Heritage's Web of Lies....

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Posted By: <b>Aaron</b><p>Well, if any of you remember last month after much finagling, I received my winning lots from May's Heritage auction absent the LOA's listed in the item description for a 1960's New York Knicks uniform. <br /><br />After contacting Heritage, I was told that they would look into the matter. Later, I was contacted by Chris Ivy (though we never spoke) and told by Troy Kinnunen that the problem was that the item had never been authenticated by Dave Bushing and Dan Knoll as the item description had mentioned. The item description had also mentioned Lou Lampson having authenticated the items, but his LOA was absent as well. (In fact Troy revealed that Heritage had listed many items in its auction as having been authenticated by SCDA which were not even looked at by them.) <br /><br />At this point I posted my displeasure over the fact that this kind of deception had occurred. Apparently this was a big mistake. <br /><br />Subsequently, Troy offered to have the items authenticated by those listed in the item description and to reimburse me for my shipping costs to have the items sent to Troy. He also said that Chris Ivy had said that Heritage would offer me a credit for my inconvenience. <br /><br />Well, after nearly a month of waiting, today I finally received my LOA's from Troy, as well as the uniform (which I received on Monday). I asked Troy about my shipping refund and the credit and he sayid the matter is now out of his hands and I need to contact Chris at Heritage. <br /><br />At this point I should mention that the LOA's reveal that the dates of the item listed in the auction were wrong. The dates in the item description were 1962-1964. In Troy's finding and on my LOA, the dates of the jersey and shorts now trace back to 1953-1957, while the warm-up jacket dates to 1965. (Just another authenticator mistake, I know.) <br /><br />I will also say that Troy actually did handle the matter in an exemplary way up to this point. Especially considering the acrimony of our clashes over the last few months. I was actually quite happy at this point.<br /><br />Then this morning I received an e-mail from Heritage stating that I OWED THEM an extra $17 for shipping charges. I immediately contacted Chris Ivy per Troy's instructions (surely this was a mistake). <br /><br />Would I get an apology for the ordeal I'd been put through? An accounting from Heritage on the fact that their item description was deceptive? Another apology for the outrageous late shipping charge? My promised credit? <br /><br />None of the above. <br /><br />Chris would not address any of the deceptive practices Heritage had used in its auction, and I was informed, due to my posting here on this forum and the gameused forum, that my account had been canceled and I would not be allowed to bid on their auctions in the future. No credit (I was told since Troy is not an employee of Heritage, his offer was no good), no restitution, and finally no refund for my shipping charges (I was told I would have to produce a receipt). <br /><br />Oh, and I should mention they still haven't produced a Lou Lampson LOA, so their item description is still deceptive. <br /><br />So, a month later what have I learned? <br /><br />Not only do auction houses not like being called out for their deceptive practices, rather than try to remedy the situation, they will try to punish you for speaking about it publicly. And they will take your money, promises be damned.

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Posted By: <b>Julie</b><p>I would think they could ill afford to lose you...

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Posted By: <b>Wesley</b><p>Bad press, Julie? Most of what I have read on the 54 Forum about Heritage have been very positive. I have not dealt with Heritage's memorabilia department, and Aaron's criticism about the memorabilia department sound legitimate. However, I think Heritage's sportscards department is fantastic. (friendly on the phones, nicely run floor bidding, convenience of credit card payments, secure packaging) I wish all the auction houses were run as smoothly.

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Posted By: <b>Aaron</b><p>Uh, actually Chris Ivy runs the whole sports department (cards and memorabilia). Although I can understand any reluctance to criticize them, since they do cancel accounts in response.

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Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>I'm not quite sure what is your complaint. About two months ago you were posting on this board about how horrible and unreliable Bushing is as an authenticator. And your current complaint is that you didn't receive a Bushing LOA?

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Posted By: <b>Aaron</b><p>Resale value. Even if I don't agree with Bushing's (and others) undisclosed conflict of interest (which hopefully will no longer happen after the launching of the MEARS website), I still acknowledge that his (and SCDA's) LOA's have an effect on an item's resale value. (And in this case, I had immediately planned on re-selling one of the items in the lot that I wasn't interested in.) <br /><br />Some of you complain about PSA, but if you buy a card that's described as having been encapsulated by PSA (and pay what would generally be accepted as a higher price based on that description) and then receive a raw card, you would probably go through the same steps.

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Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>Aaron, I understand your point of view. The LOAs no doubt effect resale value.

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Posted By: <b>dan mckee</b><p>Dealing with autographs or memorabilia, you are asking for trouble.

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Posted By: <b>Julie</b><p> I was thinking of "AmericanMemorabilia.com" My May, 2004, Heritage catalogue is almost unlooked at--somerone else was using my signin, and ran into some peculiar time trouble, but no other (personal) comnplaints.<br />The guy got a non-existant LOA; I think that's something to complain about; you guys sound like it was completely unimportant.<br /><br />I've never asked for an LOA--I got s xeroxed one from a Lipset auction for the signasture on the great Satchell Pasige photo --the one they are aslways colorizing from ther Monmarchs, but this one's in black and white)--from keating to Lew. Sincer I didn't ask for it, I didn't complain that it was xeroxed.<br />

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Posted By: <b>Josh K.</b><p>I agree with Wes on this one - I won several cards in their last auction. Rec'd the cards w/in a week of paying and had no problems whatsoever. I say this not because I am concerned with my account status but b/c that is what occured. If I ever experience s/t to the contrary, I will not hesitate to post that as well.

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Posted By: <b>Hal Lewis</b><p>I also purchased cards... was able to pay using PayPal (very easy)... and got the cards in a very short time.<br /><br />Once again...<br /><br />this shows why I stay AWAY from anything OTHER than cards.

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>no problems on the cards and card-related stuff I bought. I am so glad I never caught the memorabilia bug.