So as to what to ask the deputy, I don't know.  
It happened to me numerous times and it 
frustrated me to no end, especially when the 
deputy involved simply said sorry and sat on 
their butt afterwards.  I've asked for fee 
breaks and other what-not for atonement, but 
pretty much in every case nothing happened.  And 
this involved more than one deputy, I assure you 
(even the ones that you would least suspect to 
be guilty of this).

But to cover yourself in the future, I guess you 
can enlist in one of the deputies that permit 
manual bidding on your own part.  Although their 
fees are usually considerably higher, you can 
just use them on an emergency basis (when your 
regular deputy drops the ball).