Heritage Auctions PROBLEM/QUESTIONS/HELP

[whiteymet]

Hi Guys:

I won an item in the last Heritage auction that with the juice cost me over $8,000

The item has been reproduced and the only way to be sure it was legit was to see it out of the frame.

Before bidding I asked questions about the item and received a reply from a nameless employee at sports@ha.com email address saying if I won the item they would take it out of the frame and send me photos so I could see if it was indeed original.

After winning the item I replied to the email mentioned above on 2/25 asking for what they had promised. I received no reply.

I was at the Philly show on 2/29 and mentioned this to one of Heritages representatives there. He said I should contact a Mike Provenzale. I emailed him on March 2nd with the email chain of my previous discussions with the auction house.

He replied promptly on the same day with this message:

No problem, I’ll take it out of the frame this morning and send you the pics you requested today.

However I again received no reply as promised. I then received an email from an Adam Lepak. in their credit department, basically asking for payment, and if I had any problems to let him know. I again sent him the email chain including those with* Mike Provenzale and Adam replied he would follow up with Mike.

I sent Mike P. a followup email on 2/4

Still crickets.

I then called Mike P on 2/5 got his voice mail and left a message. and guess what?

CRICKETS!

So, my questions are:

Am I asking too much or being unreasonable with my requests or waiting for a reply?

Is this anyway to run an airline?

Should I just throw my hands up and cancel the purchase? I am sure in their fine print somewhere it says I can't, but REALLY with this kind of customer service???

Maybe Mike P. is out sick, but he promised me photos that same day he replied to me. Or why did I not hear originally from those who first said they would send photos? Or when the credit dept. contacted Mike P. if they did not get him, tell me so, or follow up with Mike? I'd like to assume there is a logical explanation. If it were one person I could possibly understand, but I seem to have gone through two departments, four people with no answer to the question that I was promised BEFORE I bid.

Any ideas, suggestions, similar situations any of you have had and how they were resolved would be appreciated.

Thanks to all

[Stampsfan]

Why any business in this day chooses to ignore a customer is ridiculous. Good service seems to be a lost service these days.
I’d keep the pedal to the metal with them. Sounds like One department does not communicate with the others very well. Not your job to fix their processes but sometimes it seems like we do.

In answer to your question around has anything like this happened to you? My answer is absolutely. Stay tuned as I’m finishing a website dedicated to my situation with another auction house.

[GeoPoto]

Before bidding I asked questions about the item and received a reply from a nameless employee at sports@ha.com email address saying if I won the item they would take it out of the frame and send me photos so I could see if it was indeed original.

All the unfulfilled promises to get back to you are unforgiveable, but perhaps they are working with the consigner to (re-)convince themselves that the piece is original. They may plan to decide and then either cancel the transaction or hold you to it, whether you "like" the photos or not.

[todeen]

I wouldn't pay until they follow through on their end. They made an agreement eighth you before bidding ended, and you have written documentation.

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[rlevy]

I wouldn't pay until they follow through on their end. They made an agreement eighth you before bidding ended, and you have written documentation.

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+1.
I had an issue with Heritage when they underpaid me for an item I consigned, and the accounting department said they couldn't take care of it and that I needed to speak to my representative. Phone calls there went unanswered. I sent a letter to the Heritage CEO, that went unanswered, and I finally just gave up as I had no leverage with them. They will want your money, so eventually they should respond to you the way they promised.

Rick

[perezfan]

No excuse for that dismal level of customer service. I guess PSA isn't the only company with favored clients...

Best of luck, Fred. I wish there was some entity that supported the common collector, but unless we raise hell or threaten legal action, the system is rigged against us.

[ruth-gehrig]

Why any business in this day chooses to ignore a customer is ridiculous. Good service seems to be a lost service these days.
I’d keep the pedal to the metal with them. Sounds like One department does not communicate with the others very well. Not your job to fix their processes but sometimes it seems like we do.

In answer to your question around has anything like this happened to you? My answer is absolutely. Stay tuned as I’m finishing a website dedicated to my situation with another auction house.

A website dedicated entirely to an auction house issue??:eek:. Hope we get a link when ready.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

No customer is ever being unreasonable by expecting a company to live up to what they say.

[Stampsfan]

A website dedicated entirely to an auction house issue??:eek:. Hope we get a link when ready.

Yes. Shows how frustrated I am with a three year issue.
Absolutely a link is forthcoming. Thanks for asking.

As for the OP and the other comments on HA, the lack of communication is appalling and arrogant.

[Golfcollector]

I have used this auction house one time to sell and item.

I was told how it would be presented in their catalog, and written up, and this establishment under- performed massively on both accounts.

I have chosen to never do business with them ever again due to this one bad experience.

Dave Johnson

[whiteymet]

Gentlemen:

I am the OP. HOURS after my post here I finally received a reply. A coincidence? I think not.

I received a reply saying they took the item out of the frame. And they went on to answer my questions. However they sent no photos as requested,Their answer negated a reason for me to see photos.

The item had been trimmed and is missing small printing on the bottom proving that it is an original. They say "given the provenance of the item we believe it is 100% authentic" but because I brought this up before bidding they will allow me to retract my bid.

I don't think I want to pay $8500+ for a trimmed item that is missing the proof that it is original. You can see the item here:

https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-collectibles/others/1962-63-mickey-mantle-jell-o-advertising-display/a/50023-50678.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515#50023-256001

Thanks for all your imput.

[Stampsfan]

Well, it sold for $8,100 and everyone is welcome to make an offer to the new owner.

I wonder who that new owner is?

[perezfan]

It would be a funny experiment to click that box. I wonder if Heritage would disclose the issues, and continue with the sale?

Typically, you must offer the "owner" a pretty good chunk above what he paid for the item. But in this case, there's really no sale, and the item is not as described. So what would their minimum sale price be?

I'm guessing they'd need to consult their consignor to negotiate something.

[sbfinley]

The customer service aside, the lone time I inquired to an auction house about removing a frame to assess an item's condition, the AH responded that it was their policy not to remove items from frames because of the risk of damaging the item. I assumed this was normal AH policy across the board no?

[whiteymet]

Well, it sold for $8,100 and everyone is welcome to make an offer to the new owner.

I wonder who that new owner is?

The sale figure showing up on the listing was my bid of $6750 plus the B.P. for a total of $8100.

However with the postage ( $226.79), and the tax ($551.65) and a late fee recently added of $266.35, my "bill" is now $9144.79!!

I did rescind my bid as HA offered, and received an email from their credit dept saying they would take the invoice off my account, but as of tonight it is still showing up when I sign in.

[perezfan]

The sale figure showing up on the listing was my bid of $6750 plus the B.P. for a total of $8100.

However with the postage ( $226.79), and the tax ($551.65) and a late fee recently added of $266.35, my "bill" is now $9144.79!!

I did rescind my bid as HA offered, and received an email from their credit dept saying they would take the invoice off my account, but as of tonight it is still showing up when I sign in.

Fred:
I'm sure Heritage will eventually fix that. But wow, that's a lot of additional expense.

Steven:
Yes, it's pretty much an Industry standard that auction houses won't remove items from existing frames. Most also have disclaimers stating they are not liable for any damage in shipping, due to the fragility of the frame/glass.

But in this case (since Heritage had agreed to do it up-front) they had to live up to their commitment. It was actually commendable of them to do this, and I wish more AHs would do the same. Quite often, paper items are not framed/mounted properly, and are taped/glued on the reverse side to the extent that the piece is either compromised or completely damaged.

Heritage did the right thing in agreeing to remove + examine it, but their communication process was pretty abysmal. At least they provided proper recourse in the end.

As a final thought... I consign often to LOTG auctions. Al has stressed that he prefers all such items be removed from their frames for sale through LOTG. I believe there are 4 major reasons...

1. Significantly reduced cost in shipping
2. Less risk of damage in shipping (glass can break, and thus damage the actual piece)
3. Customer can mat/frame to their liking, upon receipt of item
4. Far easier to examine and assess the actual condition outside of the frame.

Framing and matting very often covers up flaws such as rips, tears, holes, tape, adhesive, glue, alterations, etc. Removing the frame enables you to know exactly what you're bidding on.