I encountered a glitch in Auction Sniper that caused me panic and could have cost me big-time on eBay. I wanted to snipe an antique book for my collection, specifically eBay Item Number 6597440583. While viewing the item, I used Auction Sniper's "Snipe it Now!" feature from my favorites list. I entered my maximum bid of $333.33, and clicked the "Snipe It!" button. There was nearly an hour left on the auction for the book when I placed my snipe.
After receiving confirmation that the snipe had been accepted, I went to the Auction Sniper website and was horrified to see that my bid apparently had been placed for a broken laptop computer being sold for parts. Worse, my maximum bid was twice what was then the highest bid for the computer, and there were only 9 seconds to go! I tried to cancel but it was too late. To say the least, I was furious -- in part because my wife was about to kill me and in part because of the stabbing pain in my chest and left arm.
However, it turned out that Auction Sniper had somehow mixed up my item number (the book) with the description and information from the broken computer item, specifically Item 8750985094. It actually placed my bid for the book, but it did so when there were only 9 seconds left on the computer auction. Thus my bid for the book was placed when there was over 50 minutes left on that auction!
Fortunately, Auction Sniper did not place a bid in my name for the broken computer, even though that still shows on Auction Sniper as the description of the item I won -- but with the item number for the book. As it turned out, I don't think this early bid raised the final price of the book, judging from the bid history, although there's no way to tell.
I complained to Auction Sniper's tech support and got a prompt response apologizing for the screw up. They also gave me two free snipes to try to make up for my trouble -- big deal! They also admitted that this sort of problem occurs from time to time and that they cannot guarantee that it won't happen again. I felt that they blew me off and dismissed a very significant problem with a big "so what." That's unacceptable!
I've read posts here of similar problems, and consequently I'm now very reluctant to rely on Auction Sniper to place my bids, except perhaps when I'm asleep or not home. It may be that the problem was caused by the "Snipe it Now!" feature, so I won't be using that again.
Has anyone else encountered this sort of problem with worse results, and if so, how did Auction Sniper respond?
May the Bids Be With You!
Doug Collins
Hermosa Beach, California
doug.collins@adelphia.net
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