Is Adam Dicker a criminal? You decide.

[S-B]

This story starts with DNF; a barren wasteland that once was a leading forum within the domain industry. While the forum itself played a huge role in propagating the myth that is Adam Dicker, the story really begins with DNF College in the summer of 2011.

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Updates / Reports
These are in no particular order.

• Report by headsupp (Resolved)
  • Relevant Videos
  • Reply to Adam
  • Update: Resolved
  
  
• Report by LannyB (Unresolved)
  • Response
    • Follow-up Questions
  
  
• Report by domainesque (Unresolved)
  • Update: Unresolved
  • Report Details
  • Update: Waiting on Refund
  
  
• Report of Shane Cultra's friends (Unresolved)
  • Update: Unpaid
  
  
• Report by Jeff Markus (Dissatisfied)
  
  
• Report by simmplex (Resolved)
  • Refunded
  
  
• Report by Blenja_Man (Pending)
  • Voucher
  • Update: Work in Progress
  
  
• Report by RandysDomains (Resolved)
  • Resolved
  
  
• Report by swamismith (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by Charlie (Unresolved)
  • Cover-up
  • Update: Unresolved
  
  
• Report by Jaqpot (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by anon22339 (Unresolved)
  • Details
  
  
• Report by Joseph Peterson (Resolved)
  • Update: Unpaid after 8 days
  • Update: Paid
  
  
• Report by Frank Schilling (Resolved)
  • Update: Paid
  
  
• Report by Lonewolf5503 (Paypal Dispute)
  • Update: Website not delivered and no longer accessible
  • Update: Lonewolf5503 wins PayPal dispute
  
  
• Report by GermanRaven (Unresolved)
  • Update: Full story
  
  
• Report by ClaudeDauman (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by bobsranch (Unresolved)
  • Details
  • Update: Legal Letter Received
  
  
• Report by Newby888 (Unresolved)
  
  
• Report by dougasd (Unresolved)

From what I understand, Adam still owes north of $33,000 to previous customers and business partners. As I receive more information, I will update this figure.

 

[Ms Domainer]

I have something to add to this thread that I believe is important.

In 2012, when I was searching LLLL .com on Go Daddy auctions, filtering search results for only closeout and expiring domains, I noticed an anomaly on the search results:

Several LLLL .com's being offered as "expired" auctions with a starting price of $28.

I thought this was odd, given that these listings did not follow the typical cycle of $12 (expiring), 11, 10, 9, 8, and 5 (closeouts), so I did a Whois check on these domains:

All were owned by Adam Dicker. Some of these domains were close to expiration, some were actually expired, and some weren't even registered at Go Daddy (???).

I thought this must be a glitch, so I emailed support about it. After all, when one filters for certain parameters, one wants it to work properly and not get a bunch of unwanted results.

I received some wishy-washy answer about how these were expired domains (some were and some weren't).

So then I questioned why someone, another member, was enjoying this perk. I never did get a good answer.

At the time, I MAY have posted here about this, but I don't remember. I'll do a search and let you know.

This "anomaly" suggests two possibilities:

1. AD, although no longer a Go Daddy employee, still had some knowledge of and/or access to Go Daddy systems.

2. A friend at Go Daddy (insider) was manipulating the search results in his favor.​

I'm revealing this because it certainly adds to the growing evidence against AD.

I haven't found any posting yet about this particular instance (still looking), but people were already complaining about AD in 2012:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/godaddy-auctions-discussion-acquisitions-and-sales.756497/​

 

[Ms Domainer]

There was a point when GD started listing expiring domains from other registrars for auction at the $28 start price. Right this minute, I can't remember which registrars were involved ( moniker? ), but I don't think this was a special privilege being granted to AD. I'd guess that he probably wasn't making any money on it at all.

Except that some of the domains were not even expired yet.

Also, I thought (and still think) that including them in the expiring/closeout section is misleading and downright dishonest.

 

[HeyNow]

Right, I think it was Moniker. It was related to Snapnames in some way.

Dicker, Moniker, Snapnames. Sounds all kosher and on the up-and-up to me!

 

[Ms Domainer]

Dicker, Moniker, Snapnames. Sounds all kosher and on the up-and-up to me!

LOL.

Good point.

 

[Ms Domainer]

I haven't found any posting yet about this particular instance (still looking), but people were already complaining about AD in 2012:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/godaddy-auctions-discussion-acquisitions-and-sales.756497/​

Okay, here's a link that begins a discussion of the odd $28 expiring domain names:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/godaddy-auctions-discussion-acquisitions-and-sales.756497/page-28​

Evidently, the discussion did not name Adam Dicker specifically, but I do remember it well.

I didn't buy the explanation then, and I don't buy it now, ESPECIALLY now.

 

[carob]

Interesting one here about Dicker being sued in 2013:

http://www.obj.ca/Local/For-the-Record/2013-11-19/article-3486871/Whos-getting-sued?/1

The following listing contains information on lawsuits that appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in recent weeks. It includes the date the case appeared in court and its status. The first party is the plaintiff and the second party is the defendant in the lawsuit.

Nov. 7
Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP vs. Domain Consulting Group Inc.
Requisition
Solicitors Act

Domain Consulting Group Inc (not to be confused with a Philadelphia USA company of that name) is one of several company names Dicker uses, which may not be actual registered companies. That is the same law firm that recently wrote a bluffing letter to some NP members on Dicker's behalf - looks like in 2013 they could have had to sue him to collect their fees.

 

[Ms Domainer]

Just to be clear:

I have no problem with anyone selling their own domains on Go Daddy or anywhere else.

I do have a problem with auction platforms placing "select" (translation: friends' public auctions) domains in the closeout and expiring section when a potential bidder does a search.

There is a good reason why I tick off the "closeout" and "Expiring" boxes.

I can tell you with 100% certainly that none of my domains get this privilege.

 

[carob]

Well hang onto it as there seems to be a game of hide-and-seek going on.First nichewebsites.com site disappeared, then it put its products on dcg.com, but it is now back in business, or trying to be, which could be expensive.
https://nichewebsites.com/product/niche-website/

Well once again a new page listing nichewebsites.com prices for niche websites disappeared once attention was drawn to it. That page is now gone, and once again the site just asks you to ask for a quote. Makes you wonder if this price info and offer will just quietly re-appear somewhere else again - worth checking.

There is still a link to it from this page:
https://nichewebsites.com/web-design-and-development/

But if you want to risk enhancing your purchase, you can add Diamond SEO for £1499 and 100 pages of "content" for $1499. What if you add all the available extras? The price of your nichewebstes.com site goes from $499.00 to $5,841.00

I had posted an informative screenshot here of that page showing all the items selected and the prices for information. Today that screenshot is gone from here - no idea why - but here are the prices that were there, for your information, to see just how a simple Wordpress install can jump in price from $500 to $5000 in a few clicks.

Niche Website

$499.00

This package includes:

Complete custom design and development of the website.

5 pages of content

Google Adsense

Google Analytics

See below for a complete description of the add-ons available

Add Social Media

Facebook Package $199.00 US
Twitter Package $199.00 US
Google + Package $199.00 US
Pinterest Package $199.00 US
Youtube Package $199.00 US

Monetization Methods

Amazon Products $99.00 US
Clickbank Products $99.00 US
Custom Ebook $149.00 US

Website Add On's

Custom Whiteboard Videos $199.00 US
Newsletter Sign Up $49.00 US
Search Engine Submission $99.00 US
Lead Generation Form $49.00 US
Wordpress Training $99.00 US
On Page SEO $79.00 US
Press Release Submission $299.00 US
Local Business Listing $129.00 US

adding 100 pages of content = $1499
Diamond Seo = $1499

$5,342.00

Final total
$5,841.00

 

[bobsranch]

It's interesting to see Adam Dicker listed as a broker on domainnamesales.com.

 

[Paul Nicks]

Just to be clear:

I have no problem with anyone selling their own domains on Go Daddy or anywhere else.

I do have a problem with auction platforms placing "select" (translation: friends' public auctions) domains in the closeout and expiring section when a potential bidder does a search.

There is a good reason why I tick off the "closeout" and "Expiring" boxes.

I can tell you with 100% certainly that none of my domains get this privilege.

Hi, Paul Nicks from GoDaddy here.

I'd like to be very clear that the $28 expiry domains had absolutely nothing to do with Adam. This was a business deal where SnapNames would send their unsold inventory to our system. We never got beyond a test phase, so we only got Moniker inventory for this test for a short while. I worked directly with Snap on this test, and am pretty sure Adam wasn't even employed with us at the time. The reason the price was higher than GD expiry is because we had to deal with the price of Moniker renewing the name and then GD xferring it. So, we put a price on those that was higher than standard in order to make sure that the financials made sense.

Sorry to ruin a good conspiracy but these names were not "friends' public auctions" they were just expiry from another registrar during a test period.

-Paul

 

[umask077]

Hi, Paul Nicks from GoDaddy here.

I'd like to be very clear that the $28 expiry domains had absolutely nothing to do with Adam. This was a business deal where SnapNames would send their unsold inventory to our system. We never got beyond a test phase, so we only got Moniker inventory for this test for a short while. I worked directly with Snap on this test, and am pretty sure Adam wasn't even employed with us at the time. The reason the price was higher than GD expiry is because we had to deal with the price of Moniker renewing the name and then GD xferring it. So, we put a price on those that was higher than standard in order to make sure that the financials made sense.

Sorry to ruin a good conspiracy but these names were not "friends' public auctions" they were just expiry from another registrar during a test period.

-Paul

If you were a little bit more transparent then there wouldn't be room for any conspiracy...

 

[HeyNow]

Hi, Paul Nicks from GoDaddy here ... Sorry to ruin a good conspiracy ... -Paul

Don't worry, you didn't. It's a little late in the game to come chiming in with an explanation when the episode(s) in question is, what, years old? Customers have to ferret out reasons, and in your words, "conspiracy" theories because they are left in the dark about all sorts of things affecting them, including when Godaddy allowed it's VP of TDNAM auctions to bid against outside customers without enough transparency and plain decent courtesy to make sure all outside bidders bidding against a Godaddy employee or contractor knew and understood the potential of what they were getting into.

Then here you come now, tip-toeing through the thread, la-tee-dah la-tee-dah, with placating spin control and an explanation that, frankly, should have been up front and center long ago.

The fact that Godaddy would have anything at all to do with Snapnames or Moniker is also disturbing.

Talking down to us as though we are paranoid children isn't going to win you any fans.

 

[DomainGist]

If you were a little bit more transparent then there wouldn't be room for any conspiracy...

I think these speculative theories actually damage the cause, need to keep this thread on topic. Yes Godaddy made a questionable decision to hire Adam Dicker, but what do you expect from a business founded by and led until recently by somebody who thinks rich people have a free pass to shoot elephants.

Judging by the moral compass of Bob Parsons you wouldn't expect anybody ethical to fit in at Godaddy. Company founded by financial backer of Mitt Romney and proud Elephant killer hires a douche bag, *shock* *horror*.

Would help if people knew what was going on but I'm sure Shane Bellone will update us in time. It would be interesting to know if anybody else got an offer to settle, and whether any of them accepted the offer.

The problem is if that offer requires them not to participate in this thread any further and they have accepted settlement then we may never know.

Would be a bit ironic though if Adam Dicker resolved issues on the condition that nobody posted to state that their issue had been resolved to their satisfaction, in the name of not damaging his reputation. A bit of a paradox.

 

[Dadster]

This story is getting stranger and stranger by the minute..... Sheesh!

 

[Dadster]

Truth is if things are being settled thats great, and it is the right thing to do. But it doesn' whisk away the root cause.

 

[DomainGist]

Truth is if things are being settled thats great, and it is the right thing to do. But it doesn' whisk away the root cause.

Indeed.

Just pointing out that one of those owed money seemed to imply that in order to receive his refund he had to agree not to post on this thread or the comments section of a specific blog.

Which if accepted would result in them not being able to state here that their issue has been resolved.

Seems odd. I'd have thought it would make more sense to place a condition on the settlement that they HAVE to state publicly that their issue had now been resolved.

It creates a paradox in which in order to get the issues in post #1 resolved the people on that post have to agree that their issues remain marked as 'unresolved'.

 

[Dadster]

I agree 100% with you Pug. And I think in either case - the agreement is has a tone of duress to it. Not a nice thing - and perhaps a little iffy legally.

 

[anon22339]

Truth is if things are being settled thats great, and it is the right thing to do. But it doesn' whisk away the root cause.

Things are not being settled. AD continues to promise to refund me. He continues to not do so.

 

[Dadster]

And you received 'the letter?'

 

[Ms Domainer]

Hi, Paul Nicks from GoDaddy here.

I'd like to be very clear that the $28 expiry domains had absolutely nothing to do with Adam. This was a business deal where SnapNames would send their unsold inventory to our system. We never got beyond a test phase, so we only got Moniker inventory for this test for a short while. I worked directly with Snap on this test, and am pretty sure Adam wasn't even employed with us at the time. The reason the price was higher than GD expiry is because we had to deal with the price of Moniker renewing the name and then GD xferring it. So, we put a price on those that was higher than standard in order to make sure that the financials made sense.

Sorry to ruin a good conspiracy but these names were not "friends' public auctions" they were just expiry from another registrar during a test period.

-Paul

Thanks for clearing this up.

But my question is: why was Go Daddy placing these domains on the expiring/closeout platform instead of placing them as "public auctions?"

When I tick off those "closeout" and "expiring" boxes, it means that I think that the domain (1) has been expired for at least 25 days and (2) that the domain is registered at Go Daddy.

Is it that some pigs are more equal than others? (Reference to Animal Farm)

I agree with the others that Go Daddy's lack of transparency is a problem and brings to the surface suspicions of conspiracy when there may be none.

Also, when some of the domains were not even expired, and they belonged to Adam Dicker, well, can you see why there might be suspicions?

Hmmmm?

 

[bobsranch]

Basically sign a settlement and release him forever, do not posts online any details
The letter demands that you remove all posts on NP and therealshane to his satisfaction and if you mess up then you will be sued for all money back plus fees. The demands, if you read them carefully are way too ambiguous and will set you up for a breach of contract. Nobody could guarantee the demands. I have not had a reply in asking for more explicit ways to accomplish these demands. I've also asked for directions as how to do so in a proper manner. No reply. And of course there is more legalese to decipher. It's a trap!

 

[DomainGist]

The letter demands that you remove all posts on NP

That's a technically unfeasible demand, not least as removal would be subject to a namepros staff member agreeing to remove posts. There is a 30 minute edit limit.

Then there is the small matter of those who have quoted those posts in replies. Deleting a post does not remove the quoted text. Even if namepros were to be receptive to receiving requests to remove posts made by an individual, they would have not the right to insist on the editing and removal of posts made by others if they don't breach namepros posting guidelines.

Then you have a chicken or egg situation. Does one attempt to have their posts removed, succeed only partially, and then get their refund refused based upon not being able to remove all content? Then have the inability to reinstate the posts accordingly? You can only request deletion on a post-by-post basis, so if you've made 10 posts and succeed in getting 8 removed, then you don't get a refund and yet the thread is deprived of 80% of your contributions?

Not a realistic demand.

 

[bobsranch]

That's a technically unfeasible demand, not least as removal would be subject to a namepros staff member agreeing to remove posts. There is a 30 minute edit limit.

Then there is the small matter of those who have quoted those posts in replies. Deleting a post does not remove the quoted text. Even if namepros were to be receptive to receiving requests to remove posts made by an individual, they would have not the right to insist on the editing and removal of posts made by others if they don't breach namepros posting guidelines.

Then you have a chicken or egg situation. Does one attempt to have their posts removed, succeed only partially, and then get their refund refused based upon not being able to remove all content? Then have the inability to reinstate the posts accordingly? You can only request deletion on a post-by-post basis, so if you've made 10 posts and succeed in getting 8 removed, then you don't get a refund and yet the thread is deprived of 80% of your contributions?

Not a realistic demand.

Actually they would pay you, then sue you for breach plus fees! Putting salt on the wound.

 

[DnEbook]

I lost track about 100 pages ago, can anyone sum up the thread without getting sued ??

 

[HeyNow]

.m

Basically sign a settlement and release him forever, do not posts online any details
The letter demands that you remove all posts on NP and therealshane to his satisfaction and if you mess up then you will be sued for all money back plus fees. The demands, if you read them carefully are way too ambiguous and will set you up for a breach of contract. Nobody could guarantee the demands. I have not had a reply in asking for more explicit ways to accomplish these demands. I've also asked for directions as how to do so in a proper manner. No reply. And of course there is more legalese to decipher. It's a trap!

Get a lawyer. Call the police or District Attorney to see if any crimes have been committed. For a few hundred bucks, a lawyer can answer a lot of questions in an hour and steer you in a direction you'll be comfortable with. The more you dick around without a lawyer increases the risk of you never obtaining satisfaction financially, and demonstrates you are not willing to hold accountable those who you feel have screwed you. Call a lawyer, now. If you can't afford a few hundred bucks for a lawyer, then book half an hour with a lawyer for a couple of hundred bucks. You can ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers in half an hour. Do it. It's the smart move.