Prior to the auction I had to telephone and register. As I was on the other side of the world it was to be a telephone bid and they required a 500 pound deposit (refundable if unsuccessful). For this I had to use a credit card and was charged an extra fee. A debit card did not attract and additional charge.




Here were the some of the Citroens and MY "Familiale"


On the evening, our time (it was 13.00 in England), I sat and waited for the telephone call. Timed to get me as the auctioneer was reading out info on the car the action was short and sharp. Once he called for bids there were two bidders pushed the price to around 2,500 pound. At this stage the young lady on the telephone asked me if I was going to bid. So I raised it by $100 pounds which was quickly countered by the same amount. Withing seconds it was to 3,000 pounds and the upper limit for me. No time to ponder I made the decision that 3,500 was my absolute limit. Bidding continued until my 3,300 pounds was the top. Within a few minutes of starting the car was knocked down to me for 3,300 pounds PLUS 5% buyers premium making a total of 3465 pounds. When I received an email with the invoice an additional charge of 33 pounds had been levied. An email about VAT, which I would have been able to recoup, received the response that it had been included. So I decided the mass of paperwork that would be undoubtedly be required could be avoid and I'd wear the cost.
Being an overseas bidder ACA kindly gave me time to arrange a bank transfer rather than paying by credit card. Whilst this is cheaper it is not simple. ACA gave me the branch and account details but that wasn't good enough for the bank. They wanted the full name and physical address of the branch as well as the person receiving the funds. They also wanted to know what the money was to be used for. If that wasn't enough the teller demanded photo ID even though I've been a customer at that branch for 28 years and of the bank for 54 years!!!!!
Eventually they processed my transfer - without photo identification - after I stood my ground. I wasn't going home to get my passport nor my driver's license.
Now I have to wait until the money appears in the ACA bank account.
next page - p3