stats and quotes provided by Steen and Prateek it seems to lean very heavily that this is a case of click fraud.
Steen is clearly a victim here and it may be possible that Prateek is as well.
I can speak from experience here, a number of years ago I was in the same sort of predicament, I was assisting with a then large sale (some of the veterans will remember that one). Found an interested buyer fairly quickly, Long story short and unfortunately the domain turned out to be a stolen one. I acted more as the seller in that case and responsibility for the deal pretty much landed on me, at least in the eyes of everyone of the industry. Much like you Prateek, I was caught in the middle. I can 100% empathize.
At that point I had two options open to me.
1) I could have stuck to my guns that I had done nothing wrong and completely wash my hands of the situation. This, quite possibly could have damaged my reputation I worked so hard to establish.
Or
2) I could take the high road, and even though it would set me back temporarily, I could arrange to make good with the buyer who was obviously a victim as well. While this option would not be a good one financially for me it did have the saving grace that I would able to come out as the good guy.
I chose the latter, sure it set me back a little bit and I had to climb back up to where I was, but my reputation was in tact in fact I was able to make many more solid business relationships as a result of it. I also didn’t have the luck of the ”owner” being a long time friend of mine. Unfortunately I was unable to get the money from him, and had to take the loss on the chin. Hopefully you would be able to have better luck with Chirag.
It does seem seems you did act as the seller in this case.
The point is that situations like can have a Devastating effect on your business reputation. In this industry your reputation is everything. It’s your good word, your trustworthiness; it lets people know you are someone who they would enjoy to do business with. Like it or not, it can have a great effect on future success.
$8500 is a decent sum of money, and unfortunately the domain doesn’t seem to be living up to is sales claim.
If I were in your shoes Prateek, (I once was) I would try my very best to give a partial refund for the name, minus the money earned by the name so far (I’m sure Steen would comply)
Anyway that is my 2 cents.
cjmacd |