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Windsor Estate Sales & Appraisal Services

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Windsor Estate Sales & Appraisal Services Reviews (12)

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below Windsor Estate Sales has yet to complete the sales of our items and adequately account for the salesWe await closure Regards, [redacted]

Attn: [redacted] /Revdex.com Re: Complaint [redacted] To Whom It May Concern: We were engaged by Ms [redacted] to handle the disposition of property belonging to her motherAt the time we met with Ms [redacted] , we advised her that most (approximately 85%) of the property would not bring significant proceeds on the secondary marketWe declined the initial consignment, and suggested that we focus on a few pieces that did have potential valueAs a professional courtesy, we contacted both [redacted] and the [redacted] shop on Ms [redacted] 's behalfBoth declined to accept the property because they understood, as we did, that there was little or no resale market for these items, primarily glassware, and mismatched/miscellaneous chinaWe have inventory photos that can be provided for further verificationWhen we advised Ms [redacted] of this, she said she understood the items would not bring a high return, but had no other optionShe became agitated that we didn't want to take the consignment and said she needed to clear out the apartment immediately because of a move out deadline imposed by CedarfieldAgainst, our better judgment, we moved the items for herIn lieu of taking all of the items directly to auction, where they are liquidated for pennies on the dollar, and what Ms [redacted] initially requested we do, we put them into an onsite estate sale where they were staged for higher visibility in a high-end home in a golf course communityWe then moved the remaining items into a second onsite estate sale adjacent to a country clubWe had now wrapped, moved and packed these items three timesFirst out of Cedarfield, and then into two consecutive salesFollowing the second sale, we sent the remaining items to two different auction houses in order to continue to try and get the highest possible returns [redacted] in Powhatan and [redacted] in CharlottesvilleIt is important to note that our contract, which Ms [redacted] signed, provides that any consigned property may be donated to charity after two consecutive salesThis provision alone provides that we have no further contractual obligation to continue to move, carryover or sell these itemsHowever, in Ms [redacted] 's case, even after carrying these items to two separate sales, we continued to try a third sales tier of local and regional auctionsThe biggest discrepancy for Ms [redacted] and for Windsor Estate Sales, is that she created a separate inventory system for the property, where she counted ea ch individual glass, cup, saucer, etccoming up with a total of itemsIn some cases, she grouped items together by color, box number etcalthough we tried to explain to her that people would pick up items from different boxes and we would have no control over thatShe seemed to be under the impression that the items would be sold in exactly the same way she had divided and categorized themAt our onsite sales, we typically have people writing up sales ticketsGiven the rush and the lines of people waiting, extensive descriptions of items with specific number counts is not feasiblePeople come up with a handful of items, and we write the tickets as quickly as possibleAlthough we code for separate consignors by colored sales stickers and identifying initials, it is not possible for us to count each individua l it em, glass, plate, cup, etcDue to time constraints, we use generally accepted descriptions, miscglassware, china, etcMoreover, we further advised Ms [redacted] that items sold at auction are so ld as " box lots", where there is literally no way to account for a specific number of glasses, cups, dishes, et cThey will simply sell "Boxes of miscglassware" or even more generally "Housewares" It is a liquidation process, not a retail environmentAnd it is important to note, that these were ALL items t hat remained unsold after previous sales and would have been donated pursuant to the terms of our contractIn spite of this, Ms [redacted] maintains that all of her items have not been accounted for, primarily because there were not specific NUMERIC COUNTS provided on the box lots which were sold or in our sales descriptionsHowever, just this week, we received notification on 1/29/from one of the auction houses, [redacted] Auctions, that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms [redacted] maintains is unaccounted forThe description of the donated items provided by [redacted] Auctions is "Flowers and Asian Themed Ceramics", no numerical counts are providedAgain, regardless of the inventory process Ms [redacted] created, it will never match item for item against the consignment reports we receive from post-auction sales, or from our onsite salesIt is not standard business practice for any auction house, nor is it something we can track at an onsite saleWith regard to the items we felt were of higher value, t he only notable property was a pair of blue and white Asian moon flasks, one of which had extensive da mage and repairMs [redacted] seemed upset that as an appraiser I was not able to provide her with specific information regarding their historyAsian antiquities are a very specialized category, and technical peculiarities such as the production methods, whether there are six character dynasty marks, whether those marks are under or over the glaze, specific design characteristics that correlate to different dynastic periods, recognizing the chinese characters and knowing which character marks represent which dynasties, and more importantly whether they are authentic or produced as copies with intentional distress made to look "old", are all issues best determined with a category specialist in Asian Decorative ArtsIt is estimated that 95-99% of the Asian "antiquities" on the market today, whether porcelain, jade or other artifacts are fakeWe utilized our relationships with several of these specialists as a professional courtesty to Ms [redacted] She was never charged for their time or professional evaluationTwo notable auction houses, *** [redacted] in New York City, and [redacted] in Philadelphia, rejected them for consignmentEventually, we contracted with [redacted] in North Carolina for consignment of the moon flasks into a catalog saleWe negotiated a reduced commission rate, and eliminated typical charges for photography, insurance, catalog printing and sale marketingWe hand carried the flasks to the auction house so they could be evaluated by the specialists directlyWe deducted the cost of mileage from the proceeds instead of shipping the flasks via UPS which would have been more expensive not to mention risking potential damage in shipping, transport etcAfter they were sold, and Ms [redacted] was unhappy about the mileage charge, she indicated that she would have preferred the flasks be shipped, so that if they were damanged in transport, she would have been reimbursed a higher amount based on the INSURANCE valuationAlthough we negoatiate lower "trade" commission rates for our clients with third party dealers, auction houses, etc., these commission costs are NOT deducted from our comission Ms [redacted] maintains that we should have absorbed these third party costs and reduced our comission accordinglyThat is not the caseOur contract states that these out of pocket and third party costs are subtracted from the total proceedsThe amount of work to vet these items is extensive, and Ms [redacted] was never charged for our time to conduct outreach with multiple auction houses, or our time to transport the items, despite the hundreds of miles and hours of time we travelled to facilitate the saleMoreover, she was not charged for the time of third party experts who took the time to evaluate her propertyWe simply charged for the mileage with the standard business mileage deductionJust in the case of [redacted] Auction, it was sixteen hours of round trip drivingOur professional appraisal time is billable at $per hour, and none of this time was calculated against Ms [redacted] 's proceedsWe deducted for mileage expense to cover our fuel costs, and nothing elseUltimately, these expenses are still less than it would have cost Ms [redacted] for UPS shipping and insuranceWith regard to Ms [redacted] 's complaint regarding communicationJune 8, is the last communication we received from Ms [redacted] via emailNo phone call, no email, no missed call or voicemail messagesAfter months, the first communication we have received is via the complaint she filed with the Revdex.comShe made no attempt to contact us prior to filing this complaint, just as she made no attempt to contact us prior to filing a similar complaint with the AG officeIt is worth noting that most consignors believe their property to have higher value than its {FMV) Fair Market ValueIn today's economic environment, items that were cherished family pieces such as china, crystal, collectible figurines, etcbring a fraction of what they were once worthIt reflects the broader reality of today's market for antiques and collectiblesAs we suggested initially to Ms [redacted] , she should have taken it upon herself to liquidate the items, since no consignment shop was willing to take themTo date, we are not in possession of any of Ms [redacted] 's property, and have no further proceeds or salesMoreover, we have gone above and beyond our contractual obligations with respect to selling Ms [redacted] 's propertyRespectfully, Susan [redacted] Owner/ISA Appraiser

Apparently, the *** had responded via email vsreturning my initial phone callTheir email ended up in the junk folder. Luckily, I tried them again after I got your messageIt was
certainly better that we were able to communicate via phone and clarify their questions
Best regards,
***

[redacted] from the company called and stated that the last of items are being sold this weekend.

Attn: [redacted]/Revdex.com Re: Complaint [redacted] To Whom It May Concern: We were engaged by Ms. [redacted] to handle the disposition of property belonging to her mother. At the time we met with Ms. [redacted], we advised her that most (approximately...

85%) of the property would not bring significant proceeds on the secondary market. We declined the initial consignment, and suggested that we focus on a few pieces that did have potential value. As a professional courtesy, we contacted both [redacted] and the [redacted] shop on Ms. [redacted]'s behalf. Both declined to accept the property because they understood, as we did, that there was little or no resale market for these items, primarily glassware, and mismatched/miscellaneous china. We have inventory photos that can be provided for further verification. When we advised Ms. [redacted] of this, she said she understood the items would not bring a high return, but had no other option. She became agitated that we didn't want to take the consignment and said she needed to clear out the apartment immediately because of a move out deadline imposed by Cedarfield. Against, our better judgment, we moved the items for her. In lieu of taking all of the items directly to auction, where they are liquidated for pennies on the dollar, and what Ms. [redacted] initially requested we do, we put them into an onsite estate sale where they were staged for higher visibility in a high-end home in a golf course community. We then moved the remaining items into a second onsite estate sale adjacent to a country club. We had now wrapped, moved and packed these items three times. First out of Cedarfield, and then into two consecutive sales. Following the second sale, we sent the remaining items to two different auction houses in order to continue to try and get the highest possible returns. [redacted] in Powhatan and [redacted] in Charlottesville. It is important to note that our contract, which Ms. [redacted] signed, provides that any consigned property may be donated to charity after two consecutive sales. This provision alone provides that we have no further contractual obligation to continue to move, carryover or sell these items. However, in Ms. [redacted]'s case, even after carrying these items to two separate sales, we continued to try a third sales tier of local and regional auctions. The biggest discrepancy for Ms. [redacted] and for Windsor Estate Sales, is that she created a separate inventory system for the property, where she counted ea ch individual glass, cup, saucer, etc. coming up with a total of 469 items. In some cases, she grouped items together by color, box number etc. although we tried to explain to her that people would pick up items from different boxes and we would have no control over that. She seemed to be under the impression that the items would be sold in exactly the same way she had divided and categorized them. At our onsite sales, we typically have 5 people writing up sales tickets. Given the rush and the lines of people waiting, extensive descriptions of items with specific number counts is not feasible. People come up with a handful of items, and we write the tickets as quickly as possible. Although we code for separate consignors by colored sales stickers and identifying initials, it is not possible for us to count each individua l it em, glass, plate, cup, etc. Due to time constraints, we use generally accepted descriptions, misc. glassware, china, etc. Moreover, we further advised Ms. [redacted] that items sold at auction are so ld as " box lots", where there is literally no way to account for a specific number of glasses, cups, dishes, et c. They will simply sell "5 Boxes of misc. glassware" or even more generally "Housewares" . It is a liquidation process, not a retail environment. And it is important to note, that these were ALL items t hat remained unsold after 2 previous sales and would have been donated pursuant to the terms of our contract. In spite of this, Ms. [redacted] maintains that all of her items have not been accounted for, primarily because there were not specific NUMERIC COUNTS provided on the box lots which were sold or in our sales descriptions. However, just this week, we received notification on 1/29/16 from one of the auction houses, [redacted] Auctions, that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms. [redacted] maintains is unaccounted for. The description of the donated items provided by [redacted] Auctions is "Flowers and Asian Themed Ceramics", no numerical counts are provided. Again, regardless of the inventory process Ms. [redacted] created, it will never match item for item against the consignment reports we receive from post-auction sales, or from our onsite sales. It is not standard business practice for any auction house, nor is it something we can track at an onsite sale. With regard to the items we felt were of higher value, t he only notable property was a pair of blue and white Asian moon flasks, one of which had extensive da mage and repair. Ms. [redacted] seemed upset that as an appraiser I was not able to provide her with specific information regarding their history. Asian antiquities are a very specialized category, and technical peculiarities such as the production methods, whether there are six character dynasty marks, whether those marks are under or over the glaze, specific design characteristics that correlate to different dynastic periods, recognizing the chinese characters and knowing which character marks represent which dynasties, and more importantly whether they are authentic or produced as copies with intentional distress made to look "old", are all issues best determined with a category specialist in Asian Decorative Arts. It is estimated that 95-99% of the Asian "antiquities" on the market today, whether porcelain, jade or other artifacts are fake. We utilized our relationships with several of these specialists as a professional courtesty to Ms. [redacted]. She was never charged for their time or professional evaluation. Two notable auction houses, [redacted] in New York City, and [redacted] in Philadelphia, rejected them for consignment. Eventually, we contracted with [redacted] in North Carolina for consignment of the moon flasks into a catalog sale. We negotiated a reduced commission rate, and eliminated typical charges for photography, insurance, catalog printing and sale marketing. We hand carried the flasks to the auction house so they could be evaluated by the specialists directly. We deducted the cost of mileage from the proceeds instead of shipping the flasks via UPS which would have been more expensive not to mention risking potential damage in shipping, transport etc. After they were sold, and Ms. [redacted] was unhappy about the mileage charge, she indicated that she would have preferred the flasks be shipped, so that if they were damanged in transport, she would have been reimbursed a higher amount based on the INSURANCE valuation. Although we negoatiate lower "trade" commission rates for our clients with third party dealers, auction houses, etc., these commission costs are NOT deducted from our comission . Ms. [redacted] maintains that we should have absorbed these third party costs and reduced our comission accordingly. That is not the case. Our contract states that these out of pocket and third party costs are subtracted from the total proceeds. The amount of work to vet these items is extensive, and Ms. [redacted] was never charged for our time to conduct outreach with multiple auction houses, or our time to transport the items, despite the hundreds of miles and hours of time we travelled to facilitate the sale. Moreover, she was not charged for the time of third party experts who took the time to evaluate her property. We simply charged for the mileage with the standard business mileage deduction. Just in the case of [redacted] Auction, it was sixteen hours of round trip driving. Our professional appraisal time is billable at $150.00 per hour, and none of this time was calculated against Ms. [redacted]'s proceeds. We deducted for mileage expense to cover our fuel costs, and nothing else. Ultimately, these expenses are still less than it would have cost Ms. [redacted] for UPS shipping and insurance. With regard to Ms. [redacted]'s complaint regarding communication. June 8, 2015 is the last communication we received from Ms. [redacted] via email. No phone call, no email, no missed call or voicemail messages. After 7 months, the first communication we have received is via the complaint she filed with the Revdex.com. She made no attempt to contact us prior to filing this complaint, just as she made no attempt to contact us prior to filing a similar complaint with the AG office. It is worth noting that most consignors believe their property to have higher value than its {FMV) Fair Market Value. In today's economic environment, items that were cherished family pieces such as china, crystal, collectible figurines, etc. bring a fraction of what they were once worth. It reflects the broader reality of today's market for antiques and collectibles. As we suggested initially to Ms. [redacted], she should have taken it upon herself to liquidate the items, since no consignment shop was willing to take them. To date, we are not in possession of any of Ms. [redacted]'s property, and have no further proceeds or sales. Moreover, we have gone above and beyond our contractual obligations with respect to selling Ms. [redacted]'s property. Respectfully, Susan [redacted] Owner/ISA Appraiser

Attn: [redacted]/Revdex.com Re: Complaint [redacted] To...

Whom It May Concern: We were engaged by Ms. [redacted] to handle the disposition of property belonging to her mother. At the time we met with Ms. [redacted], we advised her that most (approximately 85%) of the property would not bring significant proceeds on the secondary market. We declined the initial consignment, and suggested that we focus on a few pieces that did have potential value. As a professional courtesy, we contacted both [redacted] and the [redacted] shop on Ms. [redacted]'s behalf. Both declined to accept the property because they understood, as we did, that there was little or no resale market for these items, primarily glassware, and mismatched/miscellaneous china. We have inventory photos that can be provided for further verification. When we advised Ms. [redacted] of this, she said she understood the items would not bring a high return, but had no other option. She became agitated that we didn't want to take the consignment and said she needed to clear out the apartment immediately because of a move out deadline imposed by Cedarfield. Against, our better judgment, we moved the items for her. In lieu of taking all of the items directly to auction, where they are liquidated for pennies on the dollar, and what Ms. [redacted] initially requested we do, we put them into an onsite estate sale where they were staged for higher visibility in a high-end home in a golf course community. We then moved the remaining items into a second onsite estate sale adjacent to a country club. We had now wrapped, moved and packed these items three times. First out of Cedarfield, and then into two consecutive sales. Following the second sale, we sent the remaining items to two different auction houses in order to continue to try and get the highest possible returns. [redacted] in Powhatan and [redacted] in Charlottesville. It is important to note that our contract, which Ms. [redacted] signed, provides that any consigned property may be donated to charity after two consecutive sales. This provision alone provides that we have no further contractual obligation to continue to move, carryover or sell these items. However, in Ms. [redacted]'s case, even after carrying these items to two separate sales, we continued to try a third sales tier of local and regional auctions. The biggest discrepancy for Ms. [redacted] and for Windsor Estate Sales, is that she created a separate inventory system for the property, where she counted ea ch individual glass, cup, saucer, etc. coming up with a total of 469 items. In some cases, she grouped items together by color, box number etc. although we tried to explain to her that people would pick up items from different boxes and we would have no control over that. She seemed to be under the impression that the items would be sold in exactly the same way she had divided and categorized them. At our onsite sales, we typically have 5 people writing up sales tickets. Given the rush and the lines of people waiting, extensive descriptions of items with specific number counts is not feasible. People come up with a handful of items, and we write the tickets as quickly as possible. Although we code for separate consignors by colored sales stickers and identifying initials, it is not possible for us to count each individua l it em, glass, plate, cup, etc. Due to time constraints, we use generally accepted descriptions, misc. glassware, china, etc. Moreover, we further advised Ms. [redacted] that items sold at auction are so ld as " box lots", where there is literally no way to account for a specific number of glasses, cups, dishes, et c. They will simply sell "5 Boxes of misc. glassware" or even more generally "Housewares" . It is a liquidation process, not a retail environment. And it is important to note, that these were ALL items t hat remained unsold after 2 previous sales and would have been donated pursuant to the terms of our contract. In spite of this, Ms. [redacted] maintains that all of her items have not been accounted for, primarily because there were not specific NUMERIC COUNTS provided on the box lots which were sold or in our sales descriptions. However, just this week, we received notification on 1/29/16 from one of the auction houses, [redacted] Auctions, that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms. [redacted] maintains is unaccounted for. The description of the donated items provided by [redacted] Auctions is "Flowers and Asian Themed Ceramics", no numerical counts are provided. Again, regardless of the inventory process Ms. [redacted] created, it will never match item for item against the consignment reports we receive from post-auction sales, or from our onsite sales. It is not standard business practice for any auction house, nor is it something we can track at an onsite sale. With regard to the items we felt were of higher value, t he only notable property was a pair of blue and white Asian moon flasks, one of which had extensive da mage and repair. Ms. [redacted] seemed upset that as an appraiser I was not able to provide her with specific information regarding their history. Asian antiquities are a very specialized category, and technical peculiarities such as the production methods, whether there are six character dynasty marks, whether those marks are under or over the glaze, specific design characteristics that correlate to different dynastic periods, recognizing the chinese characters and knowing which character marks represent which dynasties, and more importantly whether they are authentic or produced as copies with intentional distress made to look "old", are all issues best determined with a category specialist in Asian Decorative Arts. It is estimated that 95-99% of the Asian "antiquities" on the market today, whether porcelain, jade or other artifacts are fake. We utilized our relationships with several of these specialists as a professional courtesty to Ms. [redacted]. She was never charged for their time or professional evaluation. Two notable auction houses, [redacted] in New York City, and [redacted] in Philadelphia, rejected them for consignment. Eventually, we contracted with [redacted] in North Carolina for consignment of the moon flasks into a catalog sale. We negotiated a reduced commission rate, and eliminated typical charges for photography, insurance, catalog printing and sale marketing. We hand carried the flasks to the auction house so they could be evaluated by the specialists directly. We deducted the cost of mileage from the proceeds instead of shipping the flasks via UPS which would have been more expensive not to mention risking potential damage in shipping, transport etc. After they were sold, and Ms. [redacted] was unhappy about the mileage charge, she indicated that she would have preferred the flasks be shipped, so that if they were damanged in transport, she would have been reimbursed a higher amount based on the INSURANCE valuation. Although we negoatiate lower "trade" commission rates for our clients with third party dealers, auction houses, etc., these commission costs are NOT deducted from our comission . Ms. [redacted] maintains that we should have absorbed these third party costs and reduced our comission accordingly. That is not the case. Our contract states that these out of pocket and third party costs are subtracted from the total proceeds. The amount of work to vet these items is extensive, and Ms. [redacted] was never charged for our time to conduct outreach with multiple auction houses, or our time to transport the items, despite the hundreds of miles and hours of time we travelled to facilitate the sale. Moreover, she was not charged for the time of third party experts who took the time to evaluate her property. We simply charged for the mileage with the standard business mileage deduction. Just in the case of [redacted] Auction, it was sixteen hours of round trip driving. Our professional appraisal time is billable at $150.00 per hour, and none of this time was calculated against Ms. [redacted]'s proceeds. We deducted for mileage expense to cover our fuel costs, and nothing else. Ultimately, these expenses are still less than it would have cost Ms. [redacted] for UPS shipping and insurance. With regard to Ms. [redacted]'s complaint regarding communication. June 8, 2015 is the last communication we received from Ms. [redacted] via email. No phone call, no email, no missed call or voicemail messages. After 7 months, the first communication we have received is via the complaint she filed with the Revdex.com. She made no attempt to contact us prior to filing this complaint, just as she made no attempt to contact us prior to filing a similar complaint with the AG office. It is worth noting that most consignors believe their property to have higher value than its {FMV) Fair Market Value. In today's economic environment, items that were cherished family pieces such as china, crystal, collectible figurines, etc. bring a fraction of what they were once worth. It reflects the broader reality of today's market for antiques and collectibles. As we suggested initially to Ms. [redacted], she should have taken it upon herself to liquidate the items, since no consignment shop was willing to take them. To date, we are not in possession of any of Ms. [redacted]'s property, and have no further proceeds or sales. Moreover, we have gone above and beyond our contractual obligations with respect to selling Ms. [redacted]'s property. Respectfully, Susan [redacted] Owner/ISA Appraiser

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Windsor Estate Sales has yet to complete the sales of our items and adequately account for the sales. We await closure.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
We continue to await the results of the sales, including an accurate accounting of each item.
Regards,
[redacted]

RE: Complaint #[redacted] vs. Windsor Estate Sales filed 1/15/16 /Rebuttal vs. WES response of 2/3/16 ——————————————————————�... interesting that Ms. W[redacted] refused to respond to the letters from the VA Atty. General’s Consumer Protection Dept. Yet she promptly responded to the Revdex.com’s inquiry. ———————————————————————�... W’s 2/3/16 response has proved my point. Let us count some of the ways: ————————————————————————�... As she herself told me on 6/8/15, Ms. W[redacted] regretted taking on our consignment. What a headache she could have spared herself if only she had followed the original plan! I.e. to take the 19 well-organized boxes of items that I (not WES as she claims) packed to [redacted]’s [redacted]. As she explained at our meeting June 17,2014 in Richmond, she decided to extract some of the better pieces to place elsewhere. This means Ms. W. employed her appraisal expertise to review the so-called “rejected” items. Why? ————————————————————————�... A reasonable person should be able to expect that the company has a certain responsibility to execute its promises and obligations to protect and preserve records of disposition of any and all consigned items entrusted to it. The consignor has the right to expect a full, accurate accounting, "CERTAINLY A MUCH BETTER ONE THAN Windsor Estate Sales has so far provided. As other Revdex.com consumer complaints con?rm, along with others on various review websites, similar issues "were raised (e.g. the Revdex.com complaint ?led 5/2/14— a year later after the original estate sale). I had hoped that this matter could have been resolved satisfactorily long ago. It took a while for me to realize what kind of company I had engaged, as I was not used to dealing with such behavior—ignoring requests for status of consignment,evasive,changing explanations, contradictory statements,delayed payment/non-payment,etc. Ms. W. acts as if she owns all rights to OUR property. ———————————————————————... May 28,2013 Mr. M[redacted] (VP of Operations) picked up the items Windsor Estate Sales had selected to sell. He said that if I could have the remaining small antiques,paintings,etc packed by 9AM the next morning, he would transport them for $150.00 to [redacted]’s in Powhatan and that we would receive a”nice check” soon after. I had already organized by category (e.g,Chinese, Japanese, French, English, German,Irish,American,etc) and packed them carefully just in time for the deadline. I gave him a picture inventory and he complimented me on how well I had packed things— he said it "would make the [redacted]’s staff’s job a lot easier. So, I was surprised indeed to discover,later, on the WES website photos of many of those items being included at an onsite sale. ————————————————————————�... Parag 6 : Ms W’s description of how a typical onsite estate sale is conducted by WES should give one pause— it sounds like chaos. And this certainly contradicts the website: “Estate Sales With Dignity, Elegance & Attention to Detail”. If Ms. W. can’t do a better job of tracking items entrusted to WES, she should not be in this business. ———————————————————————... December 11,2013, I called Ms. W to notify her of my mother’s death and to request an estimate of outstanding unsold items for probate purposes, as indicated by the estate lawyer. Ms. W. failed to do so.(Consider the WES website assertion: “We Specialize in Handling Estates in Probate, Receivership "& Trusts.”) Page 2 of 6Later, I notifed her I would be in Richmond for my appointment as executor and asked to meet with her. She ignored my request. In January 2014, my lawyer sent her a letter requesting the return of any unsold items. During a phone conversation in February 2014, Ms. W. claimed she had items in a storage unit on [redacted]. and because of bad weather,etc, I agreed to let her have more time to sell them. I did not know then that numerous items had already been sold on 9/10/13 by Quinn & Farmer, but we had not been paid for them. I only found out about them much later in 2014— partly because some items were listed on the spreadsheet she gave me at our 6/17/14 meeting in Richmond, but mostly because when I talked to [redacted] in Aug/Sept 2014, they told me how to search online at their website and I was able to discover more unaccounted for items. ————————————————————————... At our 6/17/14 meeting, Ms. W told me she changed plans re: [redacted]’s auctioneers to get better returns on the items. Never once, between 5/29/13 when Ben M[redacted] picked up the so-called “rejected” items to deliver to [redacted]’s and this meeting in Richmond did Ms. W[redacted] inform me of the change in plans. This clearly means that Ms. W. had to unpack each item and employ her purported appraisal expertise to examine all the carefully packed pieces that she has suggested in her reply as being virtually worthless, mis-matched china,etc. Why? At that meeting,she could not give me a straight answer as to what happened to our consignment. In passing, she mentioned [redacted]’s and [redacted] in Charlottesville. Later in Sept.2014, I learned from a [redacted]’s representative that I "was not the first client who had problems with Ms. W. and that they no longer dealt with her. The Q &F representative told me how to search their previous auctions online and I was able to ?nd numerous pieces of our consignment. But, in several lots, our pieces were mixed in with someone else’s. [redacted] assured me that they carefully identify consignments and do not mix them, thus suggesting that the origin of the mixup lay with WES. Yet WES paid us for an entire lot,instead of prorating the items. (Example: Lots 272 (6 of 9 pcs. not ours),277 (2 of 13 pcs not ours) 316 (4 plates not ours), "sold in the 9/10/13 auction, all included items belonging to other people). There were others. Did WES pay other clients for lots that included items belonging to my mother? ———————————————————————�... Re: Calculation errors— consider this line item from WES spread sheet dated 10/31/2013: “[redacted] 2@ $65” total listed as $104. Should be $130. She has not paid us for the difference yet.N.B. If this refers to the four antique Chinese Canton pcs. (2 large platters,1 oval,1 octagonal,or 2 small round matching plates)which two? What happened to the other two? ————————————————————————�... Re: The [redacted]— in 2013, I had already researched and specifcally vetoed dealing with [redacted] because of their short-term policy—i.e. two or three week selling period. We had no way to retrieve and store any unsold items. So, I was indeed surprised that Ms. W. told me during her phone call on 6/8/15 pursuant to my complaint to the AG Consumer Protection Dept. that she had indeed taken at least one item— a pair of Baccarat crystal candlesticks (Regence style) to [redacted]. When I called them, they said the candlesticks were listed at $250.00. Over subsequent months, I called several times to check their status, and as of 2/4/16 ( a day after I received Ms. W’s reply to my complaint) they were still there. On 2/23/16, I called the owner who told me that on 2/13/16, Ms. W. retrieved the Baccarat candlesticks. He also said he would have allowed them to remain inde?nitely because of their brand name value and small footprint. So,where are they now? In light of her response to my complaint, is this not interesting? Consider Parag. 12. "————————————————————————�... 3 of 66A. Re: [redacted](parag.2)— According to their website page,among the rules for consignment are: “6/…Merchandise must be covered under Consignor’s homeowner’s policy during the consignment period. 7/ The Consignor agrees that they own outright the items listed on this "consignment agreement.” SO, how could Ms. W. even consider placing OUR property at [redacted]l? ——————————————————————... Re: errors on vaguely described spreadsheets. In contrast to [redacted], WES fails to meet "minimum standards for accurate description and accounting of items entrusted to it. Consider this line item example from the spreadsheet of 10/31/13: “box,$2.00”. Was this one of the numerous tiny decorative boxes or was it a large wood cigar box or a cardboard box full of items? ————————————————————————... Re: errors of mixing other clients’ items in with ours: Consider: Spreadsheet “through 4/3/14” which was revised to read “through May,2014” " and received 6/17/14. A. includes a”Lot Chant Royal Worce 26pc”,$6.50.” I found basically this wording on [redacted] 9/10/13 auction in Lot 178 “Tray Lot of Silver Chantilly Decorated Royal Worce”sold $10.00. My mother never owned such junk. So why did Ms. W. pay us for it since it must have " belonged to some other client? B. Includes lithographs by W.A.Good and Bragg (When I challenged this error, Ms. W claimed she saw some lithographs at my mother’s.) The ones she referred to were nothing like the trashy ones listed; rather, they were of the Tetons and Annapolis that I sold via [redacted]. ——————————————————————————�... Transportation Fees: Consider the fact that Ms. W[redacted] charged us for transportation in 2014,without listing speci?c date/purpose /mileage details. On one bill she charged $180 for 2hrs,RT to Charlottesville and on the others by the mile. Two unexplained,undated Charlottesville charges (125 m.RT/$71.59 each ) were listed in addition to the $433.20 for Asheville on an undated invoice that arrived 1/22/15 along with the check dated 1/10/15. In July 2015, she double-charged for the outstanding six [redacted] lots she had already included in the trip for the other items in the same 9/10/13 auction! Furthermore, she charged .57 per mile,the IRS rate for 2015, not the 2014 .56 per mile, the "year in which the trips supposedly occurred. The total for travel so far: $828.00. ———————————————————————�... Re: the pair of antique blue/white Chinese moon?asks. If I had not been lucky enough— days before the auction date—to have discovered them listed at [redacted]’s via liveauctioneers.com, a clearinghouse for major auction houses, where I could track the results of the auction, it is doubtful we would have received as much as we did; however, because Ms. W. deducted $433.20 travel cost, she managed to offset the results. Furthermore, [redacted]’s remits proceeds thirty days after a sale, meaning Ms.W would have received their check by mid-October 2014. When we did not receive a check by 11/1/14, I had to email several times during the next several weeks. Each time Ms.W offered a new reason why a delay was necessary. Finally, January 7, Page 4 of 62015, she emailed “We are issuing checks this week for any outstanding carryover items”. But ours "did not arrive until Jan 22,2015. The check was dated January 10,2015. Note paragraph 9 in her response letter regarding her rationale for hand-delivering the moon ?asks to Asheville. It is interesting to compare that explanation with her email of 11/10/14 re: the delay in "paying us and the risks of shipping them (underline,mine): “….Again, we generally allow 10-14 days for out of state checks to clear...Please keep in mind there are out of pockets that we need to ?le relating to the vases. If you recall, we hand carried them to Asheville to avoid possible damage with shipping. There are mileage & moving costs associated with that. It is a 5 hour drive to Asheville and we charge reimbursement based on IRS mileage allowance.  Also the vases were shipped back from Philly from the initial inquiry...and I will need to check and see what we were charged back for that... I did stop in the bank Sat morning, and asked about confirming that the check had indeed cleared however there was a line up behind me and I told them I would stop by this week...I can call them while I'm in NY...& expect that I can sit down and finalize Any/ALL outstanding items when I'm back on Friday. …” ——— N.B. Modern bank accounts are accessible online and cancelled checks deposited into an account can be viewed within a day or two. It is not necessary to go to a bank in person to verify. ———————————————————————�... Re:Parag 9, last sentence. What a bizarre,mendacious suggestion that, ex post facto,we would have preferred shipping because of potential higher reimbursement based on insurance value( whatever that was) if the moon flasks were damaged by UPS. 1/antiques are shipped safely all the time—as Ms. W. confirmed in the above email. 2/the pre-auction value in the [redacted]’s catalog was $300-$500. They actually sold for $1700. But Ms. W. said on her undated spreadsheet they sold for $1496, from which she deducted 35% and $433.20 travel. And she spent at least ten hours driving for this? Does this sound like a reasonable "business decision? FOR THAT MATTER, WHAT INSURANCE VALUE/POLICY DID SHE HAVE ON THE MOONFLASKS IN CASE THEY WERE DAMAGED IF HER SUV HAD CRASHED? _____________________________________________________ 12. Also,there is the matter of the still “PENDING” list of items that she said were nearly all sold by "the end of July 2014 and except for the Chinese moon?asks,we have not been paid for: ” small oil/landscape/unsigned; landscape E. Davis “Rockport” 21”x24”; Florence White Williams oil 17”x 24” dock/boats; pr. REGENCE crystal candlesticks,2 blue and white moon ?asks dragon&pearl,Chinese cloisonné plate/dragon design; pair Chinese turq. flask form vases;Chinese enamel bell; Chinese blue/white plum blossom breaking ice jar; Chinese Good Luck Bowl with Dragon "& Bat Design; 3 oriental rugs (1)runner(2)sm.prayer(3)room sz.” Remember—as of 2/12/16, the Baccarat Regence candlesticks were still at the Attic. In her response of 2/3/16, Ms. W. insisted nothing of ours was ever at "[redacted]. ""Page 5 of 6""—————————————————————————�... Re:Parag.11—Ms W. seems to think it is her clients’ responsibility to contact her all the time for payments and status reports if they want to be paid. Remember, she delayed payment for items sold in her May and June Richmond onsite sales until 10/31/13 only after I had emailed and called her and her vice-president Ben M[redacted] numerous times. And yet, as mentioned above, she had already received settlement from the [redacted] 9/10/13 sale of our lots by 10/10/13—- for which she "finally paid something to us 6/17/14. If I had not persisted, would we have ever been paid? In May 2015, I sent her a letter by priority mail to demand final accounting by the end of the month and said I was going to notify proper authorities if she did not meet the deadline. She did not and I did. I filed a well-supported complaint with the VA Attorney General’s Dept. of Consumer Protection. It is available for public review. Although she did not respond to their letters, she did call me on June 8 and agreed to review the unpaid [redacted] lots ($380.total realized) and after deducting yet another travel charge of $71.59 and fees $171, she did send a small check in July 2015. But why did she charge that additional travel fee for items that were delivered along with all the other lots sold in the 9/10/13 auction and charged? —————————- 13A. In addition to the items acknowledged on her “PENDING” list,mentioned above, there are numerous items still unaccounted for— e.g.. a watercolor painting by I-hsiung Ju, a nationally known expert in Chinese calligraphy,who was a W&L professor. Or a painting by Elizabeth Slipik,Richmond artist., a watercolor by Rosemary Summers of Oxford U.,a watercolor by well-known Philadelphia artist Rachel Cartledge, or a pair of Chinese silk embroidery panels in glass frame,or a large goldleaf oval mantel mirror ,antique leaded stained glass panels,antique Japanese “Thousand cranes” tea set,large antique Celadon lidded soup tureen,etc. The list goes on. ————————————— 13B. I am under no illusion as to the market value of our consignment. My parents appreciated quality and fine art and collected/inherited distinctive pieces. Ordinary housewares went to [redacted]. The better ones to WES. Some may not have high value currently, but that does not excuse Ms.W. from accounting for them. ————————————————————————�... Re: parag. 7: “However, just this week, we received noti?cation on 1/29/16 from one of the auction houses, [redacted], that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms. [redacted] maintains is unaccounted for. The description of the donated items provided by [redacted] is "Flowers and Asian Themed "Ceramics", no numerical counts are provided.” What convenient timing for this notification to arrive! — just after I filed my complaint "on 1/15/16 : Consider what Mr. [redacted] of [redacted] wrote me on 2/19/16 : “….I have checked our records and I do not see any contract with Ms. W[redacted] or Ms. [redacted] in our records.  Is there some additional information you could provide or the “notifcation” Ms. W[redacted] claims to have?  We are glad to provide any records that pertain to this matter but do not have any indication we have ever handled any of this merchandise.  Our operating procedures require a written contract and a full detailed inventory for all items that are brought into the gallery.  Also, any communication with consignors should have a 4 digit code called a “Consignor Number.” “ —————————————————————... 6 of 615. As to donations to [redacted] I believe we have a right to know which items,if any, were to be donated. Consider the fact that [redacted] once called me about two inexpensive metal trays that did not sell and they gave me a choice of picking them up or donating them to charity. In that case I authorized donation. They operate a high volume business yet courteously took the time to let "me know about two little trays. Compare WES with them. ————————————————————————�... again, my complaint stands. Once again, I urge any prospective clients to consider my experience with Windsor Estate Sales.

Review: On March 16 – 18 2013 the Windsor Estate Sales, L.L.C. conducted a sale of our household goods at [redacted]. Prior to the sale the company’s owner, [redacted], took the better items in the household in order to sell them in markets where they would achieve a better return than the estate sale. As of the current date we have received no results for the following:

• 1840’s – ‘50’s painting of the [redacted];

• Hand stitched with bow pattern baby quilt;

• A penguin topical stamp collection and other stamps, said to be auctioned on January 4, 2014;

• Large (apprx 60” x 60”) black and red piano scarf with paisley designs;

• Oriental hall runner; and

• Small (apprx 30” x 48”) blue/mauve oriental rug.

There has been a lack of clarity in the description of items sold or to be sold, both in the accounting for the original sale and for the items of concern. It is not clear whether the “Persian Style Throw” mentioned as being sold in an October 27, 2013 email from [redacted] is the small oriental rug listed above, because the email states that the “Throw” is not ours. In a letter transmitting payment for [redacted], a patchwork quilt and a framed needlepoint, it mentions a blue and white coverlet as a “Remaining Carryover Item”. It is not clear to us that it is our item. In that same letter it mentions a “Contemporary Baby Quilt” as another outstanding item. Because it is described as “Contemporary”, it is not clear whether this is the baby quilt listed above.

We have been in repeated contact with [redacted] in order to settle this issue; however, after a full year of waiting we have decided to file a complaint.Desired Settlement: An accurate accounting and payment for the items listed above for which we have received no payment.

Business

Response:

Apparently, the [redacted] had responded via email vs. returning my initial phone call. Their email ended up in the junk folder. Luckily, I tried them again after I got your message. It was certainly better that we were able to communicate via phone and clarify their questions.

Best regards,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Windsor Estate Sales has yet to complete the sales of our items and adequately account for the sales. We await closure.

Regards,

Business

Response:

[redacted] from the company called and stated that the last of items are being sold this weekend.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

We continue to await the results of the sales, including an accurate accounting of each item.

Regards,

Review: I asked the clerk if the price ($25) on a box lot of silver items was for the entire box of items. She (very old lady that was smoking in the basement) confirmed that the price was for the entire contents of the box. I stated that I was glad as one item within the box was sterling. She then pulled that item from my hand and refused to honor the box lot price. I informed her that I would not buy anything from them ever again. As this particular estate / tag sale, it was advertised as "picker's dream" by them.Desired Settlement: Complaint to be on file for other consumers to know of their unscrupulous behavior.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

As we discussed, [redacted] attended one of our onsite estate sales on the weekend of September 14th on Ridge Top Road in Henrico. He asked one of our sales associates if a box lot of Silverplate that was located in the basement included a STERLING silver tray. When she removed the tray and advised him that it was not supposed to be there, he became [redacted], put down the box and said he would never attend another sale of ours.

Since we are opening private homes to the general public, we unfortunately encounter control issues with items that are moved from place to place, price tags that are switched or in some cases removed altogether. In this case, the sterling tray [redacted] claimed to have found in the basement as part of a misc. box lot, had in fact been priced at $85.00 and had been staged along with the other items of sterling in one location, close to our set up table upstairs. As an ISA Certified Appraiser and as a matter of protocol, we weigh ALL sterling items in TROY ounces and price it based on the daily spot price for silver on[redacted]. The box of misc. plated items was $25.00 for the entire box.

While we are certainly not suggesting the [redacted] was responsible for placing the item in the box lot, it had in fact been moved, and the price tag REMOVED.

[redacted] did not bring the matter to my attention at the sale. As the [redacted] of the company and would have been happy to clarify the issue. For example, if we had a piece of gold jewelry and the price tag was removed, would we be obligated to sell it for the price of our costume jewelry, which has relatively little value? Of course not, that would not only be irresponsible, it would be negligent on our part.

We also photograph and videotape all of our set up and staging prior to opening and have a photo of the item on the table along with the other sterling items from the sale.

While we certainly don't want to upset a customer, we have an obligation to the family we are representing and their loved ones to ensure that we obtain the best Fair Market Prices for their items. It is a responsibility that we take seriously. Every estate sale represents a life-long collection of items that have both sentimental and real world value. The family entrusts us to sell those items in a way that is both respectful of their loved one's memory and dignified in the way it is handled.

[redacted] complaint is that the sale was "falsely advertised" because it was listed as a "picker's" dream. He is suggesting that the sterling item wasoverlooked and should have been included in the $25.00 misc. box. Of course, this was not the case.

We emailed [redacted] immediately following the sale and offered him the $25.00 box of silverplate at no charge. He declined. Clearly, he was only interested in the sterling item, which has a much higher value and he expected that we should honor the price and include the item, simply as a matter of good customer service.

For our part, we feel that offering the box lot to [redacted] at no charge to him, was the right thing to do, while balancing our responsibility to our client.

[redacted] claim is valid. We do feel that [redacted] actions were both defensive and inflammatory.

Best regards,

[redacted]Windsor Estate Sales & Appraisal Services, LLC.

Review: Re:Windsor Estate Sales: Susan W[redacted], Owner; Ben M[redacted], VP of Operations.

Prospective clients should consider my experience with this company before letting it handle their estate and downsizing sales. In May 2013,during a time of great stress and deadlines,I had to dispose of my ill mother’s possessions in Richmond. Because of the WES website’s persuasive claims (like “Estate sales with dignity & attention to detail”,etc.) and Ms. W[redacted]s purported experience,credentials,and connections with top-notch third-party agents,I hired WES to sell 439 of my mother’s more valuable items.

Ms. W[redacted] said it would take up to six months to sell the consignment, but I didn’t notice the contract had no specific termination date. Now,2 1/2 years later, WES still has not completed the sale or accounted for half the items. Never once did we receive payment or status report until I called and emailed — mostly the calls were not returned and email replies were simply excuses,contradictions,etc. why payment was not forthcoming. The three small payments were accompanied by spreadsheets with inadequate, vague descriptions of sold items, calculation errors, other clients’ items mixed in with ours,etc. Furthermore, excessive, undated, unexplained travel costs (so far, $828.00)were also deducted, as well as excessive commission charges (in some cases 58%, not the 35% as agreed).

In May,2015, after Ms. W[redacted] ignored my demands for full accounting and settlement,I filed a complaint with the VA Consumer Complaint Dept. (Case [redacted]),with a thick binder of documentation that I assembled over the previous year. Anyone needing reassurance of the validity of my claims should consult this file. Ms. W[redacted] still has not responded to their letters. Why not? Instead of making my life easier,as promised in advertised claims, Windsor Estate Sales has caused much unnecessary work and stress for me and my family. And it’s not over yet since they still have unsold items of ours.Desired Settlement: Desired Resolution:

1.A full, accurate accounting and documentation of the entire consignment entrusted to Windsor Estate Sales

2.Refunds for excessive commissions

3. Correct payment for all sold items

4. The return of any unsold items

Business

Response:

Attn: [redacted]/Revdex.com Re: Complaint [redacted] To Whom It May Concern: We were engaged by Ms. [redacted] to handle the disposition of property belonging to her mother. At the time we met with Ms. [redacted], we advised her that most (approximately 85%) of the property would not bring significant proceeds on the secondary market. We declined the initial consignment, and suggested that we focus on a few pieces that did have potential value. As a professional courtesy, we contacted both [redacted] and the [redacted] shop on Ms. [redacted]'s behalf. Both declined to accept the property because they understood, as we did, that there was little or no resale market for these items, primarily glassware, and mismatched/miscellaneous china. We have inventory photos that can be provided for further verification. When we advised Ms. [redacted] of this, she said she understood the items would not bring a high return, but had no other option. She became agitated that we didn't want to take the consignment and said she needed to clear out the apartment immediately because of a move out deadline imposed by Cedarfield. Against, our better judgment, we moved the items for her. In lieu of taking all of the items directly to auction, where they are liquidated for pennies on the dollar, and what Ms. [redacted] initially requested we do, we put them into an onsite estate sale where they were staged for higher visibility in a high-end home in a golf course community. We then moved the remaining items into a second onsite estate sale adjacent to a country club. We had now wrapped, moved and packed these items three times. First out of Cedarfield, and then into two consecutive sales. Following the second sale, we sent the remaining items to two different auction houses in order to continue to try and get the highest possible returns. [redacted] in Powhatan and [redacted] in Charlottesville. It is important to note that our contract, which Ms. [redacted] signed, provides that any consigned property may be donated to charity after two consecutive sales. This provision alone provides that we have no further contractual obligation to continue to move, carryover or sell these items. However, in Ms. [redacted]'s case, even after carrying these items to two separate sales, we continued to try a third sales tier of local and regional auctions. The biggest discrepancy for Ms. [redacted] and for Windsor Estate Sales, is that she created a separate inventory system for the property, where she counted ea ch individual glass, cup, saucer, etc. coming up with a total of 469 items. In some cases, she grouped items together by color, box number etc. although we tried to explain to her that people would pick up items from different boxes and we would have no control over that. She seemed to be under the impression that the items would be sold in exactly the same way she had divided and categorized them. At our onsite sales, we typically have 5 people writing up sales tickets. Given the rush and the lines of people waiting, extensive descriptions of items with specific number counts is not feasible. People come up with a handful of items, and we write the tickets as quickly as possible. Although we code for separate consignors by colored sales stickers and identifying initials, it is not possible for us to count each individua l it em, glass, plate, cup, etc. Due to time constraints, we use generally accepted descriptions, misc. glassware, china, etc. Moreover, we further advised Ms. [redacted] that items sold at auction are so ld as " box lots", where there is literally no way to account for a specific number of glasses, cups, dishes, et c. They will simply sell "5 Boxes of misc. glassware" or even more generally "Housewares" . It is a liquidation process, not a retail environment. And it is important to note, that these were ALL items t hat remained unsold after 2 previous sales and would have been donated pursuant to the terms of our contract. In spite of this, Ms. [redacted] maintains that all of her items have not been accounted for, primarily because there were not specific NUMERIC COUNTS provided on the box lots which were sold or in our sales descriptions. However, just this week, we received notification on 1/29/16 from one of the auction houses, [redacted] Auctions, that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms. [redacted] maintains is unaccounted for. The description of the donated items provided by [redacted] Auctions is "Flowers and Asian Themed Ceramics", no numerical counts are provided. Again, regardless of the inventory process Ms. [redacted] created, it will never match item for item against the consignment reports we receive from post-auction sales, or from our onsite sales. It is not standard business practice for any auction house, nor is it something we can track at an onsite sale. With regard to the items we felt were of higher value, t he only notable property was a pair of blue and white Asian moon flasks, one of which had extensive da mage and repair. Ms. [redacted] seemed upset that as an appraiser I was not able to provide her with specific information regarding their history. Asian antiquities are a very specialized category, and technical peculiarities such as the production methods, whether there are six character dynasty marks, whether those marks are under or over the glaze, specific design characteristics that correlate to different dynastic periods, recognizing the chinese characters and knowing which character marks represent which dynasties, and more importantly whether they are authentic or produced as copies with intentional distress made to look "old", are all issues best determined with a category specialist in Asian Decorative Arts. It is estimated that 95-99% of the Asian "antiquities" on the market today, whether porcelain, jade or other artifacts are fake. We utilized our relationships with several of these specialists as a professional courtesty to Ms. [redacted]. She was never charged for their time or professional evaluation. Two notable auction houses, [redacted] in New York City, and [redacted] in Philadelphia, rejected them for consignment. Eventually, we contracted with [redacted] in North Carolina for consignment of the moon flasks into a catalog sale. We negotiated a reduced commission rate, and eliminated typical charges for photography, insurance, catalog printing and sale marketing. We hand carried the flasks to the auction house so they could be evaluated by the specialists directly. We deducted the cost of mileage from the proceeds instead of shipping the flasks via UPS which would have been more expensive not to mention risking potential damage in shipping, transport etc. After they were sold, and Ms. [redacted] was unhappy about the mileage charge, she indicated that she would have preferred the flasks be shipped, so that if they were damanged in transport, she would have been reimbursed a higher amount based on the INSURANCE valuation. Although we negoatiate lower "trade" commission rates for our clients with third party dealers, auction houses, etc., these commission costs are NOT deducted from our comission . Ms. [redacted] maintains that we should have absorbed these third party costs and reduced our comission accordingly. That is not the case. Our contract states that these out of pocket and third party costs are subtracted from the total proceeds. The amount of work to vet these items is extensive, and Ms. [redacted] was never charged for our time to conduct outreach with multiple auction houses, or our time to transport the items, despite the hundreds of miles and hours of time we travelled to facilitate the sale. Moreover, she was not charged for the time of third party experts who took the time to evaluate her property. We simply charged for the mileage with the standard business mileage deduction. Just in the case of [redacted] Auction, it was sixteen hours of round trip driving. Our professional appraisal time is billable at $150.00 per hour, and none of this time was calculated against Ms. [redacted]'s proceeds. We deducted for mileage expense to cover our fuel costs, and nothing else. Ultimately, these expenses are still less than it would have cost Ms. [redacted] for UPS shipping and insurance. With regard to Ms. [redacted]'s complaint regarding communication. June 8, 2015 is the last communication we received from Ms. [redacted] via email. No phone call, no email, no missed call or voicemail messages. After 7 months, the first communication we have received is via the complaint she filed with the Revdex.com. She made no attempt to contact us prior to filing this complaint, just as she made no attempt to contact us prior to filing a similar complaint with the AG office. It is worth noting that most consignors believe their property to have higher value than its {FMV) Fair Market Value. In today's economic environment, items that were cherished family pieces such as china, crystal, collectible figurines, etc. bring a fraction of what they were once worth. It reflects the broader reality of today's market for antiques and collectibles. As we suggested initially to Ms. [redacted], she should have taken it upon herself to liquidate the items, since no consignment shop was willing to take them. To date, we are not in possession of any of Ms. [redacted]'s property, and have no further proceeds or sales. Moreover, we have gone above and beyond our contractual obligations with respect to selling Ms. [redacted]'s property. Respectfully, Susan [redacted] Owner/ISA Appraiser

Consumer

Response:

RE: Complaint #[redacted] vs. Windsor Estate Sales filed 1/15/16 /Rebuttal vs. WES response of 2/3/16 ——————————————————————————�... It’s interesting that Ms. W[redacted] refused to respond to the letters from the VA Atty. General’s Consumer Protection Dept. Yet she promptly responded to the Revdex.com’s inquiry. ——————————————————————————�... Ms. W’s 2/3/16 response has proved my point. Let us count some of the ways: ——————————————————————————�... 1. As she herself told me on 6/8/15, Ms. W[redacted] regretted taking on our consignment. What a headache she could have spared herself if only she had followed the original plan! I.e. to take the 19 well-organized boxes of items that I (not WES as she claims) packed to [redacted]’s [redacted]. As she explained at our meeting June 17,2014 in Richmond, she decided to extract some of the better pieces to place elsewhere. This means Ms. W. employed her appraisal expertise to review the so-called “rejected” items. Why? ——————————————————————————�... 2. A reasonable person should be able to expect that the company has a certain responsibility to execute its promises and obligations to protect and preserve records of disposition of any and all consigned items entrusted to it. The consignor has the right to expect a full, accurate accounting, "CERTAINLY A MUCH BETTER ONE THAN Windsor Estate Sales has so far provided. As other Revdex.com consumer complaints con?rm, along with others on various review websites, similar issues "were raised (e.g. the Revdex.com complaint ?led 5/2/14— a year later after the original estate sale). I had hoped that this matter could have been resolved satisfactorily long ago. It took a while for me to realize what kind of company I had engaged, as I was not used to dealing with such behavior—ignoring requests for status of consignment,evasive,changing explanations, contradictory statements,delayed payment/non-payment,etc. Ms. W. acts as if she owns all rights to OUR property. ——————————————————————————�... 2A. May 28,2013 Mr. M[redacted] (VP of Operations) picked up the items Windsor Estate Sales had selected to sell. He said that if I could have the remaining small antiques,paintings,etc packed by 9AM the next morning, he would transport them for $150.00 to [redacted]’s in Powhatan and that we would receive a”nice check” soon after. I had already organized by category (e.g,Chinese, Japanese, French, English, German,Irish,American,etc) and packed them carefully just in time for the deadline. I gave him a picture inventory and he complimented me on how well I had packed things— he said it "would make the [redacted]’s staff’s job a lot easier. So, I was surprised indeed to discover,later, on the WES website photos of many of those items being included at an onsite sale. ——————————————————————————�... 2B. Parag 6 : Ms W’s description of how a typical onsite estate sale is conducted by WES should give one pause— it sounds like chaos. And this certainly contradicts the website: “Estate Sales With Dignity, Elegance & Attention to Detail”. If Ms. W. can’t do a better job of tracking items entrusted to WES, she should not be in this business. ——————————————————————————�... 3. December 11,2013, I called Ms. W to notify her of my mother’s death and to request an estimate of outstanding unsold items for probate purposes, as indicated by the estate lawyer. Ms. W. failed to do so.(Consider the WES website assertion: “We Specialize in Handling Estates in Probate, Receivership "& Trusts.”) Page 2 of 6Later, I notifed her I would be in Richmond for my appointment as executor and asked to meet with her. She ignored my request. In January 2014, my lawyer sent her a letter requesting the return of any unsold items. During a phone conversation in February 2014, Ms. W. claimed she had items in a storage unit on [redacted]. and because of bad weather,etc, I agreed to let her have more time to sell them. I did not know then that numerous items had already been sold on 9/10/13 by Quinn & Farmer, but we had not been paid for them. I only found out about them much later in 2014— partly because some items were listed on the spreadsheet she gave me at our 6/17/14 meeting in Richmond, but mostly because when I talked to [redacted] in Aug/Sept 2014, they told me how to search online at their website and I was able to discover more unaccounted for items. ——————————————————————————�... 4. At our 6/17/14 meeting, Ms. W told me she changed plans re: [redacted]’s auctioneers to get better returns on the items. Never once, between 5/29/13 when Ben M[redacted] picked up the so-called “rejected” items to deliver to [redacted]’s and this meeting in Richmond did Ms. W[redacted] inform me of the change in plans. This clearly means that Ms. W. had to unpack each item and employ her purported appraisal expertise to examine all the carefully packed pieces that she has suggested in her reply as being virtually worthless, mis-matched china,etc. Why? At that meeting,she could not give me a straight answer as to what happened to our consignment. In passing, she mentioned [redacted]’s and [redacted] in Charlottesville. Later in Sept.2014, I learned from a [redacted]’s representative that I "was not the first client who had problems with Ms. W. and that they no longer dealt with her. The Q &F representative told me how to search their previous auctions online and I was able to ?nd numerous pieces of our consignment. But, in several lots, our pieces were mixed in with someone else’s. [redacted] assured me that they carefully identify consignments and do not mix them, thus suggesting that the origin of the mixup lay with WES. Yet WES paid us for an entire lot,instead of prorating the items. (Example: Lots 272 (6 of 9 pcs. not ours),277 (2 of 13 pcs not ours) 316 (4 plates not ours), "sold in the 9/10/13 auction, all included items belonging to other people). There were others. Did WES pay other clients for lots that included items belonging to my mother? ——————————————————————————�... "5. Re: Calculation errors— consider this line item from WES spread sheet dated 10/31/2013: “[redacted] 2@ $65” total listed as $104. Should be $130. She has not paid us for the difference yet.N.B. If this refers to the four antique Chinese Canton pcs. (2 large platters,1 oval,1 octagonal,or 2 small round matching plates)which two? What happened to the other two? ——————————————————————————�... 6. Re: The [redacted]— in 2013, I had already researched and specifcally vetoed dealing with [redacted] because of their short-term policy—i.e. two or three week selling period. We had no way to retrieve and store any unsold items. So, I was indeed surprised that Ms. W. told me during her phone call on 6/8/15 pursuant to my complaint to the AG Consumer Protection Dept. that she had indeed taken at least one item— a pair of Baccarat crystal candlesticks (Regence style) to [redacted]. When I called them, they said the candlesticks were listed at $250.00. Over subsequent months, I called several times to check their status, and as of 2/4/16 ( a day after I received Ms. W’s reply to my complaint) they were still there. On 2/23/16, I called the owner who told me that on 2/13/16, Ms. W. retrieved the Baccarat candlesticks. He also said he would have allowed them to remain inde?nitely because of their brand name value and small footprint. So,where are they now? In light of her response to my complaint, is this not interesting? Consider Parag. 12. "——————————————————————————�... Page 3 of 66A. Re: [redacted](parag.2)— According to their website page,among the rules for consignment are: “6/…Merchandise must be covered under Consignor’s homeowner’s policy during the consignment period. 7/ The Consignor agrees that they own outright the items listed on this "consignment agreement.” SO, how could Ms. W. even consider placing OUR property at [redacted]l? ——————————————————————————�... 7. Re: errors on vaguely described spreadsheets. In contrast to [redacted], WES fails to meet "minimum standards for accurate description and accounting of items entrusted to it. Consider this line item example from the spreadsheet of 10/31/13: “box,$2.00”. Was this one of the numerous tiny decorative boxes or was it a large wood cigar box or a cardboard box full of items? ——————————————————————————�... "8. Re: errors of mixing other clients’ items in with ours: Consider: Spreadsheet “through 4/3/14” which was revised to read “through May,2014” " and received 6/17/14. A. includes a”Lot Chant Royal Worce 26pc”,$6.50.” I found basically this wording on [redacted] 9/10/13 auction in Lot 178 “Tray Lot of Silver Chantilly Decorated Royal Worce”sold $10.00. My mother never owned such junk. So why did Ms. W. pay us for it since it must have " belonged to some other client? B. Includes lithographs by W.A.Good and Bragg (When I challenged this error, Ms. W claimed she saw some lithographs at my mother’s.) The ones she referred to were nothing like the trashy ones listed; rather, they were of the Tetons and Annapolis that I sold via [redacted]. ——————————————————————————�... 9. Transportation Fees: Consider the fact that Ms. W[redacted] charged us for transportation in 2014,without listing speci?c date/purpose /mileage details. On one bill she charged $180 for 2hrs,RT to Charlottesville and on the others by the mile. Two unexplained,undated Charlottesville charges (125 m.RT/$71.59 each ) were listed in addition to the $433.20 for Asheville on an undated invoice that arrived 1/22/15 along with the check dated 1/10/15. In July 2015, she double-charged for the outstanding six [redacted] lots she had already included in the trip for the other items in the same 9/10/13 auction! Furthermore, she charged .57 per mile,the IRS rate for 2015, not the 2014 .56 per mile, the "year in which the trips supposedly occurred. The total for travel so far: $828.00. ——————————————————————————�... "10. Re: the pair of antique blue/white Chinese moon?asks. If I had not been lucky enough— days before the auction date—to have discovered them listed at [redacted]’s via liveauctioneers.com, a clearinghouse for major auction houses, where I could track the results of the auction, it is doubtful we would have received as much as we did; however, because Ms. W. deducted $433.20 travel cost, she managed to offset the results. Furthermore, [redacted]’s remits proceeds thirty days after a sale, meaning Ms.W would have received their check by mid-October 2014. When we did not receive a check by 11/1/14, I had to email several times during the next several weeks. Each time Ms.W offered a new reason why a delay was necessary. Finally, January 7, Page 4 of 62015, she emailed “We are issuing checks this week for any outstanding carryover items”. But ours "did not arrive until Jan 22,2015. The check was dated January 10,2015. Note paragraph 9 in her response letter regarding her rationale for hand-delivering the moon ?asks to Asheville. It is interesting to compare that explanation with her email of 11/10/14 re: the delay in "paying us and the risks of shipping them (underline,mine): “….Again, we generally allow 10-14 days for out of state checks to clear...Please keep in mind there are out of pockets that we need to ?le relating to the vases. If you recall, we hand carried them to Asheville to avoid possible damage with shipping. There are mileage & moving costs associated with that. It is a 5 hour drive to Asheville and we charge reimbursement based on IRS mileage allowance. Also the vases were shipped back from Philly from the initial inquiry...and I will need to check and see what we were charged back for that... I did stop in the bank Sat morning, and asked about confirming that the check had indeed cleared however there was a line up behind me and I told them I would stop by this week...I can call them while I'm in NY...& expect that I can sit down and finalize Any/ALL outstanding items when I'm back on Friday. …” ——— N.B. Modern bank accounts are accessible online and cancelled checks deposited into an account can be viewed within a day or two. It is not necessary to go to a bank in person to verify. ——————————————————————————�... 11. Re:Parag 9, last sentence. What a bizarre,mendacious suggestion that, ex post facto,we would have preferred shipping because of potential higher reimbursement based on insurance value( whatever that was) if the moon flasks were damaged by UPS. 1/antiques are shipped safely all the time—as Ms. W. confirmed in the above email. 2/the pre-auction value in the [redacted]’s catalog was $300-$500. They actually sold for $1700. But Ms. W. said on her undated spreadsheet they sold for $1496, from which she deducted 35% and $433.20 travel. And she spent at least ten hours driving for this? Does this sound like a reasonable "business decision? FOR THAT MATTER, WHAT INSURANCE VALUE/POLICY DID SHE HAVE ON THE MOONFLASKS IN CASE THEY WERE DAMAGED IF HER SUV HAD CRASHED? _____________________________________________________ 12. Also,there is the matter of the still “PENDING” list of items that she said were nearly all sold by "the end of July 2014 and except for the Chinese moon?asks,we have not been paid for: ” small oil/landscape/unsigned; landscape E. Davis “Rockport” 21”x24”; Florence White Williams oil 17”x 24” dock/boats; pr. REGENCE crystal candlesticks,2 blue and white moon ?asks dragon&pearl,Chinese cloisonné plate/dragon design; pair Chinese turq. flask form vases;Chinese enamel bell; Chinese blue/white plum blossom breaking ice jar; Chinese Good Luck Bowl with Dragon "& Bat Design; 3 oriental rugs (1)runner(2)sm.prayer(3)room sz.” Remember—as of 2/12/16, the Baccarat Regence candlesticks were still at the Attic. In her response of 2/3/16, Ms. W. insisted nothing of ours was ever at "[redacted]. ""Page 5 of 6""—————————————————————————�... 13. Re:Parag.11—Ms W. seems to think it is her clients’ responsibility to contact her all the time for payments and status reports if they want to be paid. Remember, she delayed payment for items sold in her May and June Richmond onsite sales until 10/31/13 only after I had emailed and called her and her vice-president Ben M[redacted] numerous times. And yet, as mentioned above, she had already received settlement from the [redacted] 9/10/13 sale of our lots by 10/10/13—- for which she "finally paid something to us 6/17/14. If I had not persisted, would we have ever been paid? In May 2015, I sent her a letter by priority mail to demand final accounting by the end of the month and said I was going to notify proper authorities if she did not meet the deadline. She did not and I did. I filed a well-supported complaint with the VA Attorney General’s Dept. of Consumer Protection. It is available for public review. Although she did not respond to their letters, she did call me on June 8 and agreed to review the unpaid [redacted] lots ($380.total realized) and after deducting yet another travel charge of $71.59 and fees $171, she did send a small check in July 2015. But why did she charge that additional travel fee for items that were delivered along with all the other lots sold in the 9/10/13 auction and charged? —————————- 13A. In addition to the items acknowledged on her “PENDING” list,mentioned above, there are numerous items still unaccounted for— e.g.. a watercolor painting by I-hsiung Ju, a nationally known expert in Chinese calligraphy,who was a W&L professor. Or a painting by Elizabeth Slipik,Richmond artist., a watercolor by Rosemary Summers of Oxford U.,a watercolor by well-known Philadelphia artist Rachel Cartledge, or a pair of Chinese silk embroidery panels in glass frame,or a large goldleaf oval mantel mirror ,antique leaded stained glass panels,antique Japanese “Thousand cranes” tea set,large antique Celadon lidded soup tureen,etc. The list goes on. ————————————— 13B. I am under no illusion as to the market value of our consignment. My parents appreciated quality and fine art and collected/inherited distinctive pieces. Ordinary housewares went to [redacted]. The better ones to WES. Some may not have high value currently, but that does not excuse Ms.W. from accounting for them. ——————————————————————————�... 14. Re: parag. 7: “However, just this week, we received noti?cation on 1/29/16 from one of the auction houses, [redacted], that as part of their year-end maintenance, they have donated unsold property to Goodwill Industries that matches property Ms. [redacted] maintains is unaccounted for. The description of the donated items provided by [redacted] is "Flowers and Asian Themed "Ceramics", no numerical counts are provided.” What convenient timing for this notification to arrive! — just after I filed my complaint "on 1/15/16 : Consider what Mr. [redacted] of [redacted] wrote me on 2/19/16 : “….I have checked our records and I do not see any contract with Ms. W[redacted] or Ms. [redacted] in our records. Is there some additional information you could provide or the “notifcation” Ms. W[redacted] claims to have? We are glad to provide any records that pertain to this matter but do not have any indication we have ever handled any of this merchandise. Our operating procedures require a written contract and a full detailed inventory for all items that are brought into the gallery. Also, any communication with consignors should have a 4 digit code called a “Consignor Number.” “ ——————————————————————————�... Page 6 of 615. As to donations to [redacted] I believe we have a right to know which items,if any, were to be donated. Consider the fact that [redacted] once called me about two inexpensive metal trays that did not sell and they gave me a choice of picking them up or donating them to charity. In that case I authorized donation. They operate a high volume business yet courteously took the time to let "me know about two little trays. Compare WES with them. ——————————————————————————�... Once again, my complaint stands. Once again, I urge any prospective clients to consider my experience with Windsor Estate Sales.

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Description: Estates - Appraisals, Sales & Auctions

Address: 7 Partridge Hill Farm Road, Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23238

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