Helene W.

Haggle.com was my first penny auction site to play & looked 'sexy'@ $0.75. But Haggle turned out to be the most 'frustrating', to say the least.

I played 110 bids: 10 free bids from coupons to start then purchased two 40 bid pacs@ $29.00 each & one@ 20 bid pac@ 15.00. I did my homework for the items I would bid on. I do think there are bid bots involved, whether it be from Haggle itself or from bidders, I honestly can't say. But I can tell you I thought it odd (& this happened to me 7xs on different auctions, 24/7) that when I tried to bid during the last 5 seconds on the timer, the screen plus the tally & timer would freeze. Within seconds another bidder, always a 'regular', would win that very same item, as if my bid didn't count somehow. What's odd: this happened consistently. Each time it looked like I was just about to win the screen froze an a 'regular' won PLUS that last bid I placed somehow was deducted from my account. Even odder: the timer is supposed to go back a few seconds, anywhere from 5-15 seconds on average, with each bid placed. Never happened. In each of these instances, the clock was never reset to reflect my bid &/or the winners bid (whose ever bid came last).

Now the items I bid on were not even high end-no computers or HDTVs, just gift cards ($50-$250), Godiva chocolates (up to $32), pots & pans ($149), etc... The most expensive retail selling item I bid on: PS3 Playstation ($349) & an iPod 32GB ($299). I suspect alot of tag team bidding goes on too, at Haggle. Come On, with user names like MrKrab & MrsKrab, it's a bit obvious. Also, the same user names keep bidding & winning the same items over & over. For example: Tuffnuttz is always on & always has multiple wins. Beware, as well: Doreamon, glazer56, jaks1, mattmc, jeremaic, larrylnelson, mikejak3, DESTROYER... these are only a few users always bidding & winning, Plus certain of these users only go after certain type items like electronics. Like these guys aren't reselling on EBay? Check it out for yourself & see what I mean. & if there are restrictions about how many wins you are allowed each month, I don't see anything being enforced. On other sites, you can't even bid if you have already exceeded your winning allowance for the month.

I have contacted Haggle customer service 7xs about the screen freeze thing & was told it was a server issue on my end. Period. They would not credit back any bids either, not even just the last bid were the screen froze! The 8th time I contacted them was about the possibility of bots & same win bidders, I was told I was just a sorry loser. Whatever. So much for customer support!

I would not recommend this site at all. We are all adults & we all understand the gambling aspect of 'entertainment shopping' but this site seems to cater to users who always bid & win on the same stuff. How they do it? Who knows. Could be they win a gazzilion 'free' bids (which would explain why these regulars have no fear of bids going over the actual retail value of the item). Advice: Stay away from Haggle.com. There are plenty more out there (on which I've gotten really good buys btw). Bottom line: do your homework before joining any penny auction site! If you're new to the game, try sites which include chat rooms Talk to the other bidders. It's fun & you just may be able to get more clues about good & bad auction sites, doing hw, & lots more!