Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Hemmings Motor News's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Hemmings Motor News

  222 Main St Bennington, VT 05201-2103

• 

  Hemmings Motor News

  PO Box 256 Bennington, VT 05201-0256

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/06/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On March 1, 2025 I properly Submitted a vehicle to the Hemmings Classic Car Auction that met all the listing criteria. On March 3 ****** ********** responded "We recommend to list your vehicle with no reserve to successfully sell your car on Hemmings Auctions. Please provide your approval so we can continue moving forward with your listing." and on March 4th she responded "I would love to have you in the auction however for the 1971 Porsche 911 we can only do a no reserve auction"; to which I responded (on March 4th) that a no reserve auction was acceptable. Later in the day of March 4th, ****** responded "Yes ***** we will be able to attach the history of the car in the ad and as long as you are certain that you want to follow through with a no reserve auction, lets do it!" and attached "Hemmings Marketplace Terms of Service; Section 7. Seller and Buyer Obligations7. Seller and Buyer Obligations - Sellers. In connection with Hemmings Auctions, sellers agree to provide to us a reserve amount indicating the minimum price at which the seller will agree to sell the applicable Item (the "Reserve"). Seller may reduce or waive the Reserve during the auction by notifying Hemmings of the change via email. All vehicles are researched by Hemmings before we offer a Reserve or ********** for the respective Seller to accept or decline. Once the Buyer accepts the offer of Reserve or **********, Seller is responsible for a flat cancellation fee of $500 for ********** or $1,000 for Reserve for cancellation for any reason by *********************** again attempted to get me to switch my ad from the Auction to a Make an Offer ad which was totally unacceptable to me. On March 5th, after chatting with her manager, she responded "we arent going to be able to run it at no reserve... Its too risky of a situation for all parties involved"... without giving a valid reason for the refusal to run the ad as submitted. This is clearly an issue of false advertising and malpractice.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2025

  Hemmings had notified Mr. ******* that due to him not agreeing to sell the car to the final bidder we were choosing to not place his project car in our Auction process and did recommend our Make Offer program to him. 

   

  Please see our Hemmings Marketplace Terms of Service. section 3. *****************************************************************;

  3. Restrictions on Using Hemmings Marketplace
  In addition to all restrictions set forth in the User Agreement, you may not do any of the following in connection with using or accessing the Hemmings Marketplace:
  post, list or upload Content or Items in inappropriate categories or areas on Hemmings Marketplace;
  manipulate the price of any Item or interfere with any other user's listings;
  post false, inaccurate, misleading, deceptive, defamatory, or libelous Content in your listings;
  harvest or otherwise collect information about users without their consent; or
  circumvent any technical measures we use to provide the Hemmings Marketplace and/or component services.
  If we believe you are abusing the Hemmings Marketplace in any way, we may, in our sole discretion and without limiting other remedies, limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to the ********************** Marketplace, delay or remove Content and/or listings, and take technical and/or legal steps to prevent you from using the Hemmings Marketplace. We may cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a long time or modify or discontinue the Hemmings Marketplace. Additionally, we reserve the right to refuse or terminate all or any component of the Hemmings Marketplace to anyone for any reason at our discretion.

   

  Thank you Hemmings

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/10/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  

  Thank you for the quick response. Hemmings' response only confirms that they have the right to reject any ad for any reason and explains why they pushed me to the Make an Offer route. Upon further inspection, I don't think that I would go either the Auction or Make an offer route... There doesn't seem to be many/any Offers being made on either platform. So if I happened to list my car in the Auction, and it got only one Offer (maybe someone at Hemmings or a friend of theirs) I would have to sell to them... or use the escape clause they sent me initially. They don't have enough bidding action to live up to their hype... 

  Thanks again, 

  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/12/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dear ***/*****,I appreciate your attention to this detailed account of my grievance with Hemmings Motor News, which has not only resulted in financial loss but also considerable frustration due to misleading practices and communication failures. My attempt to engage in a straightforward transaction has been met with complications that I believe warrant intervention for resolution and accountability.Extended Context and Concerns:Upon agreeing to list my ********** for auction with a "no reserve" condition, I operated under several misconceptions exacerbated by insufficient information and unclear communication from Hemmings. Notably, the realization that a "no reserve" auction would start bidding at zero and my misunderstanding regarding the flexibility to choose between "no reserve" and "reserve" auction terms directly impacted my decision-making and expectations for the auction outcome.Further complicating matters, Hemmings imposed a $500 buyer's fee on me, the seller, under circumstances that appear both unethical and unjustified by the terms and conditions provided or any reasonable standard of fair business practice. This fee, coupled with the initial $100 listing fee, constitutes a significant financial imposition made more egregious by the context of miscommunication and misunderstanding.Request for Resolution:In light of these considerations and the broader context of my experience with Hemmings Motor News, I seek the following resolutions to address and rectify the situation adequately: A full refund of both the $500 buyer's fee and the initial $100 listing fee, totaling $600, in recognition of the misleading information, communication failures, and the undue financial burden placed upon me as a result. Comprehensive review and clarification from Hemmings on their auction listing practices, especially concerning "no reserve" auction terms and the explicit rights and options available to sellers.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/14/2024

  Said customer agreed to our UA/T&C when creating an account and submitting their vehicle to our auctions for consideration. When the customer agreed to move forward with our "no reserve" recommendation (documentation attached), Hemmings financial obligation began for the listing that ensures at least a minimum ROI of $500. There are resources to prepare the listing for the auction process: We have a professional writing team (1099 contractors that are paid per listing), dedicated Listing Specialist time, technical resources related to our website etc. Their agreement to run a "no reserve" would have been the only option to list their vehicle in our Auctions platform and how our business model is mapped to return our investment of above resources. IF they had declined the "no reserve" they simply would have been given the option to remove their vehicle entirely or move the vehicle to our Make Offer selling platform with a public facing asking price of their choice. When the customer relayed to ********************** that they wanted to remove their listing after all our resources had been applied, we told him to move forward with the Make Offer platform and in his fit of rage he said he would list it for sale in that platform at an egregious asking price to spite us. At this time we did take measures to revamp our expenses for said vehicle and charged customer $500. We will refund customer the $500 and take our loss BUT we will NOT be refunding the non-refundable $100 for the listing submission/consideration. Please see all our communication with customer. In the documents they supplied they conveniently left out some of the language around their responses with us and our UA/T&C can be located at:

  ************************************************************

  ******************************

  We don't agree with the customer that he was slighted. The procedures and UA/T&C are standard for our industry. Said user is blocked from our platform for any future use. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/14/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  
  I acknowledge Hemmings Motor News's response to my complaint but must highlight several discrepancies with their Terms & Conditions (T&C) that have not been addressed adequately.

  
  Misapplication of Buyer's Fee to Seller: Hemmings references a $500 charge as part of their financial obligations for a "no reserve" listing. However, their own User Agreement specifies that such fees are typically associated with the buyer, not the seller. This contradicts the standard practice as outlined in their T&C and unfairly shifts financial burdens onto the seller.

  
  Flexibility in Auction Listing Type: The communication I received from Hemmings suggested that a "no reserve" auction was merely recommended, not obligatory. This nuance implies that sellers have a choice in how they list their vehicles, which contradicts Hemmings' later assertion that "no reserve" was my sole option.

  
  Conversion to Reserve Listing Option: Upon understanding that a "no reserve" auction starts at zero, I requested a shift to a reserve auction to protect my interests. This action was based on the premise provided in Hemmings own guidelines that sellers are afforded options regarding the listing method.

  
  Condition of Vehicle and Listing Eligibility: I note in an earlier e-mail, non running vehicles cannot be listed with a reserve, however, as per the information I provided in the vehicle questionnaire my vehicle does indeed run, which should permit me the option of a reserve auction, per Hemmings own policies.

  
  Lack of Defined Terms for "Make Offer" Listings: There was no clear communication regarding minimum or maximum starting prices for "Make Offer" listings within the T&C or any communications with Hemmings. This absence of information has led to further confusion and misinterpretation of my rights and options as a seller.

   

  You note I was in a fit of rage. That couldn't be further from the truth and that seems like clear projection on Hemmings part. I simply stated I would like my Make Offer Listing Starting Price to be $250,000. As far as Hemmings knows, that was a typo, or a marketing strategy on my part, but either way it is a moot point based upon the points brought up in my previous paragraph.
  

  
  Given these points of contention and the misalignment with Hemmings' published T&C, I find the proposed resolution to be unsatisfactory. I seek not only the refund of the listing fee but also a reevaluation of the process by which my listing was managed, a formal apology posted in a public forum, as well as clearer Terms and Conditions laid out. As such, I wish to pursue arbitration in line with Hemmings Motor News User Agreement to find an equitable resolution.

  Considering there is not a clear pathway to contact Hemmings about Arbitration, per the Terms and Conditions, I have contacted the Privacy Policy Coordinator. If there is a clear pathway to contact Hemmings about Arbitration provided I will utilize that.

  
  I am prepared to discuss this matter further in an arbitration setting, as is my right under the terms agreed upon when I initially listed my vehicle with Hemmings.
  
  Your Warmest Regards without the Faintest Hint of Rage
  

  ******

   

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/14/2024

  BBB, please review ALL the documentation that we supplied, showing customer emails that explains the situation properly. We will not be responding further to this and will not be speaking with the customer going forward. We are choosing (per our ToS, User Agreements) to terminate his account and his ability to use our platform going forward.

  Our resources have been depleted beyond what the customer has paid us. There will be no arbitration, if you do take the time to review the documents we have loaded to your site per your request, you will see that this client is just angry he didn't get his way.  He was refunded his $500, you win. Please stop harassing us.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  on 12/03/2022 I mailed my renewal request to Hemmings Motor News have yet to receive a single issue nor had received any correspondence from anyone within the organization. My check has cleared my bank showing that they have received my payment.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/13/2023

  We received and processed *************' on December 9th. We have been mailing him issues since then. 
  
  If he is having trouble he should contact our customer service department @ ******************************** or call **************. 
  We'll gladly investigate and remedy the situation.