All,
We're sending the following email to all SnapNames clients affected by the "halvarez" bidding:
Dear SnapNames Customer:
This e-mail is a follow-up to our communications on the situation regarding inappropriate bidding in SnapNames auctions by a former employee.
Update to Rebate Offer Acceptance Agreement
On November 6, 2009, via Rust Consulting, we provided a calculation of the impact of the inappropriate bidding activity on your account and a Rebate Offer Acceptance Agreement for you to sign and return at your discretion.
Several SnapNames customers expressed concerns about the agreementâs language. After considering these comments, we concluded that a section of the original agreement, addressing the scope of release of potential claims, could be interpreted as too broad and not what the company intended, and therefore should be clarified.
Accordingly, a revised copy (available for download
here) states precisely that the agreement addresses only the SnapNames auctions in which there was bidding activity from the user name âhalvarez.â
Customers who have already communicated their acceptance of the rebate do not need to take further action at this pointâyour rebate is already being processed for payment. However, if you prefer the revised language, you can print, sign and return the updated document. In that event, we will destroy the original acceptance agreement.
Should you have questions regarding the revised agreement, please contact Rust Communications at (888) 413-5338, or
[email protected].
Calculation of rebate amounts
As discussed in the November 6 communication from Rust Consulting, to determine the rebate offer amount, SnapNames hired an independent, third-party forensic accounting firm to perform a review of these auctions and to calculate the rebate.
The firm reviewed data regarding all of the bidders in an affected auction, including the bids each bidder placed in the auction and the maximum bids the bidders indicated they were willing to place in the auction. From this data, the firm determined what the winning bid would have been had halvarez never placed a bid in the auction. This amount was then subtracted from the actual price paid for the domain name to determine the amount of the rebate for that auction.
Upon further review of this data, SnapNames has learned that for a small number of accounts, calculations failed to account for changes in our bidding system over time. In those cases, there will be a resulting upward adjustment of between $1 and $5 per auction. If you were affected, you do not need to take any actionâyou automatically will be paid the higher amount. If your payment has already been processed, you will be issued an additional check for the difference (or credit will be added to your SnapNames account, if you elected that option).
Additional options for sending your rebate acceptance
As detailed previously, if you elect to accept the rebate offer, you can execute and return the Rebate Offer Acceptance Agreement to:
SnapNames Rebate Administrator
P.O. Box 98
Minneapolis, MN 55440-0098
(If you so elect, you may ask Rust Consulting to print and mail you a copy of the forms with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Rust Consulting can be reached by telephone at (888) 413-5338 or by e-mail at
[email protected].)
We have made additional options available for returning your agreement. If you prefer, you may:
⢠Fax your executed offer to (503) 200-1232
⢠E-mail a scanned copy of the executed offer to
[email protected]
Again, thank you for your business, and your ongoing trust in SnapNames.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kupietzky
President and CEO
Craig Snyder
General Manager, SnapNames.com