Has anyone been able to reach Bill Goodwin?
 

I have been emailing and leaving voicemails.. but have not received a reply.. is he away on vacation.. anyone know what may cause the lack of response?

Jamie

I think Bill travels a lot for consignments, so he's always hard to reach. He really should hire some more people. Is there any other major auction house that issues print catalogs where the owner basically picks up all of the phone calls? It's only Goodwin and perhaps Clean Sweep as far as I know.

Bill Goodwin only. I have never talked to Steve Verkman when I call Clean Sweep.

Its been my experience that your best bet is to try and reach him by phone.

I've not been able to get a hold of Bill for a few weeks now. His voicemail is usually full when I call so I'm thinking he's way behind schedule.

My cards for the June 5th auction did finally make it here today however.

And i dont believe Steve generally answers the phones. I usually talk to a girl when I call CSA....

I guess that I was lucky the one time that I called Clean Sweep. Steve Verkman picked the phone up, and I told him that I'd be late on my payment for my winnings since I hadn't realized that CS expects payment within 7 days rather than 14 days like most other auction houses. He told me no big deal.

That is an interesting question. Even though Goldin Auctions has a full staff, including administrative assistants, I know Ken Goldin will respond to anyone's email and voicemail messages directly to him, usually right away.

Please note this is not because there are not other people who can also respond to client needs but that Ken's ethic is to try make himself available to everyone and get back to everyone as quickly as possible. In fact, I know of no other person running a company in this industry who is as easy to access as Ken.

Just another perspective on your question and another reason I was comfortable going to work for Ken.

-Chris

I've sent Bill 2 emails and a voicemail and no reply yet.

Every time I've called CS I speak with Verkman.

I've spoken with both customer service and Ken. I find he's always been very accessible and easy to reach. It seems typical, if he is in and you ask for him, you will be able to reach him. He has also personally called me when I e-mail about issues. I e-mailed last Saturday /w an auction problem and he personally called me within 10 minutes of the e-mail and resolved the problem another 5 after that.

One would not realistically expect to get through directly to a Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page as a matter of routine, but a card/memorabilia dealer/auctioneer being inaccessible would be completely unacceptable to me. I am really surprised to hear Bill and others appear to be less than accessible. Bad business model.

just an update.. Bill did just call me.. and was helpful on all my questions.

Jamie

Rob Lifson often answers the phone over at REA. He's also very fast to respond personally to messages.

I have consigned two major cards with Bill and am not worried in the least. Per my experience, Bill does read his email, but can't respond to it all. Some people really don't like email and my guess is that Bill is one of them. When you think of it, there are some good reasons for that as it can be impersonal.

It is definitely a different style than using an auctioneer who is constantly on his toes, trying to make you happy. But if you can understand the laid-back vibe, then the one thing you can be pretty certain of it that eventually you will get your cards/check. So my advice is, no worries. Hakuna Matata!!!

Disagree. As a business owner myself I offer my own perspective: If he doesn't/can't respond to email, he should state that publicly on his website, or have an automatic email responder saying "sorry, but I might be too busy to respond to your message. Please call." Something like that.

He's running a business and has customers and consigners, and they deserve the dignity of a response to inquiries - whether they be email, phone, or whatever. Anything less than that is just poor customer service.

If he's too busy, then obviously he's understaffed and needs to get someone to do the job for him.

I think one can have a "laid back vibe" without ignoring people for days on end, which seems to be the case here.

That being said, I have bought from Goodwin numerous times and always received my winnings promptly. Have never consigned though.

Gotta agree...the "laid back" vibe is not a very good way to run an auction house. Somehow I'd guess that if the prices realized in Goodwin auctions weren't so incredulous...most consigners would have major issues with this "style" of running a business.

Fellas, you are right that customer service is important. Every auction house seems to have its own way of doing business, and Bill manages to pull very good prices for his cards in auctions that appear to be legitimate. He seems to keep a low overhead, and once you do get him on the phone, he couldn't be nicer.

There's been worse things out of auction houses, as we all know, and unless I hear stories that has taken the money and run off to Nicaragua, then I'm not going to be too concerned. Customer service is important, yes, but then again, if you go to McDonald's you get what you want extremely quickly, but I don't eat there.

But each collector/consigner will have their own ideas of what they'd like from an auction house, and I suppose each one has it's own quirks... let's put it that way.

I've been trying to reach Bill, as well. It's been a week and no response via email or phone.

I'm still expecting a rather large (almost 19k) consignment check from Bill from his 7/14 auction. Hakunamatata is great and all, but after eight weeks, I feel like it's time to recieve the check. We spoke last thurs and he said he'd send me the check and a tracking number last Mon, but I've received neither. Have called multiple times since. Hate to post about this but feel like I have no choice.

C'mon Jamie...CHILL! Peace and love and all that jazz!!!!:D

I'd feel a lot more of that if I just received the consignment check.

Jamie-I had a lot of trouble getting hold of Bill a few weeks ago. There is no excuse for not being paid on time. Maybe cash is tight-----the current auction ends next week so new cash should be coming and I would hope you should be paid soon. Several auction houses pay in under 30 days. Eight weeks is crazy. You should consider this when you decide who to consign with next time.

I consigned a coin with Heritage and it also took eight weeks, but the comunication was stronger. It is simple - if Bill pays, he will remain in my good graces, and if not, I will consign elsewhere in the future.

The Goodwin contract says 45 days; eight weeks should be a BIG red flag. Heritage's contract says 45 days and they pay like clockwork.

Frankly, I sent the cards, but I never even received a contract from Bill. I did document the terms in emails, however. Last time I consigned with him, there was no contract either, but he did pay. I'm hoping for a repeat performance.

Just a suggestion, not just for Bill but for any auction house----Get a Contract!

I really doubt the contracts do much good. I bet all those guys who consigned with Mastro and didn't get paid for a long time had contracts. Lot of good it did them.

no response
 

I sent 3 emails regarding an item I had a simple question on and received no response..

I heard from Bill just now and he said that he's in Alabama and that he'd be back tomorrow and will Fedex the check, that I should have it by Saturday. Very happy to hear from him and I'll be thrilled if the check arrives as planned.

I hear theres no internet in alabama!

I've done business with bill numerous times - usually on behalf of my dad. Bill has almost always kept his word - and has always paid for consignment / sent cards that were purchased. However the communication is usually spotty and slow. Nonetheless, I never, ever fear that I won't be paid. Despite his flaws, Bill is trustworthy in my experience.

I'm pleased to report that my check did arrive as promised on Saturday morning. I'd like to thank Bill for his responsiveness, and I look forward to doing business with him again. Bill is a very nice guy, as I know firsthand, so I am very glad that things worked out.

I'd also like to add that I sent Bill a few emails yesterday, and he responded very quickly, even calling me just a few minutes after an email question that I had.

Sent Bill an email earlier today also awaiting a check from his July auction. He responded promptly and said check in the mail on Friday. I will assume this will be the case.