Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/28/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Approximately six months ago, I purchased items through an auction hosted by ************************************ (CCA) on *********, a platform operated by Auction Flex. Upon receiving the items, I discovered they were counterfeit. I contacted *** to request a refund, but they refused. Consequently, I initiated a chargeback through my bank to recover my funds. In retaliation, CCA left a negative review on my HiBid profile, resulting in my account being banned from participating in all future auctions on the HiBid platform.I reached out to Auction Flexs customer service (via HiBid support) to resolve the issue. Their response was to suggest that I contact each individual auctioneer on their platform to explain my situation and seek permission to bid in their auctions. This resolution is unacceptable, as it places an unreasonable burden on me, the consumer, to address a situation caused by a sellers misconduct and Auction Flexs failure to enforce accountability on their platform.Auction Flex, as the operator of HiBid, has a responsibility to ensure that auctioneers using their platform act with integrity and to protect consumers from fraudulent practices, such as the sale of counterfeit goods. Their lack of action against *** and their decision to penalize me, the victim of a fraudulent transaction, demonstrates inadequate oversight and poor customer support. This experience has caused significant inconvenience, financial loss, and frustration.Resolution Sought: Removal of the negative review from ************ Auctions and reinstatement of my ***** account with full access to all auctions. A formal investigation into ************************************ practices, including their sale of counterfeit items, and appropriate action to prevent further consumer harm. Implementation of stronger policies by Auction Flex to vet auctioneers on the ***** platform and protect consumers from fraudulent sellers, including clear mechanisms for resolving disputes involving counterfeit goods.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/05/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have spent thousands of dollars with hibid/Auction Flex over the past 4 years. It is only recently , when Ii ran into some troubles with an auction house being shady that I learned of their costumer point system. Their customer point system that they made up (did not mimic from another successful auction platform) which only allows the points to go down. The auctioneers are solely in control of the customers points. If a customer is difficult, their points can drop, if a customer want a refund, their points can drop, if a customer neglects to pay, their points will plummet. These auctioneers also have full control over said customers bidding experience based on their points or weather or not the auctioneer chooses to flag said customer. Sound a little wrong, it is. Turns out there are no laws regulating auctions and these guys are just doing what ever they must to keep as much money in their pockets as possible when in reality , they may be losing money. Ive tried to communicate via phone with hibid and they hang up on my saying their platform is perfect in every way with no room for improvement. Im writing this in hopes they will wake up and see they are doing no service to their auction houses by flagging my bids. They dont ask any questions. Nor do they care the answers. This business model is one big flaw in my opinion but it is one of the only avenues sellers and auctioneers use to sell valuable items so I think I need it. If we cant work things out here where my bids are no longer pending. I am prepared to take them to small claims court.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/14/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  ***** L. ******* ********************************************************************* July 17, 2023 Better Business Bureau of *************** ********************************************* RE: Complaint / Auction Flex ************************************** JUL 2 2 2024 To Whom it may concern: By means of this correspondence, I wish to file a complaint against the above named business entity. I enclose documentation to substantiate the complaint, for your review and reference. Should you have any questions or concerns, I may be reached via email ************************ Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, ***** L. *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/11/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *******

  I am okay with the comments made in the response but I am not happy with the way the BBB handled the complaint. BBB forwarded the complaint to the wrong auction company. They should have forwarded the complaint to HIBID or auctionflex, not auctionzip.I appreciate the information provided by *****************

  I would like BBB to take this further and submit my complaint to the proper company.

   

   

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 12/07/2023

  Dear *******,

  My name is ******** and I manage the Invaluable and AuctionZip ************* teams. I've taken a look at your complaint and it looks like you were bidding through HiBid, which is a separate platform with which we have no affiliation. I'm sorry to hear about your poor experience with Click It 2 Bid It. I've also confirmed that this is not a seller that works with our platforms. 

  I've taken the liberty of looking up how to contact *****'s support team so they can further assist you. 
  

  *********************************

  It looks like HiBid is owned by Auctionflex, and their support team may be found here: *****************************************************

  Best of luck, and please let us know if we can assist with any Invaluable or AuctionZip questions!

  Kind regards,

  ********

  Senior ************* Manager
  
  Invaluable & AuctionZip

  ***************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/11/2023

  I bid on an item at auction and won the bid. I got an unpaid invoice for the item I won at auction. The auctioneer told me that they would take the item to the post office and then give me a price for shipping and have me pay for the item and shipping at that time The auctioneer never sent my item or billed me for it. I contacted her (*****) several times via phone call and she told me the item would be billed and shipped at the same time. After a month this had not happened although I was told the shipper had the item and would ship it. A week later I called the auctioneer again and she told me to never call again; do not have the people at HIBID call her and do not send emails' SHE WOULD NOT ANSWER PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS. I have still not gotten my item and the auctioneer is refusing to answer any contact. The auctioneer decided she would not uphold the contract and instead kept the item I won at auction for herself or the client. I have included my auction invoice, an email I sent to her, a picture of the item in the auction with shipping available clearly showing and an advertisement where the auctioneer claims to have a perfect rating with the BBB even though the BBB has no record of her business.I want my item. I don't think anything will be done. That is clearly against the ******* laws for auctioneers.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Thank you for reaching out. HiBid is the online auction platform that auction companies use to host their sales. We don't actually have the items or handle the shipping or transactions. Due to the fact that no goods or money exchanged hands, the best we can do is reach out to see if we can help resolve and coordinate this transaction between the two of you. Do you have any information avaialble on what the item was, who you bought it from along with the name and date of the sale? Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/15/2024

  I am not sure how I could possibly give you any more information. You have the auction house name, the location of the auction house, the item I won in the auction and the other information I provided.

  I won an item at an auction which is a LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT. They refused to send me the item and indeed refused to allow me to pay for an item I legally bid on and won at auction. They are breaking the ******* Laws that all auctions are legally bound to honor.

  This in the very least should give them a negative score at the better business bureau, especially since they have failed to respond to my claim in every way.

  PLEASE DO SOMETHING, at the very least.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/25/2024

  NOTHING HAS BEEN RESOLVED> YOU DID NOTHING> NOTHING WAS DONE!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/31/2024

   
  Complaint: 20965409
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  From the CONSUMER:

  Sent 1/15/2024 11:11:24 AM

  I am not sure how I could possibly give you any more information. You have the auction house name, the location of the auction house, the item I won in the auction and the other information I provided.

  I won an item at an auction which is a LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT. They refused to send me the item and indeed refused to allow me to pay for an item I legally bid on and won at auction. They are breaking the ******* Laws that all auctions are legally bound to honor.

  This in the very least should give them a negative score at the better business bureau, especially since they have failed to respond to my claim in every way.

  PLEASE DO SOMETHING, at the very least.

  From the CONSUMER:

  Sent 1/25/2024 1:54:59 PM

  NOTHING HAS BEEN RESOLVED> YOU DID NOTHING> NOTHING WAS DONE!

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/14/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On February 12, 2023 I put a bid on a gold coin bracelet listed by Gold Standard Auctions. I was the winner with a bid of $2300.00 + 15% buyer fee + shipping. I based my bid on the weight, advertised as 48.3 g HIGH GRADE. It was made up of 7 antique solid gold coins, so it was considered 22 kt. When I received the bracelet I weighed it. To my surprise it only weighed 38 g., a difference of 10 grams which amounted to about $750 in gold. I called Gold Standard and explained the problem. In the 20 or so phone calls to them I could only talk to someone who said he would relay the issue to his boss. They said the bracelet was weighed by them and 48.3 g was correct. I realized I was pissing in the wind so I sent the bracelet to them so they could weigh it and we could settle this. That was weeks ago and after many phone calls, emails I told them to send the bracelet back to me. Didn't happen. Next I'll see it in one of their auctions. I WANT THIS SETTLED PROPERLY, AND YES I want it back.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/26/2023

  Thank you for your feedback. It appears there was confusion or miscommunication between you and the seller on a resolution. They will be reaching out to you to work through any outstanding issues. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/24/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In the past 3 months I have spent over $20,000 at one auction house alone. I have spent well over 100,000. I have a shipping company that picks up items for me.. I noticed I was charged for many things I did not bid on. I also noticed that my bids were 4, 5, 6x my max bid. I then recorded my screen and also took snapshots. I have video and photo evidence of not only shill bidding but they went as far as changing my bids, adding broken items to my invoice and deleting the lots that I won for less than their desired amount. I wanted to see how far they would go and also get more evidence. This is not a one time deal. For one week now (3 auctions) I have recorded their fraudulent actions. They are crooks and at the same time I blame HiBid and Auction Flex. Is there anywhere on your terms & conditions notifying consumers that you allow sellers/auctioneers to change bids? Not just cancel but allowing random resellers to change bids??? C'mon now, you are just hoping every seller is honest or are you asking to be sued? I try to avoid the "S" word as I am a business owner myself. What is your policy regarding this matter? How will you fix this for me and hundreds of consumers that are unaware they are being scammed and HiBid/Auction Flex not only dodges responsibility, they are enabling fraud. How are you better than your competitors? After reading the complaints, two words come to mind. Caveat Emptor. I am filing a police report. Not that it will go anywhere but hopefully enough people will one day join me in a class action. This has to stop.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/20/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/29) */
  Ms. ******* and Ms.*****
  I represent 402 Ventures, LLC ("402") d.b.a. Auction Flex ("Auction Flex"). We are in receipt of a complaint submitted by Ms.**** dated 08/25/2022.
  After a careful review of the complaint submitted, our records have no indication or evidence regarding any of the claims Ms.**** has raised. While Ms.**** has participated in multiple auctions, there is no evidence to indicate the amount claimed by Ms.**** to have been spent. We vehemently deny that any fraudulent activity such as claimed by Ms.**** knowingly occurs on the platform. Contrary to Ms.****'s claims raised, our customer service department has attempted multiple times via phone and e-mail to reach Ms.**** regarding their account to no avail over the last several months. We cannot speak on the claim regarding payment owed, 402 does not collect, store, process, or remit any payment from auction transactions conducted on the platform. The sale is strictly between buyer and seller. More information regarding terms & conditions can be found at the following link address: https://www.auctionflex.com/legal-policy. Due to the lack of information presented and without knowledge of specific details, we cannot expressly point Ms.**** to a specific auctioneer to contact to resolve the alleged claims raised.
  We urge Ms.**** to contact the auction owners they have had transactions with to resolve any issues they may have. Furthermore, we strongly urge Ms.**** to contact our customer service department as they have attempted to reach them but all contact attempts have been unsuccessful.