Starling Auctions - Claresholm, Alberta

N. M.

MOST DISHONEST OUTFIT AROUND! Not worth the Google star or the one in their name!
Bought a trailer, based on one posted photo only (my bad). In spite of having brought multiple size trailer hitch, none of them fit. Therefore, it was unsafe to tow it to Calgary. Reconsigned the trailer immediately. At a following auction Starling re-sold it and got paid for it a second time. However, they failed to send me the money received from the sale, minus consignor’s fee.
Probably 30+ phone call to them, always gave me BS excuses, from person dealing with it is in Arizona on holidays, accountant needs to approve the payout, cheque been sitting on my desk for month (then why didn't you mail it, you have my address), need to re-issue it, etc.
Last call, a few month back now, a new female was going to look into it. Of course I never heard back.
Now, I don’t mind to call them a gang of thieves! For all consignors, only use them if you don’t mind giving your belongings away, since you might suffer a complete loss.

Dale S.

With prebid ing prior to online live for x very short time it proved interesting for prices

Bill B.

Trying to get my item that I purchased and had a discussion with Jesse why I could not pick it up in the time allowed. I thought we had an understanding but have not been able to contact Jesse or the office to arrange a pickup or refund. Could not leave a message as mailboxes are full both on Jesse's phone and office phone. Sent several emails as well with no response. They have had several weeks to respond. Not sure what to do next other than spent a lot of money on gas to drive to there office and find out what is going on.

Carl S.

BIDDERS BEWARE: BIDDING CAN REOPEN WITHOUT WARNING EVEN AFTER YOU'VE WON YOUR ITEMS.

Absolutely terrible to deal with. Their last auction that ended today and after we won multiple items, over an hour later we received a notification that we were outbid on said items. We called to confirm if this is true, and we were told there was a "glitch" on their site that ended the items a few hours too early and refused to honor the closing bids. Funny, though, as the countdown from when the auction initially opened was counting down to 10am on May 13th since the very beginning. Terrible excuse whether it was an admin/clerical error, or the fact that they wanted to keep items open for longer so prices would go up. Absolutely horrible excuse either way. ZERO integrity and accountability.

Jerome V.

This company breaks rules in every direction that it can, with dishonest listings, badly described items, listing errors many in almost every auction - beware), bait & swap tactics (such as swapping out a brand new battery with an old one after auction has ended), 'misspelled' phone numbers in winning bid emails so they cannot be contacted in the product pickup time frame, full phone message box so they can't be contacted for weeks on end, promised refunds that never materialize, "I'm busy now, can I call you tomorrow?" and then Jesse doesn't answer for the next 3 months, "new ownership, please forgive us" but it's still Jesse the owner/auctioneer running it, and
removing the unsubscribe button from emails. When it WAS there, it didn't work. The only reason they stay in business is because the owner is a narcissistic sweet talker and that they keep sucking new, innocent customers in. And why does the same item pop up in multiple auctions selling for moderate prices until it ends up selling high?
I feel like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg since I've heard many similar stories from many other local customers.

M B.

No communication and items not as advertised
Edit
I bought post that were advertised as 4x4x8 and what I got were 4x6x7

Details for picking up item is very important and they do a terrible job of it.
No details on my invoice, I emailed them before the auction was even over and never got a response.
So then I look on their website that provided no pick up detail so I went Hi-Bid site and found information in two areas that said pick up was Sunday to Wednesday. 10-4 and another that said 10-3:30
So I drove all the way from out of town to pick up my items on Sunday and there was no one there.
They did not respond to call, text or emails
Hours of operation were not clearly listed on the website.

Mark B.

Completely disorganized. Picked up item and paid cashier the amount. Then get an invoice for 41 cents! Email said I get fined 15 dollars if I don't pay it. Tried calling all phone lines no answer and all mailboxes are full.

Starling followed up with a return call, explaining that they are new owners and that they will take onboard the issues with a view to improve. Thanks for the follow up call.

Insurrection E.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS AUCTION WITHOUT SEEING IT IN PERSON FIRST. The listing said the was car fully loaded when it’s actually base model. Advertised leather seats (no photos of interior which should have been a red flag I suppose) but they are cloth and vinyl, and the drivers seat is ripped. Manual seats and no Bluetooth (2016) An extremely plain Jane car that was literally called fully loaded on the listing. It even says fully loaded on the invoice that was emailed to us after we won the bid. Drove all the way from Cochrane to pick it up, saw that they lied about the car and were forced to take it because the winning auction bid is binding. They did wave the 3% buyers fee though as ‘compensation’.