East Bristol Auctions

welshwookie

welshwookie

Jedi Master
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Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
684
Went to collect my lots today, what a waste of time.
I will not be purchasing anything from them again.
Extremely economical with descriptions ,and pictures are cleverly taken to obscure flaws.
Even when asked if there was any marks to a bubble they stated it was clear when it wasn't.
And another item purchased had a split bubble .
Just recieved an email reply telling me that basically a mark doesn't have to mean a dent and some bullshit about light glare.
I've a feeling if the items were posted out a courier would be having the blame.
 
theforceuk said:
Not good at all, have you lodged a complaint?
Click to expand...

Yes. A guy Andy is making out that I'm an idiot.
And that a question " are there any marks to the bubble (in a specific area ) or is it light glare" , doesn't seem to mean or include dents.

Below is a reply about the cracked bubble

" I personally inspected and catalogued all of the star wars figures from that collection - and listed them as fairly as I possibly could. If I missed a crack in a bubble, then I am sorry - BUT - the onus is legally always still with the buyer to satisfy themselves for that reason. That's why everything is photographed so well. "

Regards

Andy
 
welshwookie said:
" I BUT - the onus is legally always still with the buyer to satisfy themselves for that reason. That's why everything is photographed so well. "
Click to expand...

Legally they may be right, but thats the problem with relying on dated laws - these auction houses expect the benefit of massive international audiences afforded through being online, then try to hide behind dated laws; shoddy behaviour which needs publicly outing IMO.
 
maxf said:
welshwookie said:
" I BUT - the onus is legally always still with the buyer to satisfy themselves for that reason. That's why everything is photographed so well. "
Click to expand...

Legally they may be right, but thats the problem with relying on dated laws - these auction houses expect the benefit of massive international audiences afforded through being online, then try to hide behind dated laws; shoddy behaviour which needs publicly outing IMO.
Click to expand...

They have had a few bad reviews on google,for similar problems, but the photographs are done in a way to hide certain flaws.
And distance of sale is not covered as the items are second hand, not new. But personally if you miss a crack in a bubble you should not be giving them a condition report.

I appreciate Vectis are not perfect,( no auction house can please everyone all the time) but of late if you ask about a figure they are prepared to add extra pictures. Which does help.
 
Sorry to hear you've had to bear the brunt of East Bristol's economical use of the truth (at best). I suffered from their descriptions being incredibly misleading when I bought a loose lot a few years ago that stated "orignal vintage Star Wars figures and accessories". Any reasonable person could expect that to mean both the figures and accessories were original. In fact grammatically speaking that is exactly what it means, otherwise it should be 'original figures with accessories', if you want to try and worm your way out of it. Needless to say they screwed me and I've never bid with them again. Unfortunately there are many people like us who have been flat out mislead and/or lied to by these charlatans. In your case, where you have asked specifically before the auction, I think their behaviour and response is despicable! How did you pay? Perhaps you have some recourse with your CC company?
 
I paid with my debit card when I was there. Obviously before seeing the goods.
They don't take credit cards ( over £200 )
so its debit, bank transfer or cash on collection.
If you read all the small print for every auctioneer's its all geared for them.
What is the most annoying is that although he is trying to twist my question about marks on a bubble, a crack in a bubble should be disclosed.
I feel trading standards should be visiting regularly and checking for inconsistency.
There's better buyer protection on Ebay. :shock:
 
There's better buyer protection on Ebay. :shock:
Click to expand...
Unfortunately you are correct, there is.
I hope that you get this resolved to your satisfaction, but I'm afraid to say that I suspect it will be a long hard slog. :(
 
Mini99 said:
There's better buyer protection on Ebay. :shock:
Click to expand...
Unfortunately you are correct, there is.
I hope that you get this resolved to your satisfaction, but I'm afraid to say that I suspect it will be a long hard slog. :(
Click to expand...

I can't see it going anywhere.
Rang to speak to someone at 9am and am still waiting.
Most frustrating thing is he admits he could have missed the crack. Sorry, but tough.
I could really do without wasted travelling and time away from home at the moment incase I'm needed with my mother.
 
I don't know how much the item was, but sometimes you have to accept the inevitable and put it behind you and then concentrate on what's really important.
I understand that these things can get under your skin, but I suspect that you are correct and there will be no resolution.
The best thing to do is learn from this and move forward with the important things in your life at present.
I hope that the above does not come over as a lecture. :wink: my thoughts are with you and yours.
 
Ha, not at all mate, as the wife said its only money, and I will learn from it... think she's after something myself :lol:
Hopefully others will read this and be a bit cautious with East Bristol, especially as I'm not the only one who has had issues with them.
 
They sound like a right shoddy company. Anyway I thought what ever you buy you have the right to return within a certain amount of time if the item is not as desrcibed, no matter who you purchased it from. If your not happy with it I would take it further.
 
theforceuk said:
They sound like a right shoddy company. Anyway I thought what ever you buy you have the right to return within a certain amount of time if the item is not as desrcibed, no matter who you purchased it from. If your not happy with it I would take it further.
Click to expand...
I'm not certain that that applies to auction houses, I believe it's more a case of buyer beware. :?
 
Mini99 said:
theforceuk said:
They sound like a right shoddy company. Anyway I thought what ever you buy you have the right to return within a certain amount of time if the item is not as desrcibed, no matter who you purchased it from. If your not happy with it I would take it further.
Click to expand...
I'm not certain that that applies to auction houses, I believe it's more a case of buyer beware. :?
Click to expand...
 
I read so much this afternoon...
It's a lot to do with items are not new, like buying from currys or Amazon, and the rights are different.
I was going to go to the bank to see if I could get a charge back, as the 1 item was left in Bristol. But that opens an option of a court case against me , it's all set up to be one sided to them.
http://eastbristol.co.uk/buying-at-auction/
Look at section 8 and 13.
Vectis has similar conditions, and other auction houses. As stated earlier they rely on internet bids these days to a far larger audience, the conditions should cover the non attending bidder more. Especially if a picture or description is deliberately misleading.
So looks like I will be making another drive soon to collect what I've paid for. At least if need I can sell it on, but the cracked bubble is probably a different story.
 
I've reported East Bristol to Trading Standards in April 2018. TS actually gave me a call back and said they were going to be discussing with them "just how many offences they'd committed" :lol: . They were selling Real Ghost Busters proof cards as having been obtained directly from an ex-Kenner employee. That was a total fabrication as they came from a forum member here! And even he hadn't got them from an ex-Kenner guy. It was a guy by the name of Andy Stowe who bought them and then sold them through EBA. He's actually an employee (undeclared on the listings and no requirement to do so) at EBA and sells stuff through them. They also sold a load of really nice vintage Lego sets years ago. All declared as "complete". I bought half a dozen. Not one was remotely complete.

They're not the only bad auctioneers. Just one of many. Aston's also have a highly dubious track record. I've had a condition report from them before which failed address a lifted (opened) bubble. After some tooing and froing I did get some money back, fair play to them. They've also been called out on selling undeclared repro weapons and even undeclared Toy Tonis despite featuring on Rip Off Britain giving words of advice on how to spot them :lol:

Sadly, even a "condition report" isn't enough to protect a buyer. Their T&Cs state that even those are only "opinionsl and not facts and the onus is entirely on the buyer in all cases. Aston's even state that "under no circumstances" will a refund by given.

It's one area where consumer protection has nose dived following the move to the interweb.
 
ScruffyLookingNH said:
I've reported East Bristol to Trading Standards in April 2018. TS actually gave me a call back and said they were going to be discussing with them "just how many offences they'd committed" :lol: . They were selling Real Ghost Busters proof cards as having been obtained directly from an ex-Kenner employee. That was a total fabrication as they came from a forum member here! And even he hadn't got them from an ex-Kenner guy. It was a guy by the name of Andy Stowe who bought them and then sold them through EBA. He's actually an employee (undeclared on the listings and no requirement to do so) at EBA and sells stuff through them. They also sold a load of really nice vintage Lego sets years ago. All declared as "complete". I bought half a dozen. Not one was remotely complete.

They're not the only bad auctioneers. Just one of many. Aston's also have a highly dubious track record. I've had a condition report from them before which failed address a lifted (opened) bubble. After some tooing and froing I did get some money back, fair play to them. They've also been called out on selling undeclared repro weapons and even undeclared Toy Tonis despite featuring on Rip Off Britain giving words of advice on how to spot them :lol:

Sadly, even a "condition report" isn't enough to protect a buyer. Their T&Cs state that even those are only "opinionsl and not facts and the onus is entirely on the buyer in all cases. Aston's even state that "under no circumstances" will a refund by given.

It's one area where consumer protection has nose dived following the move to the interweb.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that bit of information , a guy called Andy on emails( or possibly Andrew in house) is responsible for the toys. Did you report to Bristol Trading standards ? as our trading standards are a nightmare to get hold of.
 
It did end up with Bristol TS who called me. The way it works now is you have to report the matter through Citizen's Advice Bureau and they pass it on to the local TS if it's appropriate to do so. Yes, Andy and Andrew are one and the same person. I have his surname but as this is more of a "watch out" thread than a witch hunt and for the sake of Edd's blood pressure let's stick with "Andy" :lol:
 
ScruffyLookingNH said:
It did end up with Bristol TS who called me. The way it works now is you have to report the matter through Citizen's Advice Bureau and they pass it on to the local TS if it's appropriate to do so. Yes, Andy and Andrew are one and the same person. I have his surname but as this is more of a "watch out" thread than a witch hunt and for the sake of Edd's blood pressure let's stick with "Andy" :lol:
Click to expand...

I`ll probably send an email to Bristols trading standards on the weekend. last time I had to go through Citizens it was so time consuming.
but thanks again for info, no witch hunt intended, but possible bidders should be aware of this.
 
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