Sam's Club Complaint - Possible Online Auction Fraud - Online Auction

Posted by Sparticus on 2007-04-15:

I had no idea Sam's Club had a web-auction site... thanks for the warning. This type of thing happens on ebay when the seller doesn't put a reserve price up but in reality they have a reserve price in mind.

Posted by shawnp80 on 2007-04-16:

"WON" your ring, not "ONE" your ring.

Posted by Ponie on 2007-04-16:

Was this the 2 carat ring where the high bid was a dollar two eighty seven? I'd be disappointed too.

Posted by jdhdwill on 2007-08-17:

Same thing happened when I won an auction for some boots. Not available due to supplier. Voila, they are on the auction again, same size and brand/model.

Posted by PO32775 on 2008-03-26:

I "Won" Bid for a GREAT price for a .48 ct. t.w. Princess Band 5 diamonds set in a 3mm platinum band, my bid? 558, a great price for the platinum band alone!.. tho I won the bid, never got an email or any further contact , I have called daily for 2 weeks and a different excuse each time! I now hav e a great bid in on another ring and the auction was supposed to end on the 24th, imagine my surprise to see that the auction NOW ends on the 28th! there is most definately fraud affot with samsclub auctions!

Posted by I Love Auctions on 2008-05-14:

I thought that only happened to me!!! I also won a vanity at a great price and after waiting to be notified I get an e-mail notifying me that the supplier was out of vanities...the day after the vanity was up for auction. I sent a complaint and the response was to bid on the item again and they would honor the original winning price...it's all b--- s---...they just want you to bid to bring up the price.

Posted by AnnesLimo on 2008-06-03:

I suspect there are also fake bidders as I've been bidding for days on a certain laptop computer but I never win the bid and evidently the winning bidder always seems to be one of two other people. Ironicly enough every time an auction ends another item pops up as a new listing??? I find this rather curious since the only other explanation would be the winning bidder(s) reselling but my searches online turned up no similar items on ebay or elsewhere...

Posted by Bid to Buy on 2008-10-12:

This happen to us also! We won the bid for a 10pcs Kings Size Bed Ensemble and was so excited that we had gotten it at a great price. The next week, I got a call from my secretary that I had a package delivered to my office and was very shocked to see a very small box from Sam's., upon opening it I discovered 4 rolls of duct tape! We contacted Sam's about the shipping mistake and was told there wasn't anything that could be done except a refund because of it being an auction there was no other replacements. We are currently waiting for our refund and hoping that the shipping charges of $25 will be included. Buyer Beware of this auction site!!!

Posted by Andy_CO on 2009-12-02:

I am convinced that Sams Club Auctions is a complete FRAUD!!! When you are bidding on an item, and place a maximum for a proxy bid, mysteriously some other bidder raises the bid to just a $1 short of your bid. This has happened so many times that is just impossible that it is only a coincidence. They either have people working on this scam or is some kind of automated script that squeezes you for more money. I will investigate further and gather more evidence and will report Sams Club to the DA's office in their local jurisdiction. If they think they are untouchable, they a dead wrong!!!

Posted by jdrabe on 2009-12-23:

A similar thing happened to me when attempting to purchase a television on Sams Club Auction. I won the tv at a very good price and then got an e-mail stating that they were out of stock. This happened more than once. Also, some other items that actually arrived had dents or other defects such that I suspect they were display items. I must also say, by far the majority of purchases I made there went through flawlessly and with no other problems. I have bought a lot of stuff there, and most of it was at excellent prices

Posted by bill520 on 2010-11-10:

I also suspect fraud at Sams Club auction site. I won a laptop computer at the lowest price for that model in any other auction. I received an email that said more information was needed. I called the number they provided and they asked me to confirm information that they already had. They thanked me and said they would process my order. I have called back 3 times and sent 3 emails. They always tell me it is in "shipping". It has been 12 days since I won the bid...still no shipping notice. The are JERKS !!!

Posted by bmwsav on 2011-01-04:

This is still happening as of 01/04/2011.
I won a Lexmark all-in-one printer and was emailed 2 days later it was canceled due to supplier out of stock when there were others being auctioned there after my winning auction.
Now, I'm considering starting a membership with their competitor COSTCO when my membership expires.

Posted by june on 2011-11-06:

I'm wondering if ANYONE has EVER gotten a truly great deal with Sam's Club auctions?!!

Posted by Shelly on 2011-12-02:

I have been biding on SAMs Auction for 4 years and can honestly say 4 years ago I got great deals on items! Even a diamond ring but after that it has sucked. Something's go over the actual price, (I look up items and some are selling in your local sams club clearance section)! So anyway I have a strong feeling SAMs has people bidding against you to make the bids higher. Plus hub just won diamond earrings a week ago and they cancelled order blaming him for credit card error. He won them at $253 and same ones are bidding for $350 now. So far I have seen these earrings appear 4 times. Do they really have more than one pair? Doubting that now!

Posted by Shelly on 2011-12-02:

By the way hub called to verify credit card info and everything was correct! 4 days ago they said they would process and nothing yet! They just lie to get you off phone and hope you don't call back.

Posted by JD on 2012-04-22:

In the past you could get some deals at the auction. Now you can bid without even having a membership all you have to do is register at Sam's as a Guest and "whalla" you can bid at the auctions too. I don't know if these people don't know what the prices are at Sam's or can't look at the price at Sam's .com (I know that all of them are not there), but I know that things that I can buy for $6 in the club can go got $12 then you have to pay shipping $6 bucks and thing that I pay $10for can go for $24-28 and ypu pay the shipping - COME ON??????????

Posted by MrBor on 2012-04-22:

I have bid and received several items to include a watch which never worked, a toaster that defective and then finally a master remote that also could not seem to be programmed with anything but one tech item. Sams took back the watch and assured me a replacement, but that too never materialized.

When I attempted to return the master remote to the local store, they refused saying it was an auction item. This too came after I called the auction customer service and was told to return it to the store.

Terrible Service. I will NEVER use their auction site and will not renew my membership to Sams. Costco has it all over on them!

Posted by disappointed on 2012-10-03:

The popcorn bidding is a pain. When I think I am a winner then it add time on the auction. I am sure it is to increase the price. It reminds me of a penny auctions. Is that legal?

Posted by convinced of sneakiness on 2012-11-27:

Twice now I had the high bid for hours and within the last 5 min of the original close time 2 bidders start bidding. still got a great deal on what I got but ticks me off that I had to fork over another $10 each in the last couple of min. The first time didn't think much of it, but second time was instant thought of sneaky cheating on Sam's part

Posted by JQZ on 2013-02-05:

I won a bid for a Vizio TV and received an email the next day saying it had been shipped, but the FedEx tracking number was not in the FedEx system. After emails and phone calls to Sams Club, I finally got a call back saying that the delivery would be in two days. One day later, Sams cancelled the order, blaming the vendor for being out of stock.

Posted by DD on 2013-03-10:

Most assuredly a rip off site...unless you are willing to pay store price plus shipping...you are mysteriously outbidded...joke and a waste of time...check "overstock.com" for a better price!

Posted by Mb on 2013-05-09:

Just bought a carat and a half ring from sams club auction got a great deal and they canceled it because they said I did not respond to there emails.. I NEVER GOT AN EMAIL. Now they said I can try to bid on it again. Can we say FRAUD!!!!!!