"Question: what do you do when you purchase an original oldtimer Porsche 911 turbo at an online auction and get a Porsche 993 S4 instead, which appears to have been turned into a turbo and is not even worth half the price you paid? No need to say that the auctioneer refuses to return your calls and emails…
Answer: you call your usual lawyer, Boodle Hatfield (London, England - TAGLaw), and they turn to the TAGLaw member from the auctioneer’s country of Belgium: MVVP.
Although the auctioneer waived all liability for questions concerning the characteristics of the auctioned goods in its GT&Cs, and even imposed an obligation on the buyer to inspect the auctioned goods in advance, we challenged the validity of the liability waiver in the present case. Among other things, we were able to demonstrate that the auctioneer was in possession of information showing that the car was not an original Porsche 911 turbo, before the date of the auction.
After having been served with a formal notice, the auctioneer finally agreed to cancel the sale, to take the car back, and to reimburse the costs incurred by Boodle Hatfield’s client.
Not sure whether the car has appeared again at another subsequent auction…”
—Olivier Sasserath; MVVP (Belgium - TAGLaw)
