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:07/01/2025

  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.

  I won a couple items from Vail via ********* on 4/26/25. They shipped them to me and one sign was damaged. I tried calling them and emailing them to no avail. ***** finally got them to submit a damage claim on 5/18, which was also approved by ***** either that day or on 5/19. Any business I know of should immediately then refund the buyer because the damage claim check is sent to the shipper to make them whole. Vail did not. Over the next few weeks I asked for updates several times with very limited responses. They eventually told me that ***** was sending me a check. This was 4 weeks after the claim was approved and ***** again never sends it to the recipient of a package, plus their checks arrive in 5-7 days. After calling ***** and confirming they sent the check to **********, I told Vail this. They then said they havent gotten it yet. So their story changed. They have a terrible history of mistreating customers if you just ****** their name. They are using fraudulent transactions like this to double dip and line their pockets, while leaving me without the money I should be getting back. I now have to go dispute the original charge with my bank.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/15/2025

  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.

  Vail sold us over 9k in merchandise that didn't match the description provided in their federal seizure auction. We directly contacted them by phone several times and received no answer, nor a call back. We reached out to the bidding platform, Hibid, for assistance in resolution but they said they are unable to get a response for us. We paid for product that is different than what we were told and want a refund for the purchase. **** has our contact information but it can be provided if they need it again. We are eager to resolve but will seek resolution via all legal avenues if no communication is received. Buyer beware.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/23/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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.

  Won three sports cards in auction. Cards I recieved are complete counterfeit and not even the cards that are shown in the pictures that were available for me to see during the auction. Compared the cards to the pictures not the same. Compared the cards to ones that are graded by ****(most reputable card grading company in the world) The cards I recieved compared to those cards are not the same. Not even close. After further examining the cards I can see clearly the difference and just how counterfeit the ones I received are. Someone from that company or even the man who scams everyone himself called me and even made me believe they were real when he said Im lucky because he had all kinds of people calling him or the company saying they would pay more for the cards then for what I had won them for at auction. Beautiful scam tactic by him. He made me a believer. Was I ever wrong. Decided to ****** Vail international auctioneers and saw all of the complaints and F grading the business had. Saw on many public forms (********, Reddit) to name a couple that many people had contact this office in efforts to get something done about this horrible company. Im not a rich man so ******* is a lot of money for me. I collect buy sell sports cards as a hobby. I literally feel sick to my stomach knowing that Im probably out ******* of my hard earned money. I have faith that something will be done about this company. Im sure there are hundreds of people besides the few handfulls of people I have read about getting swindled the same way I did. Nobody deserves this. Please help me and all of the other people who have fell victim to this persons companies scam. Thank you !

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/25/2025

  Type:Delivery 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 recently bid for some precious metals and jewellery and won. I paid $1330.54 including the shipping cost. They never shipped items to me causing monetary loss and potential profit loss. They are not taking my calls and not responding to emails.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/15/2024

  Type:Product 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.

  The date of the transaction in question is 10/23/24. I found the auction on a website called *********. I paid Vail International Auctioneers $3,175.52, and was supposed to receive 5 sealed boxes of Pokemon cards. They said a wire transfer was needed for that amount of money, which I sent on 10/23/24. I contacted my bank today and they confirmed that the money was transferred and deposited to *********************** within 24 hours of the wire transfer being sent. I have tried to contact the business several times (I don't know exactly how many, but I would estimate around ***** times) since the transaction, and have had little success. I was able to speak with an employee twice out of those attempts. I was told the first time that the transfer had not gone through yet, and the second time that the person didn't see an update on the wire transfer/shipping out my product and to check back. I have yet to be able to make contact with them again. They have made no attempt to reach out, correct the issue, or respond to any of the voicemails I have left them. I thought that perhaps I was catching them between auctions, or that the items were delayed in shipping (I was never given any tracking information for the shipment). I decided to call my bank and ****** the company to see if I could find different contact information for them, and that's when I realized that Vail International Auctioneers apparently has a reputation for doing this to people. There are 26 1-star reviews on **** about people getting scammed by them. This is a large chunk of money for me, and **** needs to be held accountable for what they are doing to people!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/16/2024

  Type:Delivery 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.

  On 6/29/2024, I ordered an antique jewelry box containing gold coins for $1,000 th rough *********'s automation, sent the money via wire, and received the item. However, the items I received were fake gold coins, toy jewelry, and a box. When I asked for a refund, they ignored me saying I couldn't do it.Vail is a scammer who sells fake items worth less than $100 by uploading pictures and descriptions to make them look like the real thing.I also ordered $1,000 worth of lap top computers, but what arrived was almost like trash.I'm so angry to think that I spent about $3,000 including buyer premium, shipping, and tax and received trash from WA. How can I stop **** from scamming me further and get me compensation?

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/12/2024

  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 purchased a lot of watches on the most recent auction that ended on June 29, 2024. I tried reaching out to the auctioneer prior and after the auction with questions. I never heard back. He does not answer his phone or return calls. This auction is listed as a Gov't Surplus and Federal seizure. To premise this complaint, it is illegal to either buy or sell counterfeit items in the ** under intellectual property laws. Any counterfeit items the **************** seize are destroyed and not resold into the marketplace either directly or thru contractors. I believe the auction listing is not accurate or valid and likely includes items the auctioneer has added to the lots to increase bid amounts. I would like to know what ************** is supposedly re-selling counterfeit items thru this contractor, if that is valid. That being said, after receiving the lot i purchased and more specifically the Rolex watch that was part of that lot and the only reason, I would have even bid on it, much less to the level I did. I was shocked that when I went to the ****************** this morning, they immediately told me it was counterfeit. Coming from a Federal seizure this should not be the case, ever. To make things worse, I was charged $250 for shipping & insurance. Again shocked when I received the package this morning I was told there was zero insurance on the package other than the basic $100 which is included with any mailed package and that shipping was only $19.61. Even accounting for packaging, there is no justification for this high cost, not to mention it being false and misleading as no insurance was added to the shipment. Lastly there were other similar watch lots that sold for the same or even higher under this auction that I would suspect are also counterfeit. I also bid on another watch lot and was not the winning bidder and that lot was over $9K.The seller should refund the monies and I would return the items.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/15/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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.

  On 3/25/2024 Vail international incorporated held an auction on hibid.com.At this auction I bought 37 walking liberty silver half dollars (as they were advertised). And all of these coins are counterfeit.The confederate half is also fake.There was also a lot that I won that was supposed to be 12 American silver eagles. 3 of those were fake.The total of the invoice is 1571.15.I contacted the auction house and informed them that the local jeweler verified they are counterfeit. Selling counterfeit coins is illegal. Selling any item that presents itself as authentic US coinage that is not genuine is illegal. I do not wish to press criminal charges. The course of action I would like to see taken is that the auction house purchase and provide authentic copies of the exact year's and mint marked coins that were supposed to have been authentic in the first place, in similar condition. Also I can provide photos and a list of the exact coins that were supposed to have been recieved. This course of action will ensure that the auction house reevaluates their decision to scam customers. If this is not possible, I will return the items at my shipping expense for a full refund.After i found out they were counterfeit, I searched the company online and there are hundreds of other customers saying they have had the same experience. I do hope that you can put an end to this baloney auction house peddling black market goods.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/09/2024

  Type:Billing 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.

  This complaint is towards Vail International Auctioneers who sells on Hibid.com They advertised a "RARE BITCOIN B COIN" in which I paid over $300 for on 3/24/2024. When I received it, the local coin dealer told me that it is a novelty coin and is worthless! You can but them for $1.50. A total scam. Very dishonest. This is "false advertising." It is not rare. They only advertise that to bolster the price and create bidding competition. I further filed a complaint with the ************************ and ****** Reviews.I went to Hibid website and couldn't find any link to contact them regarding this issue which ponders the question if it does exist why is it so deeply hidden.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/26/2024

  Type:Product 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 participated auction purchased Apple MacBook Air on 3/22/2024, It took over 7 day after I questioning why was I not receiving the merchandise. However, the package appeared has been opened and resealed. see the pictures. I attempted to contact the auctioneer by phone multiple times and by email multiple times indicated the opened package.How ever, finally I received their responded " they will not and cannot do anything for me and they are Blocking me." I opened the package and took laptop to the apple store, initial visit was just flashing with question mark, but not power up. 2nd day visited was not power up, third visited was power up but technician found out the laptop missing battery and storage device and a missing key cap. I am unable to reach them by phone; each called was this person is not available and leave message. but calls and left message are not return.