ebay Yenko fire suit BEWARE

[Supercar_Kid]

I’m not one to air dirty laundry in public, but the details of a recent ebay deal I had go south, may interest some here on the board.

I was high bidder on item 140292297942, a fireproof racing suit and extra jacket supposedly once owned by Don Yenko for the amount of $312.00.

completed ebay auction listing

I spotted the item on ebay and after reading the description and some of the correspondence that had been exchanged between the seller and some interested parties, I felt the story held enough water to warrant my placing a bid. There were several pictures in the auction listing, showing a man modeling the suit, and jacket’s tagging, patches, BFG twill lettering on the back etc. including close ups of a “Don Yenko” personalization which was on the breast of both jackets.

I placed a last second sniper bid and was winner of the auction fair and square for $312 plus shipping. I was psyched to have landed what appears to be a legit Don Yenko fire suit. I sent payment for the item via PayPal, only to receive an e-mail from the seller in return stating that “With regrets, this item is no longer available. I will leave you positive feedback for your understanding.” I immediately sent a return e-mail asking the seller to give me a call, as I suspected someone may have swooped in and made an outside offer on the suit. No call was received so I requested the seller’s contact information though ebay. I was able to get her telephone number, and acting proactively I gave her a call. When I asked her what she meant that the item was no longer available, she explained that the friend that had given her the item to list had second thoughts about selling after she saw the finalized amount. She simply wasn’t going to honor the winning bid. She hadn’t sold the suit to someone else, but had notions that the suit could fetch more elsewhere. She mentioned the owner of the suit being an executor to Don’s ex wife Patti’s estate. Patti apparently recently passed away and left her home and some of Don Yenko’s possessions to this ebay seller’s friend, one of which was supposedly this racing suit and jacket.

Now naturally I am very upset at hearing this and explain to her that she is obligated to honor the auction, as it was a no reserve item and there is no reason it shouldn’t be a done deal.

Well she claimed the friend is unreasonable and simply WILL NOT let go of the suit. She explained that the owner of the suit has been in contact with Barrett Jackson auctions and plans to somehow sell the item there in the future. I was told “The owner of Barrett Jackson himself wants it for his own personal collection, I think he offered something like $800.”

Now personally I think this is total BS. You just don’t throw and item on ebay at NO RESERVE and have folks watch it for a week, only to have it’s true value determined by a well visited and legitimately completed auction, then say “nah…I’m not selling.” I have told the seller I feel bad that the situation is that her friend is screwing around and not her, but I think with a 700+ 100% positive feedback you’d be smart enough to know better than to list an item at no reserve for a friend if she has a set amount in mind that she needs to get for it. The kicker is that the suit was listed at $100 opening bid and sat with one bid until well under 12 hours remaining in the auction. If the seller was fishing for a value…why let the auction run until close?

Long story short…I don’t buy the seller’s story of ignorance, and feel I got the total run around here. I also just wanted to make everyone aware here of the fact that this suit will likely be pimped somewhere in the future, if not at BJ then ebay again or here or somewhere else…and I just don’t think it’s right as I feel am the rightful owner of it already having won and paid for it on ebay. I would appreciate someone contacting me if they should see or hear of it being offered elsewhere.

The owners of this suit obviously have no honesty or integrity, and have no problem with receiving payment for items and then refusing to ship them, so I would be very careful if you encounter these folks or are offered this suit in the future. I am sure it will resurface again soon.

I still can't be 100% sure of the authenticity of the item since I never did get to hold it in my hands or see it in person, but one thing is for sure...the sellers are 100% bona fide jag offs. I'll sign the cert for that.