...I remember being up at 4 AM to watch someone 
put in a bid for me on a major wishlist item. 
They had already put in a placeholding bid, and 
we were having a nice little war with someone 
else. At the last moment, they padded my bid for 
me with my absolute maximum, just in case the 
other person was going to try and snipe---

---and the clock ran out---

---and reset for an additional five minutes.

Agghhh! *That* was frustrating too. I ended up 
winning the cel, but those unanticipated extra 
five-minutes were really nerve-wracking because I 
didn't know if our adversary had given up or was 
still lying in wait. Or if the clock would reset 
again. Or whatever.

It's my humble opinion that if an auction is 
scheduled to end at a certain time, it should end 
at that time... not before, and not after. It's 
frustrating to have a bid on something, and then 
have the seller pull the item from the block 
because it isn't near the price they want it to 
go for. It's frustrating to have your eye on 
something and have it end early. And it's 
frustrating to have to deal with an auction 
that's been lengthened.

It's all part of the drama (or trauma) of online 
auctions. :o) 

-Cres