Bankruptcy Sale Local hotel - legit? Faulty goods

dotcom13

Dont spend you money unless you look and examine what your buying, you have been warned, this looks like exactly the same sort of flyer that I got!

Why should you be charged to go and buy stock from a so caller high street shop? do they charge you going into shops on the street, I don't thinks so...

Stay well away is my advice, I started this thread!

artielange

I have .....a few up.....and thats the only one.

Derby1

I went to one of these auctions many years ago and bought a watch and a pen for 20 quid - when 20 quid was 20 quid!! So when my wife told me she'd like to go to an auction in Letterkenny in the Clanree a couple of Sundays ago I pretty much knew what to expect.

The layout was similar but the setup was slightly different. They effectively have "floorwalkers" who do the bidding, rapidly increasing the bids when people put their hands up.

You might put your hand up at €20, but by the time you can get your hand down you've been "pointed at" and the price is now €60, plus VAT plus 15% auction fees, so price is now over €80. The herd Mentality stops people saying "sorry I didn't really want to pay that much".

Also the same woman in the audience was "picked at random" to check goods were genuine and also won all the opening bids for the genuine stock. Later bidders got the "tat".

I fully expected a stampede of calls to Sean Doherty on Highland Radio the next morning but there were none.

The leaflet handed out at the "auction" was from Ringley Trading Limited Keller House Staplestown Road Carlow.

eringobragh

Chris_533976 wrote: »

In the Ardilaun in Galway next.

They cant even spell Black & Decker right.

Yep. In Galway visiting the 'aul pair' and they got that tat through the door :mad: We knew it was a straight up scam.

Been to one before and there very convincing! After all the good goods go to the plants, and the few freebies They offloaded SLR imitation Cameras (no flash lol), Tool Kits, and some other junk I can't remember for 60 punt! at the end they said "Who'll give me £20 for what I put in front of me" and hands everywhere with 20'! As someone else said "Herd Mentality" All they got was a ****ty electric shaver (was shrink wrapped and covered in packing tape).

Might give Salthill Garda a heads up.

bk

Derby1 wrote: »

I fully expected a stampede of calls to Sean Doherty on Highland Radio the next morning but there were none.

People don't talk about these things because they are embarrassed for getting caught by it. Which makes it easier for these chancers to continue doing it and catch other honest people.

Lawdie

Anyone got a fake €50 so 25 of us could go! poetic justice.

Curious Geroge

eringobragh wrote: »

Might give Salthill Garda a heads up.

Good point here, why would the hotel want to be associated with this type of activity and why would the garda allow it, did u call them ? I'm curious to what they would say..

eringobragh

Curious Geroge wrote: »

Good point here, why would the hotel want to be associated with this type of activity and why would the garda allow it, did u call them ? I'm curious to what they would say..

I called them earlier today and told them its a well known scam and they did a few people in in the carlton in January. The guard said he got one through the door as well :rolleyes:. He just said "he'd give the lads a heads up". I've done my bit!

Cicero

1. With a EUR2 entry fee, they cover their hotel costs- usually these things happen on a Sunday (day out for the family and all that, so maximises chances of massive numbers turning up, and hotels rooms are cheaper on Sundays to rent...so...quids up so far...

2. the concept of an auction and a captive audience with a good 'showman' on the mic, makes for frenzied bidding and therefore lots of profit

3. These people move around...they target neighbourhoods for 1 weekend and then move to another part of the country- but always highly populated areas

4.Most of the stuff is junk, seconds, or worse- they make money selling over priced junk throughout the auction with a sprinkling of branded goods thrown in throughout to keep the interest..in the meantime, no-one appears to notice that 1000s euro in junk (plastic pens etc) is being spent by people who normally wouldn't consider buying such nonsense

5. When you pay your eur 2, you have fallen for the worst and oldest trick in sales- now that I have paid, I have to stay and I have to buy something...it doesn't matter whether entry fee is eur2 or eur 20- it's the principle of paying a fee to gain entry- thats all it takes

6. Finally, the old saying applies here: IF IT LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS !

If you've fallen for this nonsense, don't feel bad, - put it down to experience-it's just pure manipulation and you got sucked in- branded quality goods just aren't sold for 1/10 of their price for nothing..there is always a cost

Would love to see a statement issued from the hotels federation on this topic- it's hotels that provide the appearance of legitimacy for these under-handed scammers.

vulcan57

Are scams illegal? If so, what are the gards doing about it?

workaccount

Glad I know about this anyway though I normally would have my common sense about me when buying anything and would have to inspect the product first. Still though that's not to say I couldn't have been caught off-guard.

Very interesting about that entry fee and then feeling as though you had to get value and buy something.

jor el

vulcan57 wrote: »

Are scams illegal? If so, what are the gards doing about it?

Although these are technically not a scam, they're not far off. The trader stays just on the right side of the law, and I've never heard of the Gardai getting involved.

They use confidence tricks like paying the entry fee, hyping up the item with a good sales pitch, peer pressure (everyone else wants one, why don't you), etc to get you to buy something that you don't want to buy. You can see what you're buying, and you know the price, so it's really your own choice, and fault, if you pay.

The stuff is never worth the price you pay.

Anyone not happy with their purchase should contact the hotel management, where the auction was held, inform them of the cheap tat that was for sale, that damages the reputation of the hotel, and ask that they never host one of these auctions again. With the recession hitting hotels hard, it'll be hard for them to turn down business like this.

suppafly

bk wrote: »

No, it was in Cork a good few years ago and it was free, so it was just some free entertainment for me. I wouldn't have paid for it obviously, just on the principal of it.

It was exactly like what you see in the youtube video above.

ya thats the same one i went 2. The "sale shop" i think it was called. seriously dodgy i remember. Only the time i went when he was going through the auction he ended it very abruptly. Maybe the guards turned up outside or something

Shiny

I went to one of these in Galway when I was around 15.

I'll admit it, I was totally fooled by the whole thing, I was one of
those "frustrated shoppers" in the video above.

The auctioneer did the same as above, sold loads of stuff to a few
people for £30 etc and then the "normal" people were busting to buy
stuff.

Then he offered 2 types of products to everyone. They were both wrapped
in loads of black plastic, one worth £25 and the other worth £50.

I got the £25 box and other people in the auction got the same and some
people got the £50 box's and then in like 5 seconds we were all ushered
out of the place!

It was only when I was outside I said to my friend, "**** this could be a
box full of sand!!". It wasn't, it was an electric shaver which I used for a
few years so I was lucky.

The poor bastards that got the £50 box weren't so lucky. I saw one of
them open the box(took like 5 minutes to open it, rip off plastic etc) and
out comes the crappiest plastic camera I had ever seen. Even worse than
the one in the video above.

The "auction" I was at, was far more manipulative though, they checked
who was putting their hands up and if you weren't bidding on stuff you
had to leave!! There were also hecklers at the back muttering that there
were "plants in the audience" but I was too young to know what they
were talking about!!

I shudder when I think back on it now....(Feel like I was mentally raped)

consultech

I recall a thread on here about a similar event in a hotel, rows of dodgy electronics with the odd brand name, patsies in the crowd stirring up bidding etc.

Absolute scamage btw

phill106

Cicero wrote: »

Would love to see a statement issued from the hotels federation on this topic- it's hotels that provide the appearance of legitimacy for these under-handed scammers.

was working in a hotel last year, saw we were having one of these chancers in. Asked the boss, are you sure, these are chancers etc, he said nooooo they are legit.
They came, all crap stuff, and at the end, didnt pay hotel....

Lawdie

Did any one go in the end?

calex71

I really cant believe these are still going on / idiots are still going to them :pac:

I remember being dragged to one when i was 8 or so and even then it didnt take my dads sarcastic laugh at the goings on to tell me it was a scam

lolabug

Just wanted to post on my experience with these sales. Yes I was one of those gullible fools that went along and got caught up in the excitement. I was at a Ringley Trading sale in the Clarion in Cork last year. I bought one product I'm happy with but the other...a wireless games console...that the issue is with. They tell you several times during the sale that if you're not happy with something FOR ANY REASON they will refund it. So the quality of this games console was shockingly bad....looked like the graphics were done in the 80s. So I rang Ringley Trading and spoke to the head guy who told me it was no problem at all if I wasn't happy to send it back and they'd refund it. No problem. So I did, spending €7.50 on postage to get said console posted back to me with a letter to say they don't refund products that aren't broken. That would be fine if that's what their own head guy had told me but I had made it clear that it was the quality of the game I was unhappy with. When I phoned again I spoke to an employee who apologised and said he would sort it out for me. I was out of the country for a month and when I returned no word from them. I was going to let it go cos I realised I had been scammed but on principle I kept at them. Another phonecall where I was told the cheque had been sent and that it must have got lost. Hmmm...So I told him to cancel it and issue a new one which last Friday he said he would do. The cheque was APPARENTLY posted on Monday but no sign of it still today. I rang and rang and rang this morning...at this stage furious...and in the meantime I found all this stuff about other people being caught out here on Boards by people like this so I decided to just finally give up. In the past few minutes head guy phoned my house saying he had missed a call from my number so I explained the situation AGAIN. He has apologised and promised I'll have the cheque this week. He said he wrote it himself on Monday. So we'll see although I don't hold out any hope for this at all. I've written it off as a bad debt. Luckily I didn't spend much. It was more the principle of the thing. Lesson learned though. I will never go to one of these again. I urge other people to not go and spread the word. As I told him on the phone, he's very good at what he does which I believe is scamming people. He thanked me for the compliment! Says it all really!

Davy

lolabug wrote: »

Just wanted to post on my experience with these sales. Yes I was one of those gullible fools that went along and got caught up in the excitement. I was at a Ringley Trading sale in the Clarion in Cork last year. I bought one product I'm happy with but the other...a wireless games console...that the issue is with. They tell you several times during the sale that if you're not happy with something FOR ANY REASON they will refund it. So the quality of this games console was shockingly bad....looked like the graphics were done in the 80s. So I rang Ringley Trading and spoke to the head guy who told me it was no problem at all if I wasn't happy to send it back and they'd refund it. No problem. So I did, spending €7.50 on postage to get said console posted back to me with a letter to say they don't refund products that aren't broken. That would be fine if that's what their own head guy had told me but I had made it clear that it was the quality of the game I was unhappy with. When I phoned again I spoke to an employee who apologised and said he would sort it out for me. I was out of the country for a month and when I returned no word from them. I was going to let it go cos I realised I had been scammed but on principle I kept at them. Another phonecall where I was told the cheque had been sent and that it must have got lost. Hmmm...So I told him to cancel it and issue a new one which last Friday he said he would do. The cheque was APPARENTLY posted on Monday but no sign of it still today. I rang and rang and rang this morning...at this stage furious...and in the meantime I found all this stuff about other people being caught out here on Boards by people like this so I decided to just finally give up. In the past few minutes head guy phoned my house saying he had missed a call from my number so I explained the situation AGAIN. He has apologised and promised I'll have the cheque this week. He said he wrote it himself on Monday. So we'll see although I don't hold out any hope for this at all. I've written it off as a bad debt. Luckily I didn't spend much. It was more the principle of the thing. Lesson learned though. I will never go to one of these again. I urge other people to not go and spread the word. As I told him on the phone, he's very good at what he does which I believe is scamming people. He thanked me for the compliment! Says it all really!

Does your RETURN/ENTER button not work???

Basq

Moved to Consumer Issues.

Erin go Bragh

This RTL crowd are in the Marriot Hotel in Ashbourne this Sunday (5th April 2009). I got the same leaflet as in previous posts. The leaflet says they have a permit from the Dept. of Enterprise and Employment. Might be worth giving them a bell to see what they say about it.

I might go along for the experience.......I'll just make sure I have my €2 and no other money on me incase I'm brainwashed

crawler

there is one of these "not to be missed" events being run by Ringley Trading Limited in the Marriott Ashbourne this Sunday (5th) - BUYER BEWARE.

Ironically it's EXACTLY the same flyer as the one scanned and posted here in Jan 09 - same goods for sale etc - the only difference is the venue and date......

Please people do not get conned.

calex71

We should have a boards consumer issues meet and beers at one of these

deckie27

Erin go Bragh wrote: »

This RTL crowd are in the Marriot Hotel in Ashbourne this Sunday (5th April 2009). I got the same leaflet as in previous posts. The leaflet says they have a permit from the Dept. of Enterprise and Employment. Might be worth giving them a bell to see what they say about it.

I might go along for the experience.......I'll just make sure I have my €2 and no other money on me incase I'm brainwashed

I have the same leaflet. Will you get me a hitatchi drill for 2 euro. :D:D:D:D:D

from solocheck.ie
Registered Company Number 442997
Company Type PRIVATE LIMITED BY SHARES
Current Status NORMAL
Principal Activity [51.11] AGENTS INVOLVED IN THE SALE OF AGRICULTURAL RAW MATERIALS, LIVE ANIMALS, TEXTILE RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-FINISHED GOODS
Partial Registered Address GRAIGUECULLEN CARLOW

eddiej

Hi Guys,

Got one of these have to say fell for it thought it was sale with recession and all plus the fact it was in Marriott in Ashbourne gave it credibilty. So went along and it took all of oh 2 seconds to realsie all was not well. Firstly lot of blokes with big gold chains calling me boss and tellin me to get the hands up fur deee bidders. The majority of stuff was shi111teeee looked at one camera and it was very dodgey make yet the auctioneer was calling it top quality stuff. Wirless game console sellin for €40 but they were €45 in Dunnes before xmas. Go to lots of auctions so it was not hard really to see this was dodge with the autioneer (if you want to call him that) pullin bids left right and centre out of nowhere serious dodge. Was one woman videoing on her mobile which they didnt like too much wonder will it make it up here. Anyhows no entry fee went to evening sale and googled when I got back pity didnt save myself the bother but suppose with recession an all easy to fall for it.

I'm not askin 20 not 10 not 3 euros I'm giving the Shi11teee away for 1 euro to tyou you and you babeeeee

Avoid like the plague unless you want a good laugh

Elmo

eddiej wrote: »

Wirless game console sellin for €40 but they were €45 in Dunnes before xmas.

They are now 20 in dunnes.

ShooterSF

Seen the flyer in the door the other day. Really can't believe this is still going on. I went to one of these as a kid in hopes of getting a Sega CD add on for the mega drive

eddiej

Elmo wrote: »

They are now 20 in dunnes.

Nuff said

jor el

ShooterSF wrote: »

Really can't believe this is still going on.

Times being what they are, you'll see more and more of these cowboys popping up.