The problems that the Del Campe site has experienced over the last couple of days has been a costly lesson for all both in time and money.

All the time spent by sellers creating new lots during June has largely been wasted.

Sellers now find that lots sold some days ago are now reappearing for sale with all the repercussions that this can have.

Buyers are finding that bids, which they placed some days ago, have disappeared.

Sellers are finding that lots, which had several bids prior to the weekend, now have fewer bids or no bids whatsoever.

Lots have had their expiry dates automatically extended, which will have a negative effect in the short term on cash flow.

Sellers and buyers will find that any changes in personal perameters or information e.g. changes of address/ temporary absence which have taken place in the last 10 days no longer exist on the site.

These are just a few observations which I have made from a couple of minutes on the site.

I feel that it cannot be overemphasised that members, both buyers and sellers, should immediately review those actions and transactions on Del Campe, which have been affected by the technical problem close down, to ensure any adverse repercussions are minimised.

For information, I had an email from a regular customer on Del Campe in the middle of last week, advising me that he was switching to another auction site because of the problems he had had on a regular basis in accessing the Del Campe site. I was going to advise my customer that with Del Campe's new server his problem should now be solved - thank goodness pressure of work on Friday meant that it was postponed to my agenda to respond to today !!!

Technical problems are a fact of life and, despite recent problems, members should continue to support Del Campe, as it has come a long way in a relatively short time.