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:08/22/2022

  Type:Order 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.

  August 4,2022 Whipple auction handled my auction of a handyman home and was SUPPOSED to advertise in my local city paper, ********** ****** *** *** ****** ********** , they neglected to run the ad in the ********** ****** , but still charged me for ad, and only 4 bidder, were present, to bid on my property. They also never had a termite inspection done, which was supposed to be done according to Ohio law they told me when signing a contract.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/24/2022

  Please find our response to the complaint, ID# ********, and the facts to the best of our knowledge and recollection herein.
  

  The complainant mentions that we did not run an ad in the local ********** ****** newspaper. Calls were made by our office to contact him during our marketing efforts, and he consistently did not answer those calls. Our office was successful in contacting the seller's sister, who could communicate our questions to her brother to get the answers.
  

  Our office provided the seller the option of running an ad in The ********** Herald and quoted the estimated cost associated with running that ad. The answer came back that he would prefer not to run the ad due to the cost, so therefore an ad was not run in The ********** Herald. Ads were run in other major area newspaper ads, online and social media venues in which advertising costs were charged as per our agreement with him. Reductions in our typical auction fees and other advertising expenses were made and paid for by our company to market the property effectively and help satisfy the sellers concerns with costs of advertising the sale.
  

  The complaint also mentions that 4 bidders were present at the start time of the auction. That is true, there were approximately 4 active bidders at the beginning of the auction, however more interested parties had come to preview the property, both the day of and 30 days prior to see if they had any interest in attending and bidding. Due to the amount of dilapidation and extreme condition that the property was in, an "Enter At Your Own Risk" waiver was required due to liability and safety reasons due to the concern of the condition of the foundation and roof. There were 13 signatures on that waiver form on auction day. Therefore the majority of those potential bidders that decided to come the day of the sale, looked through the property, decided against bidding due to the condition it was in and left before the auction began.
  

  In addition, due to the lack of interest in the property and the fact that only 4 bidders remained at the auction at starting time, the auctioneer called and spoke with the client directly to explain the amount of interest and situation on site just minutes prior to opening the auction or any solicitation for bids was made. This call afforded the seller the opportunity to cancel the sale at that time. The seller declined that option and instructed the auctioneer to proceed with the auction; there were several witnesses present that can attest to that verbal instruction.
  

  Due to the severe condition of the property, a pest inspection was not conducted. A pest inspection is not required by Ohio law to be conducted for a real estate transfer.
  

  The purchaser at the auction shared with our staff at the time of signing the paperwork that it was being purchased for the value in the lot only and planned to demolish the remaining structure and start fresh since attempting to repair the existing structure would not prove cost effective.
  

  Every effort was made to secure as many interested parties and potential bidders to the sale as possible Our Auction Promotion Schedule indicates that 2 newspaper ads were run in The (******* **********, dozens of real estate and auction website ads, auction signs which we had printed and erected (paid for by our company), 8 social media marketing avenues were utilized with 14, 146 views, impressions. or interactions with that social media marketing.
  

  I hope this settles this matter and if you have any questions about how Whipple Auction & Realty conducts its auctions or business, please feel free to contact me.