“I bought a lot of watchmaker's tools and parts and when it was picked up by a friend of mine, Stroud auctions had put some of the boxes which had come open and had spilled out into the plastic bag they had roughly dumped them into upside down, with no care for the parts which have very delicate pivots, etc. Some parts were broken and damaged, because quite obviously they didn't care once they had their money. Total idiots, as far as I'm concerned, with no regard to the goods or the packing/storage after the sale. I won't be putting any more business their way with this kind of cavalier attitude!”
“There are some extremely negative reviews of Stroud Auction house, including such words as "awful", "dreadful" and "arrogant".
I too had a bad experience and echo these negative comments; upon raising my concerns, I was rebuffed by the dreaded Lyn, about whom so much bad press has already been expressed.
The main problem I faced was that they cram in so many lots, 1000 in a day, that the auctioneer is forced to go so fast that there is insufficient time for online buyers, particularly those with slow broadband speeds, to place their bids. This deprives sellers of their full potential and causes buyers to miss out altogether.
Based on my experience, I do not believe that this auction house serves the interests of either buyers or sellers, only themselves. I would certainly not sell through them.”
“Same experience as Greg's review below. Awful customer service. Really horrid woman who was very unhelpful. I can't explain just how awful and unpleasant they were with a simple inquiry. Rude, arrogant and condescending and put the phone down on me. Their payment arrangements are open to fraud as they refuse to confirm their details over the phone which leaves the buyer open to scamming. Their processes are weak and not at all secure as they rely solely on a customer sending them money by BACS on the strength of an email (which is likely to be seen as spam by a email filter so if you have 'auto-delete' on spam, it's gone for ever) so the buyer has no come back if there is a problem. I would not use their company until they sort out their payment security and manners,”
“Dreadful customer service. Was not able to collect due to travel restrictions on corona, so they take my money, stole my item, resold it and kept the proceeds... horrid experience..... very rude and disrespectful staff... very unprofessional, very disappointing....”
“Dreadful and dishonest auction house, would defiantly not recommend to any buyers.
So many other honest and reputable auction houses with more integrity and honesty. Rude and obnoxious staff.”
“Hello Nick
I feel obliged to make a formal complaint against an employee of your Company who was extremely rude and confrontational on the phone yesterday.
I placed bids in your recent auction via The Saleroom online and monitored my email box waiting for confirmation of any sale but nothing came through so I assumed I had not been successful.
At 4pm yesterday (13/02/2020) Lyn phoned with a very bad attitude and demanded to know why I had not collected my item. I explained I had not received an email of the sale therefore I was unaware I had an item to collect. Lyn then demanded I collect that day and I explained this was impossible as I do not live close by and I offered to get my daughter to collect today and Lyn then said it had to be today as this was the last day possible.
This attitude made me extremely angry and I said that I would not be doing any more business with your company and put the phone down.
Two minutes later I get an email from The Saleroom telling me I have been blocked from using their site!
Then I get an email from yourselves with the confirmation of sale.
Today I get an email telling me you have taken the money from my credit card.
I did not get the original email so this is not my fault and Lyn should not have made demands but should have been more diplomatic and more flexible, definitely a questionable telephone manner. I would also like to ask what you are going to do about unblocking me from The Saleroom as this is entirely out of order.
I have asked a colleague of mine to collect the item later today and I sincerely hope their is no confrontation about this matter.
I have been doing business with your company for many years both buying and selling and on occasion have found staff to be less than accommodating and a little pompous but at the end of the day a professional person should at all times be courteous to his customers as they are the ones keeping you in business.
Greg Holder”
“I was blocked for being a late payer by a couple of days after purchasing items by the salesroom. I explained that I had lost my wallet with all my cards but I was blocked anyway. Unimpressed! I was also quoted severe storage charges for small items. £5/lot per day. Fortunately, the always excellent Mailboxes Etc. at Cheltenham came to the rescue.”
“Be very aware if your buying from Stroud Auction Rooms via The Saleroom and internet bidding, I spent many thousands of pounds and although the staff were friendly and very polite there were no boxes available so be advised to take your own, I ended up with a car full of loose diecast models which took hours to collect and load. Look very closely at the pictures or phone them for a condition report on each item as the descriptions are very vague and they do not give the condition of the items, many of my lots were either broken in there original boxes or repainted models which would have swayed me not to buy those lots. May I add that it would be very doubtful if I use them again, I have found other auction houses selling toys a bit more switched on.
Quick up date I have just been banned from Stroud Auction Rooms 03/06/19 for giving them a truthful review, after a not so polite phone call from a rude lady I am very happy to be banned, If you do use them I wish you the very best of luck ! they are a lot worse than I first imagined.”
“STROUD AUCTIONS is probably the mother of all crooked auction houses, not only in the UK but also in the world. They run their scams on multiple levels:
By starting the bidding at the supposedly secret "bidder's highest level"
Then collecting the price and shipping fee even when the purchased item has been smashed by their clumsy employees. This just happened to me. I was fortunate that my Credit Card company intervened and cancelled both charges (auction price and shipping) but buyers are at risk.
RUN !”
