Bought Item at Online Auction - Not as described

RFW

Marcon wrote: »

Not necessarily. It could just show the buyer made assumptions and bid without checking them out.

It does depend on the wording, that said there is a precedent of people being conned and getting refunded when buying empty Rolex boxes or a picture scam that was running on Ebay for a while. It may not matter if the buyer has, for want of a better phrase, conned themselves.
It's similar to when stores accidentally add a decimal point, or misprice something, so they price a £9,999 item for £99.99, courts have ruled that they do not have to fulfil the deal as it is an unrealistic expectation of the customer.

RFW

mrcol1000 wrote: »

As RFW says you need to contact the auction house first. Auction houses seem to wildly vary in my opinion. Some go out of their way to help you, some make life very difficult.

Very true. I know of one that employs "heavies" to make sure no one complains and if they do they get short shrift. Sadly they do very well. Others may refund without question. I learned (I ran an auction house a few years ago) that it was often easier to refund where possible.

mrcol1000 wrote: »

If they refuse to refund you then you'd probably have to consider private action. Normally there is a line in the terms and conditions (that you agree to when you bid) that they try their best to accurately describe lots, you should inspect before bidding and if they aren't as described then tough luck.

The terms of many auction houses are worthless. A solicitor friend who helped write mine and a Trading Standards officer told me that. "Sold as seen" does mostly apply, as I said it can be different if there was no viewing time and also if the item is fraudulent, ie a fake/copy or somehow illegal.

shaun_from_Africa

Was the auction an online one only or did it happen in a real auction house with bidders also being able to place bids online?

If it was online only and was run by a company based in the UK then providing you purchased as a consumer, you should have the right to return the goods under "The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013"
These regulations allow for a 14 day right of cancellation for most goods purchased at a distance.

RFW

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Was the auction an online one only or did it happen in a real auction house with bidders also being able to place bids online?

It does look as though most, if not all, the auction houses on the-saleroom.com have viewing days.

Looking through the auctioneers on there I can't see any that look like they would be trying anything. They're mostly long standing companies, of the ones I know they're all highly reputable.