yb1313
Established Member
- Impact
- 157
I have been in the domain world for some time now, and have come across registrars that offer fantastic services and value, and some that were less convenient. But nothing was as bad as SAV, which took unacceptable and likely unlawful actions that I’ll explain here in order to warn others and do a favor to the domaining community.
In short, my close colleague bought a handful of domains at SAV recently because they had a discount for a certain TLD; he then put them on SAV’s auction place, but their system did not allow modifying or removing the listings which were priced by default at $1, and when the auction ended they just took hold of the domains and he lost them. Here's a more detailed explanation of the series of events that happened - you judge whether their actions and system are fair:
1. My colleague bought and then listed the domains for auction at SAV. He attempted to increase the minimum default price of 1$ to a higher price, but their system would not allow that. As well as that, SAV did not send any verification email that the domains were listed for auction or any updates about it.
2. Seeing that they do not allow changing the price, and since there were zero bids, he attempted to remove them from the auction marketplace, but SAV’s system would not allow that either! A misleading system message just stated "Please take the appropriate actions and submit the bulk request again" (No legitimate auction place would do that)
3. As soon as that "auction" ended, upon logging into his account he discovered that the auctioned domains were not in his account anymore as they should have been, instead SAV transferred them away from it. Again, no bids came and no bidding email or activity appeared absolutely anywhere, but all of the listed domains were removed. SAV transferred them away, possibly by someone there in order to re-sell them. After emailing their support, they just claimed that the domains were sold at the auction.
4. These domains cannot have been legally sold - no bids were made, no notification was received at any point for a bidding, we followed it. All signs indicated that SAV simply moved them to an account that may be associated with them, as 10 minutes later these domains pointed at a sales landing page on some website (screenshots here, removed domain url as to not let them enjoy exposure), while the transfer was supposed to be prohibited.
5. Further clear proof that no bidding was made and no one actually purchased them can be found at SAV’s own terms of service which state that the minimum bid amount is $1 (in addition to the listed price), so it's technically impossible that someone bought them legally because they were “bought” at $1 each instead of $2, which would be the next minimum increment. Just see their auctions marketplace for a live proof, or the photo here.
6. SAV did not provide the buyers’ details, even upon request, as respected companies such as DAN for example do. Need more technical proof that no one could have possibly bid on the domains? They’re supposed to take a 4% commission, while these domains shown in the sales page as netting an exact $1 profit each (without commission). Included is the screenshot proof.
7. SAV's response? Not denying anything, but saying they can do “nothing” about domains that are not in the account (what?? Of course they’re not in the account now, you removed them). About five minutes after their reply, the domains' nameservers were officially moved to a new sales page. That was too obvious.
8. Another proof that no one bought these domains and that SAV (supposedly) stole them: According to their policy, "Expired Auction Domains registered at Sav include a free 1 year renewal” – but that is not the case as these domains' expiration periods did not change. They breached their own terms.
Obviously this is an exploitation of their power against their own customers (and this is not the only time it happened according to other reviews detailing sketchy experiences there). They go again standard ICANN procedures, and clearly against standard ethics. It’s easy for them to manipulate and control their own interface and unfortunately they have chosen to do it time and again.
My colleague's domains where quite valuable. But this theft will not go in vain, it will educate and warn others, and we have chosen to expose them here (instead of taking the legal path, lucky for them); they would have to provide some very good explanations on what happened for us to ever consider them again.
In short, my close colleague bought a handful of domains at SAV recently because they had a discount for a certain TLD; he then put them on SAV’s auction place, but their system did not allow modifying or removing the listings which were priced by default at $1, and when the auction ended they just took hold of the domains and he lost them. Here's a more detailed explanation of the series of events that happened - you judge whether their actions and system are fair:
1. My colleague bought and then listed the domains for auction at SAV. He attempted to increase the minimum default price of 1$ to a higher price, but their system would not allow that. As well as that, SAV did not send any verification email that the domains were listed for auction or any updates about it.
2. Seeing that they do not allow changing the price, and since there were zero bids, he attempted to remove them from the auction marketplace, but SAV’s system would not allow that either! A misleading system message just stated "Please take the appropriate actions and submit the bulk request again" (No legitimate auction place would do that)
3. As soon as that "auction" ended, upon logging into his account he discovered that the auctioned domains were not in his account anymore as they should have been, instead SAV transferred them away from it. Again, no bids came and no bidding email or activity appeared absolutely anywhere, but all of the listed domains were removed. SAV transferred them away, possibly by someone there in order to re-sell them. After emailing their support, they just claimed that the domains were sold at the auction.
4. These domains cannot have been legally sold - no bids were made, no notification was received at any point for a bidding, we followed it. All signs indicated that SAV simply moved them to an account that may be associated with them, as 10 minutes later these domains pointed at a sales landing page on some website (screenshots here, removed domain url as to not let them enjoy exposure), while the transfer was supposed to be prohibited.
5. Further clear proof that no bidding was made and no one actually purchased them can be found at SAV’s own terms of service which state that the minimum bid amount is $1 (in addition to the listed price), so it's technically impossible that someone bought them legally because they were “bought” at $1 each instead of $2, which would be the next minimum increment. Just see their auctions marketplace for a live proof, or the photo here.
6. SAV did not provide the buyers’ details, even upon request, as respected companies such as DAN for example do. Need more technical proof that no one could have possibly bid on the domains? They’re supposed to take a 4% commission, while these domains shown in the sales page as netting an exact $1 profit each (without commission). Included is the screenshot proof.
7. SAV's response? Not denying anything, but saying they can do “nothing” about domains that are not in the account (what?? Of course they’re not in the account now, you removed them). About five minutes after their reply, the domains' nameservers were officially moved to a new sales page. That was too obvious.
8. Another proof that no one bought these domains and that SAV (supposedly) stole them: According to their policy, "Expired Auction Domains registered at Sav include a free 1 year renewal” – but that is not the case as these domains' expiration periods did not change. They breached their own terms.
Obviously this is an exploitation of their power against their own customers (and this is not the only time it happened according to other reviews detailing sketchy experiences there). They go again standard ICANN procedures, and clearly against standard ethics. It’s easy for them to manipulate and control their own interface and unfortunately they have chosen to do it time and again.
My colleague's domains where quite valuable. But this theft will not go in vain, it will educate and warn others, and we have chosen to expose them here (instead of taking the legal path, lucky for them); they would have to provide some very good explanations on what happened for us to ever consider them again.
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