Abscraperguy
Senior Member
It seems the last while that Richie Bros has lost some of the features that made them famous and allowed them to expand.
1. Insisting on checks clearing the bank before releasing anything. This one is nothing but a slap in the face. I've never passed a bad check on them like most, if not all of you but it doesn't matter, everyone gets treated like a criminal. I don't suppose they've heard the saying "treat me like a criminal and I'll turn into one".
2. Fees, fees, fees. It appears that RBA has taken a page out of the airline's book. In a lot of locales they can get away with this because they've bought out or ran the competition out of business. Take a look at the smaller items. The seller pay 20% and then the buyer pays another 10%. Do they honestly think they're worth $600 to sell a $2000 piece. And then should it be a bad day and a piece or two brings less than their $50 commission it can add insult to injury when that $50/piece is made up from the remainder that brought over 50.
Now what really takes the cake is the latest fee, 2.5% on everything. Mark my words, pretty soon we'll pay for a bid numbers, parking, and even using the biffy. Here's hoping that taking a leak will be cheaper than taking a dump.
3. Timed Auctions. Ok we are in a tech age and yes I have internet on my computer and carry an Android so timed auctions aren't a problem to bid on stuff. But with technology stuff breaks down and then what. It's happened where the kiosks at the auction all crashed and no one could bid except online. Lots of stuff sold terribly cheap and who paid for it but the seller. I dislike the timed auction because it doesn't allow people to push stuff up in price if the urge suddenly arises. There are a lot of people who wait til the last second to place a high bid and then if you haven't entered your absolute highest bid they take it. And extension after a bid like Ironplanet would be a definite improvement.
4. Customer service. RBA doesn't try to have less than ideal customer service I just think its a victim of its own success. When RBA went public it fueled a tremendous growth. There are a lot of younger folks in the company now, who haven't been there long, who tend to be a little cocky. And really who can blame them, they work for the biggest heavy equipment auctioneer in the world.
5. Integrity RBA's integrity isn't terrible its just not 100% like they would make us all think. There's no such thing as an unreserved auction if a guarantee that was made is starting to look like a serious loss. This had been discussed on here.
A friend of mine who was selling out contacted the two biggest auctioneers in his area to come take a look. The RBA guy never came and never came but the other rep was at his yard in a few days. Well after hearing nothing from the RBA rep after a few weeks he called the other guy and told him it was his job. It just happened that the RBA rep called that afternoon and wanted to come down. My friend informed him that he was sorry but he had listed it with the other guy. The RBA rep wouldn't take no for an answer even going as far to tell him if he hadn't signed any papers he could easily switch. In other words, it would be okay to break a verbal promise to switch to RBA. It didn't happen.
I don't mean this thread to be just an RBA bashing but these are some things I wonder about. I still go to some of their sales but am a lot more careful about buying as they aren't, IMHO as customer friendly as some of their competition and definitely not like they used to be.
1. Insisting on checks clearing the bank before releasing anything. This one is nothing but a slap in the face. I've never passed a bad check on them like most, if not all of you but it doesn't matter, everyone gets treated like a criminal. I don't suppose they've heard the saying "treat me like a criminal and I'll turn into one".
2. Fees, fees, fees. It appears that RBA has taken a page out of the airline's book. In a lot of locales they can get away with this because they've bought out or ran the competition out of business. Take a look at the smaller items. The seller pay 20% and then the buyer pays another 10%. Do they honestly think they're worth $600 to sell a $2000 piece. And then should it be a bad day and a piece or two brings less than their $50 commission it can add insult to injury when that $50/piece is made up from the remainder that brought over 50.
Now what really takes the cake is the latest fee, 2.5% on everything. Mark my words, pretty soon we'll pay for a bid numbers, parking, and even using the biffy. Here's hoping that taking a leak will be cheaper than taking a dump.
3. Timed Auctions. Ok we are in a tech age and yes I have internet on my computer and carry an Android so timed auctions aren't a problem to bid on stuff. But with technology stuff breaks down and then what. It's happened where the kiosks at the auction all crashed and no one could bid except online. Lots of stuff sold terribly cheap and who paid for it but the seller. I dislike the timed auction because it doesn't allow people to push stuff up in price if the urge suddenly arises. There are a lot of people who wait til the last second to place a high bid and then if you haven't entered your absolute highest bid they take it. And extension after a bid like Ironplanet would be a definite improvement.
4. Customer service. RBA doesn't try to have less than ideal customer service I just think its a victim of its own success. When RBA went public it fueled a tremendous growth. There are a lot of younger folks in the company now, who haven't been there long, who tend to be a little cocky. And really who can blame them, they work for the biggest heavy equipment auctioneer in the world.
5. Integrity RBA's integrity isn't terrible its just not 100% like they would make us all think. There's no such thing as an unreserved auction if a guarantee that was made is starting to look like a serious loss. This had been discussed on here.
A friend of mine who was selling out contacted the two biggest auctioneers in his area to come take a look. The RBA guy never came and never came but the other rep was at his yard in a few days. Well after hearing nothing from the RBA rep after a few weeks he called the other guy and told him it was his job. It just happened that the RBA rep called that afternoon and wanted to come down. My friend informed him that he was sorry but he had listed it with the other guy. The RBA rep wouldn't take no for an answer even going as far to tell him if he hadn't signed any papers he could easily switch. In other words, it would be okay to break a verbal promise to switch to RBA. It didn't happen.
I don't mean this thread to be just an RBA bashing but these are some things I wonder about. I still go to some of their sales but am a lot more careful about buying as they aren't, IMHO as customer friendly as some of their competition and definitely not like they used to be.