American Auction

Today our representative [redacted] visited the client regarding new business They had an opportunity to discuss the complaint, after which I received this email from [redacted] indicating the matter was resolved

I apologize for the delay in providing you this information We are unable to secure payment for items won from a bidder deposit We did attempt to contact you regarding your unpaid invoice several times I have refunded the $for your deposit which was processed today You were sent notice of the credit to the email address we have on file.We still have three of the lots that were originally on your invoice if you would like to purchase them We could not hold them at the time of your bids due to non-payment of your invoice If you are interested in purchasing the lots indicated below at the price you originally bid (shown below), please contact me and I will be happy to help youI would request that you contact me by Wednesday April 29th The available lots and prices you bid for those items are listed below Please let me know by Wednesday if you would still the lots below for the amounts listed:Lot - $12.50, Swivel bar stoolsLot - $Two Upholstered Arm Chairs Lot - $Winsome Granville Foldable Small Corn Husk BasketsIn the future, please keep in mind that if you would like to place bids online, it will require a $deposit A deposit of the same amount is required if you attend a live auction.If you have additional questions, I am happy to help My name is [redacted] and I can be reached at ###-###-####

We were able to replace the check to Mr*** that was sent to the incorrect address. Our bank had advised us regarding steps to take and we are sorry that process required action by Mr*** The matter has been solved

We were able to replace the check to Mr*** that was sent to the incorrect address.? Our bank had advised us regarding steps to take and we are sorry that process required action by Mr***? The matter has been solved

I apologize for the delay in providing you this information.  We are unable to secure payment for items won from a bidder deposit.  We did attempt to contact you regarding your unpaid invoice several times.  I  have refunded the $200 for your deposit which was processed...

today.  You were sent notice of the credit to the email address we have on file.We still have three of the lots that were originally on your invoice if you would like to purchase them.  We could not hold them at the time of your bids due to non-payment of your invoice.  If you are interested in purchasing the lots indicated below at the price you originally bid (shown below), please contact me and I will be happy to help you. I would request that you contact me by Wednesday April 29th.  The available lots and prices you bid for those items are listed below.  Please let me know by Wednesday if you would still the lots below for the amounts listed:Lot 3288 - $12.50, Swivel bar stoolsLot 3422 - $10.00 Two Upholstered Arm Chairs            Lot 3459 - $12.50 Winsome Granville Foldable Small Corn Husk BasketsIn the future, please keep in mind that if you would like to place bids online, it will require a $200 deposit.  A deposit of the same amount is required if you attend a live auction.If you have additional questions, I am happy to help.  My name is [redacted] and I can be reached at ###-###-####.

August 25, 2015Revdex.com in Response to Complaint filed by [redacted] entered in to a contract with American Auction Company to sell the contents of her store at auction at a commission rate of 35%.  The contract was signed on March 10, 2015.  We picked up the...

consignment at an agreed upon location.  As we were not given an inventory by Ms. [redacted] in advance, we had to process the items at our location before a receipt would be available in our Open Market software.  [redacted], who works in our office, explained the software to [redacted] and offered to assist her in using the Open Market software program to view and track her items, she declined.  This software enables our Sellers to login online to our Seller Portal 24 hours a day, and view as well as print reports at any time.  She was made aware of this.  The portal also includes item descriptions, photographs, dates of auction and auction sales results after the auction. As a matter of record, her inventory count was not even close to 3.500 items as she indicates in the second paragraph of her complaint.  For your convenience, I have included her settlement documents that include the following for each listing: ·         Lot number·         Description·         Photograph·         Sales Price Ms. [redacted] did come to our auction; however, her account regarding about how the auction works is not quite correct.  The bidding starts at $10 unless there are already bids after the week long preview and proxy bidding period online.  Furthermore, if there is a bid at $10, the item will sell.  When there are already bids from the proxy bidding period, the bidding starts at the next highest amount (example:  If the Internet has a bid of $12.50, the Auctioneer would ask for a bid of $15).  As the bid increases, so does the next required bid.  She was aware of this, as her salesperson reviewed each numbered item on the contract. The auction terms on the contract, specifically items 3 and 4 clearly state:  Auction Terms: Consignor agrees and understands that the Property will be sold at Absolute Auction without reserve or minimum price to the highest bidder regardless of sales price.  Consignor agrees to allow AACO to retain full control over the timing, method, location, and type of auction to use in selling the property, including the discretion as to the date(s) of sale of the Property and disbursement of same throughout multiple auctions.    Commissions and Fees:  Consignor understands that while AACO cannot guarantee any sale price in an auction format, AACO will use their professional skill, expertise, experience, sales and marketing to describe, photograph, and group Property to create desirable auction lots, as well as promote Consignor’s products in an effort to obtain the highest possible price for said consigned Property.  In exchange for AACO’s services, AACO will be compensated on a commission basis as set forth of the total sales proceeds of the Consignor’s Property. Our facility is a locked facility, with the exception being during scheduled auctions, previews, and other events.  We do not allow buyers or sellers to walk freely around our building as heavy equipment is in operation and we want to eliminate all possible injury to clients and customers and it is forbidden by our insurance company.  We have several locations in our large warehouse.  Some areas are strictly set up for processing product for auction.  Other areas are areas where specific product type is merchandised (similar to a retail establishment) and offered in an attractive way for preview and the auction event.  In addition, we regularly utilize three main areas for different auction sales areas (the location at which items will be sold).  In [redacted]’ account of her unannounced visit, she saw her property damaged, scratched, broken, crushed, incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the building. The only correct item is that her items were located in different areas of the building and some may have looked incomplete as items were being moved to the event sales ring once processed. Once a lot (consisting of one or more items) is described and photographed, a Runner (employee who moves product to the sales area in which it will be sold after it has been processed) moves the lot to the sales area (the location in which the item will be displayed and offered for sale). Of course she would have seen product in different areas in our building. There are several sales areas in our building that are staged for each auction.  There were no items crushed or broken that were not in that condition when they were picked up.  Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire and that had not been emptied, are probably correct; however, we were IN PROCESS of processing her items and preparing her items for auction.  Our firm has never sold a piece of furniture with contents remaining in the drawers unless the contents were additional drawer pulls or knobs that went with the piece. [redacted] account of what transpired that day is incorrect.  An employee would not have told her that items would be sold in the set of drawers, because they never are. Ms. [redacted] would show up at our auctions, make snide comments about our services to other bidders present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some our employees in her attempt to start a scene.  Many staff members would tell us that at times she acted lucid; however, a number of times, she did not. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire that had not been emptied is probably correct; however, we were IN THE MIDDLE OF PROCESSING.  She showed up at live auctions, made snide comments about our services to other bidders who were present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some of our employees in order to get attention or cause a scene.Many staff members who came in contact with Ms. [redacted] were concerned, as one minute she would seem fine, and the next minute she didn’t seem lucid at all and an in another interaction she was hostile and difficult.As [redacted] wrote, Josh had arranged a meeting with our Chief of Staff, Carolyne Horton and [redacted] so she could share her concerns. She listened to her concerns; however, clarified once again, that is up to our firm to indicate how items would be grouped and sold.  A specific example is the two boat shelves that [redacted] writes about in her submission to your office.  We group items such as those together as they would sell better that way in our auction environment.  She is used to how things sold in her store.  An auction house is not a store.  We merchandise items; however, auctions are very different than a store.Further, [redacted] mentions that our employee said that we would leave items in the armoire.  This is not the case, has never been our procedure or in any of our processes to leave items in an armoire or any piece of furniture.  It was becoming very clear that [redacted] was not willing to listen to anything we said.  She was hostile, argumentative, and her behavior was troubling.Ms. [redacted] believes she is very clear on her facts; however, she is incorrect on many.  This includes her claim that our Company has changed our name three times in the past two years.  Since I joined our organization fifteen years ago, we changed our name recently in January of 2015 from Auction Systems to the American Auction Company.  She claims to have heard rumors of money laundering, and questioned the ethics regarding how a single woman runs a multi-million dollar business.  The owner of our company has been married for over twenty-five years and I not even qualify or dispute her other ridiculous and slanderous comment. Ms. [redacted] mentioned a list of missing items that she included in your letter. Our staff member had placed the pieces in our holding area when she left them outside after she picked up her items; however, he neglected to advise his Manager which would have resulted in a call to [redacted].  When she inquired about the items we searched our facility and the items were quickly found and returned to [redacted].We were very upset that Ms. [redacted] was not happy with her experience with our firm.  In addition, to that end we were willing to waive our commission due to her dissatisfaction.  The only requirement was that she signs a standard release agreement indicating that she would not engage in negative communication regarding our firm.  She declined.The reason for this was that we were advised by a Consignor who is also a consignor at [redacted] that he overhead a conversation regarding [redacted] and an [redacted] employee regarding [redacted] wanting to transfer all of her items to [redacted] as quickly as possible.[redacted] also indicated she was disappointed with the prices her items received at auction.  Our firm performed our due diligence and her items were well advertised.  Advertisements and promotions included but were not limited to:  Unless specifically negotiated and contracted with consignor, items highlighted in advertising are chosen by Marketing Dept, based on the general interest of American Auction Company Bidders: ·         2 LED Billboards in Phoenix, advertising American Life Auctions·         Newspaper Advertisingo        AZ Republic, Sunday classifieds, under Auction Heading, every Sundayo        New Times Weekly, advertised during week of live auction·         Radioo        Top 40 music station in Phoenix and most of Arizona, advertised during week of live auctiono        Latino music station in Phoenix, advertised during week of live auctiono        American Auction Company Radio Network, advertised to all registered American Auction Co. bidders·         Email broadcastso        At least 3 email broadcasts to very large in-house email subscriber list·         Phone calls to American Life Auction bidders, announcing next live auction·         Social media postso        Facebooko        Twittero        Google+o        Instagramo        YouTube, including Sneak Peek auction video, highlighting various items in American Life Auctionso        Pinterest    ·         Social media paid advertisements on Facebook·         Onsite flyers posted and available for handouts to bidders atpreview and auctions·         Advertising on American Auction Co catalog covers·         Press releases·         Craigslist posts·         Digital ads with newspapers, radio stations, and specialty web sites·         Third party auction websites·         Featured items on front page of website (AmericanAuctionCo.com)·         Retargeting digital ads aimed at visitors to AmericanAuctionCo.com·         Google AdWords campaigns  In closing, our firm offered [redacted] inventory to our entire bidder base via emails, phone calls, text messages, and a week of pre-auction bidding and through video sneak peeks.  The public was also invited to bid through print and online channels including radio, television, billboards, and more. Based on all of the advertising and efforts on our part, the well informed public spoke and determined the fair market value at auction.  The Fair Market Value is defined as: Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. [redacted] has received all settlement reports related to her consignment. Sincerely,   [redacted]Customer Service Manager

Thank you for speaking with me on Wednesday May 13th regarding your consignment to our auction firm for the Sports Fan Expo auction. From our conversation, I learned that you did receive your settlement check for the auction. Our auction settlement timeline (also reflected on your contract) states...

we will issue settlement proceeds fourteen (14) business days after an auction. Further, I understand that Pete had indicated he would contact you after the auction to let you know the results. I am sorry that he did not call and that you had difficulty reaching him. We are a values driven company and commitments we make are very important to us. Please accept our apology.We were excited to conduct an auction at the [redacted] for the second year in a year in a row, and the expectations set by the sponsors for live attendance were very encouraging. When we agreed to be included in this event, we understood that our auction would be the only event offered during a few hour timeframe while our auction took place. The lack of live attendance concerned us greatly and we later learned that there was a separate event in close proximity (and free to the public) sponsored by [redacted]. that was also not disclosed. We now understand that attendance at our auction was greatly reduced due to that event. Our process of open proxy bidding on our site for a full week prior to an auction ensures that the public and registered bidders have an opportunity to view the entire auction catalog with color photos and descriptions and place bids for items as well. In addition, our marketing plan executed for this auction was quite comprehensive and included the special advertising necessary to alert sports memorabilia collectors. Moreover, we implemented value added marketing efforts to attract additional bidders that include: 1. We strategically placed our auction next to the (main) event or (main) stage [redacted] to catch curiosity of tournament attendees as they were walking by and in turn it would result in bigger auction attendance 2. We raffled off / gave away free tickets to attend [redacted] prior to the event during our other auction(s) 3. A-frame boards/advertising/signs were placed inside event tent/building along main entrance pointing direction to our auction location which then allowed a straight walk within view directly to our auction location 4. We placed additional advertising on television and popular websites with the entities as listed below to draw attention to the event. Run dates and impressions are displayed below and as you can tell, impressions and viewership was significant: • [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015I wanted you to see the email we received as an exhibitor at the event. There were high hopes for attendance; however, an unknown competing event had an impact. Regardless of the live attendees, we marketed the event to our Internet and live bidder base of thousands, as well as to the general public. All of the bidder’s were responsible for setting the market value on the day of the auction. We have left the Expo management a message as we are anxious to see the results from her analyzing all information regarding the poor attendance at the event, as she set our expectations very high and we optimized our marketing based on that information.

Today our representative [redacted] visited the client regarding new business.  They had an opportunity to discuss the complaint, after which I received this email from [redacted] indicating the matter was resolved.

I apologize for the delay in providing you this information.  We are unable to secure payment for items won from a bidder deposit.  We did attempt to contact you regarding your unpaid invoice several times.  I  have refunded the $200 for your deposit which was processed...

today.  You were sent notice of the credit to the email address we have on file.We still have three of the lots that were originally on your invoice if you would like to purchase them.  We could not hold them at the time of your bids due to non-payment of your invoice.  If you are interested in purchasing the lots indicated below at the price you originally bid (shown below), please contact me and I will be happy to help you. I would request that you contact me by Wednesday April 29th.  The available lots and prices you bid for those items are listed below.  Please let me know by Wednesday if you would still the lots below for the amounts listed:Lot 3288 - $12.50, Swivel bar stoolsLot 3422 - $10.00 Two Upholstered Arm Chairs            Lot 3459 - $12.50 Winsome Granville Foldable Small Corn Husk BasketsIn the future, please keep in mind that if you would like to place bids online, it will require a $200 deposit.  A deposit of the same amount is required if you attend a live auction.If you have additional questions, I am happy to help.  My name is [redacted] and I can be reached at ###-###-####.

August 25, 2015Revdex.com in Response to Complaint filed by [redacted] entered in to a contract with American Auction Company to sell the contents of her store at auction at a commission rate of 35%.  The contract was signed on March 10, 2015.  We...

picked up the consignment at an agreed upon location.  As we were not given an inventory by Ms. [redacted] in advance, we had to process the items at our location before a receipt would be available in our Open Market software.  [redacted], who works in our office, explained the software to [redacted] and offered to assist her in using the Open Market software program to view and track her items, she declined.  This software enables our Sellers to login online to our Seller Portal 24 hours a day, and view as well as print reports at any time.  She was made aware of this.  The portal also includes item descriptions, photographs, dates of auction and auction sales results after the auction. As a matter of record, her inventory count was not even close to 3.500 items as she indicates in the second paragraph of her complaint.  For your convenience, I have included her settlement documents that include the following for each listing: ·         Lot number·         Description·         Photograph·         Sales Price Ms. [redacted] did come to our auction; however, her account regarding about how the auction works is not quite correct.  The bidding starts at $10 unless there are already bids after the week long preview and proxy bidding period online.  Furthermore, if there is a bid at $10, the item will sell.  When there are already bids from the proxy bidding period, the bidding starts at the next highest amount (example:  If the Internet has a bid of $12.50, the Auctioneer would ask for a bid of $15).  As the bid increases, so does the next required bid.  She was aware of this, as her salesperson reviewed each numbered item on the contract. The auction terms on the contract, specifically items 3 and 4 clearly state:  Auction Terms: Consignor agrees and understands that the Property will be sold at Absolute Auction without reserve or minimum price to the highest bidder regardless of sales price.  Consignor agrees to allow AACO to retain full control over the timing, method, location, and type of auction to use in selling the property, including the discretion as to the date(s) of sale of the Property and disbursement of same throughout multiple auctions.    Commissions and Fees:  Consignor understands that while AACO cannot guarantee any sale price in an auction format, AACO will use their professional skill, expertise, experience, sales and marketing to describe, photograph, and group Property to create desirable auction lots, as well as promote Consignor’s products in an effort to obtain the highest possible price for said consigned Property.  In exchange for AACO’s services, AACO will be compensated on a commission basis as set forth of the total sales proceeds of the Consignor’s Property. Our facility is a locked facility, with the exception being during scheduled auctions, previews, and other events.  We do not allow buyers or sellers to walk freely around our building as heavy equipment is in operation and we want to eliminate all possible injury to clients and customers and it is forbidden by our insurance company.  We have several locations in our large warehouse.  Some areas are strictly set up for processing product for auction.  Other areas are areas where specific product type is merchandised (similar to a retail establishment) and offered in an attractive way for preview and the auction event.  In addition, we regularly utilize three main areas for different auction sales areas (the location at which items will be sold).  In [redacted]’ account of her unannounced visit, she saw her property damaged, scratched, broken, crushed, incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the building. The only correct item is that her items were located in different areas of the building and some may have looked incomplete as items were being moved to the event sales ring once processed. Once a lot (consisting of one or more items) is described and photographed, a Runner (employee who moves product to the sales area in which it will be sold after it has been processed) moves the lot to the sales area (the location in which the item will be displayed and offered for sale). Of course she would have seen product in different areas in our building. There are several sales areas in our building that are staged for each auction.  There were no items crushed or broken that were not in that condition when they were picked up.  Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire and that had not been emptied, are probably correct; however, we were IN PROCESS of processing her items and preparing her items for auction.  Our firm has never sold a piece of furniture with contents remaining in the drawers unless the contents were additional drawer pulls or knobs that went with the piece. [redacted] account of what transpired that day is incorrect.  An employee would not have told her that items would be sold in the set of drawers, because they never are. Ms. [redacted] would show up at our auctions, make snide comments about our services to other bidders present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some our employees in her attempt to start a scene.  Many staff members would tell us that at times she acted lucid; however, a number of times, she did not. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire that had not been emptied is probably correct; however, we were IN THE MIDDLE OF PROCESSING.  She showed up at live auctions, made snide comments about our services to other bidders who were present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some of our employees in order to get attention or cause a scene.Many staff members who came in contact with Ms. [redacted] were concerned, as one minute she would seem fine, and the next minute she didn’t seem lucid at all and an in another interaction she was hostile and difficult.As [redacted] wrote, Josh had arranged a meeting with our Chief of Staff, Carolyne Horton and [redacted] so she could share her concerns. She listened to her concerns; however, clarified once again, that is up to our firm to indicate how items would be grouped and sold.  A specific example is the two boat shelves that [redacted] writes about in her submission to your office.  We group items such as those together as they would sell better that way in our auction environment.  She is used to how things sold in her store.  An auction house is not a store.  We merchandise items; however, auctions are very different than a store.Further, [redacted] mentions that our employee said that we would leave items in the armoire.  This is not the case, has never been our procedure or in any of our processes to leave items in an armoire or any piece of furniture.  It was becoming very clear that [redacted] was not willing to listen to anything we said.  She was hostile, argumentative, and her behavior was troubling.Ms. [redacted] believes she is very clear on her facts; however, she is incorrect on many.  This includes her claim that our Company has changed our name three times in the past two years.  Since I joined our organization fifteen years ago, we changed our name recently in January of 2015 from Auction Systems to the American Auction Company.  She claims to have heard rumors of money laundering, and questioned the ethics regarding how a single woman runs a multi-million dollar business.  The owner of our company has been married for over twenty-five years and I not even qualify or dispute her other ridiculous and slanderous comment. Ms. [redacted] mentioned a list of missing items that she included in your letter. Our staff member had placed the pieces in our holding area when she left them outside after she picked up her items; however, he neglected to advise his Manager which would have resulted in a call to [redacted].  When she inquired about the items we searched our facility and the items were quickly found and returned to [redacted].We were very upset that Ms. [redacted] was not happy with her experience with our firm.  In addition, to that end we were willing to waive our commission due to her dissatisfaction.  The only requirement was that she signs a standard release agreement indicating that she would not engage in negative communication regarding our firm.  She declined.The reason for this was that we were advised by a Consignor who is also a consignor at [redacted] that he overhead a conversation regarding [redacted] and an [redacted] employee regarding [redacted] wanting to transfer all of her items to [redacted] as quickly as possible.[redacted] also indicated she was disappointed with the prices her items received at auction.  Our firm performed our due diligence and her items were well advertised.  Advertisements and promotions included but were not limited to:  Unless specifically negotiated and contracted with consignor, items highlighted in advertising are chosen by Marketing Dept, based on the general interest of American Auction Company Bidders: ·         2 LED Billboards in Phoenix, advertising American Life Auctions·         Newspaper Advertisingo        AZ Republic, Sunday classifieds, under Auction Heading, every Sundayo        New Times Weekly, advertised during week of live auction·         Radioo        Top 40 music station in Phoenix and most of Arizona, advertised during week of live auctiono        Latino music station in Phoenix, advertised during week of live auctiono        American Auction Company Radio Network, advertised to all registered American Auction Co. bidders·         Email broadcastso        At least 3 email broadcasts to very large in-house email subscriber list·         Phone calls to American Life Auction bidders, announcing next live auction·         Social media postso        Facebooko        Twittero        Google+o        Instagramo        YouTube, including Sneak Peek auction video, highlighting various items in American Life Auctionso        Pinterest    ·         Social media paid advertisements on Facebook·         Onsite flyers posted and available for handouts to bidders atpreview and auctions·         Advertising on American Auction Co catalog covers·         Press releases·         Craigslist posts·         Digital ads with newspapers, radio stations, and specialty web sites·         Third party auction websites·         Featured items on front page of website (AmericanAuctionCo.com)·         Retargeting digital ads aimed at visitors to AmericanAuctionCo.com·         Google AdWords campaigns  In closing, our firm offered [redacted] inventory to our entire bidder base via emails, phone calls, text messages, and a week of pre-auction bidding and through video sneak peeks.  The public was also invited to bid through print and online channels including radio, television, billboards, and more. Based on all of the advertising and efforts on our part, the well informed public spoke and determined the fair market value at auction.  The Fair Market Value is defined as: Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. [redacted] has received all settlement reports related to her consignment. Sincerely,   [redacted]Customer Service Manager

August 25, 2015Revdex.com in Response to Complaint filed by [redacted] entered in to a contract with American Auction Company to sell the contents of her store at auction at a commission rate of 35%.  The contract was signed on March 10, 2015.  We picked up the consignment at an agreed upon location.  As we were not given an inventory by Ms. [redacted] in advance, we had to process the items at our location before a receipt would be available in our Open Market software.  [redacted], who works in our office, explained the software to [redacted] and offered to assist her in using the Open Market software program to view and track her items, she declined.  This software enables our Sellers to login online to our Seller Portal 24 hours a day, and view as well as print reports at any time.  She was made aware of this.  The portal also includes item descriptions, photographs, dates of auction and auction sales results after the auction. As a matter of record, her inventory count was not even close to 3.500 items as she indicates in the second paragraph of her complaint.  For your convenience, I have included her settlement documents that include the following for each listing: ·         Lot number·         Description·         Photograph·         Sales Price Ms. [redacted] did come to our auction; however, her account regarding about how the auction works is not quite correct.  The bidding starts at $10 unless there are already bids after the week long preview and proxy bidding period online.  Furthermore, if there is a bid at $10, the item will sell.  When there are already bids from the proxy bidding period, the bidding starts at the next highest amount (example:  If the Internet has a bid of $12.50, the Auctioneer would ask for a bid of $15).  As the bid increases, so does the next required bid.  She was aware of this, as her salesperson reviewed each numbered item on the contract. The auction terms on the contract, specifically items 3 and 4 clearly state:  Auction Terms: Consignor agrees and understands that the Property will be sold at Absolute Auction without reserve or minimum price to the highest bidder regardless of sales price.  Consignor agrees to allow AACO to retain full control over the timing, method, location, and type of auction to use in selling the property, including the discretion as to the date(s) of sale of the Property and disbursement of same throughout multiple auctions.    Commissions and Fees:  Consignor understands that while AACO cannot guarantee any sale price in an auction format, AACO will use their professional skill, expertise, experience, sales and marketing to describe, photograph, and group Property to create desirable auction lots, as well as promote Consignor’s products in an effort to obtain the highest possible price for said consigned Property.  In exchange for AACO’s services, AACO will be compensated on a commission basis as set forth of the total sales proceeds of the Consignor’s Property. Our facility is a locked facility, with the exception being during scheduled auctions, previews, and other events.  We do not allow buyers or sellers to walk freely around our building as heavy equipment is in operation and we want to eliminate all possible injury to clients and customers and it is forbidden by our insurance company.  We have several locations in our large warehouse.  Some areas are strictly set up for processing product for auction.  Other areas are areas where specific product type is merchandised (similar to a retail establishment) and offered in an attractive way for preview and the auction event.  In addition, we regularly utilize three main areas for different auction sales areas (the location at which items will be sold).  In [redacted]’ account of her unannounced visit, she saw her property damaged, scratched, broken, crushed, incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the building. The only correct item is that her items were located in different areas of the building and some may have looked incomplete as items were being moved to the event sales ring once processed. Once a lot (consisting of one or more items) is described and photographed, a Runner (employee who moves product to the sales area in which it will be sold after it has been processed) moves the lot to the sales area (the location in which the item will be displayed and offered for sale). Of course she would have seen product in different areas in our building. There are several sales areas in our building that are staged for each auction.  There were no items crushed or broken that were not in that condition when they were picked up.  Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire and that had not been emptied, are probably correct; however, we were IN PROCESS of processing her items and preparing her items for auction.  Our firm has never sold a piece of furniture with contents remaining in the drawers unless the contents were additional drawer pulls or knobs that went with the piece. [redacted] account of what transpired that day is incorrect.  An employee would not have told her that items would be sold in the set of drawers, because they never are. Ms. [redacted] would show up at our auctions, make snide comments about our services to other bidders present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some our employees in her attempt to start a scene.  Many staff members would tell us that at times she acted lucid; however, a number of times, she did not. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire that had not been emptied is probably correct; however, we were IN THE MIDDLE OF PROCESSING.  She showed up at live auctions, made snide comments about our services to other bidders who were present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some of our employees in order to get attention or cause a scene.Many staff members who came in contact with Ms. [redacted] were concerned, as one minute she would seem fine, and the next minute she didn’t seem lucid at all and an in another interaction she was hostile and difficult.As [redacted] wrote, Josh had arranged a meeting with our Chief of Staff, Carolyne Horton and [redacted] so she could share her concerns. She listened to her concerns; however, clarified once again, that is up to our firm to indicate how items would be grouped and sold.  A specific example is the two boat shelves that [redacted] writes about in her submission to your office.  We group items such as those together as they would sell better that way in our auction environment.  She is used to how things sold in her store.  An auction house is not a store.  We merchandise items; however, auctions are very different than a store.Further, [redacted] mentions that our employee said that we would leave items in the armoire.  This is not the case, has never been our procedure or in any of our processes to leave items in an armoire or any piece of furniture.  It was becoming very clear that [redacted] was not willing to listen to anything we said.  She was hostile, argumentative, and her behavior was troubling.Ms. [redacted] believes she is very clear on her facts; however, she is incorrect on many.  This includes her claim that our Company has changed our name three times in the past two years.  Since I joined our organization fifteen years ago, we changed our name recently in January of 2015 from Auction Systems to the American Auction Company.  She claims to have heard rumors of money laundering, and questioned the ethics regarding how a single woman runs a multi-million dollar business.  The owner of our company has been married for over twenty-five years and I not even qualify or dispute her other ridiculous and slanderous comment. Ms. [redacted] mentioned a list of missing items that she included in your letter. Our staff member had placed the pieces in our holding area when she left them outside after she picked up her items; however, he neglected to advise his Manager which would have resulted in a call to [redacted].  When she inquired about the items we searched our facility and the items were quickly found and returned to [redacted].We were very upset that Ms. [redacted] was not happy with her experience with our firm.  In addition, to that end we were willing to waive our commission due to her dissatisfaction.  The only requirement was that she signs a standard release agreement indicating that she would not engage in negative communication regarding our firm.  She declined.The reason for this was that we were advised by a Consignor who is also a consignor at [redacted] that he overhead a conversation regarding [redacted] and an [redacted] employee regarding [redacted] wanting to transfer all of her items to [redacted] as quickly as possible.[redacted] also indicated she was disappointed with the prices her items received at auction.  Our firm performed our due diligence and her items were well advertised.  Advertisements and promotions included but were not limited to:  Unless specifically negotiated and contracted with consignor, items highlighted in advertising are chosen by Marketing Dept, based on the general interest of American Auction Company Bidders: ·         2 LED Billboards in Phoenix, advertising American Life Auctions·         Newspaper Advertisingo        AZ Republic, Sunday classifieds, under Auction Heading, every Sundayo        New Times Weekly, advertised during week of live auction·         Radioo        Top 40 music station in Phoenix and most of Arizona, advertised during week of live auctiono        Latino music station in Phoenix, advertised during week of live auctiono        American Auction Company Radio Network, advertised to all registered American Auction Co. bidders·         Email broadcastso        At least 3 email broadcasts to very large in-house email subscriber list·         Phone calls to American Life Auction bidders, announcing next live auction·         Social media postso        Facebooko        Twittero        Google+o        Instagramo        YouTube, including Sneak Peek auction video, highlighting various items in American Life Auctionso        Pinterest    ·         Social media paid advertisements on Facebook·         Onsite flyers posted and available for handouts to bidders atpreview and auctions·         Advertising on American Auction Co catalog covers·         Press releases·         Craigslist posts·         Digital ads with newspapers, radio stations, and specialty web sites·         Third party auction websites·         Featured items on front page of website (AmericanAuctionCo.com)·         Retargeting digital ads aimed at visitors to AmericanAuctionCo.com·         Google AdWords campaigns  In closing, our firm offered [redacted] inventory to our entire bidder base via emails, phone calls, text messages, and a week of pre-auction bidding and through video sneak peeks.  The public was also invited to bid through print and online channels including radio, television, billboards, and more. Based on all of the advertising and efforts on our part, the well informed public spoke and determined the fair market value at auction.  The Fair Market Value is defined as: Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. [redacted] has received all settlement reports related to her consignment. Sincerely,   [redacted]Customer Service Manager

Thank you for speaking with me on Wednesday May 13th regarding your consignment to our auction firm for the Sports Fan Expo auction. From our conversation, I learned that you did receive your settlement check for the auction. Our auction settlement timeline (also reflected on your contract) states...

we will issue settlement proceeds fourteen (14) business days after an auction. Further, I understand that Pete had indicated he would contact you after the auction to let you know the results. I am sorry that he did not call and that you had difficulty reaching him. We are a values driven company and commitments we make are very important to us. Please accept our apology.We were excited to conduct an auction at the [redacted] for the second year in a year in a row, and the expectations set by the sponsors for live attendance were very encouraging. When we agreed to be included in this event, we understood that our auction would be the only event offered during a few hour timeframe while our auction took place. The lack of live attendance concerned us greatly and we later learned that there was a separate event in close proximity (and free to the public) sponsored by [redacted]. that was also not disclosed. We now understand that attendance at our auction was greatly reduced due to that event. Our process of open proxy bidding on our site for a full week prior to an auction ensures that the public and registered bidders have an opportunity to view the entire auction catalog with color photos and descriptions and place bids for items as well. In addition, our marketing plan executed for this auction was quite comprehensive and included the special advertising necessary to alert sports memorabilia collectors. Moreover, we implemented value added marketing efforts to attract additional bidders that include: 1. We strategically placed our auction next to the (main) event or (main) stage [redacted] to catch curiosity of tournament attendees as they were walking by and in turn it would result in bigger auction attendance 2. We raffled off / gave away free tickets to attend [redacted] prior to the event during our other auction(s) 3. A-frame boards/advertising/signs were placed inside event tent/building along main entrance pointing direction to our auction location which then allowed a straight walk within view directly to our auction location 4. We placed additional advertising on television and popular websites with the entities as listed below to draw attention to the event. Run dates and impressions are displayed below and as you can tell, impressions and viewership was significant: • [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015I wanted you to see the email we received as an exhibitor at the event. There were high hopes for attendance; however, an unknown competing event had an impact. Regardless of the live attendees, we marketed the event to our Internet and live bidder base of thousands, as well as to the general public. All of the bidder’s were responsible for setting the market value on the day of the auction. We have left the Expo management a message as we are anxious to see the results from her analyzing all information regarding the poor attendance at the event, as she set our expectations very high and we optimized our marketing based on that information.

We were able to replace the check to Mr. [redacted] that was sent to the incorrect address.  Our bank had advised us regarding steps to take and we are sorry that process required action by Mr. [redacted]  The matter has been solved.

Today our representative [redacted] visited the client regarding new business.  They had an opportunity to discuss the complaint, after which I received this email from [redacted] indicating the matter was resolved.

Review: I entered into a contract with American Auction to liquidate a couple warehouses of items. The first items were Auctioned on Nov. 21, 2015. They were supposed to issue payment within 14 business days. I inquired repeatedly after this time to the status of my payment. American Auction told me that they had mailed it and day after day told me I should keep waiting. It should only have taken a day or two for mail to arrive less than 30 miles away!

After weeks of waiting and insistence that they had mailed it to me the office narrative seemed to change to asking me if I was sure I hadn't received it, and forgot that I deposited it? This check was for a little over $3000 and I assured them I had never received it. They kept telling me they would check into the matter and call me back. They also verified my address again. However, on one call, they read off the wrong address. After telling them I never heard of that address and it wasn't even my city, they quickly back peddled and said they had sent it to the correct address.

After dealing with customer service multiple times, they said I could pick up my check the following Monday. Upon arriving the check was not the amount in dispute or as promised. It was a second check for approx. $1800 from a second auction. Upon depositing into my personal bank account I noticed the address that was on the check was not mine? I called American Auction several times and finally was told that the first check had been cashed. I asked for copy, and that copy had the wrong address on it? It had been taken to a Check Cashing store and my signature was forged.

Only then did American Auction agree that they mailed it to the wrong person but still wouldn't offer a replacement payment and insisted I drive 50 miles to their bank and fill out a fraud form and have it notarized, and only then would I be paid. I filled out fraud form at [redacted] on Jan 4, 2016 and went back to American Auction. They still haven't reissued me a check.Desired Settlement: After talking to their bank, I was told that this fraud report should have been reported by American Auction, not me. Furthermore, the money will be eventually automatically refunded back to American Auction but may take up to a month. Since it is clearly American Auctions mistake in sending the check to the wrong person they should be the one waiting for the payment to be returned by their bank, not me the injured party. I would therefore request immediate payment to all monies owed.

Business

Response:

We were able to replace the check to Mr. [redacted] that was sent to the incorrect address. Our bank had advised us regarding steps to take and we are sorry that process required action by Mr. [redacted] The matter has been solved.

Review: A gentleman, Pete B[redacted], came to our business to solicit us to auction items with his auction company. He originally called. Then he came into the office. We finally obliged Pete and auctioned two items. A signed [redacted] item autographed with certificate of authenticity. Valued $500-$1000. The other item was [redacted]. We were supposed to receive payment two weeks after the auction. Multiple weeks later we left numerous messages and never received any calls back.

After using a different number to contact Pete B[redacted], we were successful in reaching the rep. The rep stated that the items were sold both of them for about $350 total value together. This was upsetting but we understand that there was no guarantee. The framing on the [redacted] piece was worth more than $350. We were assured we'd get our check.

We reached out for the company well after a reasonable amount to receive the check again to follow up on status. After other various non applicable excuses, they stated that the check was to be sent on Friday. It's Tuesday now. No check. The rep actually says that the items sold for more like $150 total. We still don't have the check.

We would not recommend this business. We feel as if the items have almost been literally stolen from us and that we have been defrauded and none of the original promises that the rep nor the company has made to us come to fruition.Desired Settlement: We would like to be paid for the amount that they originally said that the items were sold for.

Business

Response:

Thank you for speaking with me on Wednesday May 13th regarding your consignment to our auction firm for the Sports Fan Expo auction. From our conversation, I learned that you did receive your settlement check for the auction. Our auction settlement timeline (also reflected on your contract) states we will issue settlement proceeds fourteen (14) business days after an auction. Further, I understand that Pete had indicated he would contact you after the auction to let you know the results. I am sorry that he did not call and that you had difficulty reaching him. We are a values driven company and commitments we make are very important to us. Please accept our apology.We were excited to conduct an auction at the [redacted] for the second year in a year in a row, and the expectations set by the sponsors for live attendance were very encouraging. When we agreed to be included in this event, we understood that our auction would be the only event offered during a few hour timeframe while our auction took place. The lack of live attendance concerned us greatly and we later learned that there was a separate event in close proximity (and free to the public) sponsored by [redacted]. that was also not disclosed. We now understand that attendance at our auction was greatly reduced due to that event. Our process of open proxy bidding on our site for a full week prior to an auction ensures that the public and registered bidders have an opportunity to view the entire auction catalog with color photos and descriptions and place bids for items as well. In addition, our marketing plan executed for this auction was quite comprehensive and included the special advertising necessary to alert sports memorabilia collectors. Moreover, we implemented value added marketing efforts to attract additional bidders that include: 1. We strategically placed our auction next to the (main) event or (main) stage [redacted] to catch curiosity of tournament attendees as they were walking by and in turn it would result in bigger auction attendance 2. We raffled off / gave away free tickets to attend [redacted] prior to the event during our other auction(s) 3. A-frame boards/advertising/signs were placed inside event tent/building along main entrance pointing direction to our auction location which then allowed a straight walk within view directly to our auction location 4. We placed additional advertising on television and popular websites with the entities as listed below to draw attention to the event. Run dates and impressions are displayed below and as you can tell, impressions and viewership was significant: • [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015• [redacted] Run date: April 17, 2015I wanted you to see the email we received as an exhibitor at the event. There were high hopes for attendance; however, an unknown competing event had an impact. Regardless of the live attendees, we marketed the event to our Internet and live bidder base of thousands, as well as to the general public. All of the bidder’s were responsible for setting the market value on the day of the auction. We have left the Expo management a message as we are anxious to see the results from her analyzing all information regarding the poor attendance at the event, as she set our expectations very high and we optimized our marketing based on that information.

Review: I hired American Auction to sell the contents of my former furniture and home decor. From day one everything was misrepresented! Two 16'truckloads were delivered to their

premises. I never received any kind of paperwork or receipt. When I went to the facility,

unannounced, I saw my property damaged, scratched, smashed, punctured, broken, crushed,

incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the buildings

The day of the auction, May 16, (they were selling $1000 pieces of furniture for $10} packed

with contents! Some of my pieces were mixed in and/or sold with other unknown lots,

belonging to other people. Some were displayed incomplete.

I requested that they return all my remaining property An employee [redacted] agreed, to return

my property. And I was given a 3 day window to arrange pick up. However, I had to sign a

'release' which stated I would NOT sue them.

Instead they 'harvested' everything of value and conducted an auction after our agreement!

According to their 'Catalog' the auction ended May 21, NOT May 13 as the settlement paper

appears ta be altered. Personnel was instructed not to allow me to enter the building and my

items were put outside in the parking lot. Then [redacted] withheld payment.

After inventorying the residue I found an alarming number of items missing. Coin collections,

jewelry, silver, antiques, crystal, appliances, parts, store equipment, fixtures and tools.

After seeing my convoluted Settlement paperwork with altered dates and bogus 'consignor'

numbers, I have to question whether my property was 'sold' at all or 'misplaced'.

Weeks later, I inquired about a Lot! which was not in my settlement (a 5'6" piece of Oak

furniture) which had not been returned to me. [redacted] said it was among my 'returned goods.'

However, they were able to produce it only after my inquiry, on July 3.

I enclosed pictures of some items, to allow you to see that it was NOT junk and did not

deserve the treatment either my property or I received.Desired Settlement: I requested that they return all my remaining property

Business

Response:

August 25, 2015Revdex.com in Response to Complaint filed by [redacted] entered in to a contract with American Auction Company to sell the contents of her store at auction at a commission rate of 35%. The contract was signed on March 10, 2015. We picked up the consignment at an agreed upon location. As we were not given an inventory by Ms. [redacted] in advance, we had to process the items at our location before a receipt would be available in our Open Market software. [redacted], who works in our office, explained the software to [redacted] and offered to assist her in using the Open Market software program to view and track her items, she declined. This software enables our Sellers to login online to our Seller Portal 24 hours a day, and view as well as print reports at any time. She was made aware of this. The portal also includes item descriptions, photographs, dates of auction and auction sales results after the auction. As a matter of record, her inventory count was not even close to 3.500 items as she indicates in the second paragraph of her complaint. For your convenience, I have included her settlement documents that include the following for each listing: · Lot number· Description· Photograph· Sales Price Ms. [redacted] did come to our auction; however, her account regarding about how the auction works is not quite correct. The bidding starts at $10 unless there are already bids after the week long preview and proxy bidding period online. Furthermore, if there is a bid at $10, the item will sell. When there are already bids from the proxy bidding period, the bidding starts at the next highest amount (example: If the Internet has a bid of $12.50, the Auctioneer would ask for a bid of $15). As the bid increases, so does the next required bid. She was aware of this, as her salesperson reviewed each numbered item on the contract. The auction terms on the contract, specifically items 3 and 4 clearly state: Auction Terms: Consignor agrees and understands that the Property will be sold at Absolute Auction without reserve or minimum price to the highest bidder regardless of sales price. Consignor agrees to allow AACO to retain full control over the timing, method, location, and type of auction to use in selling the property, including the discretion as to the date(s) of sale of the Property and disbursement of same throughout multiple auctions. Commissions and Fees: Consignor understands that while AACO cannot guarantee any sale price in an auction format, AACO will use their professional skill, expertise, experience, sales and marketing to describe, photograph, and group Property to create desirable auction lots, as well as promote Consignor’s products in an effort to obtain the highest possible price for said consigned Property. In exchange for AACO’s services, AACO will be compensated on a commission basis as set forth of the total sales proceeds of the Consignor’s Property. Our facility is a locked facility, with the exception being during scheduled auctions, previews, and other events. We do not allow buyers or sellers to walk freely around our building as heavy equipment is in operation and we want to eliminate all possible injury to clients and customers and it is forbidden by our insurance company. We have several locations in our large warehouse. Some areas are strictly set up for processing product for auction. Other areas are areas where specific product type is merchandised (similar to a retail establishment) and offered in an attractive way for preview and the auction event. In addition, we regularly utilize three main areas for different auction sales areas (the location at which items will be sold). In [redacted]’ account of her unannounced visit, she saw her property damaged, scratched, broken, crushed, incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the building. The only correct item is that her items were located in different areas of the building and some may have looked incomplete as items were being moved to the event sales ring once processed. Once a lot (consisting of one or more items) is described and photographed, a Runner (employee who moves product to the sales area in which it will be sold after it has been processed) moves the lot to the sales area (the location in which the item will be displayed and offered for sale). Of course she would have seen product in different areas in our building. There are several sales areas in our building that are staged for each auction. There were no items crushed or broken that were not in that condition when they were picked up. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire and that had not been emptied, are probably correct; however, we were IN PROCESS of processing her items and preparing her items for auction. Our firm has never sold a piece of furniture with contents remaining in the drawers unless the contents were additional drawer pulls or knobs that went with the piece. [redacted] account of what transpired that day is incorrect. An employee would not have told her that items would be sold in the set of drawers, because they never are. Ms. [redacted] would show up at our auctions, make snide comments about our services to other bidders present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some our employees in her attempt to start a scene. Many staff members would tell us that at times she acted lucid; however, a number of times, she did not. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire that had not been emptied is probably correct; however, we were IN THE MIDDLE OF PROCESSING. She showed up at live auctions, made snide comments about our services to other bidders who were present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some of our employees in order to get attention or cause a scene.Many staff members who came in contact with Ms. [redacted] were concerned, as one minute she would seem fine, and the next minute she didn’t seem lucid at all and an in another interaction she was hostile and difficult.As [redacted] wrote, Josh had arranged a meeting with our Chief of Staff, Carolyne Horton and [redacted] so she could share her concerns. She listened to her concerns; however, clarified once again, that is up to our firm to indicate how items would be grouped and sold. A specific example is the two boat shelves that [redacted] writes about in her submission to your office. We group items such as those together as they would sell better that way in our auction environment. She is used to how things sold in her store. An auction house is not a store. We merchandise items; however, auctions are very different than a store.Further, [redacted] mentions that our employee said that we would leave items in the armoire. This is not the case, has never been our procedure or in any of our processes to leave items in an armoire or any piece of furniture. It was becoming very clear that [redacted] was not willing to listen to anything we said. She was hostile, argumentative, and her behavior was troubling.Ms. [redacted] believes she is very clear on her facts; however, she is incorrect on many. This includes her claim that our Company has changed our name three times in the past two years. Since I joined our organization fifteen years ago, we changed our name recently in January of 2015 from Auction Systems to the American Auction Company. She claims to have heard rumors of money laundering, and questioned the ethics regarding how a single woman runs a multi-million dollar business. The owner of our company has been married for over twenty-five years and I not even qualify or dispute her other ridiculous and slanderous comment. Ms. [redacted] mentioned a list of missing items that she included in your letter. Our staff member had placed the pieces in our holding area when she left them outside after she picked up her items; however, he neglected to advise his Manager which would have resulted in a call to [redacted]. When she inquired about the items we searched our facility and the items were quickly found and returned to [redacted].We were very upset that Ms. [redacted] was not happy with her experience with our firm. In addition, to that end we were willing to waive our commission due to her dissatisfaction. The only requirement was that she signs a standard release agreement indicating that she would not engage in negative communication regarding our firm. She declined.The reason for this was that we were advised by a Consignor who is also a consignor at [redacted] that he overhead a conversation regarding [redacted] and an [redacted] employee regarding [redacted] wanting to transfer all of her items to [redacted] as quickly as possible.[redacted] also indicated she was disappointed with the prices her items received at auction. Our firm performed our due diligence and her items were well advertised. Advertisements and promotions included but were not limited to: Unless specifically negotiated and contracted with consignor, items highlighted in advertising are chosen by Marketing Dept, based on the general interest of American Auction Company Bidders: · 2 LED Billboards in Phoenix, advertising American Life Auctions· Newspaper Advertisingo AZ Republic, Sunday classifieds, under Auction Heading, every Sundayo New Times Weekly, advertised during week of live auction· Radioo Top 40 music station in Phoenix and most of Arizona, advertised during week of live auctiono Latino music station in Phoenix, advertised during week of live auctiono American Auction Company Radio Network, advertised to all registered American Auction Co. bidders· Email broadcastso At least 3 email broadcasts to very large in-house email subscriber list· Phone calls to American Life Auction bidders, announcing next live auction· Social media postso Facebooko Twittero Google+o Instagramo YouTube, including Sneak Peek auction video, highlighting various items in American Life Auctionso Pinterest · Social media paid advertisements on Facebook· Onsite flyers posted and available for handouts to bidders atpreview and auctions· Advertising on American Auction Co catalog covers· Press releases· Craigslist posts· Digital ads with newspapers, radio stations, and specialty web sites· Third party auction websites· Featured items on front page of website (AmericanAuctionCo.com)· Retargeting digital ads aimed at visitors to AmericanAuctionCo.com· Google AdWords campaigns In closing, our firm offered [redacted] inventory to our entire bidder base via emails, phone calls, text messages, and a week of pre-auction bidding and through video sneak peeks. The public was also invited to bid through print and online channels including radio, television, billboards, and more. Based on all of the advertising and efforts on our part, the well informed public spoke and determined the fair market value at auction. The Fair Market Value is defined as: Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. [redacted] has received all settlement reports related to her consignment. Sincerely, [redacted]Customer Service Manager

Business

Response:

August 25, 2015Revdex.com in Response to Complaint filed by [redacted] entered in to a contract with American Auction Company to sell the contents of her store at auction at a commission rate of 35%. The contract was signed on March 10, 2015. We picked up the consignment at an agreed upon location. As we were not given an inventory by Ms. [redacted] in advance, we had to process the items at our location before a receipt would be available in our Open Market software. [redacted], who works in our office, explained the software to [redacted] and offered to assist her in using the Open Market software program to view and track her items, she declined. This software enables our Sellers to login online to our Seller Portal 24 hours a day, and view as well as print reports at any time. She was made aware of this. The portal also includes item descriptions, photographs, dates of auction and auction sales results after the auction. As a matter of record, her inventory count was not even close to 3.500 items as she indicates in the second paragraph of her complaint. For your convenience, I have included her settlement documents that include the following for each listing: · Lot number· Description· Photograph· Sales Price Ms. [redacted] did come to our auction; however, her account regarding about how the auction works is not quite correct. The bidding starts at $10 unless there are already bids after the week long preview and proxy bidding period online. Furthermore, if there is a bid at $10, the item will sell. When there are already bids from the proxy bidding period, the bidding starts at the next highest amount (example: If the Internet has a bid of $12.50, the Auctioneer would ask for a bid of $15). As the bid increases, so does the next required bid. She was aware of this, as her salesperson reviewed each numbered item on the contract. The auction terms on the contract, specifically items 3 and 4 clearly state: Auction Terms: Consignor agrees and understands that the Property will be sold at Absolute Auction without reserve or minimum price to the highest bidder regardless of sales price. Consignor agrees to allow AACO to retain full control over the timing, method, location, and type of auction to use in selling the property, including the discretion as to the date(s) of sale of the Property and disbursement of same throughout multiple auctions. Commissions and Fees: Consignor understands that while AACO cannot guarantee any sale price in an auction format, AACO will use their professional skill, expertise, experience, sales and marketing to describe, photograph, and group Property to create desirable auction lots, as well as promote Consignor’s products in an effort to obtain the highest possible price for said consigned Property. In exchange for AACO’s services, AACO will be compensated on a commission basis as set forth of the total sales proceeds of the Consignor’s Property. Our facility is a locked facility, with the exception being during scheduled auctions, previews, and other events. We do not allow buyers or sellers to walk freely around our building as heavy equipment is in operation and we want to eliminate all possible injury to clients and customers and it is forbidden by our insurance company. We have several locations in our large warehouse. Some areas are strictly set up for processing product for auction. Other areas are areas where specific product type is merchandised (similar to a retail establishment) and offered in an attractive way for preview and the auction event. In addition, we regularly utilize three main areas for different auction sales areas (the location at which items will be sold). In [redacted]’ account of her unannounced visit, she saw her property damaged, scratched, broken, crushed, incomplete and scattered throughout different areas of the building. The only correct item is that her items were located in different areas of the building and some may have looked incomplete as items were being moved to the event sales ring once processed. Once a lot (consisting of one or more items) is described and photographed, a Runner (employee who moves product to the sales area in which it will be sold after it has been processed) moves the lot to the sales area (the location in which the item will be displayed and offered for sale). Of course she would have seen product in different areas in our building. There are several sales areas in our building that are staged for each auction. There were no items crushed or broken that were not in that condition when they were picked up. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire and that had not been emptied, are probably correct; however, we were IN PROCESS of processing her items and preparing her items for auction. Our firm has never sold a piece of furniture with contents remaining in the drawers unless the contents were additional drawer pulls or knobs that went with the piece. [redacted] account of what transpired that day is incorrect. An employee would not have told her that items would be sold in the set of drawers, because they never are. Ms. [redacted] would show up at our auctions, make snide comments about our services to other bidders present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some our employees in her attempt to start a scene. Many staff members would tell us that at times she acted lucid; however, a number of times, she did not. Ms. [redacted] account of her full armoire that had not been emptied is probably correct; however, we were IN THE MIDDLE OF PROCESSING. She showed up at live auctions, made snide comments about our services to other bidders who were present at the auctions and she would intimidate and hassle some of our employees in order to get attention or cause a scene.Many staff members who came in contact with Ms. [redacted] were concerned, as one minute she would seem fine, and the next minute she didn’t seem lucid at all and an in another interaction she was hostile and difficult.As [redacted] wrote, Josh had arranged a meeting with our Chief of Staff, Carolyne Horton and [redacted] so she could share her concerns. She listened to her concerns; however, clarified once again, that is up to our firm to indicate how items would be grouped and sold. A specific example is the two boat shelves that [redacted] writes about in her submission to your office. We group items such as those together as they would sell better that way in our auction environment. She is used to how things sold in her store. An auction house is not a store. We merchandise items; however, auctions are very different than a store.Further, [redacted] mentions that our employee said that we would leave items in the armoire. This is not the case, has never been our procedure or in any of our processes to leave items in an armoire or any piece of furniture. It was becoming very clear that [redacted] was not willing to listen to anything we said. She was hostile, argumentative, and her behavior was troubling.Ms. [redacted] believes she is very clear on her facts; however, she is incorrect on many. This includes her claim that our Company has changed our name three times in the past two years. Since I joined our organization fifteen years ago, we changed our name recently in January of 2015 from Auction Systems to the American Auction Company. She claims to have heard rumors of money laundering, and questioned the ethics regarding how a single woman runs a multi-million dollar business. The owner of our company has been married for over twenty-five years and I not even qualify or dispute her other ridiculous and slanderous comment. Ms. [redacted] mentioned a list of missing items that she included in your letter. Our staff member had placed the pieces in our holding area when she left them outside after she picked up her items; however, he neglected to advise his Manager which would have resulted in a call to [redacted]. When she inquired about the items we searched our facility and the items were quickly found and returned to [redacted].We were very upset that Ms. [redacted] was not happy with her experience with our firm. In addition, to that end we were willing to waive our commission due to her dissatisfaction. The only requirement was that she signs a standard release agreement indicating that she would not engage in negative communication regarding our firm. She declined.The reason for this was that we were advised by a Consignor who is also a consignor at [redacted] that he overhead a conversation regarding [redacted] and an [redacted] employee regarding [redacted] wanting to transfer all of her items to [redacted] as quickly as possible.[redacted] also indicated she was disappointed with the prices her items received at auction. Our firm performed our due diligence and her items were well advertised. Advertisements and promotions included but were not limited to: Unless specifically negotiated and contracted with consignor, items highlighted in advertising are chosen by Marketing Dept, based on the general interest of American Auction Company Bidders: · 2 LED Billboards in Phoenix, advertising American Life Auctions· Newspaper Advertisingo AZ Republic, Sunday classifieds, under Auction Heading, every Sundayo New Times Weekly, advertised during week of live auction· Radioo Top 40 music station in Phoenix and most of Arizona, advertised during week of live auctiono Latino music station in Phoenix, advertised during week of live auctiono American Auction Company Radio Network, advertised to all registered American Auction Co. bidders· Email broadcastso At least 3 email broadcasts to very large in-house email subscriber list· Phone calls to American Life Auction bidders, announcing next live auction· Social media postso Facebooko Twittero Google+o Instagramo YouTube, including Sneak Peek auction video, highlighting various items in American Life Auctionso Pinterest · Social media paid advertisements on Facebook· Onsite flyers posted and available for handouts to bidders atpreview and auctions· Advertising on American Auction Co catalog covers· Press releases· Craigslist posts· Digital ads with newspapers, radio stations, and specialty web sites· Third party auction websites· Featured items on front page of website (AmericanAuctionCo.com)· Retargeting digital ads aimed at visitors to AmericanAuctionCo.com· Google AdWords campaigns In closing, our firm offered [redacted] inventory to our entire bidder base via emails, phone calls, text messages, and a week of pre-auction bidding and through video sneak peeks. The public was also invited to bid through print and online channels including radio, television, billboards, and more. Based on all of the advertising and efforts on our part, the well informed public spoke and determined the fair market value at auction. The Fair Market Value is defined as: Fair market value (FMV) is an estimate of the market value of a property, based on what a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured buyer would probably pay to a knowledgeable, willing, and unpressured seller in the market. [redacted] has received all settlement reports related to her consignment. Sincerely, [redacted]Customer Service Manager

Review: On 9/15/2014 my representative delivered to Auction Systems (company) on consignment 111 new, antique and/or collectible dolls with a total retail value of $11,466 (determined as accurate within +/- 30% by the company) and a minimum reserve value after commission of $5420. The dolls were accepted and were to be sold at a special reserve auction on October 18, 2014. On the morning of the auction, just an hour before the auction was to begin, my representative was told that the first 17 dolls had been removed from the sale and the remaining dolls were to be sold without reserve. The company was advised to continue as agreed (all dolls with reserve) or return all the dolls. The company refused either request and supposedly went on with the auction. They also have failed to deliver either the dolls or the funds received. Failing the return of all the dolls in the condition in which they were delivered will result in the filing of a criminal complaint in [redacted] and civil legal action.Desired Settlement: A return of all the dolls plus any damages or the total retail value of same.

Business

Response:

Today our representative [redacted] visited the client regarding new business. They had an opportunity to discuss the complaint, after which I received this email from [redacted] indicating the matter was resolved.

I have conducted business in the valley for over 20 years. In the 20 years I have received and render exceptional customer service and times not so exceptional. But, in my whole entire carrier, I never experience the MOST Horrific, Worse UNPROFESSIONAL, DESPICABLE, RUDESS CUSTOMER SERVICE until I did business with The American Auction Company. If your looking to have the worse experience ever, do business with them. The unfortunate thing, is the regular staff are Stellar, its the Customer Service Manager, front office staff and Auction Manager that seem just to hate the consumer that he assisting the owner to make payroll. WOW Never in my life What a Shame

Review: After calling twice to speak with a representative. I emailed

Hello American Auction

I am [redacted] invoice #[redacted]. Lots ** I have a $147.88 outstanding invoice and I am requesting my its be shipped. Unknown to me the $200.00 deposit has taken my reserve on my card. Thus I have two questions.

1. Can the payment for my items be deducted from my deposit and the remainder returned to me?

Or

2 Can I make the payment on two debit cards?

I did not receive any call or email in return. And the deposit remains on my account. I have not received any products from Auction.Desired Settlement: A refund of the $200.00 deposit. I have already disputed the charge on my debit card.

Business

Response:

I apologize for the delay in providing you this information. We are unable to secure payment for items won from a bidder deposit. We did attempt to contact you regarding your unpaid invoice several times. I have refunded the $200 for your deposit which was processed today. You were sent notice of the credit to the email address we have on file.We still have three of the lots that were originally on your invoice if you would like to purchase them. We could not hold them at the time of your bids due to non-payment of your invoice. If you are interested in purchasing the lots indicated below at the price you originally bid (shown below), please contact me and I will be happy to help you. I would request that you contact me by Wednesday April 29th. The available lots and prices you bid for those items are listed below. Please let me know by Wednesday if you would still the lots below for the amounts listed:Lot 3288 - $12.50, Swivel bar stoolsLot 3422 - $10.00 Two Upholstered Arm Chairs Lot 3459 - $12.50 Winsome Granville Foldable Small Corn Husk BasketsIn the future, please keep in mind that if you would like to place bids online, it will require a $200 deposit. A deposit of the same amount is required if you attend a live auction.If you have additional questions, I am happy to help. My name is [redacted] and I can be reached at ###-###-####.