IIRC Robbie Sherwood first came on here saying (in the now apparently deleted thread) that "there was no judge".....etc..... His words "speak for themselves" in light of the now available public records..............What have you got to say for yourself Robbie ?? I have one word for you.....and it begins with an L. Here's a new article in SCM........ http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/1076 The most interesting comment is below........... "We can only surmise that the Palm Beach Auction has been having substantial problems, and that Barrett-Jackson decided that this lawsuit was its best bet to keep the situation from getting worse. The reasons for this decision may become more apparent as we get closer to the Palm Beach auction."
Robbie The following very serious allegations have been publically made (Post 21 of this thread) about Barrett-Jackson on this forum. Are they true? "Purging records won't do BJ the least bit of good. The GM Futureliner auction is recorded...and was played out on live TV to a $4.1 Million gavel-close when there was no $4.1 Million bidder, no $4 Million bidder, no $3.9 Million Dollar bidder (BJ had to chase down the "losing" $3.8 Million bidder). Well, purge your records all day long, but in court BJ won't be able to produce the $4.1M, $4M and $3.9M bidders. Game Over. Shill bids are thereby proven."
Oh come on! Surely suing your Sellers and hauling your best bidders into court as witnesses will attract the monied set to BJ auctions in droves, right?!
The original thread has not been deleted: Barrett-Jackson ejects Keith Martin/For all you Barrett-Jackson fans... There were originally two threads - one was in the Vintage section and was eventually merged with the one in Cars, Motorcycles, Boats & Planes. All the posts are still here though. >8^) ER
It was an old thread and I missed the merge then..........looked for it in Vintage and saw it wasn't there. If you search posts for Robbie Sherwood it comes up in the "BJ responds" post.
Hey Jim, did BJ at least *respond* to you via PM? I'd be amazed if they had no explanation for their Futureliner fiasco, after all...
Jackson could be in the right on this one, but I am still in glee to see the auction company receive another blow. I long for the day when Speed TV drops Barrett-Jackson (and cuts NASCAR coverage by 50%)--it may never happen, being Speed TV is as much a sell-out at Craig Jackson, but I can always dream.
Evidence begins to mount that BJ's litigation strategy hasn't helped business... The BJ Palm Beach average price per car and overall money dropped from 2006 to 2007: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136599289&postcount=45
We had done a post on an online editorial being retracted under pressure from B-J a while back and got a similar legal statement posted as a comment on the story. Since we didn't report the editorial as fact, merely that the post was pulled, the AOL/Time-Warner legal dept. assured us we were in the clear. But it seemed a weird way to respond to some common criticism, by posting a comment in the blog, rather than contacting us directly. Here are links to the way we covered it: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/06/barrett-jackson-rumblings-trouble-in-westworld/ http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/16/barrett-jackson-sues-customer-for-defamation/ And BTW, Leno told me the same thing about the auctions using his name and it wasn't just B-J unfortunately.
Not that anyone's keep tabs...but BJ had to scrap a "high bid" today on Speed in their Vegas/Mandalay Bay auction. Seems there was no such bidder.
Wow! The current 2009 BJ auction in Scottsdale appears to be fairly clean so far. The only hiccup that I've seen is that the auctioneer tried to bump the winning bidder of the cream '65 Mustang K code car...but the bidder caught it! He waived his hands no, his high bid stayed unbumped, and he won the car. You don't see bidders catch that mistake (or trick) very often. Often they fall for bumping their own bid. This one didn't, so kudos to him. Remember bidders: the object is to be the *last* person to bid, not the first. Likewise, bid with a *price* out loud, not with a nod or a "yup" or a hand signal.
I had no idea the things that have been going on when I watch that auction late at night......I need to start paying attention. Seems like BJ made out OK since the fiasco in 2008, or are there more stories to be had?
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/22/Autos/funonwheels/gm_futurliner/ Official Result: http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=1307&aid=53
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7otkc_barrett-jackson-life-on-the-block-a-record-night_sport#.UPYgLB37Jdw 24 minutes in Things to note: There was no $4.5 million bidder, no $4.3 million bidder, no $4.1 million bidder. Note that BJ goes on bended knee to Pratt long after the bidding was over because he had the "2nd place" bid at $3.8 Million, and Pratt says "So what?" Then notice the announcement by BJ that the Futurliner sold for "$4 Million." *you'd have to believe that a shrewd businessman like Pratt, in the middle of witnessing a mess at BJ, let himself get bumped $200k from his $3.8 Million bid where he was out, into paying $4 Million
I have bought many cars from Mecum and one from BJ. I am surprised this type of thing does not happen more often. Just because people are that way sometimes. I suspect both auction houses try to stay pure and most likely do. I must admit I prefer Mecum because the atmosphere seems to be more gentle and professional. Mecum has helped me when I was having problems after I bought a car due to my own fault. My most current purchase I talked to a rep many days after I was home who tried and did help. BJ has more things to see outside of the main tent, vendors and such. In my view they have a more stern business acumen than Mecum. I am surprised BJ would go the lawsuit route. Some people will avoid them as this gets around. Lee