Stefano nailed it. My take on this guy is that he has never been to an auction?
I had 12 cars at the sale and was told the Showcase or feature cars had to be there preferably on Wednesday but no later than noon on Thursday. So you show up 4 hours late and get mad that you had to wait to get somebody to help? Try that at Barrett-Jackson and see how they work with you!
Mecum is a great company, be that as it may, I have not noticed them being able to influence the weather. So if this fellow had his car outside (where the humidity is apparently magically lower that it is under an OPEN tent?) and it would have rained, then he would have been mad that those mean Mecum guys got his car wet.
800+ cars and a mainly volunteer ground crew, hey, one must be somewhat understanding. That's an awful lot of cars. Or, to put it this way, 800+ guys who all have "the best car in the auction" and want their needs/demands/paperwork/money/gate passes/freebies NOW!!
As for the auction company not working the bids or trying to get reserves dropped, umm, isn't that their job? To get your car sold? 99.9% of owner's reserves are set intentionally high so they can "grind" the auction company and make them work. Again, if this owner is upset about his world record result, I wonder how he would have felt at B-J in the mud pit last year where his car would have done about 20k less and he would have had to wait in line for 3 hours to even file a complaint? Or wait almost 2 months to get his proceeds just like I did this year. Oh, and at 10% less than the hammer rather than the 5% Mecum gets, not to mention after paying the entry fee that is 2x Mecum or the "tent fee" that Mecum doesn't charge.
All I can say is that I deal with every major auction company and Mecum is head and shoulders above the rest in my book. They have always treated me great, and I am talking about a 16 year history of doing business with them. The cars get checked in quickly, they work their tails off on the block getting top dollar, and when you leave you have a check in your hand. Sure, it might take a couple of hours to get into the office and get the check, but only if you leave during the busy times. I always check out early on Sunday or late in the day, and leaving with money is a lot better than leaving with nothing like every other auction company has you do.
Again, Stefano nailed it - sounds like sour grapes and nothing more.
Just my .02, paid same day, no auction hold
Colin