From the “Decidedly Sketchy” department, we bring you this story, courtesy of reader Aidan. Late last year, a site called 20macapps.com promised to bring users the “bundle of the year”: 20 brand new Mac apps for just $40. Trailing on the heels of bundles like MacHeist, 20macapps.com made a splash in some circles, and a decent number of customers signed up to receive the mysterious bundle.
Only what you don’t know about 20macapps.com…could kill you. Aidan pointed out to us that the site has vanished into the ether, replaced with the following vague message:
Due to changing economic conditions that were outside of NameNetwork Ltd. control, and other unexpected circumstances, NameNetwork has had to cease trading as of 1st March 2008. For further information, please write a letter to the below address. Our email addresses are no longer monitored or available.
That’s cold comfort for Aidan and those others who actually paid $40 for the promise of Mac applications. We looked around a bit and found this thread on the MacHeist forums warning of involvement with Mark Howson, the guy behind 20macapps.com.
We’re not afraid to say that this blows, but it is a reminder to be careful about whom you entrust your money to when you’re online. If you were burned by Howson and co., we recommend giving your credit card company a call and seeing if you can get your cash back. Those in the UK—where Howson appears to be based—might want to consider further action. Especially if that involves calling him a wanker.
Mark even changed his personal email address, presumably because he was getting smoked.
I have his new one, but I won't post it out of respect. I lost a total of $60 on this deal, some people lost more than that paying for upgrade guarantees etc.
A shame really. I put in a dispute to paypal, and they immediately closed the request without looking into it at all, with no explanation. As usual, paypal is on the side of the merchants, even ones that are shysters.
I'm extremely angry about this ordeal, but it definitely has made me more astute as to what I should put my faith in.
Mark Howson is a crook, plain and simple.
I also suggest that you watch your back when dealing with paypal. They too have taken on draconian methods lately.
They will have their hand out in front as they stick their hand in your back pocket looking for more.
I would have thought that they would have taken the buyer's side in this case. One of their big touts has been the safety for the buyers when doing business through them.
I guess I had that backwards.
@E.T. Cook
You conclude that Mark "is a crook, plain and simple." And yet you won't post his personal email address "out of respect"??????????
Did I miss something here?
A more interesting thread re: Mark Howson of NameNetwork is here:
http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6100&p=1
Howson on the side also ran a blog which was a copy of TUAW, at themacweblog.com. He closed it after people recognized him as being the same person behind 20MacApps, and posted this:
It's funny how he uses his assertion that he lost money himself as justification that he won't pay back all of the people he stole from.
This guy should be hung up for public display, fed only enough to keep him alive to suffer the indignity.
Is a class action suit even possible/feasible for something like this?
And yeah, to the person known as "E.T.Cook" above who seems to be suffering from some form of insanity.... If you have so much respect for someone who ripped off all these people, then out of respect why don't you pay them back?