Anyone been charged a "reservation fee" when a Modern Method of Auction property is sold by private sale?

[FourAcres]

There are countless posts here on the Modern Method of Auction, highlighting its many pitfalls and risks. Here is my very specific question: does anyone have any experience of the MMoA agent (not the original EA who passed the property to the auctioneer - the one everyone complains about with the abysmal Trust Pilot rating) negotiating a sale as if it were a private sale, but continuously referring to their "reservation fee"? If the property is being sold by private treaty rather than auction (to be clear: we haven't signed the auction agent's terms and don't intend to, there is no open auction on the property and it seems clear that there is no intention to have an auction due to low interest in the property) why would the MMoA agent still be referring to their "reservation fee"? I presume this is because the vendors unfortunately signed up to the auction agent's terms, which state that the value of the reservation fee is payable by the buyer no matter how the property sells - but I would love to hear from others if you have had this experience!

I dont have direct experience but yes, I always though the wining bidder had to pay the reservation fee regardless of wether or not it completes.
Its the similar to your local furniture/antique auction house. The seller pays sale commission and the buyer pays by a purchase commission fee. The only difference being that if you bid and win at MMoA you pay the commission (or reservation fee as they call it) regardless. I thought they all worked this way but could be wrong.
I do see one advantage to it for buyers, it should in theory stop the situation where someone with a vested interest bids up a lot, without the intention of buying it, and then if they win by mistake they walk away saying they dont want it - which definitely happens in other types of auction.
What I haven't heard of is your pointing to a situation where the Mmoa is negotiating a price as if in a private sale for a property that you say wont be auctioned. Thats a new one on me. Sounds like something to swerve anyway.

The reservation fee is 'typically' only valid for 56 days - so if you are not ready to exchange contracts by the time this period is up, you could lose the reservation fee and the vendor is free to sell to someone else!

If the property is being sold by iamsold.com, their reservation fees are typically 4.5% of the purchase price, with a minimum of £6,600 being paid.