Auction.com’s earns a 2.8-star rating from 7 reviews and 59 complaints, showing that the majority of bidders are somewhat satisfied with auction experiences.
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Horrible customer service/hinkey preactices
Bid on a piece of property, won the bid, but did not meet the reserve! Totally excited! Within 48 hours, money was wired and all their 800 million pages of paperwork was printed and signed (on our dime!). After they had all the documents and our money, they called to tell us that we did not get it. Really? If I did not win the bid, then why was I told I did? If I did not win the bid, why did they need my money? Round and round with a bunch of people that new nothing. My husband said they were reading off a flow chart...seriously! Finally get ahold of someone who I think knows something and his concern was if I wanted to make another bid? Sure, can you tell me the reserve so we can cut out the crap. His answer was no. So was mine. I called the following day to see about my refund and see how long it would take. They were closed...on a Tuesday! What reputable company that does business with the public is closed on a Tuesday. In the end, we recieved our deposit back...thank God. I would never do business with either one of these companies. Scam is to say the least. Lots of hinkey practices and paperwork. Save yourself time and money...lowball a listing before auction!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
illegal practices
CALL FOR CLASS ACTION. CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.
There are several fishy and unscrupulous aspects of this company, but the worst one is that the contract of adhesion that you are forced to sign to purchase the property is unfair and one-sided. Under the law it is called illusory, because it requires the buyer to perform, but the seller can simply choose NOT perform (ie., not sell the property you the bargained for property) any time it wants. I am not talking about the 15 day period after you sign the contract, during which they require a deposit and consider whether to accept your bid. (For me, during this time, they came back and asked me to raise my price or lose the deal, even though I had been high bidder). No, I am taking about after we both sign the agreement. I approved title, endured weeks of delays after the so-called closing date, signed all closing documents and funded all of my purchase price, and now they are saying perhaps they will not do the deal with me after all. The agreement I was forced to sign, and the agreement you all signed too, lets auction.com simply decide at any time that they can cancel the agreement and just give your deposit back. That is grossly unfair and not allowed by law.
It may not make sense for each of us to sue this big company on our own. But if we get enough people together with similar experiences, perhaps we can retain a class action attorney (their agreement says we waive that right, but the 9th Circuit has disallowed such waivers in the past).
Everyone who has similar complaint contact me ASAP.
[protected]@gmail.com
I agree.
I am very careful for the practice of Auction.com after research online.
California law about trustee's sale only permitted by trustees. Auction.com is not a trustee. So sale of trustee is illegal on Auction.com
There are a lot of legal procedures for trustee's sale. You can not simply put a property on auction online. I called Auction.com to question a status of property on auction.com.
Don't buy a property on Auction.com
Just became a winning bidder on auction.com. The comments on this site really make me nervous. I already had a bad feeling after being pressured to sign the contract within 2 hours of winning. I'm also really concerned that they will not let me inspect the property, even though it is vacant. I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with this picture.
Auction.com has misled several of my clients, telling them one thing by phone, and then changing their story more than just once. We have yet to see seller signed contracts and in PA the state law says that only written agreements are legally binding. Therefore when they won't return that signed agreement back to you they are not letting the buyer start their 10-15 days for inspections and most moretgage companies and title/escrow companies want that signed agreement before they can start processing a loan or title for the home. It is impossible to keep to a closing date with these practices. Also, they refuse to provide sellers disclosures which are required by PA state law. They are also refusing to acknowledge that PA is a buyer choose state for title companies - the BUYER gets to choose. You can not force a buyer to use their company - that is ILLEGAL. I am going to have to advise my clients to try to avoid their properties online until their auction site policies change and they start following our state LAW. Unless the buyers are willing to wait a long time for their closing and risk their deposits.
Dear 1Pecheco,
Thank you for letting us know about that there is a probate property listed on our platform. We generally try to exclude probate properties from our platform and if we do list them, we disclose it as being a probate property. We’d like to update the details of the particular property you mentioned but our internal policy doesn’t allow us to discuss particulars in a public forum. Could you message us the particular property you mentioned to us via our Facebook page? (https://www.facebook.com/Auctioncom) If you’d prefer to call, please call our customer service line and ask for me (Peter), or my customer service managers, Yamir Gonzalez or Vicky Hernandez at [protected].
Thank you,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
We have been trying to purchase a short sale in CA since January of 2013. Now the company holding the mortgage has put it on Auction.com to see what the property value is. There is no mention on Auction.com or any of the advertising site (Zillow, Trulia, etc.) that this home is also a probate. If someone "wins" the auction, they are going to be angry to learn that they can be outbid in probate court by someone who did not pay auction.com 5%. Seems like incomplete disclosure to me.
Thank you for voicing your concerns, I always appreciate getting feedback from our users. I apologize you’ve encountered some frustrating setbacks on our platform. I’d like to set up a call with you to discuss the specifics of your situation and see what I can do to help make your experience on our platform a successful one. Please contact me or my Customer Service Supervisors Yamir Gonzalez or Vicky Hernandez at [protected].
we won a bit last November...waiting and waiting...a long 9 month...e...we have an approval and signed the contract...made a lot of phone calls but cant get any info..every month we have to sign a some kind of paper for giving them more time to clean up a title...have no idea what to do...don't want them cancel my transection...we lost time ..money...I am in stress
Dear Yudha,
I’m not sure who you spoke with, but I’d be happy to set up a call with you to get some more specific details about your experience and review the e-mails and work to find a resolution. Auction.com is not out of compliance with any legal rules and regulations. As with any real estate transaction, each situation is unique and we strongly encourage our platform users to review all contracts thoroughly and do their due diligence in advance of making any bidding or purchasing decisions. Please reach out to me or my Customer Service Supervisors Yamir Gonzalez or Vicky Hernandez at [protected].
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
Hi Peter,
I have evidence from emails that indicated that auction.com somehow allowed and facilitated that I bid againts myself. According to UCC § 2-328. Sale by Auction (4) "If the auctioneer knowingly receives a bid on the seller's behalf or the seller makes or procures such a bid, and notice has not been given that liberty for such bidding is reserved, the buyer may at the buyer's option avoid the sale or take the goods at the price of the last good faith bid prior to the completion of the sale. This subsection shall not apply to any bid at an auction required by law." I am allowed to avoid the sale or you must accept the bid at the price of the last good faith. I made a couple phone calls and your agents said that you have no record of the bid. I am sure that I will be able to work with a lawyer to subpoena the phone record.
Anyone else experiencing one sided contract and felt that auction.com is not playing fair, please post your info. Once I finalised all the data collection, we can possibly start a class action.
Hi Yudha,
I appreciate you reaching out with your concerns and am sorry your experience with our platform has been anything less than positive. At Auction.com, we provide a platform on which both sellers and buyers get true market value for their assets in a way that is more transparent, easier and faster than traditional methods. We make any disclosure documents provided to us by the seller available on our website for each asset listed. Like any real estate transaction, we strongly encourage all our buyers to do their due diligence on the property before they bid and fully understand the responsibilities and nuances of purchasing that asset. Please contact me or my Customer Service Supervisors Vicky Hernandez or Yamir Gonazles at [protected] so we can discuss the specifics of your situation in greater depth and work to come a resolution.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
no communication
Bid on a propoerty and won the bid, but the reserve was not met. Auction.com sent an email saying they would call to tell me what to do within one hour after the close of the auction. Nobody called. Their FAQs said that if I had not been called within 72 hours to call them, which I did. The lady said the contracts "had not printed" and asked if I still wanted the property. I said I did and she emailed a contract and earnest money instructions. She said the seller had 15 days to decide on my bid. I wired the earnest money to ServiceLink as instructed. After 14 days I had not heard anything so I called and was informed that the property I had won the bid on was already in another auction. There were no apologies for not having informed me of this. The service rep had no clue whether they had informed the escrow company to return my earnest money. I have been on hold for 90 minutes with ServiceLink to ask about the return of my escrow money. Shoddy service, no understanding of the amount of money involved or of who the money really belongs to. Do business with them at your own risk.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
We were winning bidder on a home on December 14, 2010. Their FAQ on their website states you will receive a winning bidder e-mail followed by a phone call from a rep within 24 hours. I called two days after the auction ended as we had recieved neither an e-mail or a phone call. I asked her to resend to a different address. She told me we would recieve a pohne call (this was all via online chat). This was on a Thursday ... so I wanted til the weekend was over and revisited the online Chat this morning, December 20th. I explained again the situation. The agent reponded that the contract was not received therefore the transaction was voided. I explained yet AGAIN that we had received nothing from them. She referred me to a phone number to call. I did. They sent me to someone else. At this time I have left a message with a supervisor. I am waiting on them to return my call. At this point I have a sneacking suspicous that since the sale didn't bring much money ... the follow up was not made? We will see - but it's seeming awful fishy as this point as I watched for an e-mail and waited on a call for a property I was hoping to purchase.
Dear M&D.
Thank you for your concerns. All winning bids are subject to the seller’s approval, which they have up to 15 business days to review. Before the seller will review the offer, the Earnest Money Deposit needs to be submitted into escrow. In all cases, the seller is not Auction.com, but the actual financial institution that holds the loan and has foreclosed on the asset. Once the auction ends, the highest bid is submitted to the seller for review, if the winning bid is not accepted by the seller, the asset may go up for auction again, but we do not have access to the reserve amount, as the seller decides both the opening bid and the reserve amount. Auction.com is open 7 days a week, but it is possible that the Escrow Company was closed for an unknown reason when you contacted them regarding the refund of your Earnest Money Deposit.
If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at peterc@auction.com.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Because a seller chose another qualified buyer there are many reason why they or any Real Estate office will choose one buyer over anotherr - it is the sellers choice not auction.com
We appreciate you reaching out with your concern. As an Auction.com staff member we pride ourselves on delivering nothing less than a positive experience for our customers to receive real estate assets at an affordable cost. Please contact Erin Gargan, Director of Social Commerce, at ErinG@Auction.com so we can discuss this further and clarify what may have happened with this property.
After extensive personal experiences, one understands what they do. They need to get a minimum selling price for the various lenders who hire them. And they do many tricks to get the price. They give themselves the right to bid against you, so you think other people are bidding, but they may be the only ones. They force a minimum bid amount, i.e. must bid $50, 000 above the current bid. They call buyers and tell them to offer more or negotiate. People can be made to overpay, and they can be bidding against staff, anyway. And if people are bidding last minute, the deadline gets extended. Then you get a response "you won subject to ! [subject to what?]
To figure out your cost, don't forget the 5% or $20, 000 minimum you must pay them. The purchase can get expensive, and still the lender may not get the minimum amount. So you may appear to win something and never get it. They don't owe you anything.
So be fully prepared to stop and wait for another chance. There are other auction houses, like Hudson and Marshall, but they pretty much operate the same way.
Same thing happend to me for the December 14, 2010 auction. The online representitive Stephanie Housepion [protected] requested I pay for the entire property in full instead of the earnest money deposit which is in winning bidder confirmation and the Terms and Conditions of the auction. Since I refused to pay for the property in full prior to closing she refused to send out my contract and did not return multiple calls. I have called customer service several times and e-mailed with no satisfaction. My last message yesterday was with Mario Navarrete [protected] the asset manager, no return call so far.
Not Legit At All
I won a bid that met the sellers minimum requirement, signed the "As Is" purchase contract, wired my money, waited for 2 weeks, then was told I was rejected. Everybody I spoke to used a script. Nobody knew anything about real estate transactions, ethical business practices, or common sense. It cost me $25 to wire the deposit - and now they have all my personal financial data on file. I feel like this company is a huge scam and very scary to deal with.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Dear noHome,
Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. I’d like to be able to set up a call with you to better understand your experience using our platform. I’m going to reach out to you directly through your ComplaintsBoard profile to see what I can do to help come to a resolution.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
You "pride yourself on delivering an enjoyable experience" too bad you don't have any pride!
They are making deals with the bank and screw us honest, working people..
Soo sick of this Peter guy, no matter how much I'd get payed I would not back this company up!
At Auction.com we pride ourselves on delivering an enjoyable experience to our customers while helping them find the investment that is right for them. We apologize for the disappointment you have experienced, but we do not determine which properties are Cash Only or Financeable. The sellers of the properties determine if the asset will be auctioned off as Cash Only or with an option for Financing. We have worked to make this more clearer on our website with each asset. If you have any further questions feel free to contact Peter Chevalier, Director of Customer Service, at [protected].
We won an auction on auction.com we were preapproved thru FHA and then was told that would only accept cash. We really wanted the home and was told we had it only to then be told it was cash only. We had told our family and children we had won the house. It was not only disappointing but embarrassing too.
Won the auction on site, but then was told I didn't. Don't bid!
Bid on a property and won on auction.com. After not hearing from auction.com in 72 hours contacted them. They said I was not the winner after all, regardless of what website told me. Also stated, that someone placed a bid for $53, 500 and then I placed the same one fro $53, 000 after, so I did not win . Website does not allow bidding at the same price (duh, auction!) and gives extra 2 minutes when someone outbids you. My bid was the last one placed! Filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but that won't get me the house I want.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! You will regret it.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Non existent customer service
I won an auction on from this so called auctioneer, and signed a purchase and sale agreement after weeks and weeks of delays from Auction.com because of poor paper work and zero communication from them, the deal sits stalled since the contractor they used damaged the house so badly upon opening it up for the home inspector it is uninhabitable. I have had ZERO communication from Auction.com. It is so bad the bank who holds the note has taken over and is trying to rectify the issue. The bank has realized that this three month long series of blunders by Auction.com is going to end up in in a losing lawsuit and now they refer any communication to there legal department. I have had to procure a lawyer and even he can not believe the level of incompetence on the part of Auction.com the bank and the idiot vendors they use.
I would warn anyone BEFORE USING AUCTION.COM GET A GOOD REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY.
I would count on problems and very little if any communication from Auction.com, delays and incompetence seem to be the best you can expect.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Hi there,
I work for Auction.com in managing our communications online via social media channels and sites like this one. Reading the review of your experience with our company, you absolutely have every right to feel frustrated. I would if I went through that type of back and forth with no resolution! As a growing business, we are constantly trying to learn from our mistakes in order to prohibit experiences like yours from happening in the future. Finding ways to improve our communications and management of transactions is a HUGE priority for Auction.com. Again, I am truly sorry about your experience as it sounds very atypical from the usual feedback we solicit from other customers who come back again and again to purchase property. If you would be open to connecting with me directly to try and resolve some of these issues in a more effective manner, I would really appreciate it. Please email me directly at ering@auction.com with your contact info and hopefully we can take some steps to turn your experience with Auction.com around. Thank you.
Illegal Auctions & Fraud
This Company is selling peoples homes illegally that are not verified in Default or making sure by calling bank or lender before putting your home up for auction. My home is currently on auction and I have NEVER ever been in default and through some bank error from a past bankrupt loan servicer of my loan back in 2002, my home is now on their auction site to be sold September 1st. Seems this company can illegally sell your home without direct verification with your lender, they can send someone to your home and take your picture standing in your own driveway which ends up becoming the picture on the auction site. They do not respond to the home owner or the banks own legal department sending a cease and desist order to them to remove the listing. People coming to my house now to see inside, making me feel invaded at same time embarrased as if I have not been working hard enough to keep my own home which also happens to be where I work from. Reading reviews this company has complaints across the board. They need to be slapped with a lawsuit and pay for duress and damages they cause. Yet alone remove innocent people from their auctions.
Stay away. This place is full of crack heads so bad that even the owner jokes about smoking crack. These people will submit false bids so they won't have to give refunds. Everybody will want a refund.
You have been warned.
These guys are fraud. I was the winning bidder on one auction and my acquaintance on another. Both (as many others did too) got rejected inspite of these being the high bids. They are just trying to gauge the market and not interested in selling unless you give them market value of the property for the loans! The stipulation of contract is that they will advise you in 1 week if the seller accepted your bid (WATCH OUT THIS IS IN REAL FINE PRINT!). After 10 days they tell me the seller will not accept the bid! Isn't that violation of Contract! I threatened to sue and they dont even give the address as to who to serve the papers too! I had time and consequential damages as I let other deals go as I was given to believe they would accept my offer.
They havent still returned the fee to bid or the deposit!
illegal auction
This company is auctioning my home illegally. My home is not in default, never has been EVER and through some glitch or error this company has taken it upon themselves to sell my home without verification from lender Aurora Loan Services. The legal department at the bank has served this company a cease and desist order to remove the listing and they refuse to and are not taking calls. People have showed up at my home to see inside and the photo in the listing even has me in my driveway in it. There is nothing i can do and is again an example of no regulation or consumer protection as it takes a zillion years to hear anything from Department of Corporations or Federal Trade Commission. This company needs to be shut down !
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
illeghal auction conduct
this website has acted as the next higher bidder all time to over-bid every newly inputted price every time, right at the second! By doing so, it automatically jumps the bidding price up to the highest possible, so it can get the highest commissions!
Each time either me or my friend entered a new bid, the website immediately over bids the new price and claims that "someone has overbid your price". But the invisible party is auction.com itself!
At the last minute the winner maybe the website or maybe the real bidder, depending on who ends at the last-minute. The last minute fight can be intensive, because the real bidder is fight against the auction.com website which generates new bid automatically. The real bidder finds the other party acts right on every seconds when a new price is entered. If the last seconds ends by the website, auction.com will call the 2nd winder (i.e., 2nd after auction.com) to pursue the sale transaction. Sometimes, if the website does not like the ending price, it can extend the auction period at its own discretion.
This unlawful conduct by auction.com is more than scam, is illegal!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
didn't notify me the seller backed out
Auction.com didn't notify me or the closing agent that the seller backed out of a sale 10 days after I won the bid. After 14 days I hired a lawyer and had a title search done on the property. Two weeks before closing I called auction.com to see why the seller hadn't completed their paperwork, and after a half an hour found that the seller backed out and I will get my earnest money back. What about the lawyer fees?!? Is Auction.com the best this country can come up with to move the foreclosures?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I had the same and worst experience. See my write up elsewhere on this site. So did 2 others I know. These guys need to be sued big time by a class action lawyer
Joined this auction site and had a bad experience
I joined this auction site and had a bad experience.
It cost 8.95 to post your items and you pay extra for the
features, however they have a lot of fraud. I posted approx
28 items and received a lot of bids, but everyone
of the bidders were fake or unrealistic...I sent the winning
bidders an invoice and 100% did not have a paypal
account and did not respond to the invoice.
Than to make things worse, the lisiting that
I paid to feature were re-listed auotmatically
by Auction.com My credit card kept being charged.
I did not re-list them, Auction.com re-listed them. When I relized
what was happening I asked to close my account and they failed to
respond...I end up with paying the fees for featured
listing, by the time I knew it I was charged over a 100 dollars
on my credit card.
I would have not minded the charge but 100%
of the winning bidders were fraud...not one
paid. I did not ship any merchandise but I was
very disappointed with the results...
I suggest stay away, they have very poor customer
support and no fraud prevention.
This is for the wrong website. Auction.com is a real estate auction site that does not charge a monthly fee for use of the site.
Faud, misleading
This company changes it name everytime its is having trouble. The maintain the same address 1 Mauchly, Irive CA 92618. phone #[protected] list on the BBB. They buy bad properties sell them as good. They have suckered hundreds across the country out of loads of money. We took them to court and won a judgment after they sold us two unbuildable propertie...
Read full review of Auction.com and 4 commentscontinues to extend closing of escrow
I bid on and was the high bidder for a property, contracts were signed by both parties, earnest money paid and a closing date set. A couple days prior to closing, I was emailed that title had not been cleared and an extension for 30 days was signed by the seller (I have not signed the extension). After researching I found that there was a land dispute where as the home I would be purchasing is actually built 4 ' on the adjoining property . I was told by the neighbor they are waiting on the home being sold to have the law suit brought forward since it is hard to file suit against an intidy of the fed government. REDC's closing rep tells me I have to wait however long it takes to clear title .I looked at the contract and as I read, it sounds to me like both buyer and seller have to agree to extend. Since they have had 2months to clear title I believe that is plenty of time. I am asking for the earnest money to be returned, and when they have a clear title re-issue to me the contract. I don't think it is right to hold my $8000 and some one else collect interest while I just sit here. I am being told I will lose the earnest money if I do not complete the purchase. If they cannot provide a clear title (no matter how long it takes) is the only way I will get earnest money back. I will say the other properties I have bought from REDC were closed on time and with no problems and I am completely satisfied with those
This is a scam. They want to collect as many deposits as possible and have no courtesy to inform what happens later. Bunch of unprofessional crooks. I have learned it the hard way and want other users to beware of dealing with auction.com
Unethical/Unlawful practices
I was high bid on an auction.com property. REDC emailed me a bid confirmation form and a rep phoned me immediately after (online) auction end to confirm the info. I questioned why they were call since the auction page reported "reserve not met". They said that I had met the seller's minimum requirements, and that they had to submit the offer and collect my (5% / $3, 500+) earnest money immediately. The bid confirmation form had inaccurate amount for deposit, so I replied to the sending address and cc:d the other email address noted for correspondence asking for a correct document to sign. I did this within 1 hour of the auction and speaking on phone with rep. Received the email program "read receipt". The next day, still had not received corrected form, so I emailed again expressly asking for receipt confirmation too. Again received the electronic email program "read receipt" but no response from REDC.
A few days later I was shocked to see the property, for which I was the high and eligible (according to REDC) bidder, relisted for auction. No notification was ever given to me about this.
REDC claimed that they cancelled my transaction because they could not reach me for confirmation. They freakin' spoke with me on the phone minutes after the auction concluded, AND opened 2 emails from me!
So, I again bid on that property, and again was high bidder (but this time at higher bid). REDC again insisted that even though the reserve was not met, they had to complete the transaction. They claim that seller often accepts anyway, and that overall they have an 80% auction success rate. (I have yet to see one of the many properties I have bid sell to high bidder.) Even before they had sent me a contract to read and sign, REDC reps phoned twice to ask if I had sent my deposit. They are very anxious to get your money.
I read and signed contract, and within hours wired the deposit money to closing company/bank. Emailed the appropriate REDC email address to verify that the supplemental documents that were requested had been received. Big surprise...email program "read receipt" but no confirmation from REDC. The seller has 15 days to accept or reject the offer. Seven days later, guess what I see on the site? The property relisted for auction! Relisted WHILE my offer was pending. Relisted with no notice to me, no return of my deposit. I have asked for confirmation that they even submitted the offer; they refuse to provide that.
(This Fannie Mae property has failed to sell at auction, due to seller rejection of offer or REDC's failure to submit offer, at least 5 times that I know of.)
I believe the actions of REDC to be fraudulent. At best, they are unethical. They cannot be trusted.
Email from Arturo Huerta (a so-called supervisor) on Oct 7: "Your supplemental documents were received and we have what we need to submit your offer to the seller. The closing department within our company will submit the contract to the seller sometime this week, if they have not done so already." He supplied phone # and email to Closing Dept.
I phoned Closing Dept. same day. They say that they have nothing to do with submitting offers. Rep gives me name and phone for Auction Asset Manager Trent Soudipour. I phoned him. Asked if my offer had been submitted, and he said 'yes'.
Turns out, the offer had been submitted the day before (Oct. 6th) -- even though I returned contract and wire transfered deposit on Friday, Oct. 3rd -- and Fannie Mae rejected the offer THE SAME DAY. Certainly, Soudipour would have known this as asset manager of that auction property.
October 15th, I see my high-bid property relisted! No notice to me, whatsoever. I emailed Trent Soudipour to ask the status. He casually replies "Unfortunately, this sale was rejected by the seller." No official communique by the auction company whatsoever still to this day. I suspect that if I had not been persistent to ask, I would never had heard anything, as was the case with previous auction with them.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is all part of their scam. They pressure you to send in the deposit money immediately (minutes after the auction ends), then take their time notifying bidders, if at all.
They are at the very least unethical and unprofessional, or very incompetant. Perhaps all.
Attend a live mega auction (one held at a venue). The CEO (or other high up) gets up and makes the speech about how great is REDC and how they love putting people in houses. Hilarious. As funny as one REDC poster's comment about how great is there customer service.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Same bad experience: 1. after my bid it said "reserve NOT met" hence I had no reason to take back my bid which I wanted to at this point. Instead I won the bid. 2. Auctions.com Q&A states that seller provides INSURABLE title but the agreement they wanted me to sign in a hurry did not say that. The preliminary title search disclosed with the agreement showed several liens on the property. 3. They pressure you to call back within 10 minutes and worse: ask you to e-sign and return the contract within TWO hours - this contract has 50 pages of legal language! Am I not supposed to read and understand it?
4. They pressured me into transfering the earnest money immediately AND give my credit card info for payment of the 5% buyers premium. I did not transfer any money or sign the agreement based on the above conditions. How will I get the 5% buyers premium back?
They're definitely the most unethical and indifferent establishment & group of people we've ever come across with.
I had exactly the same experience. My won property showed up for online auction while I was in escrow and no notification from them. Totally unprofessional bunch of crooks.
I had the same experience with auction.com
no refund
I listed my property on Auction.com (which guarantees to sell your property in 90 days) I had run around after run around to get my signs, my listing online. They kept setting up phone interviews and not keeping them. Then a few days before my home was to be on the auction, I got an email that they didn't cover my area. Today I just saw a commercial for my area on the TV.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Sharon Cali,
Obviously you are disappointed we couldn't sell your home and we are too because we are in the business of selling homes! The details of your property auction are a little incomplete in your explanation. Your home is on leased land and unfortunately we are unable to auction off such property, as was explained to you.
Wishing you the best!
Real Estate Auction
11/10/2010 I bid on a property in Lancaster, OH through Auction.com my $28, 500 bid was outbid according to their e-mail, on 11/12/2010 I receievd a call from auction.com that I was the winning bidder at $28, 500. When I asked how that was possible, they did not have a answer. A few weeks ago I was sent an e-mail that I had won a property and wired them $13, 500 only for them to call my realtor and try to get me to raise my offer (I had signed and initialed over 30 pages of contracts) The top property is listed at $58, 900 currently through fannie mae, I had bid on it last month through realtor.com and was told they had a $52, 000 reserve. Auction.com wants me to fill out all the contracrs and send them $2500 again, even though I was outbid--BUYER BEWARE
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I experience similar issue - they told that I have been outbid but later their email showed that the last bid value was from me. They pretty much tricked me into bidding againts myself. I have been to Sotheby's and Christie's auction. You cannot bid againts yourself.
I am in discussion with some of my friends who are lawyers and we are considering of bringing a class action againts auction.com unfair trade practices.
We bid on one a month or so ago. It kept saying bid not met, but one hour after the on line auction ended, they called us and said they had accepted our offer. The lesson: Go ahead and bid even if it says that the reserve isn't met.
ScamPoor Customer Service
Auction.com's customer service sucks!
We won a bid on their website and followed their instructions to send our earnest money, paperwork, etc. Within a couple of days, the property was back on the market without any contact made to us.
All we were told is that a confirmation email was sent to a wrong auction.com email address.
Then, we contacted their customer service and post auction department numerous times requesting refund of our earnest money. They never returned our cashier's check. Had my husband not worked in a bank and known the procedure to put a stop payment on our cashier's check, we would have lost more than three thousands dollars.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I have bought a few properties from Auction.com and their customer service team has always been really helpful. I have always gotten my earnest money deposit back pretty quickly when I have been the unsuccessful bidder. You should email them I think it's customerservice@auction.com.
I've been waiting for my earnest money to be returned for almost 90 days! Isn't that a bit too long to use someones money?
@ JaneIN
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Auction.com. I'm also sorry your confidence was shaken by the mis-communication. Nevertheless, we have never kept an earnest money deposit unless a winning bid is confirmed and all such funds are returned to unsuccessful bidders as quickly as possible. Had you not taken measures to secure your funds yourself, the funds would have been returned to you as laid out in the terms and conditions--just as they always are with our unsuccessful bidders.
With billions of dollars in closed transactions over the past 2 years alone,
there is a reason we are successful.
Trust.
unfair practices
This company is a scam.
Supposedly this company auctions off real estate to the highest bidder;however in reality its a glorified short sale. You have the dubious priviledge of paying thousands of dollars in "ernest money" and then have to wait as long as 15 days to find out if you won.
To make matters worse the seller is allowed to bid on his own property up to the reserve price.
If you think you are bidding against bona fide real buyers you are wrong, just the seller bidding up the price.
These are all "problem " properties with sometimes major defects. Since you are bidding against a reserve price you won't save all that much money. In addition you can be really burned because you don't get to do a termite or home inspection. Case in point: a house located in Mill Valley featured as a "premier" property was repeatedly aucioned off and then would reappear again and again. Why?-- a foundation that needed more than 150K in repair work which was known to the seller but not disclosed on the web site. How many deposits were pocketed by REDC on this one transaction alone? To save a few thousand dollars could cost you a 100K. You are way better off buying an REO directly from a bank and making your own inspections.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Auction.com customer service agents are rude and very unclear in giving you the answers you are seeking. I called to confirm that auction can cause you to outbid yourself. There is no protection to prevent you from outbidding yourself if you find yourself anxious and eager and unsure if you are the highest bidder already. Their auction system will let you continue to outbid yourself and reset the auction time for another 2 minutes when you outbid yourself when there was few seconds left on the bid. Ebay is much better when it comes to auction protraction for the buyer. This company are run by shady people and policies. I wish I saw this complaint board before dealing with them. Its too late for me. When i called to ask if i may have outbid myself, the customer service agents were telling me they can't know, which was a lie. After two calls and 20 minutes of arguing with them to tell me my bid history amount and at what increments and if others bided in between my bids they final told me. Due to their timer resetting and my lack of knowledge that i was already the highest bidder, i have outbid myself and added an extra $4, 000 to the house I was bidding for. I have sent the whole amount of the house as an earnest deposit, I hope that was not a bad idea. Since I am reading here they hold to your money forever if they decide to not sell you the house. Beware of this company. The deals seem good but be very cautious all the reviews above state.
Be sure to read the fine print and don't count your chickens before their hatched! I bid on a home at auction.com and won. The reserve had been met. I signed all the papers right away and expected the seller to do the same. I did everything I was supposed to do and was told it should close in 30 days. The auction company told me to start the loan process as soon as I won the bid.
The fine print included the following clause:
7. AUCTION/SALE PROCESS. Neither Seller, Seller’s Broker nor auctioneer is making any representation or
warranty as to the manner in which the sale process will be managed. Seller may select the winning bid in its
sole and absolute discretion. No obligation to sell shall be binding on Seller unless and until a written
contract of sale or purchase agreement is signed and delivered by Seller. Seller may rescind any oral
acceptance of a winning bid prior to the execution and delivery of this Purchase Agreement for any reason,
including, but not limited to the receipt of a subsequent higher bid or offer to purchase whether such higher
bid or offer to purchase was received pursuant to the Auction Terms and Conditions or otherwise.
I was told by the escrow company this is a formality and there shouldn't be any problem. Almost 3 weeks into escrow they rejected my bid. They would not even give me a counter-offer. They said I could make a higher offer and they might consider it. I did, and they didn't. I was told I could increase my bid even higher and they might consider it but it would be a week before they would get back to me.
The house is no longer available so I can only assume they got a higher offer 2 weeks after they sold it to me. Of course, if I changed my mind at any time after the auction, I would have lost my earnest money of over $4, 000. They lose nothing. I cashed out my 401k to get the down payment and the loan docs have all been completed. I'm not even sure how much money I'm going to owe the mortgage company for all they've already done.
I still think online auctions can be a great. I've gotten a vehicle and a trailer on E-bay with no problems. I think auction.com needs to rethink their policies.
BUYER BEWARE!
Dear noHome,
Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. I’d like to be able to set up a call with you to better understand your experience using our platform. I’m going to reach out to you directly through your ComplaintsBoard profile to see what I can do to help come to a resolution.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
Don't call them!
Keep this an open discussion, they don't want transparency, no criminals want that...
Two of my friends have had a terrible experience with Auction.com, they are plain dirty!
Hi raytige,
Thank you for your interest in Auction.com. It is unclear in your case but it sounds like you’ve got some questions about our lien policies and closing procedures. I'd be happy to speak with you to learn a bit more about your concerns and answer your questions. Please give me a call at [protected].
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier, Director of Customer Service
According their FAQ (http://www.auction.com/faqs.php)
1) There are no liens on the property. The sellers provide insurable title to the properties sold at auction.
2) Closing costs are standard and customary for the county in which the property is located.
Well, none of the above is true. How can they get away with it?
Need help, I bid and won I have not signed anything yet, only verbal on the internet and phone. Can I back out of the deal?
Real rip off...
They even add the seller closing cost to the buyer, along with various other fees such as Re-key fee while none of the locks are re-keyed. Stay away from this company, it is a real SCAM!
buyer signs off that they have searched for, and take ALL responsibility for any and all liens, tax, code, hoa, on and on and on, AND that you release the seller from any and ALL liability. and no one has a prelim - that you sign off that you DID get it/one... (saying the contract is very one sided is still a MAJOR understatement!)
THEN, you read the closing docs. the title insurance EXCLUDES anything that "you allowed or agreed to" (you better have read and understood every one of the 39 pages of contract).
so really, your 6 month title insurance policy is worth EVEN LESS now!
it is almost like these guys are in bed together and/or laundering!
I made an earnest deposit of $2977.50 for a property in Charlotte, NC. I wired the deposit on January 13, 2011. I also did not get the property. As of today, May 17, 2011 I still have not received my deposit back. It has been over 120 days and still no money. I filed a complaint with the California attorney general's office today against Auction.com and their escrow company Powerlinkss.com.
Unfair charges
Unfair charges;
I won the property at auction and was ready to close very next day. REDC set the date for July 7th. I called closing company and asked for the closing before July 4th, and was told it will be OK, but REDC did not provide closing company with a contract until cling day, July 7th and we could not close on required date.
Because closing company not having a contract could not set the date for closing, I decide to take a week vacation starting July 4th weekend. On July 7th closing company emailed me that they still don’t have the contract and we can’t close, but the seller is charging me a penalty, $150 per day until closing. I called REDC three times, and each time I was told they will get back to me, but they never did. They also don’t reply to my emails.
I refuse to pay unfair charges, and will not buy property if the charges are not removed and closing done before July 14.
It is unlikely that REDC will refund my deposit of $2500, but it will be to costly to take them to the court. They will screw me up either way.
Grace.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
A house in Pelham, TN was to go to auction starting at 25, 000 and had listed for 79, 900
We were all prepared for auction figured around 85-90 thousand, and 2 days before it was to start it had been pulled off .said someone had done a preauction buy..they had not signage posted any where to disclose this action.so basically some one obviously did a dirty deal and stole it for 26, 100.
I've been a real estate investor for ten years and have a real estate license.
I've never had a contract to close on a house
And been told the seller can back out
What auction.com told me is (after I wired my $2500
Deposit to closing company lineartitle) that Bank of America
Had transferred rights to another release company
And that there's a 50/50 chance I will not close
And they have no idea who the new company is
And I have no way to force them to sell
In real real estate contracts once u sign you're bound to close
Legally.
I don't see how they get away with this. I've also read the
Nightmare stories of people not being returned their earnest money
That's got to be a huge racket ... Drawing that much interest
Steer clear
Dear JoBow,
Thank you again for expressing your concerns regarding our platform. I’d like to set up a call with you to be able to answer any questions you have about our processes and policies. Please contact me or my Customer Service Supervisors Vicky Hernandez or Yamir Gonazles at [protected] so we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier
Director of Customer Service
ColoradoScott, I dont think that anyone are saying that they are a scam in that sense, just that they rip you off and break some laws if they can make a profit on it. They are very real and it works, but maybe not so often in your favor, or any ones, but their pockets.
Better to find alternatives!
CS - Just trying to understand your 'screaming deal'. Based on your numbers I am totally guessing on how much the house cost, but with a $185k price drop, am guessing its a half million dollar home. So assuming that's remotely close, then this is how it went down:
$685k Original Listed Price, Price drops to $500k but gets no offers so seller puts it on Auction.com and you bought for $440k. Appraises at $550k. After the seller dropped the price to $500k on MLS if you had hit them with an offer of $440k with no contingencies, they would have been hard pressed not to give it very serious consideration. You didn't say whether the 5% auction premium was included, which would have added $25k to the price if it wasn't, which is analogous to a $465k offer on a $500k MLS listing.
My only experience with a similar auction house was we bid $80k on a place while seller had it MLS listed at $85k, seller didn't like my lowball' I guess so puts it on auction site, so accounting for the 5% fee that I now pay, I reduced my bid accordingly $76k. Seller refused to sell at that price. Saw the property MLS listed again a few weeks later (I was no longer interested) and it eventually sold on MLS for $78k. All that posturing by the seller and they lost $2k over what I had originally offered.. Meh, their loss.
I just realized the same people that aren't going to read the contract won't read my post above. Have a nice day.
People calling Auction.com a scam are ignorant. Auction.com is not a scam as my wife and I recently purchased our home from the website and had a pleasurable experience overall. What people need to do is READ THE CONTRACT BEFORE BIDDING. The contract is VERY one-sided and aides the SELLER as much as possible. The $150 per day for delaying of closing is clearly written in the contract. There is also a nice little note in there saying the seller can delay the closing twice in 30 day increments and they do not need to pay anything to the buyer. Like I said it is very one sided. BUT if you READ the contract up front you are informed and know what to expect. They do not use a 'standard' real estate contract so I think this is why so many people are frustrated with the way they do business. Also, for people complaining about the "auction" nature of the site, again, it clearly states in the contract that you are simply placing your best offer on the property and ALL offers are subject to seller approval. Nowhere does it say that the highest bidder is going to win the auction and get the property. I also DO think the auction.com employees are bidding on the properties, but this is not illegal and it is disclosed in the contract. Their best interests are their client's best interests (their client being the seller). SO, most people would say this is a huge hassle, yada yada but the truth of the matter is, the houses they are selling can be bought for CHEAP. We purchased our house $60k under the last posted list price, which had already fallen $185k from the original list price from 6 months prior. Overall, we got a screaming deal and the house easily appraised for over $100k more than what we paid. After all is said and done, we have been in the house for about two and a half months and are happy. Now I will say that I did have one issue with auction.com during the purchasing process. The issue is we did not have a dedicated agent that was in charge of our transaction. Each time we called we were transferred to customer service and whoever was free fielded the call. This wasn't too horrible as they were able to access the file easily, but there was a lot of repeat conversations as you had to fill in the new customer service agent with the same information every call. Also our realtor was not pleased with the 1% commission, but she didn't really do much anyway. Her exact words were "thanks for letting me know when the closing was" as we were leaving the title company.
I Been in the Real Estate business 33 years, my experience with Auction.com was the worst ever!
I wonder how they stay in business?
My guess is, they wont be in business in a couple years, buyer beware, no deals here, just B S !
In reponse to a couple of people who are in favor of auction.com above. This is not a normal auction. Yes, I agree all auctions have a reserve price. However, in car auctions, ebay, antique auctions, etc. a reserve price may be listed and if it sells great and if it doesn't than the seller gets their item back. The real misleading difference with Auction.com is that you are not bidding against other competent bidders - who also have money on the line! Instead you are bidding against the bank, who can bid at anytime, and has nothing to lose except get the property back. Its like going to a car auction and having a phone bidder - bidding against you in the auction. The only problem is the phone bidder is actually the seller. Make sense right! Think about it?
Auction.com is the biggest scam. Please read the terms and conditions very very carefully. What you might not know is that any auction.com representative at any time can bid up to the reserve price during the auction. You are not bidding against other investors but the bank itself. Biggest scam in the world! They are simply trying to goad your purchase price up! Then if you are to win they expect 10% of the purchase price within 24 hours. There are no deals to be had on this website. You are also not paying market value for these properties - you are paying what the bank wants you to pay.
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Auction.com emailscustomerservice@auction.com100%Confidence score: 100%Support
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We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Several of our properties are auctioned off as Cash Only transactions. This is determined by the seller of the property after their review of many factors in relation to the property. I do hope you will give Auction.com another shot and if you have any concerns or questions about any asset we have on our site, please feel free to contact our Customer Support Team at [protected]. Peter Chevalier, Director of Customer Service
Dear M&D.
Thank you for your concerns. All winning bids are subject to the seller’s approval, which they have up to 15 business days to review. Before the seller will review the offer, the Earnest Money Deposit needs to be submitted into escrow. In all cases, the seller is not Auction.com, but the actual financial institution that holds the loan and has foreclosed on the asset. Once the auction ends, the highest bid is submitted to the seller for review, if the winning bid is not accepted by the seller, the asset may go up for auction again, but we do not have access to the reserve amount, as the seller decides both the opening bid and the reserve amount. Auction.com is open 7 days a week, but it is possible that the Escrow Company was closed for an unknown reason when you contacted them regarding the refund of your Earnest Money Deposit.
If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at peterc@auction.com.
Sincerely,
Peter Chevalier