An eBay bidder, 24 year old Clayton Adler placed the final bid of $10,099.99 on eBay for a retro-fitted Lazy-Boy recliner auctioned by the Minnesota police department.
Proctor police department chief, Walter Wobig, says "Mr. Adler claims the bid was a mix-up." Mr. Adler may not realize it, but a bid placed at auction is a contract. The police chief has turned the matter over to the Proctor City attorney.
While it's unlikely that Mr. Adler will face serious consequences for the entering a bid he does not intend to honor, perhaps eBay will choose to pursue prosecution in this case to make an example of him. It would certainly be within their rights, and after a spate of reneging at some recent high profile eBay auctions, perhaps they should consider it.
Everyone loses when this kind of foolishness prevails. Not only is there lost revenue on the fees for the chair, but there's reputation damage to consider as well.
Comments
Too many things funny about this.
VP of a company doesn't know the difference between 1500 and 15000? Yeah, right.
Cupertino is right next to San Jose.
I wonder if the so called winner is friends or otherwise connected with anyone from ebay or paypal?
If it were me I would not overlook that real possibility.
So now it's a Lazy-Boy again? I thought ewbay ended the first auction because the chair wasn't a Laz E Boy? Or does spelling it "Lazy-Boy" change all that? I don't know who to believe. If only there's was a reporter with integrity left in this country.
anyone who buys from layzboy isn't too bright either -they are outrageous in there pricing.
Why is the “Ho Ho Ho” still trying to destroy eBay?www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6502877
For high profile auctions such as these ebay should do what other high profile auction houses do and that is have any bidder who is interested put up a refundable retainer fee of say $500. Any non paying bidder loses the fee if he or she renigs on the contract to buy. That will stop these "losers" from bidding on items they have no intention of ever paying for.
AuctionWally, can you recall any recent high profile eBay actions that HAVE completed successfully? You've got me wondering if it's really just a spate of reneging or if it's even a recent phenomena for that matter.
AuctionWally - @Mr Tubbles, I'm not sure of your point. EBay took down the auction originally not because the name was inaccurate, but because the chair manufacturer objected. My mention of Lazy-Boy in the article is accurate as it describes it as being a "retro-fitted" Lazy-Boy recliner,which it is. Hope that clears it up for you.
@arresthim You may have something there. Possibly a PayPal hold would work.
@wphamiltion In any event, it's always the ones that go bad which get the press. For that fact alone, it would behoove eBay to clean this up. Thanks to all for the comments. AW
What a jerk you bid you buy. Prosecute his a.. to the max.
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