David Neligan Antiques

Dear Revdex.com , Thank you for forwarding this customer complaint !Firstly I do remember this customer who actually made me nervous with his initial interest in a French Provincial Louis XVI Chest in my shop. He told me he had been an antiques dealer for many years in [redacted] and...

that he never had any luck buying over the internet without seeing the piece first. My site showed approximately 10 photos of the item and he liked the piece but said he didn't really have the money and shouldn't be buying it and we negotiated a reduced price after many telephone conversations. I made shipping arrangements and he received the piece and said he loved it. He told me he had coated the piece with a refinishing product that made the piece look even better. A few weeks later I got a call from him and he said he thought that the piece was infested with wood eating insects. I consulted with the previous owner and called dealer friends for there opinion and even had him call one dealer friend who said to do a certain test. This test involved putting paper under the piece for a week and see if any dust appeared on the paper . He did it and there was no dust. In the meantime I offered to take it back but he would pay the freight back. He declined. He persisted with the bug issue and said he would never had bought the piece if he knew it had pinholes in the wood where insects had once been active. In Europe especially France and Italy with country furniture made out of fruitwoods there will be activity at some point in its life while overseas. To have this issue they need to have been in damp environments. This piece had no active insects and sometime in its 200 plus year life there was but not when he purchased nor from consulting with the previous owner. If he was so concerned about this issue why didn't he mention it initially while in the discussion phase before purchase since he had told me he once did many buying trips to France.  After not hearing from him for months he called and said he had sent the piece to his restorer who for 800 dollars had completely restored and polished the piece and felt I should pay half. I said we hadn't discussed this and asked him to send a breakdown of the bill to see exactly what percentage was spent on the bug issue. He said in the top right rear of top there was a depression in the wood and his restorer has discovered underneath in that part old insect activity that had long ago ended. He mailed me the bad wood bits the restorer had removed and replaced in that small section. I never got the breakdown nor was I given the restorers telephone number that I requested. I felt I was being nit picked and wasn't thrilled.In conclusion firstly when he received the piece he altered it with his refinishing solution. If I buy a shirt wear it and take it to the dry cleaner etc can I return it ? Also there was no active insects . Thirdly he made a decision to get the piece restored to perfection without my consent and expected me to pay half !! Ha ?I sell many many items and have been in business for 30 years and have never had a complaint.Thank you[redacted]Owner David Neligan Antiques

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted]. Please add your rejection comments below. In response to Mr [redacted] everything I said in my original complaint is true and factual. Bottom line is Mr [redacted]  sold and shipped me a chest of drawers without telling me it's real condition. Yes there were pictures on line but they did not show the hundreds and hundreds of worm holes. Not only on the outside but the inside of the chest. i never applied a refinishing product on the chest and it was 3 months before I sent it to be fumigated. That gave me plenty of time to see the active worms. My home pest control people came to my house and found the chest to have active insects. The restorer also said it needed to be fumigated. I don't be believed [redacted] ever asked me for his phone number but I am delighted to give it. His name is [redacted], a charming 80 year old cabinet maker trained in England. His number is [redacted] Mr [redacted] was never interested in helping me out by giving me my money back or offering to put the chest in good order. i m retired at this point but I was in business with [redacted] in [redacted] Tn.for 41 years. We always wanted to make our customers happy. And yes [redacted] and I would given you your money back for your shirt.   
Regards,
[redacted]