Here is my 11/23/15 response to Ms. [redacted]. She had first contacted our office the previous week while I was out of town and was told that I would look into it as soon as I returned which was on 11/23.Ms. [redacted],
I have examined your photos and met with my staff
concerning the sideboard and...
have not been able to determine how/when the piece
of veneer was lost. It obviously was not missing when it was catalogued and
when the catalogue photo was taken. In addition, I personally checked to make
sure the key and Stockwell catalogue was in the top drawer the day before your
movers arrived and I did not notice the piece missing at that time. I certainly
think I would have noticed it but can't say for sure. The movers had moved the
sideboard out from its display spot before showing [redacted] the loss, so they
could have caused it, but again I can't say for sure. So I am willing to have a
restorer from [redacted] come by and patch the loss and pay for his services. He
gets to [redacted] every month or so.
As far as the other small bumps and hairlines that you
note they are considered “old restorations to surface” which we note in the condition
report. Furthermore, all also fall under the “will exhibit wear, minor losses
and breaks, and small repairs consummate with age” as outlined in our Terms of
Condition that I have copied below from our webpage.
1. All
catalogue descriptions are believed to be accurate in the matter of
authenticity and condition, but ultimately all lots are sold "as is."
Antiques, by their very nature, will exhibit wear, minor losses and breaks, and
small repairs commensurate with age. We only note condition issues that in our
opinion significantly affect the integrity of the item. Returns will only be
considered for items found to be fake/reproduction and/or have significant
damage/restoration not noted in the catalogue description.2. If
you are a bidder who demands flawlessness, it is recommended that you examine
the item(s) in person, or have a trusted representative inspect the item(s) on
your behalf.
The bottom of the rear leg looks to have a cobweb (not a crack as she claimed) and
maybe a small chip; a chip would again would fall under “minor losses”. And we
did not catalogue the piece with any keys. Other than the missing piece of veneer,
these are not things that affect the integrity or value of the piece and are
common to an item that is over 200 years old.
Again, I will be happy to coordinate an appointment for
the restorer to come by and patch the missing piece of veneer at our expense
the next time he is in [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] responded on 11/24 that she completely disagreed, made some other accusations, and closed with the following:Rather than contacting you, it appears to be more
appropriate to be contacting the attorney general's office in Virginia and the
Revdex.com.I took this as her rejecting my offer to have the veneer fixed which is why the offer was never followed up on. The person I had contacted to do the restoration said it would cost around $250 so I will stand behind my original offer and credit her card in the amount of $275 to cover her cost for the restoration. Please let me know if I should act on this now or if we need to wait for Ms. [redacted] to respond. We will also need her credit card number again in order to proceed as we do not keep these on file. Best regards,Jeffrey S. Evans
The credit card that Ms. [redacted] supplied on 12/30/15 at 1:36 pm was credited for $275 on 1/4/16 at 11:52:55 am which was the first day that the accounting department was back in the office after the holidays. Ms. [redacted] was emailed the "Customer Copy" receipt of this transaction on 1/4/16 at 12:03 pm.Please keep in mind that it can take up to 10 days for the credit to show up on the card holder's account. We cannot control how long it takes for the credit to appear on her account.Best,Jeffrey
I have reviewed the response 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.
I am not a fraudulent or non-paying bidder. Neither is my husband. We have double checked with the auction house and Live Auctioneer and we have no negative feedback. My husand did bid on an item two years ago and that week I was diagnosed with breast cancer. He became very concerned about what lay ahead for us. Fortunatel;y, the auction house was gracious and and told him not to worry and to take care of me. Checking with them, they do not do business with Live Auction anymore and have no issues with our accounts and continue to do business with us.
So, [redacted] needs to straigten their bad infomation out. Again, I have never had an issue with my account nor have they ever not been paid for an item and they confirm they have done business with both of us with no issue. There handling of this matter cost us more than a thousand dollars as a fairly valuable vase that was actioned off went for hundreds of dollars but worth thousands.
They had enough time on auction day to purposely decline my account because my husband had called earlier to try to straingten this out with them. I have separate credit, my house is in my name and all my accounts are in my name, to deny me opportunity based on my husband's information is insulting and they do not have good information for my husband .
I would like them to get his situation corrected. Regards,[redacted]
In reference to complaint ID [redacted], I accept the offer to credit my charge card $275 and have given Jeffrey S. Evans my credit card information again, but do not yet see a credit on my statement. I am replying to your request to answer you in 5 days; hopefully, I will see the credit to my card soon.
Regards,
[redacted]
Below please find our Declined Bidder policy. Our entire terms and conditions can be found at [redacted]Our...
registration system is set up to identify bidders by name AND address. Your husband's UPI was posted on 7/13/13. Yes, he did bid with us prior to the UPI being lodged. But after that he would have been automatically blocked. You did bid with us on 1/18/14, but should have been denied because of the address association. I am not sure how it got through our system. As far as how your phone calls were handled on auction day, 1/31/15, as stated below in our terms, all appeals must be emailed. The office is swamped on auction day with in-house bidders checking in and checking out, emailed inquiries, continuing to register on-line bidders, etc. [redacted] had to get off the phone with you quickly because she was handling a phone bid on a soon-to-be-sold lot. Everyone else that spoke with you asked you to submit the information by email and it would be looked at as quickly as possible. We have entirely too much happening on auction day to be able to handle appeals by phone, plus the phone lines have to be kept open for phone bidding.I am sorry that you were not approved for bidding. We would have certainly considered your appeal if it had been made within the guidelines of our terms, and previous to the day of the auction. If there is a legitimate reason for your husband's UPI we would be happy to hear it and contact the auction house involved. It is unfortunate that auction houses have to be so rigid in their bidder registration processes, but this is necessary because of non-paying and fraudulent bidders. I hope I have addressed all of your questions.Best regards,[redacted] Evans Declined Bidder Registrations Bidder approval is at the sole discretion of the auction house. Each auction house has its own criteria for bidder approval. While some approve all registered bidders, we conduct a more thorough review of potential bidders before we approve or decline. We may request additional information from new bidders. We may decline registrations if the account history shows more than one late payment or at least one incomplete purchase transaction. We automatically decline registrations from bidders who have open disputes in LiveAuctioneers and UPIs (Unpaid Items) in Invaluable (formerly Artfact), regardless of the bidding platform used. Appeal Process for Declined Registrations Printable Appeal Instructions You may provide an explanation of the rejection and/or submit an appeal for reconsideration. Appeals must be EMAILED to [redacted] Upon receipt of an appeal from a declined bidder we will request an explanation from the auction house in question. Our decision will be sent via email (from i[redacted]), not through the bidding platform's messaging system. We allow 3 business days for the auction house staff to reply to our inquiry, therefore the appeal review process may not be completed in time for you to participate in our current auction. An overturned rejection will allow you to participate in future auctions as long as no new open disputes, late payments or incomplete transactions are associated with the bidder account.
We have specific policies in place for approving on-line biddersI will look into the complaint this week and respond
Here is my 11/23/15 response to Ms. [redacted]. She had first contacted our office the previous week while I was out of town and was told that I would look into it as soon as I returned which was on 11/23.Ms. [redacted],
I have examined your photos and met with my staff
concerning the sideboard and...
have not been able to determine how/when the piece
of veneer was lost. It obviously was not missing when it was catalogued and
when the catalogue photo was taken. In addition, I personally checked to make
sure the key and Stockwell catalogue was in the top drawer the day before your
movers arrived and I did not notice the piece missing at that time. I certainly
think I would have noticed it but can't say for sure. The movers had moved the
sideboard out from its display spot before showing [redacted] the loss, so they
could have caused it, but again I can't say for sure. So I am willing to have a
restorer from [redacted] come by and patch the loss and pay for his services. He
gets to [redacted] every month or so.
As far as the other small bumps and hairlines that you
note they are considered “old restorations to surface” which we note in the condition
report. Furthermore, all also fall under the “will exhibit wear, minor losses
and breaks, and small repairs consummate with age” as outlined in our Terms of
Condition that I have copied below from our webpage.
1. All
catalogue descriptions are believed to be accurate in the matter of
authenticity and condition, but ultimately all lots are sold "as is."
Antiques, by their very nature, will exhibit wear, minor losses and breaks, and
small repairs commensurate with age. We only note condition issues that in our
opinion significantly affect the integrity of the item. Returns will only be
considered for items found to be fake/reproduction and/or have significant
damage/restoration not noted in the catalogue description.2. If
you are a bidder who demands flawlessness, it is recommended that you examine
the item(s) in person, or have a trusted representative inspect the item(s) on
your behalf.
The bottom of the rear leg looks to have a cobweb (not a crack as she claimed) and
maybe a small chip; a chip would again would fall under “minor losses”. And we
did not catalogue the piece with any keys. Other than the missing piece of veneer,
these are not things that affect the integrity or value of the piece and are
common to an item that is over 200 years old.
Again, I will be happy to coordinate an appointment for
the restorer to come by and patch the missing piece of veneer at our expense
the next time he is in [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] responded on 11/24 that she completely disagreed, made some other accusations, and closed with the following:Rather than contacting you, it appears to be more
appropriate to be contacting the attorney general's office in Virginia and the
Revdex.com.I took this as her rejecting my offer to have the veneer fixed which is why the offer was never followed up on. The person I had contacted to do the restoration said it would cost around $250 so I will stand behind my original offer and credit her card in the amount of $275 to cover her cost for the restoration. Please let me know if I should act on this now or if we need to wait for Ms. [redacted] to respond. We will also need her credit card number again in order to proceed as we do not keep these on file. Best regards,Jeffrey S. Evans
The credit card that Ms. [redacted] supplied on 12/30/15 at 1:36 pm was credited for $275 on 1/4/16 at 11:52:55 am which was the first day that the accounting department was back in the office after the holidays. Ms. [redacted] was emailed the "Customer Copy" receipt of this transaction on 1/4/16 at 12:03 pm.Please keep in mind that it can take up to 10 days for the credit to show up on the card holder's account. We cannot control how long it takes for the credit to appear on her account.Best,Jeffrey
I have reviewed the response 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.
I am not a fraudulent or non-paying bidder. Neither is my husband. We have double checked with the auction house and Live Auctioneer and we have no negative feedback. My husand did bid on an item two years ago and that week I was diagnosed with breast cancer. He became very concerned about what lay ahead for us. Fortunatel;y, the auction house was gracious and and told him not to worry and to take care of me. Checking with them, they do not do business with Live Auction anymore and have no issues with our accounts and continue to do business with us.
So, [redacted] needs to straigten their bad infomation out. Again, I have never had an issue with my account nor have they ever not been paid for an item and they confirm they have done business with both of us with no issue. There handling of this matter cost us more than a thousand dollars as a fairly valuable vase that was actioned off went for hundreds of dollars but worth thousands.
They had enough time on auction day to purposely decline my account because my husband had called earlier to try to straingten this out with them. I have separate credit, my house is in my name and all my accounts are in my name, to deny me opportunity based on my husband's information is insulting and they do not have good information for my husband .
I would like them to get his situation corrected. Regards,[redacted]
In reference to complaint ID [redacted], I accept the offer to credit my charge card $275 and have given Jeffrey S. Evans my credit card information again, but do not yet see a credit on my statement. I am replying to your request to answer you in 5 days; hopefully, I will see the credit to my card soon.
Regards,
[redacted]
Below please find our Declined Bidder policy. Our entire terms and conditions can be found at [redacted]Our...
registration system is set up to identify bidders by name AND address. Your husband's UPI was posted on 7/13/13. Yes, he did bid with us prior to the UPI being lodged. But after that he would have been automatically blocked. You did bid with us on 1/18/14, but should have been denied because of the address association. I am not sure how it got through our system. As far as how your phone calls were handled on auction day, 1/31/15, as stated below in our terms, all appeals must be emailed. The office is swamped on auction day with in-house bidders checking in and checking out, emailed inquiries, continuing to register on-line bidders, etc. [redacted] had to get off the phone with you quickly because she was handling a phone bid on a soon-to-be-sold lot. Everyone else that spoke with you asked you to submit the information by email and it would be looked at as quickly as possible. We have entirely too much happening on auction day to be able to handle appeals by phone, plus the phone lines have to be kept open for phone bidding.I am sorry that you were not approved for bidding. We would have certainly considered your appeal if it had been made within the guidelines of our terms, and previous to the day of the auction. If there is a legitimate reason for your husband's UPI we would be happy to hear it and contact the auction house involved. It is unfortunate that auction houses have to be so rigid in their bidder registration processes, but this is necessary because of non-paying and fraudulent bidders. I hope I have addressed all of your questions.Best regards,[redacted] Evans Declined Bidder Registrations Bidder approval is at the sole discretion of the auction house. Each auction house has its own criteria for bidder approval. While some approve all registered bidders, we conduct a more thorough review of potential bidders before we approve or decline. We may request additional information from new bidders. We may decline registrations if the account history shows more than one late payment or at least one incomplete purchase transaction. We automatically decline registrations from bidders who have open disputes in LiveAuctioneers and UPIs (Unpaid Items) in Invaluable (formerly Artfact), regardless of the bidding platform used. Appeal Process for Declined Registrations Printable Appeal Instructions You may provide an explanation of the rejection and/or submit an appeal for reconsideration. Appeals must be EMAILED to [redacted] Upon receipt of an appeal from a declined bidder we will request an explanation from the auction house in question. Our decision will be sent via email (from i[redacted]), not through the bidding platform's messaging system. We allow 3 business days for the auction house staff to reply to our inquiry, therefore the appeal review process may not be completed in time for you to participate in our current auction. An overturned rejection will allow you to participate in future auctions as long as no new open disputes, late payments or incomplete transactions are associated with the bidder account.