Arbitration
Arbitration is not a refund policy. It is a narrow, time-bound route to dispute a specific thing the sale said about a vehicle.
1 · The light sets the scope
Green: arbitrable on anything materially misdescribed. Amber: arbitrable only on the announced items and on anything that should have been announced and was not. Red: not arbitrable at all.
2 · The window
Claims open at the hammer and close 48 hours after collection, or seven days after the sale, whichever comes first.
3 · Put it in writing
Photographs, the specific line of the condition report or announcement sheet you are disputing, and what you found.
4 · Inspection
The vehicle is re-inspected, by the same standard and usually by a different inspector.
5 · Outcome
A claim is upheld, adjusted, or declined, with the reasoning written out. Upheld claims are unwound at the sale price or settled by adjustment.
6 · Publication
Arbitration outcomes affect the consignor's record with us. They are not published against the vehicle.
In our words
Why it is built this way
The reason the light system is worth taking seriously is that it decides, in advance, what you can and cannot come back on. A red light is cheap for a reason.
"Should have been announced and was not" is the clause that does the work under an amber light. If an inspector missed something that our own standard says gets announced, that is arbitrable even though it is not on the sheet.
Wear is not a defect. A worn clutch on a 168,000-mile car is a description of a 168,000-mile car.