Hilary A.

Dear Hillary,

Thank you for your comment Mr. Hillary and we are sorry to hear that you had a negative experience. We can assure you that we are not a fraudulent company as we have thousands of happy clients worldwide, including in Nigeria.

As you know, we provide the public with access to dealer-only (wholesale) car auctions which they would not otherwise be able to attend as they do not have dealer’s licenses. This was clearly explained to you before you began the process with us.

As you were informed, we do not independently inspect these vehicles and cannot warrant or guarantee their condition. The information listed on our site is as provided to us by the Auction Clearing Houses and since we list over 100,000 vehicles we do not (and cannot) independently inspect each vehicle. Through dealer-only auctions, such as these, the cars are sold as-is, where-is and the buyer must decide if they wish to pay a third-party inspector to inspect the vehicle. All of this was communicated to you and you understood the process. In addition, we also went further by explaining to you the process by which the car statuses are derived just so that you had all the information before making your bidding and/or purchase decision. At no point did we confirm the vehicle is run and drive because we do not inspect the vehicle and, as mentioned above, cannot guarantee that status.

Furthermore, in the Authorization Request Email we sent you prior to your purchase, it was clearly stated we did not inspect this vehicle nor confirm its run and drive status. With all of that information, you replied to our email confirming that we should continue with the purchase. As such, it is wrong to say that our auction specialists ‘confirmed” to you that it was a “run and drive” vehicle.

In fact, our auction specialists explained to you that there could be possible shipping cost implications if a vehicle you choose turns out to not run and drive, which informed your decision to forego your initial choice and spend additional days searching for another vehicle.

As per the shipping fees we relayed to you (as received from the shippers we contacted to transport your vehicle) we conveyed to you that the vehicle wasn't in a condition to be transported to the port by the driver that was sent to do the pick-up and the subsequent estimates from the shippers of between $4000 - $5500 was communicated to you, not $6000 as you suggest.

It is wholly untrue to say that there was never any “vehicle at all” as we shared the direct listing of the vehicle you purchased from directly from the Auction Clearing House website complete with the specific car lot information for you to independently verify that the vehicle did, in fact, exist and was purchased if you so wished.

At the point in time when you expressed your inability to afford the cost of shipping of this vehicle (and could not find alternative shipping arrangements for a cheaper price), you asked us to help you try to recoup as much of your losses as possible by trying to re-sell the vehicle through the same Auction Clearing House because otherwise it would sit there and accumulate excessive storage fees, which you would have to pay for. We followed your instructions and relisted the car through the same Auction Clearing House. We also advised you that Auto Auction Mall does not have any control over the sales process and how much interest (and bidding) the vehicle will generate.

It is also important to note that you were informed of the following before we relisted the vehicle on your behalf:

• the vehicle can only be run through the auction four (4) times pursuant to the Auction Clearing House’s rules and conditions; and

• it would be very difficult and next to impossible to recover the entirety of your payment

When the vehicle was run through the auction the first, second and third times, you were regularly informed of the result of each run and knew that the auction was not generating a high price for your vehicle. At the same time, you were working closely with our regional office to find cheaper shipping options which you could afford to see if you could ship the vehicle as a way of avoiding any loss from the relist with the Auction Clearing House.

As was explained to you, which you knew, Auto Auction Mall is not a shipping company and, as with any shipping arrangements that we make for our clients, payment is done directly to the shipping company. So, you saying we wanted to “milk [you] another $6000” is wholly inaccurate as payment for shipping isn’t made to Auto Auction Mall.

We also engaged with you in multiple hours of phone calls and lengthy Whatsapp chats to both educate and help you find the best solution. We provided you with all the information required for you to make an informed decision and at no point was any information hidden from you or held back. Accordingly, to now turn around to say we held back information is very inaccurate.

In all, your assertions that we are a fraudulent company is totally inaccurate. We spent a lot of time with you explaining the dealer-only auction process. We explained the risks of trying to buy such a large vehicle and the possible shipping implications. We also told you that we do not inspect the vehicles and all vehicles are sold as-is, where-is. When you decided to purchase the vehicle and then run into these issues, we helped you try and re-sell the vehicle through the Auction Clearing House to recoup some money. Ultimately, you did not get the outcome you wanted, but you were aware of the risks involved in this process.

Please let us know if there is any way we can be of further assistance. Thank you

Auto Auction Mall team.