demandclass
Regular Member
I mentioned in my re-introduction that “I put my trust in one particular individual here in Australia, and that turned out to be a very costly exercise”.
I’ve thought long and hard about whether I should air my dirty laundry, but after hearing some similar stories from other domainers, I decided I would. If my tale of woe saves just one fellow member from making the mistakes I did (and being screwed over), then it will be worth it.
But first up, I know it takes two to tango. So ultimately, whilst I believe I can rightly blame this individual for contributing to my demise, it was my bad judgement and decision making that sealed the deal. So I’m not whinging – I’m just warning others to note my story and be careful.
Earlier this year, I started a joint venture in the United States in the daily deals space with Tim Gosper of Every Ounce Counts Pty Ltd and Voucher.com.au / Vouchers.com.au. He is a member here (Timmy). I got on great with him and thought he was a smart guy, and that we would be on a winner.
Then the nightmare started. He was supposed to tip in money for the business in agreed upon tranches, but it never happened. I had 3 months of ongoing expenses summing up almost $40k in the venture whilst at the same time I also had something else ongoing as well- excuses. The distribution with 2 very large successful companies to publish deals was never honoured as well, which could have possibly stemmed the cash burn I was facing independently.
Naively, I believed him because I thought he was my mate. Did we have a formal written agreement? No we didn’t – it was informal and based on trust and mateship. More fool me.
Then I became aware that he was under attack in Australia with his voucher.com.au brand. He sold things to many people which apparently he didn’t deliver – and message boards, forums and Facebook were full of complaints.
So cutting a long story as short as possible, I severed ties with him on April 25th after he stopped communicating altogether for 3 weeks after he assured me on April 2nd that at least $10k-$15k was coming and he would fly over to work together. I tried to save the business, but it was too late. And so I’m back here in Australia and starting again thanks to the generosity of a few friends and some valued clients – but I have learned some big lessons.
One other matter that involves collateral damage was the tainting of a new relationship that I had just structured with the largest domain name portfolio company in Australia, OMG, owned by Fairfax, because I was instructed by Tim Gosper to acquire a domain name from them and I negotiated the deal. Four and a half months later, I had to write with hat in hand and ultimately claim responsibility of the acquisition of the domain name since I was the brokering agent. After explaining what had transpired throughout his non-payment to them for the domain name, their board was gracious enough to let me out of honouring the offer to purchase and cancelled the invoice.
I’ve tried to reason with Gosper this last week and at least get him to repay me for a few expenses that he previously promised me (or give me a few domain names in lieu if he didn't have cash available), but he refused and gave me some more classic excuses.
With this said, I can state assuredly that I will not be doing any future business with Tim Gosper, his companies or his acquaintances. Imho, he has exhibited gross negligence of character, lack of integrity, and no remorse whatsoever for the money he never tipped in, or the fallout that it ultimately caused me and my family.
I hope he has the balls to come on here and try and defend or explain himself.
Thank you for letting me vent my spleen.
James
I’ve thought long and hard about whether I should air my dirty laundry, but after hearing some similar stories from other domainers, I decided I would. If my tale of woe saves just one fellow member from making the mistakes I did (and being screwed over), then it will be worth it.
But first up, I know it takes two to tango. So ultimately, whilst I believe I can rightly blame this individual for contributing to my demise, it was my bad judgement and decision making that sealed the deal. So I’m not whinging – I’m just warning others to note my story and be careful.
Earlier this year, I started a joint venture in the United States in the daily deals space with Tim Gosper of Every Ounce Counts Pty Ltd and Voucher.com.au / Vouchers.com.au. He is a member here (Timmy). I got on great with him and thought he was a smart guy, and that we would be on a winner.
Then the nightmare started. He was supposed to tip in money for the business in agreed upon tranches, but it never happened. I had 3 months of ongoing expenses summing up almost $40k in the venture whilst at the same time I also had something else ongoing as well- excuses. The distribution with 2 very large successful companies to publish deals was never honoured as well, which could have possibly stemmed the cash burn I was facing independently.
Naively, I believed him because I thought he was my mate. Did we have a formal written agreement? No we didn’t – it was informal and based on trust and mateship. More fool me.
Then I became aware that he was under attack in Australia with his voucher.com.au brand. He sold things to many people which apparently he didn’t deliver – and message boards, forums and Facebook were full of complaints.
So cutting a long story as short as possible, I severed ties with him on April 25th after he stopped communicating altogether for 3 weeks after he assured me on April 2nd that at least $10k-$15k was coming and he would fly over to work together. I tried to save the business, but it was too late. And so I’m back here in Australia and starting again thanks to the generosity of a few friends and some valued clients – but I have learned some big lessons.
One other matter that involves collateral damage was the tainting of a new relationship that I had just structured with the largest domain name portfolio company in Australia, OMG, owned by Fairfax, because I was instructed by Tim Gosper to acquire a domain name from them and I negotiated the deal. Four and a half months later, I had to write with hat in hand and ultimately claim responsibility of the acquisition of the domain name since I was the brokering agent. After explaining what had transpired throughout his non-payment to them for the domain name, their board was gracious enough to let me out of honouring the offer to purchase and cancelled the invoice.
I’ve tried to reason with Gosper this last week and at least get him to repay me for a few expenses that he previously promised me (or give me a few domain names in lieu if he didn't have cash available), but he refused and gave me some more classic excuses.
With this said, I can state assuredly that I will not be doing any future business with Tim Gosper, his companies or his acquaintances. Imho, he has exhibited gross negligence of character, lack of integrity, and no remorse whatsoever for the money he never tipped in, or the fallout that it ultimately caused me and my family.
I hope he has the balls to come on here and try and defend or explain himself.
Thank you for letting me vent my spleen.
James
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