The reason why I said what I did, Mr. Trainman, is because it is my contention that you have come into this forum "loaded and ready to fire," as the saying goes, and despite warning others (particularly AS support) about not being rude, have demonstrated that very trait yourself.
Your point about the lead time is a valid one and you have made it loudly and clearly. What we do not need, however, is the constant reminder that you are the customer (almost all of us are here) and that you are an expert on your collectibles (many of us are with our own, and value is both fluid and subjective, anyway). In other words, whatever merit your point may have had has since been diluted by the heavy-handed way in which you introduced yourself to this forum, beginning with short demands as to why certain snipes were placed when, continuing with assertions about bids miraculously appearing after auctions, and moving now toward proclamations about your personal competency.
Your point has been made. Granted, Sara will never win the congeniality award for customer service, but she has indicated that AS, after dealing with tens of thousands of auctions weekly for quite some time, has made a conscious business decision to place snipes early when they feel it is warranted. Perhaps this policy--which has been clearly articulated many times in these forums over the past several years--could be more clearly stated in the FAQ and tutorials. However, she is not the decision maker and believe me, she has conveyed these sentiments many times over to the powers that be.
My point is that your point was made early on. The rest of the dialogue simply makes a bad situation worse.
and please dont let a couple of rude replies put you off.