Complaint Review: Government Liquidation - Nationwide

Government Liquidation sells surplus equipment for the United States Government.  It is a massive undertaking.  They run several sales each day, selling thousands of lots of surplus equipment at sites all over the country and in U.S. Territories.

With so much volume, they are bound to make mistakes.  In my case, Government Liquidation made a representation that each lot I bid on had a collapsible 10,000 gallon water tank in the crate.  I successfully bid on 3 lots and went to Oklahoma City (900 miles, one way) to pick them up.

When the GL forklift operator brought out the 3 crates, one was disintegrating, one was intact and open, and one was nailed and bolted shut.  After inspecting the first two, I asked the operator if he had a way to open the third crate.  He did not.  I had ordinary hand tools, but they were not enough to open the crate, so I relied on Government Liquidation's description and photos.  You guessed it, big mistake.

When I got home and CUT the bolts holding the lid on the third crate, there was nothing more than an oversized ground cloth inside, and not a 10,000 collapsible tank.

I contacted Government Liquidation and was told to file a claim. I wrote a detailed explanation and provided invoice copies and pictures of what I had received instead of the represented tank.  I had to file the claim 4 times, and call, before they finally acknowledged receipt.  After waiting about a week, my claim was summarily dismissed, citing the fact that I had signed for the lots.  That is true.  And I signed believing in their description and photos, not being able to open their sealed container.

Do I think the crate was bolted shut to intentionally keep me from viewing the contents?  No.  I do believe it was an honest mistake, coupled with employees too lazy to unbolt the crate and photograph the actual contents.  They instead substituted photos of another tank under this lot number, thereby misrepresenting the actual contents and what I paid for.  This was easy to prove to them as it is shown on their own website, and I provided pictures of what was actually in the crate, something I could only have gotten from them by mistake.

Government Liquidation is a big company, doing business with thousands of members of the public and the United States Government.  I expected better of them.  Perhaps I've grown too comfortable dealing online with reputable companies like Amazon and even EBay, who recognize that customer service involves more than waiting a week and then denying the claim, with no questions asked.

Additionally, crummy customer service by a government contractor like Government Liquidation deprives the government and the taxpayer of the opportunity to recover maximum revenue from surplus.  By driving potential bidders, such as myself, out of the bidding pool, GL not only lowers their own income from the 10% buyers premium, but also the government's recoverable revenue by ten times that amount.  The successful bid raised by $100 by an interested party nets GL $10 more, but the U.S. Government $100 more. Conversely, once Government Liquidation has driven bidders out of the pool through their poor service, their bottom line will drop slightly, but the Government's by 10 times that amount.  It's a good thing nobody cares about that.

So, if you do chose to do business with Government Liquidation, be warned.  They hide behind their disclaimers, they misrepresent their merchandise, and they do not stand behind what they tell you. After reading other horror stories about Government Liquidation on this website I feel fortunate that I lost "only" $350, or so before learning my lesson to stay away.