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.

[hvychev]

Total frickin BS! There is no way this should be allowed. Hopefully the goofball seller will have their selling privliges taken away!

[BJCHEV396]

DID YOU GET A REFUND??

[nova7579]

I have won more than one auction where the seller refuses to send the item after payment has been recieved. I have always received my money back. She will still be able to sell on e-bay, as e-bay could careless if the auction is completed or not. I am suprised that CamaroJoe missed this one??? Sorry about your luck!!!
Brian

[bkhpah]

Happens all the time with cars too. You strike a honest deal and the next thing you know the deal gets queered by some jag-off that has no intention of owning the car. Once this happens, I lose 100% of any shred of respect I had for those people. I hope it works out for you, but it won't. There are board members here that are part of that club, even better sell you an item and it comes to you as total crap. There are members on this board that do that as well. ..BKH

[al8apex]

they pulled all the photos too

the seller is on our ebay "sh*t list"

make sure you report it to ebay, here is the number to call

866-442-3229

[camarojoe]

[ QUOTE ]
I am suprised that CamaroJoe missed this one???
Brian

[/ QUOTE ]

Erik (supercar_kid) is my brother...so it shouldn't be too surprising I wasn't bidding against him. He was actually bidding on the firesuit for me, as he's pretty much my right hand man with this stuff, and helps me set up the memorabilia displays at SCR every year. This suit would have been part of the traveling display for everyone to see and enjoy but instead it's being ransomed by greedy shiesters. I printed the entire auction and all the orginal photos out before they disappeared. So I have a dozen or so photos of the items he won if anyone runs across them for sale elsewhere. BKH, you are right, this is unfortunately not the first time I've heard of this happening...which sucks even more.

[Born30YrsLate]

Isn't winning an ebay auction a legally binding contract?...so if you wanted to you can bring a lawsuit against them for breach of contract...but I'm sure the money spent may far outway the value of the item so if it is done it would be for the principle of it. Perhaps you could have a lawyer-friend draft you up a nice little letter...especially since there was a payment transaction.

I can feel your pain...I only like to use eBay for stuff I can't find anywhere else or get a wild hair up my ass to buy something I just find there...I was on a pretty good role with ebay for about 6 years with no issues, but in the last 2 years I have had NUMEROUS BAD eBay issues with little help from them.

Hope you end up getting the suit!

[njsteve]

Time to send them the following notification:

"You can either send me the (fire)suit or I can send you the (law)suit. The former will be far cheaper for you than the latter."

[Mr. Chevy]

I don't think this will "hold water" as a legally binding contract.. I think Erik would be wasting his time and expensive money attempting to sue the seller over this.. I would just let it go and chalk it up as a bad experience. It is obvious what crap the seller has pulled here and hopefully e-bay will somehow discipline her over it.. Hopefully he got his money refunded. If not I would pursue it through e-bay agressively..

Rich