Washington Sues Penny Auction Site
The state says Arrow Outlet cheated and made customers pay more than necessary to win auctions.
Seattle PI reports…
“Arrow Outlet programmed ‘bidbots,’ software that runs – that cheats – automatically,” Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a statement. “These programs created bogus bids that rigged results. And the bidbots sometimes won, allowing Arrow Outlet to walk away with all the bidders’ money and the auction item.”
The site, ArrowOutlet.com, required users to purchase bidding packages that cost at least $20. Auctions could be prolonged by new bids. It’s now being shut down, and will pay $20,000 in attorney fees plus pay $50,000 to start a restitution fund for consumers who were affected. (Claims for that begin in two months.)
Subscribe by email
Like this article? Sign up for our email updates and we’ll send you a regular digest of our newest stories, full of money saving tips and advice, free! We’ll also email you a PDF of Stacy Johnson’s ’205 Ways to Save Money’ as soon as you’ve subscribed. It’s full of great tips that’ll help you save a ton of extra cash. It doesn’t cost a dime, so why wait? Click here to sign up now.
