suicide_squeeze
05-19-2009, 12:05 AM
I was wondering if any of you have had this happen to you....
I received an email very recently from Heritage Auctions regarding the item I won in their last Sports auction in April. It stated "They was a glitch that created (my) invoice to go out with the sales tax excluded. Would you like us to charge your credit card on file for the $520 (and change) or would you prefer to handle it in another manner? Please contact (so and so) to let us know how you would like to handle this at (phone number)."
No, it wasn't a fake email, as that was my first thought too. I answered it with "Do NOT charge my credit card on file with ANY charge of ANY kind. I will contact (so and so) in your office in customer service first thing tomorrow morning."
Now keep in mind, this was for a pricey bat that I had won, paid for, had it shipped to me via Fed Ex, and had already received. Now this?
I called, asked for the lady who had sent the email....she wasn't in. So I got some young guy on the phone and expressed my dismay over this obvious error in their records. I asked him how this could happen as I live in California and the auction took place in Texas. He asked me to hold while he researched the situation. After close to 5 minutes, he got back on the phone and said "Our records indicate you picked up your winning item in our corporate office, which means you must pay the tax on it."
I laughed, and asked him for his email address. I emailed him the tracking confirmation email THEY had sent me showing what day I would receive my bat coming from Fed Ex. This is also in the face of my request for a call on a reserved phone line so I could bid on the item via phone since I couldn't be there.
He corrected their records.....end of problem.
It just seems to me that......if an auction house sent out 1,500 or so of these after an auction, and maybe 30-40 people who don't know better just sent them a check......that's pure profit. Other companies have been doing these types of things for years (banks come to mind, charging unwarranted charges to accounts in the obvious attempt to charge people bogus fees simply because they don't reconcile their checking or other accounts. A lot of banks were fined for this type of practice years ago). And in the event they get called to the carpet on it (as I did), they say "We're sorry, it was a computer glitch."
Hmmm.
Anyone else had this happen to them? Tough times bring out tough measures. Maybe it was an honest "error" caused by who knows what or whom.......or maybe it wasn't.:mad:
I received an email very recently from Heritage Auctions regarding the item I won in their last Sports auction in April. It stated "They was a glitch that created (my) invoice to go out with the sales tax excluded. Would you like us to charge your credit card on file for the $520 (and change) or would you prefer to handle it in another manner? Please contact (so and so) to let us know how you would like to handle this at (phone number)."
No, it wasn't a fake email, as that was my first thought too. I answered it with "Do NOT charge my credit card on file with ANY charge of ANY kind. I will contact (so and so) in your office in customer service first thing tomorrow morning."
Now keep in mind, this was for a pricey bat that I had won, paid for, had it shipped to me via Fed Ex, and had already received. Now this?
I called, asked for the lady who had sent the email....she wasn't in. So I got some young guy on the phone and expressed my dismay over this obvious error in their records. I asked him how this could happen as I live in California and the auction took place in Texas. He asked me to hold while he researched the situation. After close to 5 minutes, he got back on the phone and said "Our records indicate you picked up your winning item in our corporate office, which means you must pay the tax on it."
I laughed, and asked him for his email address. I emailed him the tracking confirmation email THEY had sent me showing what day I would receive my bat coming from Fed Ex. This is also in the face of my request for a call on a reserved phone line so I could bid on the item via phone since I couldn't be there.
He corrected their records.....end of problem.
It just seems to me that......if an auction house sent out 1,500 or so of these after an auction, and maybe 30-40 people who don't know better just sent them a check......that's pure profit. Other companies have been doing these types of things for years (banks come to mind, charging unwarranted charges to accounts in the obvious attempt to charge people bogus fees simply because they don't reconcile their checking or other accounts. A lot of banks were fined for this type of practice years ago). And in the event they get called to the carpet on it (as I did), they say "We're sorry, it was a computer glitch."
Hmmm.
Anyone else had this happen to them? Tough times bring out tough measures. Maybe it was an honest "error" caused by who knows what or whom.......or maybe it wasn't.:mad: