One day auctions - Dickinsons (Sales & Auctions) Ltd

Mrs_B_12

Just a warning about this company for those who haven't already been ripped off or heard about the scam.

I had a leaflet through the door yesterday about a one day auction taking place at a local hotel and I thought it looked too good to be true, I was right.

Having searched the net a lot today I found out that there are complaints from all over the country from people who have been ripped off by these people. They hand over their money expecting electrical goods and often end up with cheap and nasty watches etc.

The company has the dubious claim to fame of having been stars on the BBC's Watchdog show under their previous trading name of Jones Webb Ltd (might have been Webb Jones Ltd, I can't remember now)

shaymenRup

Maybe a call to the hotel with the web links you have found may be more worthwhile. That accompanied with a suggestion to the hotel about likely customer complaints and a possible lack of payment for the venue!!

The organisers would be upset then.

Justicia

shaymenRup wrote:

Maybe a call to the hotel with the web links you have found may be more worthwhile. That accompanied with a suggestion to the hotel about likely customer complaints and a possible lack of payment for the venue!!
The organisers would be upset then.

Too right to the above suggestion

It must be a "one-day" auction for a reason!* Here one day, gone the next...

Sounds very much like the "buy black sacks of unknown electrical goods" auction sales that I have read about.

*I acknowledge that some "one-day" auctions may be legit and genuine.

Mrs_B_12

I did email the hotel the evening that I got the leaflet but never got a reply, in fact I emailed them twice, the second time after I found the link to the previous company name. I don't know if it ever went ahead though, when I passed the hotel that evening there didn't seem to be much going on and I did contact trading standards who did acknowledge my email and said it would be investigated so maybe they stepped in it was stopped.

I posted here mainly to warn other people if they get a similar leaflet, at first it looks all glossy but it really does look too good to be true and it is.

debdoc67

Please can we do something about these people? They cannot get away with it! would going to the police help??

Justicia

debdoc67 wrote:

Please can we do something about these people? They cannot get away with it! would going to the police help??

Only if they have commited a crime against you personally, I would guess...

debdoc67

I guess they dont actually do anything illegal per say, but they certainly mislead people.
I attended one of these auctions on Sunday and purchased a few items which turned out to be faulty and definately not worth what I paid for them.
They sell the first couple of lots at an extremely cheap price then sell a lot of crap at ridiculously high prices. you have to pay before they even give you details of the terms and conditions- its all psychological manipulation to con people out of their money. Speaking as a 'victim', I am extremely angry and upset. :mad:

Simon_Hudson

Mrs_B wrote:

Just a warning about this company for those who haven't already been ripped off or heard about the scam.

I had a leaflet through the door yesterday about a one day auction taking place at a local hotel and I thought it looked too good to be true, I was right.

Having searched the net a lot today I found out that there are complaints from all over the country from people who have been ripped off by these people. They hand over their money expecting electrical goods and often end up with cheap and nasty watches etc.

The company has the dubious claim to fame of having been stars on the BBC's Watchdog show under their previous trading name of Jones Webb Ltd (might have been Webb Jones Ltd, I can't remember now)

If you are the lady that I think you are, then you were probably stood next to me in the Venue on Sunday. I remember your face probably looked like mine when he gave us those crappy Camcorders.

I have to take my hat of to this guy. I have just left the Army after 22 years service and am extremely proud of that fact that there is not much that sucks me in. However, this guy had me Hook, Line and Sinker. It was always about expectation: ie, buying in the hope that he would chuck in something else or that it would lead to something bigger and better, like the Plazma TV or Laptops, (None of which he sold). The real items never were available. I did notice the ringers there but still fell for it. Sadly, I have checked all the sites only to find that out of the £400 package that I got, it is probably actually only worth £250-£300 and the £200 Camcorder can't even be found on the Net, but it may just as well go in the bin.

All I can say is "That what goes around, Comes around" and apparantly these people come back to the area again, all be it once a year. If that is the case then perhaps we should post our own flyers warning people about them before the event or even turn up and warn people on the day. Feel free to E-Mail me if you find out where these people are likely to be before I do. Freedom of speech is not against the law and the more people that know about this Con Artist, the better. :mad:

hollydays

I have seen tv programmes about these sorts of things.There are warehouses that flog electrical goods that are faulty no questions asked.its all in the wording-they are in fact con artists.Sorry to anyone who has been ripped off,at least they have warned others.Dont these people usually operate around neighbouring counties.Can you tell us which area they are in

neil950

I've just been had, and !!!!!! me I wish I'd done a bit of research before I went along and parted with my money. Then again, that's probably one reason that they deliver the leaflets the day before the event, and late in the day too, so you don't have much time to check things out.

This will probably sound familiar to a few of you: I parted with £400 for a 'Lot' that has turned out to be worth about £170-£200, and then I got back in to the auction room after having put those items in my car only to part (very stupidly) with another £200. The £200 ended up getting me a Maxim MX30-7000 camcorder (do your own research on this). The items I actually went along for in the first place (LCD/Plasma TV's, iPods, Sat Nav Systems, Laptops, etc) were never actually offered.

What can be done to stop this?? Has anyone any idea?

shaymenRup

Unfortunately (or not as the case may be) these people prey on the greedy.

Everyone has their eyes open for a bargain and that's what you thought you had.

At the end of the day as the saying goes " If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is".

Publicising them on this website or sending another letter to watchdog is about as effective as you can get.