G/L bait and switch

G/L bait and switch

Back on June 26th, 2009, I bid on some trailers located at Fort Meade Maryland.

I was high bidder on two lots of trailers. Lot #1 was an almost new (1997 manufacture date) M105a3 trailer, and lot #2 was listed as containing two trailers, the first being a M105a3 and the second being an unknown condition M101a1 trailer.

I received my official notification for winning the auction the following morning and that a EUC was required. I already knew that an EUC was required and promptly filled out, sent it to G/L, and was approved three working days later by Battle Creek.

When I received my official Paid in Full invoice, I noticed that the M101a1 trailer was not listed, so I responded to the E-mail from G/L asking if this would be corrected but received no response from G/L.

On Monday July 06, 2009 I called the G/L Fort Meade site and spoke with G/L representative Sarah Dutton to schedule an appointment for pick-up of the trailers. At this time I told Sarah that I wanted to pick-up lot #2 first, as both trailers were going to my parents house 250 miles away. Sarah informed me that it did not make a difference what lot number I was picking up as both lots I purchased were identical, meaning that there was no M101a1 trailer.

I asked Sarah to please look at the auction listing for #2 as it clearly listed two trailers, quantity (2) and listed two different NSN stock numbers. Sarah pulled my listing and immediately notified the corporate folks at G/L of the problem. A couple of hours later I received a claim from Monika Zalewska in customer service.

On July 07, 2009 I filled out and submitted my claim form and received an acknowledgement of the receipt of the claim.

The text of the claim letter is here.

• Please review the Terms and Conditions before submitting your claim. They may be viewed at http://www.govliquidation.com/terms.html.
• Separate Sale Events require separate claim forms. Claim forms submitted with multiple Sales will be returned.
• Submitting your claim via email will ensure the fastest response. Please hit reply to this email and the new page will allow you to fill in the answer fields.
• To avoid delays in processing, please answer ALL questions in detail. Failure to provide the required information, may cause the claim to be delayed or returned.
• For refund requests, please provide a proposed monetary resolution.
• Please attach any relevant documents such as receipts, weight tickets and/or pictures that may support your claim.
• Please note that all supporting documents must be submitted along with your completed claim form. Documents submitted on a later date, may not be accepted. NOTE: Submission of additional documents does not guarantee a particular resolution.
• While the claim is pending, it is not recommended that you alter, modify or enhance the property in any way.
• Please note that all claim correspondence must be addressed in writing to protect the integrity of the information given and received.
• NOTE: Please be aware that any outstanding balances must be paid to avoid nonpayment fees and to ensure your account is in good standing. Failing to pay based on a pending claim can cause Invoices to be voided or items to be abandoned without recourse.”

A whole month passed and then in my E-mail on August 05, 2009 I received G/L’s response, they were denying my claim.

• “Information contained in the Item Manifest is third-party information that has been provided by an additional source. This information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed by Government Liquidation. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for bidding, and should not be taken in lieu of buyer's own due diligence.
• The Acquisition value shown represents the original price paid by the government for the item(s) listed. This data is provided by the government and should be considered only as reference of the original purchase price for this item(s).”

According to the site (Government Liquidation facility) records, you have personally signed for and removed the complete lot from the site. The Terms and Conditions indicate that the buyer and/or agent must sign for all property prior to removal. The buyer or the buyer's agent is also responsible for verifying the property purchased. If the property is not acceptable, the property should not be removed. (my highlighting) The Terms and Conditions are posted below for your reference and understanding.
8-I. Either you or your agent will be required to sign for all material in the presence of a GL representative (unless otherwise approved by an authorized GL agent) prior to removing property.

8-J. You or your agents are responsible for property count and verification of lots purchased at the time of removal. If the property is not acceptable for any reason, do not remove it.
Based upon the information mentioned above, Government Liquidation cannot honor your request for a refund.

My claim was filed prior to the removal of the property, so the BS about not removing property that is not acceptable does not apply as the one trailer I received was fine, just that they shorted me a trailer.

G/L drug their feet in processing the claim, so now I’m out of my window to dispute the charge with my credit card issuer.

Arm chair lawyers and those that stayed at a Holiday Inn last night, please chime in.

send complaints here and often.. DLAContactCenter@dla.mil They renew the contracts and oversee the program.. I send one a week to them.. Been screwed numerous times by GL..

DRMO policy during several decades was that a customer could refuse a misdescribed lot and request a refund, but not accept, load, and sign off, and then claim a refund for the missing item(s). It would make no difference if you submitted the claim before receiving one trailer.

Can you attach the pics from the auction listing? I would love to what the trailers looked like. An M105A3 is very distinctive. Sorry to hear about your problems.

trog said:

DRMO policy during several decades was that a customer could refuse a misdescribed lot and request a refund, but not accept, load, and sign off, and then claim a refund for the missing item(s). It would make no difference if you submitted the claim before receiving one trailer.

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I in good faith bid on two trailers, not just one. The auction listing listed two, my invoice listed two, I expected to receive two trailers.

If G/L screwed up, too bad on their part. If you overbid on an item and you are awarded high bidder they either make you go thru with the transaction or pay a penalty of 25% to get out of the transaction.

In a recent post, some SS members complained of purchasing exhaust kits and driving hours to Creekside for recovery only to find that a G/L employee gave their items away. Other people that also won the same exhaust kits after the issue was known were never notified of the problem. One gent drove 9 hours to get his only to find out that there were no kits for him. G/L's responce, too bad.

G/L needs to be held accountable for their actions, both good and bad. They have some of their site reps that are fantastic to deal with, and others that aren't worth two dead flies.

Thanks for your perspective.

BKubu said:

Can you attach the pics from the auction listing? I would love to what the trailers looked like. An M105A3 is very distinctive. Sorry to hear about your problems.

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Bruce, There were no pictures of the M101 trailer. The listing of quantity stated two and the listing of the NSN numbers listed the NSN numbers for both a M105a3, with a condition code of B4 and a M101a1 trailer condition HX.

I was not expecting a new condition M101 trailer, just sometime that could be useable with some TLC.