USED to be REA's big fan ---not any more

[timn1]

I understand a lot of people on this board are loyal to REA, and for good reason considering some of their competitors.

But if you look closely at Bill's last note where he cogently takes us through the transaction using the T206 Plank analogy, I think his point is pretty compelling. No buyer would be satisfied in that situation. And it is crazy to me that REA would balk at $300 given the amount Bill had spent with them, if that is what happened.

There also seems to be a disagreement about when the "full refund" offer was made. Bill is adamant in saying that it wasn't offered until well along in the negotiation. Obviously none of us really knows the full story on that issue as we were not there, but if that's true I can understand why he would be upset.

And frankly, while a full refund is a stand-up offer to make, as we should expect from a company like REA, you can't reasonably claim that it completely erases the auctioneer's initial mistake, which clearly had the potential to cost the buyer (whoever he was) a lot of time, effort, and even money.

The analogy there is this: you spot the #1 card on your wantlist on an Ebay BIN. You are incredibly excited and you BIN it. Then the seller tells you, oops! he made a mistake and can't supply the card -- but of course he will refund your money! Are you saying you wouldn't be furious despite getting your money back? Don't think so.

[Robert_Lifson]

Someone else might say “Wow, REA thought I wanted too much and maybe I did, but they gave me what I wanted anyway. What a great company! Thanks!"

Mr. Latzko did not jump through any hoops or experience any delay at all. There seems to be an impression or assumption in some posts that we made him wait. We immediately checked with the consignor (to see if by chance he had the card in question – sometimes it can get pretty confusing with graded registry sets when collectors upgrade or downgrade). This took one minute. We then came up with plans to address the error including taking the set back. I spoke to Bill Latzko for 10 minutes. He was extremely rude and unreasonable and belligerent in my opinion. In the very same conversation (the one and only with me regarding this issue), since we could not have any meeting of the minds, I gave him what he demanded. It was during this conversation that he finally, when pressed, told me that the reason he refused send the set (that he was so unhappy with) back was because he had sold some of the cards. He still had the cards in hand but insisted he wanted to make the sale as it was a good sale to a good customer of his. So I just gave him what he wanted even though it was more than I thought fair and reasonable, all the more so in light of the fact that he refused to return the set for a full refund. As far as I was concerned, REA gave him $1800 (the amount demanded by him) for a card that in my eyes he paid $1260 for (SMR of $1500 x 84% = $1260). He saw things differently. So we went along with how he saw things even though we didn’t agree. I paid him what he wanted. Which makes his posts here all the more curious.

In addition, Mr. Latzko did not mention that he paid for his $63,751 invoice with an unreasonable number of small denomination bank checks purchased with cash over a two week period which were a burden for us to even deposit. One or two or even three checks for whatever reason is fine for payment of any invoice (99%+ pay with one check), but this set a record. This was crazy. In addition, Mr. Latzko has failed to mention that he paid his auction invoice late - and without prearranged terms to do so - and that we did not give him a hard time about this and we waived his late payment fees.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

Robert Edward Auctions, LLC

[glchen]

...

[jbsports33]

Thanks Rob for clearing this up and explaining your side, it really seemed confusing

glad you responded to this post

Jimmy

[glynparson]

I will gladly say it to your face come see me at the national.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I will gladly say it to your face come see me at the national.

I smell a cage match coming on! If only we had an annual dinner we could book some real entertainment...

[barrysloate]

I don't think Bill's example using the T206 Plank was a good one because for many bidders that may have been the sole reason they were bidding on the lot. Maybe they only wanted the Plank and were prepared to sell the other 520 cards just to get it. So if you expected a 6 and got a 5 you may not have wanted the lot at all.

In the case of the 1956 Topps set, the misgraded team card was an important one because of its low pop, but it wasn't a Mantle rookie or a card of that caliber. So it would be easier to come up with a solution there.

The only area here that I felt REA was remiss was counting on the registry report and not examining the set card by card. Unfortunately, as time consuming as that is, you have to do it. At the end of the day, the auction house has to write up the description and stand behind it. By counting on the registry listing they were ceding control of that step to someone else. That's a no-no and I am sure Rob and company realize they can't do that in the future.

Other than that he gave Bill as much as he could have hoped for so I don't understand why this thread was even started. Like I said in Scott's post about SGC, both sides need to be a little more flexible in resolving an issue like this. I don't think Bill exhibited any flexibility at all. It had to be his way period, and Rob actually agreed to it. End of story.

[forazzurri2axz]

In addition, Mr. Latzko did not mention that he paid for his $63,751 invoice with an unreasonable number of small denomination bank checks purchased with cash over a two week period which were a burden for us to even deposit. One or two or even three checks for whatever reason is fine for payment of any invoice (99%+ pay with one check), but this set a record. This was crazy. In addition, Mr. Latzko has failed to mention that he paid his auction invoice late - and without prearranged terms to do so - and that we did not give him a hard time about this and we waived his late payment fees.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

Robert Edward Auctions, LLC
__________________________________________________ _____________
__________________________________________________ _____________

Dear Rob,

It is one thing to make a mistake in your auction--which your consignor and you BOTH did.
It's one thing to haggle with a customer who spent $60,000 over a few hundred dollars to fix YOUR mistakes--which you did

But it's quite another to come on the NET 54 forum and blatantly LIE and MISREPRESENT what happened--which you are doing

FACTS: I called you right after the auction Rob, explained that I had the $63,000+ IN CASH , preferred not to make a huge deposit in my checking account at one time and offered two ideas
1) I offered TO DRIVE FROM ATLANTA for 12/13 hours with the cash and asked if you could have someone drive 3 hrs to meet me since I couldn't physically do 15 hrs at a stretch. You thanked me for the offer, stated another "local" winning bidder had dropped off cash earlier that day but you only had 3 people and you couldn't "spare one for the day".which I understood

2) I then asked if I could--over a 2 week period-- do Money Orders for approx $5,000 each . YOU SAID YOU WERE FINE WITH THAT!!!! I mentioned I would send them Fed Ex and you GLADLY gave me your street address instead of the PO Box. You certainly didn't say that it was a BURDEN to deposit money orders, you didn't object to the two weeks, and I told you I'd probably send 50% in 1 week. YOU WERE FINE WITH THAT TOO!!! YOU EVEN KNEW ABOUT HOW MANY MONEY ORDERS I WOULD SEND AND THAT WAS OK WITH YOU AS WELL!!

3) I overnighted approx $32,000 a week later (8 money orders)---I followed up the next day to make sure you received it-----Y'all thanked me and I said I would send the balance FEDEX
within the next week.--which I did.(6/7 money orders for the $30,000 balance)

You can do all the $10,000,000 auctions you want, you can have the most beautiful catalogue and consignments in the hobby, and certainly be one of the leader's in the BB card hobby,which makes you perhaps somewhat "believable" to some people. But your misrepresentations of our conversations is despicable to say the least. Why is it all of a sudden a BURDEN to deposit a number of money orders which YOU WERE FINE WITH WHEN WE SPOKE?? Why is it all of a sudden late payment WHEN YOU WERE FINE WITH IT WHEN WE SPOKE??? You are correct that I didn't pre-arrange this but if it was a burden or an objection, you could have mentioned it then---Someone initially offering to drive 25 hours round trip to deliver in cash isn't an unreasonable person!!

I won't bother to address further the issue of compensation of the missing card---I'll repeat that for you to use a % of SMR to justify your attempt to short-change someone in your initial offers is nothing short of being an unethical (albeit rich) businessman.--and you sure as hell can't say that your INITIAL offers which you failed to address here were fair!!!

Peace

[PolarBear]

The plot thickens. It doesn't really matter though. As a bystander, there's really only one issue that stands out for me.

I don't care if the buyer was unreasonable or not. For a company to haggle over $300 with someone who spends tens of thousands of dollars with them, over a mistake the company made, is just plain stupid.

And the point the OP is trying to make is that even though he got what he wanted, he shouldn't have had to twist their arm to get it. I agree.

I guarantee this fiasco will cost them way more than $300 in the future, from this buyer alone.

[botn]

Originally Posted by forazzurri2axz

FACTS: I called you right after the auction Rob, explained that I had the $63,000+ IN CASH , preferred not to make a huge deposit in my checking account at one time and offered two ideas
1) I offered TO DRIVE FROM ATLANTA for 12/13 hours with the cash and asked if you could have someone drive 3 hrs to meet me since I couldn't physically do 15 hrs at a stretch. You thanked me for the offer, stated another "local" winning bidder had dropped off cash earlier that day but you only had 3 people and you couldn't "spare one for the day".which I understood

2) I then asked if I could--over a 2 week period-- do Money Orders for approx $5,000 each . YOU SAID YOU WERE FINE WITH THAT!!!! I mentioned I would send them Fed Ex and you GLADLY gave me your street address instead of the PO Box. You certainly didn't say that it was a BURDEN to deposit money orders, you didn't object to the two weeks, and I told you I'd probably send 50% in 1 week. YOU WERE FINE WITH THAT TOO!!! YOU EVEN KNEW ABOUT HOW MANY MONEY ORDERS I WOULD SEND AND THAT WAS OK WITH YOU AS WELL!!

3) I overnighted approx $32,000 a week later (8 money orders)---I followed up the next day to make sure you received it-----Y'all thanked me and I said I would send the balance FEDEX
within the next week.--which I did.(6/7 money orders for the $30,000 balance)

Well if nothing more, making under 10K uniform cash deposits over a short period of time and immediately drawing money orders is one way to get noticed by the Feds. Under the Patriot Act I can assure you that you have caught someone's attention, even at simply at the bank who most likely is obligated to inform the Feds. Cash is a liability these days.