National Book Auctions

Our work with these items has been a long journey indeed Complications with international buyers and highly protracted discussions about authentication have made it difficult for us to definitively consider these sales completed Our expectations of closure dates have been extended numerous times Unfortunately, the client’s letter asserting the February 1st deadline did not reach us in a timely fashion and thus, we were not aware that this complaint was imminent, nor that we were not responding to this most recent request for an update It is certainly a fair point for the client to raise that we have not been diligent in providing regular updates concerning these items We provide a unique service in the country and it is a laborious one that sometimes sees manpower devoted to the work, while customer service is not maintained at the excellent level we desire As we grow, this becomes easier to consistently address.For the consignment items we handle, we act as a broker Accordingly, we are at the mercy of the actions of the true parties to the transactions, in consummating purchases Our contracts stipulate that we do, and indeed must, reserve the right to make determination as to when individual transactions can be considered complete and ready to be settled The duration involved in reaching completion with these particular items has been much longer than typical and admittedly, we should have done a better job of keeping the client updated Our focus on the work of marketing and selling items can be credited with the impressive results we delivered to this client for material that was delivered to us, seemingly without the client or the agent having any sense of the value involved We are grateful to the client for acknowledging the quality of our work and apologize for our sub-standard communications.Although we remain unconvinced that there will be no further issues with these transactions, we are going to close these sales and release payment to the client We will accept the immediate financial risk of any later ramifications that might unwind these sales in an effort to address the frustration experienced by this client as a result of the spartan quality of our communication As brokers, we will need to re-open this matter with the client if the sales are unwound at a future date

We are proceeding with this consignment precisely within the stated terms of our contract with the client and wish that we had been able to come to a better understanding through our conversations All material is being sold in a timely manner and the account is being processed in a timely manner We are purely brokers to these transactions and accordingly, sales complete based upon sale consummation with the bidders There's no desire on our part to prolong the process and we are in fact, the most expedient of all the book auction galleries in the country who conduct book auctions with fully cataloged sales and online bidding included Because we operate on a rolling cataloging schedule, we are able to deliver turn-around times that are much faster overall because we do not delay items being sold until a themed auction is scheduled Our settlement policy is clearly stated in our contract and is also usually discussed prior to consignment We have not strayed from what was agreed and will release an early advance payment to this client Our services generate excellent returns for our clients and are well worth waiting for the process of selling to a global audience, to complete

I received the copy of your message to Revdex.com regarding my complaint - ID [redacted] I hope to be able to accept your offer so that we can settle this matterBefore I do that, however, I need to know the date by which you will provide me with an accounting statement plus payment for each item soldThis date should not be later than March 7thIn addition, I would like to know what procedures (such as time limit, policies, documentation) you would follow if a sold item for which I have received payment should become “unwound“ Why is NBA “unconvinced that there will be no further issues with these transactions”? I find it strange that, in six months of “highly protracted discussions about authentication” NBA never once contacted me about these issues, or requested provenancesThe Chinese items I consigned were inherited from a naturalized Chinese-American who repeatedly traveled to her birth country, and had been examined by a local expert in Chinese antiques, the late [redacted] I do appreciate the availability and quality of your auction servicesI hope to emerge from this experience to also speak positively about your accounting and payment practicesSincerely, [redacted] Ithaca, NY

We are in receipt of your correspondence dated February 19, In accordance with the requirements listed in that letter and our interest in resolving this matter, we are releasing your settlement proceeds on March 7, Our policies do not govern in this case as there is a federal statute of limitations on business transactions, prior to the expiration of which either party can seek to unwind a transaction We currently feel that the likelihood of there being any such action taken in the future on the part of the buyer concerning these items, to be small, though not impossible Accordingly, we are following the odds and advancing these transactions to a completed statusAs has been noted, this material was presented to us by an agent Such relationships are common in our trade and it is our practice to limit our interactions to being with the agent, unless requested otherwise It is usually the case that the client is using an agent for the express purpose of relieving themselves of the tasks relating to the transaction and prefers to not be contacted directly We responded promptly to all inquiries put forth by the agent and admittedly, we might have been more proactive in updating the agent but to the best of our knowledge, we did address all submitted inquiries excepting the letter of January 12th which was delayed in reaching us As we have explained in earlier writings, we are brokers to transactions Accordingly, we are not able to definitively state a time frame within which transactions will complete as we cannot control the actions of the parties to each transaction We do not state that sales will be complete within a set time frame, as it would be impossible for us to do so Our staff do routinely inform consigning clients what time frames are typical, but such information is always presented in that context of statistical likelihood, not certainty.Until this most recent writing of February 19th, we were unaware that any authentication for these items had been conducted by the client or the agent This information would have been very helpful to our process if it had been provided at the time of consignment Additionally, it obviously would have been of high value if it had been offered when we made the agent aware that authentication issues were delaying completion of the consignment These tiles were delivered to us as part of a large pile, the vast majority of which we were compelled to reject due to the items being very low in value It is bewildering to us why the agent did not provide the existing provenance at the time of delivery of the items nor call attention to their value being much higher than all the other items in the pileWe are pleased that we were able to generate an excellent return on these items and wish that communication had been more effective, including our own We will certainly continue to improve our customer service elements and look forward to delivering an ever-better level of communication for our clientsRegards, National Book Auctions

This has been very frustrating for us and this complaint is at best, audacious This client contracted with us to sell a collection of personal property The material was grossly mis-described by the client and the central item to the group was a guitar that the client described as worthy of a top estimate of $12, The guitar was not provided when we picked up the collection, after traveling several hours in each direction and offering a substantial discount on our standard picharge When asked why the guitar was not included, the client placed the blame on a lack of room in the vehicle and a shortage of time, both of which are patently untrue Further, upon receipt of the property, much of it was not as described and/or in seriously damaged condition However, we proceeded with our work despite these deceptions After launching an auction, the client demanded that we withdraw a print he owned, from the sale because he had since arranged a private sale of the item This is not a practice that the auction industry can embrace without risking its viability Once an item is consigned, a serious commitment has been made We were troubled by this request but were further astounded when after making the client aware that we are legally entitled to collect our foregone earnings for a withdrawn item, he threatened to pull all his material from our auctions if we enforced this right At that point, we had reached the end of the material that was saleable from his consignment and we remain unwilling to do any further business for this client His behavior has been outrageous in this and other ways Many months have now passed since we first began notifying this client that his unsaleable material needs to be removed from our warehouse It is too low in value to qualify for our auctions and we are not prepared to engage in any further business dealings with this individual We have thus far, provided free storage for these items and have had many, many conversations with him about our not conducting any further sales for him and the need for him to remove his property There has been no lack of communication from our end Such a claim is utterly unfounded and in character with the balance of our dealings with this person We are now sending official notice with a deadline for removal of the property Upon completion of these arrangements, we will close the client’s account

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear belowIf you check your files you will see others have gone through the same thing with this arrogant, patently dishonest personThere are so many lies in his response! He hasn't accepted a message or phone call from me in two monthsI did not send the guitar because of a doubt about its authenticity and never, ever said it was because of time or roomNothing was ever misrepresented as I sent photos which he saw and agreed to, and the remainder was handled by his employee and as we looked at each item I asked if this should go or will you take this! After getting all of this material to his facility he says he will not offer it after all and I need to use my expense to remove itThen why was it taken?? The decision to take the material was tantamount to a contractIf he feels he needs to change the terms than he needs to get the material back to me! Furthermore, he STILL hasn't paid me one cent!! And he needs to do this now!!! And he needs to include full payment including all interest collected!! Regards, [redacted] ***

This client brought in low-value items and in an effort to be helpful we agreed to take some of them in for our auction and see what we could do for this person She did not pay us for any appraisals, none were provided and certainly no guarantees of price were offered in any way shape or form This client consigned the material to be sold absolute, to the highest bid offered The material was sold in one of our cataloged auctions, with global online bidding included Any attempt to dispute the price that was paid by the global bidding community is fanciful The auction that included this client’s items also contained many items that sold for thousands of dollars; there was no absence of rigorous and attentive bidding by the online bidding community, the auction gallery bidders, absentee bidders and phone bidders The merchandise in question simply was not sufficiently interesting or rare to garner significant prices In addition, the accordion was broken and other items had important flaws and/or damage All our catalog lots include estimates as that is a required convention of the auction marketplace but they are certainly not to be viewed as guarantees of priceSadly, our efforts to be helpful to this client were not appreciated We’re reviewing this incident and considering new intake thresholds as a result to avoid this sort of response in the future

Given that auction galleries do not take title to the property that is consigned, consummation of sale can only be deemed final when all the elements of the contract have been satisfied We have a time frame stated in our contract, which is anchored to consummation of the sale, as do all galleries No auction gallery can provide proceeds to a client if the sale has not been consummated, regardless of how many days have past since the offer was accepted The other galleries provide the same type of terms that we offer which is that provided sales have been finalized, proceeds can be released after a certain number of days have passed since the offer was accepted We are unique in the country in that we offer cataloged book sales with online bidding included, for a broad spectrum of value The other book auction galleries who perform this service do not embrace the bulk that we accept and accordingly, their reconciling on a small number of high-value is doubtless much easier to track We perform a very valuable service that delivers terrific returns for clients such as this one, and it does indeed make good sense to operate on a per-consignment basis in this environment rather than individual items

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below The response does not address the issue of the complaint, which was not about the authenticity of the signature, but rather the long delay in receiving paymentThe book was sold on August 26, 2017, and I have still not received payment -- nearly months later! My repeated emails and phone calls were never answered during that time Regards, [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, [redacted]

Regrettably, this individual has now turned this into a civil matter that will be handled by our attorneys All our statements were truthful and are documented and/or supported by testimony For example, the following email exchange:11/16/NBA to client: "We have not come upon the Fender Stratocaster among the guitars It was my understanding that it would be included in the consignment that we discussed, please advise." 11/17/client response to NBA: "Some things got left behind because of space and time." As this has now escalated to a serious case of defamation, we are unable to comment further in this forum, on advice of counsel We look forward to closing this matter and will continue for a set time period, awaiting a response from the client as to his intentions concerning the property we have been storing

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
*** ***

We have now closed this account and MrTweney has been issued his payment of $91.00. Thank you

This refund was issued last week, following a brief delay. As mentioned, refunds are very rare for us and at the time, we were in the processing of making major changes to our bookkeeping offices in connection with our recent expansion. Additionally, being an international transaction
required a bit more logistical arranging than would a domestic purchase.We apologize for any inconvenience the added days of delay may have caused. We have fully reimbursed this client, including shipping in both directions

This client became entangled in a bit of a perfect storm of
flawed communication, caused principally or entirely on our end. He was provided with inaccurate information
about the status of his consignment and/or has mis-recorded the information he was
given, in his writing
here. This consignment
proceeded through our system in a timely and typical manner. We are in the middle of a major expansion
which includes the reduction of involvement of the owner in day-to-day
operationsAs staff assume greater responsibility, there have been some
temporary holes in customer service and administrative work but all matters are
being addressed and our services will be more robust and valuable than ever for
consigners, when we complete this expansion.
This client’s settlement and check had already been mailed at the time
he filed this complaint and the check has been deposited. We regret not being able to better handle
this client’s concerns in a timely fashion, this is not a standard with which
we are content. We are the only book
auction gallery in the country that catalogs all lots and includes online
bidding, for a broad spectrum of value.
Our willingness to embrace more modestly valued material in addition to
strong items, means that we operate on slim margins and accordingly, sometimes
we wish for more manpower that we could devote to customer service and
communication with consigners. Our
efforts are first devoted to executing the research, cataloging and auction
process and sometimes that can leave us with less time than we would like for
communication. Part of our expansion
includes developing a method for consigners to directly access their account
status at any time. We look forward to
continuing to offer a high-value venue for sellers and constantly improving the
peripheral aspects of customer service, especially communication

On January 9, 2018, the Revdex.com of Upstate New York forwarded to me via e-mail a message received from National Book Auctions of Freeville, New York, in regard to my Revdex.com complaint against NBAI have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.This message from NBA is vague and vapidIt is meaningless gibberish and is utterly disingenuousIt does not address the specifics of the complaints against NBA that I made to the Revdex.com: Failure to pay consignor for monies owed and unjust enrichment on the part of NBA; 2) Misleading or deceptive trade practices, such as failure to disclose material facts in advance and in writing. The statement, “This account has now been closed as requested,”
insinuates that NBA may have at last paid me for monies owed me
However, as of this writing I have received no payment, in whole or in
part, from NBAIn any case I did not request that an NBA “account” be
“closed.” Rather, I demanded that NBA pay me the substantial monies that
they plainly owe meNBA’s failure to substantively address this claim
in essence concedes that they owe me money for goods long since soldI further sought, in order to protect future consignors, specific changes in the language of the NBA consignor contractThe only allusion to this by NBA appears to be the statement, “We respect the opinions of the complainant and his suggestions have been incorporated into our future business strategies and processes.” Again, no specifics have been provided to me or to the Revdex.com and the statement is so vague as to be meaningless.The NBA reply does not contain a settlement offerMoreover, during the Revdex.com complaint resolution process NBA never tried to contact me personally to clarify information or try to resolve the complaintThe NBA statement does not in any respect resolve my Revdex.com complaint against NBAThe reply is manifestly in bad faithThe NBA reply further illustrates the insincerity and contempt for its customers that NBA has demonstrated throughout the protracted consignment processThe reply is not only insulting to me but also to the Revdex.comNeedless to say, I reject the reply from NBA.In apparent response to previous complaints against National Book Auctions, the Revdex.com of Upstate New York dropped its A+ rating of NBAAt this point I call upon the Revdex.com to sever its relationship with NBA and bar NBA from future affiliation of any sort with the Revdex.com, at least until such time as I have notified the Revdex.com of satisfactory resolution of my complaint via legal action against NBAIn any event I am grateful to the Revdex.com for handling my complaint against NBAMuch professionalism was shown by the Revdex.com throughout the processRegards, *** *** ***

Upon research, we do not see where the payment came through our bank so we are re-issuing the payment today. Regards, David

This account has been settled

Shortly after filing the complaint, I received a phone call from David ***, the owner of National Book AuctionsHe advised me that he would take care of the problems listed in the complaintHe specifically said that he would remove the Tibetan manuscripts from the auction and place them in a
future auctionHe also said that he would return the two items - the letters and contract - as requested. I would request that no action be taken re my complaint as has specifically agreed to the resolution that I requested

The value of this book was principally dependent upon an important signature on a page. Unfortunately, the likelihood of this signature being authentic has come into question and as a result, a longer than typical cycle is now involved in completing this transaction. Nonetheless, we are
in the final stages of closing this file. Thank you