• Report: #679848

Complaint Review: Worstell Auction Co

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  • Submitted: Friday, January 07, 2011
  • Last Posting: Thursday, December 29, 2011
  • Reported By: CGZ — Humble Texas United States of America
Worstell Auction Co
8424 Hansen Road Houston Texas 77075 United States of America

Worstell Auction Co Worstell Auction Company Horrible customer service, Outright rigged auctions Houston, Texas

*General Comment: Not affliated with Worstell Auction Company


2Author 6Consumer 0Employee/Owner

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 I went to their auction house in November. Their literature says they "We WANT you to know what you're buying. We WANT you to make an informed decision. We WANT you to come to the sale and get a great deal." Interestingly, the "what to expect" brochure this comes from has now been pulled from their website, replaced with a "coming soon" sign.

I attended their "second saturday of the month" auctions, arriving well before auction time. I got signed in, put down my deposit (they require a $100 CASH deposit before they'll even let someone register to bid), and went to examine the merchandise in the electronics area. While there, I observed behavior wholly contrary to their literature: they had a fat guy with a white goatee screaming at anyone nearby, refusing to let people check computers to see if they had parts removed (when he turned his back, I watched two people pop the side of an Apple imac and find that the thing was completely gutted, just a shell - a SHELL they later auctioned off to someone claiming it was "a great piece of equipment"). I watched this guy threaten to kick someone out of the auction house for "talking down the merchandise" when he was talking to me about the laptops on a shelf and we both observed that every one of them had not just the hard drive, but the hard drive tray, missing.

As the auctions went on it got more and more obvious something fishy was going on. Several of the people there had "special" laminated auction cards on lanyards, rather than the cheap paper ones most people were given. These guys were running up the bids on a number of things, and then stopping bidding when the "spotters" for the auctioneer switched from open-hand to thumbs-up gesturing. These same guys also "won" several lots even though it was obvious that 2-3 other people at or near the front row were still waving their cards trying to bid. At one point they gave away an auction to one of their laminated-card favorites and then when a bidder spoke up about it, the tall blond asshole spotter screamed "get him out of here" and they kicked the guy they'd just screwed out of the auction house.

I'll never go to Worstell again. They're nothing but a fraud.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 1/7/2011 6:57:36 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/auction-liquidators/worstell-auction-co/worstell-auction-co-worstell-a-328c8.htm. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author 6Consumer 0Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals

#1 Consumer Comment

Have to agree!

AUTHOR: Bob - (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Sunday, January 09, 2011

I was googling these guys after being at the same auction, trying to find out whether or not what I had seen was normal. Boy am I glad I saw this.

 I have to agree, what I saw at the same auction was obvious. The rigged auctions with "spotters" giving those hand signals to the bidders with the laminated badges got to the point where if I saw those guys bidding on something, I just gave up because either they'd try to bid it up to where I didn't want to go, or they'd just give the auction to one of the riggers cheap and I wouldn't get it anyways.

I "won" two things that day, and when I came to pick them up the next day, the worstell staff had obviously been banging stuff around and doing damage to it. Apparently "as-is, where-is" means "we don't care what damage we do to what you bought." A nice table I'd purchased that looked beautiful came home with a deep gash right down the middle, it looked like someone had dragged the corner of something metal right over it - probably one of the file cabinets that had been stored in the next aisle behind it.

Gary Worstell, the head of the auction house, gave me the rudest damn email back when I emailed to complain about his staff's behavior after being threatened by his staff with being kicked out and my "bill" sent to a credit reporting agency for "causing trouble" on pickup sunday when I protested the damage done to my table.

Worstell auctions is dirty. As in filthy, corrupt scammers.


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#2 Consumer Comment

This Complaint Was So Accurate

AUTHOR: dmitrymoody - Houston (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Monday, October 10, 2011

I concur with every single thing that was mentioned about this company. I've been going to the auction since last year and have observed the same occurrences. There's the short white guy with the beard and a tall guy with tattoos and a beard. They are quick to throw someone out who questions their actions. I've watched the same tall guy continue with soliciting bids even though the auctioneer had already said the bid was closed. There are people there with laminated cards and these seem to be the people who bid higher on items. I've even observed these same people run a bid up on a couple of vehicles on more than one instance to over $4000 to $6000 on what they were actually worth. Buyers beware. This auction is rigged and it would be interesting to see if the  BBB and auction regulators show up one day.
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#3 Consumer Comment

well.....

AUTHOR: anonymous - Humble (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I decide what I am willing to pay before bidding starts and either win it or someone else bids higher.  Only sometimes do I win, but on the other hand, I leave with either good deals or nothing.  If bidding on a class of item consistently approaches retail prices, I just go out and buy retail.  Check-out takes way too long so I check out as soon as I can and leave with my merchandise as soon as possible.  Will be back when they have a photo of something I need and my schedule allows.
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#4 Consumer Comment

Worstell Auctions Rock!

AUTHOR: auctionjunkie - pearland (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Thursday, November 17, 2011

Evidently this person has NO knowledge of how auctions in general work,but I'm here to help!I go to alot of auctions  all over Texas and all are basically the same.Worstell Auction is no different,the policies are "auction" policies across the board. The Worstell auctions are fun because there are several auctioneers going in different areas with different merchandise because of the size and quantity of the place.The 'special ' bidder numbers are not 'special' at all,they are for the regular bidders like me that are there every single sale and attend so many other auctions.We try to keep the same numbers for this simple  reason,so we don't have different #'s to remember.,but THANKS for thinking we are 'special'!They also do not have spotters,THEY are called ringmen and any hand signals are for the benefit of the other auction staff that possibly cannot hear over the crowd noise,an example being the thumbs down and right behind that a thumbs up,this is the #69,nothing more.(when you've attended as many auctions as I have you learn alot  if you pay attention!)
I highly recommend Worstell Auction Co.They have a great time there!The ringman that you need to watch is the owners son,Tim,cause he interacts with the crowd,he's so respectful and you can tell he enjoys working with the crowd!
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#5 Update By Author

Obvious shilling

AUTHOR: CGZ - (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, December 21, 2011

If anyone here doesn't believe "auctionjunkie" is really one of the Worstell employees making fake responses, they need to get a clue real quick.
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#6 Consumer Comment

Irrelevant

AUTHOR: anonymous - Humble (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, December 28, 2011

If you go to enough of these auctions, you know who you're bididng against and if you talk to them in general conversation, you get a feel for what value they place on particular items and vise versa.  Although it's illegal to agree on a maximum bid, when bidders get to know each other, they help each other out in their own way.  The check-in and check-out lines and sandwich lines promote general conversation (hint hint - eliminating the waiting lines will promote higher bids).  It's the newcomer who doesn't know anyone and no one knows him who doesn't benefit from the fellow bidders.  An infrequent bidder who has made an enemy of another bidder tends to pay more because bidders talk.
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#7 Consumer Comment

Not affliated with Worstell Auction Company

AUTHOR: auctionjunkie - pearland (USA)

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, December 28, 2011

 Just wanted to say that I am not and employee now OR ever.

 I just really like their general merchandise  and how it changes so drastically each time that I attend.
 
When I do attend I always go for preview on the Friday before the Sat. sale, just to make sure I do know what I'm buying,as I do to each and every other auction that I attend. It is, after all all on me if I don't inspect what  I'm wanting to bid on,at the scheduled time and date.

I have had bad experiences at almost every auction I've ever attended thru the years  but I don't bash them for it, just saying, and certainly wouldn't  consider being naive the auction companies fault.

Every auction that I attend says: "Where is, As Is"      Get it now?

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