Craig Meier Auctioneers Meier Auctioneers And Realty, Inc (aka)United Country Meier Auctions & Realty, Inc. Meiers Promise "We are Partners, I am working to get you the Most Money, Like an Ex Spuose Waxahachie Texas

I am writing this rebuttal to the accusations on Ripoffreport.com. In this rebuttal I will explain the situation, and then give consequential evidence proving the report false and inaccurate in its entirety!

My wife and I created united Country Meier Auctions & Realty INC. and have been in business for over ten years, conducting more than 450 auctions each year that include: real estate, automobiles, business liquidations, farm and ranch, as well as fund raising events. http://meierauctioneers.com/services.php

The client we conducted the auction for was Mr. Tony of Nostalgia Warehouse, in Arlington, Texas. I met Tony through a mutual friend that is also an auctioneer. This mutual friend has referred several auctions to me in the past and has stated he will continue to do so because of the professional manner in which we conduct auctions. (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dwsrk4b_2dsj6wcfr)

It is very unfortunate that the Tony has been able to inflict serious damage to my company, my name and my future. One of the most important characteristics of an auctioneer is integrity and his most valuable asset is his reputation. I have spent my entire adult life building my reputation and my company. I have served on the board of directors of the Texas Auctioneer Association for several years. www.texasauctioneers.org I am an instructor for one of the largest auction academies in the country; I am the 2007 World Champion Auctioneer (http://www.autoremarketing.com/ar/news/story.html?id=6364 ), as well as a 2003 Texas State Champion Auctioneer. I am a proponent of continuing education and have spent countless hours educating myself on how to properly market and conduct an auction. I have been hired by several state auctioneering associations to speak on various subjects pertaining to the auction industry. I can provide countless personal and professional references, as well as physical proof that the above statements are false.

The client above does not feel that his items received the marketing they deserved; however, the merchandise was advertised in two of the largest papers in Texas, as well as many other publications. A large bright yellow 5' by 10' banner was placed in front of Nostalgia Warehouse whish is located on a major highway for several weeks. His items were listed on Proxibid for and extended period of time, as well as listed in other digital media such as Craig's List. We sent out over 1500 flyers to specific collectible buyers and dealers. (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dwsrk4b_42xht5pds) We also sent out an email blast to my buyer list which consists of over 7000 buyers. We had approximately 150 registered buyers on site at Tony's auction, in addition to the 72 online simulcast bidders. (Proxibid) The client stated he needed more national attention, but my professional opinion is that his marketing was substantial for a 50K auction. Some items that were sold at top dollar prices were: Lunch boxes for $130, a toy truck for $100, pedal car for $1250 and a gas pump for $1100. The client insisted I only place one hundred items on Proxibid against my recommendation that we should utilize Internet resources available. I can prove that as a general rule that items that were listed on Proxibid had a stronger market. If you refer to the report it states No search engines ever recognized Proxy Bid, however, if you note the spelling you will see that it is Proxibid.

The client also made a statement, He bought items for cheap at his previous weeks auction then brought them to my auction to make money. He laughed and said he does that all the time. I brought three items to the auction, two of which were wagons that I purchased at a sale several weeks prior to place out the entrance to draw attention to Nostalgia Warehouse. One wagon was sold at the auction, the second wagon I still own to this day.

The client also claims he made me sell back his merchandise, but the fact is I told him that if he was upset about the merchandise, I would be more than happy to return it.

The client's report state, He also sold all my outdoor antiques to a scrap man. The pile that was sold to a scrap man had been sitting in that state for some time, although we did clear the brush so the buyers could see it. If there was something of value in the scrap pile, it was unknown to me and stored in an interesting manner.

I asked the client what his estimated thought the auction's revenue would be and his reply was fifty thousand dollars. The client's auction brought forty thousand dollars. I later found out that during the auction several friends and family were registered to buyback the clients items without my knowledge. $5600 worth of merchandise was bough back which breached our contract that stated all items would be sold without reserve. An example of this is a purchased auction buyback for $17.50 that had a $15.00 in store sticker price.
3 separate links
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d5x7pw4_7hcx7pphn , http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d5x7pw4_5c7tssxfs , http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d5x7pw4_3g5fnn4ft The client also began to display anxiety during the auction, so to appease him, we breached contract by not selling all of the items. In order to stand by out advertising I allowed buyers to select the items that they were most interested in, so we ended up skipping approximately 100 lots.

The client states Get everything in writing and nothing just on a hand shake, but the fact is we had a written contract and he is the one that broke it. (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d5x7pw4_0gk3fx3cq) I had later found out the 90% of the items and the real estate was actually owned by his mother, Jackie Tatum. I believe that Jackie Tatum had suggested, if not forced, the client to put these items up for auction to recover money she had lost to him over the years. I believe the client could never have been made happy with the results of the auction due to his personal feelings for the merchandise sold. Last but not least, Tony Duran called me a crook, here is a recording of a meeting we had after the sale. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7052952406435980297

Here is an e-mail that Tony's lawyers sent me when I threatened to sue for slander in response to Ripoffreport.com, in all actuality Tony has nothing to sue for. (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dwsrk4b_6hq3dsmf6) I have tried on several occasions to contact Tony but he will not speak to me. I will always regret this situation for the anguish it has caused the client and my family. I feel that the due-diligence I performed conducting this auction would meet any other auction company. I would like to put this behind me, but I feel legal action might have to be taken against Tony to stop his wrongful defamation of character.