ATLANTA, GA – John Sours, Administrator of The Governor's Office of Consumer Protection ("OCP"), today announced that the agency has entered into a settlement with Wavee US, LLC D/B/A Wavee.com ("Wavee"), a company that conducted "penny auctions" via its website.  The settlement follows an OCP investigation which revealed that the auction company failed to send a number of purchased products to consumers in a timely manner and failed to clearly and conspicuously disclose that consumers were purchasing bid credits when they registered on Wavee's website.

Under the settlement, Wavee is required to cease operations, provide $202,210.20 in consumer restitution, and pay a $35,000 civil penalty and $15,000 in administrative expenses.

As part of the settlement, Wavee will also pay $50,000 to the State to establish a trust account for issuing refunds to eligible consumers who unintentionally purchased bid credits from Wavee.  Consumers who believe they may be entitled to compensation under the settlement can fill out a claim form and submit it to OCP, along with supporting documentation.  Claim forms must be post-marked no later than midnight on August 30, 2011 in order to be considered for restitution.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for restitution, the claim must meet the following requirements:

  1. The claim must involve a consumer transaction with Wavee;
  2. The claim must be a consumer complaint relating to the unintentional purchase of bid credits;
  3. The consumer must have documentation showing that he or she did not intend to purchase bid credits. Acceptable documentation for these claims includes, but is not limited to copies of complaints submitted to Wavee, to the Better Business Bureau, to any governing body (e.g. any attorney general's office, OCP, local elected officials, etc.), and e-mails or letters to credit card companies disputing the charge(s) prior to July 1, 2011; and
  4. The consumer must not have received a previous refund from Wavee for his or her purchase of bid credits. OCP will retain a list of all consumers who have previously received a refund from Wavee.

Filing a Claim

You can download a claim form or you may request a form by calling 404-651-8600 or 800-869-1123 (in Georgia, outside the Atlanta Metro area).

Completed claims, along with supporting documentation, should be sent via U.S. Certified Mail to:

Governor's Office of Consumer Protection
Attn: Wavee.com Claims
2 Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. SE
Suite 356
Atlanta, GA 30334

Claims must be postmarked by August 30, 2011. Claims that are postmarked after the deadline will not be considered.  After filing, your claim will be reviewed.  If you are not eligible, you will be notified accordingly.  If you are eligible, you will be mailed a check once all claims have been received and evaluated.  If the claims received total more than the amount of the restitution funds, a proportionate amount will be distributed to all eligible claimants.