My experience with LOTG

[Wite3]

I would not worry, Al will make it right. He runs a great auction and has always been a stand up guy. Keep in mind also, the east coast is getting crushed right now and the USPS has issued an advisory, so your check might be delayed.

[ALR-bishop]

My experiences with LOTG and Al have all been great.

[Kawika]

Some day when the sun sets for the last time on old Kawika my collection will be auctioned off by LOTG. (The catalog is going to be a corker). I trust Al like a brother. If it were me I would wait for him to make things right. He will.

[botport]

Originally Posted by Wite3

I would not worry, Al will make it right. He runs a great auction and has always been a stand up guy. Keep in mind also, the east coast is getting crushed right now and the USPS has issued an advisory, so your check might be delayed.

Great auction ? ... Does that mean losing buyers cards?

Sorry I disagree.

East coast snow... ok true... I am dealing with that also but have within the last 5 days confirmed deliveries from PA to MN and NJ.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by botport

Great auction ? ... Does that mean losing buyers cards?

Sorry I disagree.

East coast snow... ok true... I am dealing with that also but have within the last 5 days confirmed deliveries from PA to MN and NJ.

I had an auction a few years ago where someone accidentally sent me the wrong card. Not LOTG. A more valuable card. I made it right. Took some time.
Sometimes things happen. No one is perfect.
As far as I know Al has one other person working with him. It it was a mistake, once you get your check you are in no worse position than you were the day before the auction started. I'd suggest taking a deep breath and calm down. Not saying I wouldn't be frustrated to but this will be made right.

[botport]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I had an auction a few years ago where someone accidentally sent me the wrong card. Not LOTG. A more valuable card. I made it right. Took some time.
Sometimes things happen. No one is perfect.
As far as I know Al has one other person working with him. It it was a mistake, once you get your check you are in no worse position than you were the day before the auction started. I'd suggest taking a deep breath and calm down. Not saying I wouldn't be frustrated to but this will be made right.

PS. "My sad experience" is a tad melodramatic, no?

Steve.. I have always appreciated your comments, that's why I will respond to you. There is no need to 'take a breath' ... 'calm down' as you say... I've only relayed facts...

FH

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by botport

Steve.. I have always appreciated your comments, that's why I will respond to you. There is no need to 'take a breath' ... 'calm down' as you say... I've only relayed facts...

FH

I understand your frustration. It sucks when something doesn't go as it should. None of are in the hobby to get more aggravation in our lives.

But he is a good guy.

[the-illini]

Al is one of the best people in the hobby and his auction house is as reputable as you will find. He clearly made a mistake but I would bet my collection on him doing right by it.

Chris Bland

[shagrotn77]

I don't agree with the OP starting this thread, but I'm glad he did. Anyone in the hobby who wasn't already familiar with Al can now read all the glowing things people have to say about him - things that are 100% true. There are, unfortunately, a lot of bad guys in this hobby. Al is absolutely not one of them.

[clydepepper]

I won a nice Matty in the most recent LOTG auction. I had to wait a few days to mail my check, but did so before the deadline. When I had not heard anything, I tried to contact Al, but had to leave a message. He was finally able to catch me at home and informed me that he had, indeed, received my check...but I had forgotten to sign it

He was very understanding and patiently awaited my signed replacement check.

I call that outstanding customer service! My card arrived the day before my birthday.

Thanks Al...and Happy Birthday to Me!.

[Jim65]

To me, good customer service is not whether a company makes mistakes, its how they deal with those mistakes. I've never dealt with LOTG but I will check out their auctions now after reading their comments here.

[bbcard1]

Al is super solid. We have never met, but I consider him a friend in the hobby. He is always super responsive to my emails, I have sold through him and bought though him and am 100% confident in him. Ok. 99.897%. Because businesses of all sizes make occasional mistakes.

[cincyredlegs]

Originally Posted by Wite3

I would not worry, Al will make it right. He runs a great auction and has always been a stand up guy. Keep in mind also, the east coast is getting crushed right now and the USPS has issued an advisory, so your check might be delayed.

+100000. Al is a great stand up guy. With the mail being slowed by the weather, it will be there any day. I am in Charleston, SC and we got hit with a snowstorm (worse in 30 years) and didn't get mail from Wed-Sat. Finally got mail today.

Mark

[Al C.risafulli]

My name is Frank Horvath and I stand 100% by everything I've said here.

I will also stand 100% by everything that Frank says here.

He won the lot in question, and paid very quickly. His check was deposited on December 10, and his order was pulled and put into the queue to be packed and shipped.

After not receiving any sort of tracking number, Frank reached out to me December 20 to inquire about the status of his order. Since I had no record of the order having shipped, I asked him for a couple of days to get to the bottom of it, and on December 28, I sent Frank an email advising him that I could not locate the package. Best I can guess, his cards were packed up with someone else's order and shipped to them in error. I offered him a full refund, and told him that he could have the refund in the form of a check or auction credit, whichever he would prefer (some folks like the credit).

Frank responded that he had no need for an auction credit because he'd never be bidding with LOTG again. I responded that I understood his frustration, took complete blame for the error, and DID say that "companies in every industry certainly do make mistakes occasionally."

I cut and mailed a check for the amount in full the following day, December 29.

This thread is, unfortunately, the first I am learning that Frank has not received his check, and once again, Frank, for that I apologize. I did cut the check, and I did mail the check, for the amount in full. Perhaps the combination of a holiday weekend and rancid weather in the Northeast is to blame for it not arriving at this point, so I will suggest we give it a couple of days, and if the check is not there by then I will stop payment on the check and PayPal you the money, and absorb all fees.

It is absolutely my goal to be 100% perfect in every transaction, with every lot and with every order. Sadly, despite the lofty goal, occasionally we make a mistake that is 100% in our control and we simply fall down. When that happens, we do our best to make it 100% right in every case.

I'll also stand 100% by everything I've said here.

Happy New Year, Frank, and everyone else as well.

-Al

[botport]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

I will also stand 100% by everything that Frank says here.

I cut and mailed a check for the amount in full the following day, December 29.


-Al

I will scan a copy of the envelope and postmark to this thread when it arrives...

[Al C.risafulli]

I will scan a copy of the envelope and postmark to this thread when it arrives...

Sounds great. I'd be curious to see that myself, since the letter carrier picks up the mail from the box just outside this office every afternoon. If you post the check, which I hope you do, I'd appreciate if you'd obscure the bank account number.

-Al

[botport]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Sounds great. I'd be curious to see that myself, since the letter carrier picks up the mail from the box just outside this office every afternoon. If you post the check, which I hope you do, I'd appreciate if you'd obscure the bank account number.

-Al

I wish you were as concerned for me receiving my winnings as you are with this thread...

Ill block out all confidential info... Al

Frank

[autograf]

I've bid in most all of Al's auctions and received everything timely. I think he came on the thread and agreed with everything you said, apologized, and continues to want to make it right. I guess, at what point will you be happy? Hopefully you'll get the check soon or take the PayPal and cut your losses. I've had issues with auction houses in the past too, but at some point, beating the dead horse doesn't make it deader. Hope it's cleared up in the next day or two for you. You seem like you don't believe that he's done what he said he had done......

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by botport

I wish you were as concerned for me receiving my winnings as you are with this thread...

Ill block out all confidential info... Al

Frank

If you and Jake would like a list of auction houses that are run by people who have been in jail, defrauded little old ladies out of their retirement on TV, allow consigners to bid on their own items, have molested children, or are known to trim/soak cards, I'd be happy to send it to you so you can make sure you don't support the real criminals in this hobby either.

If the worse thing Al ever does is mistakenly put a lot in someone else's package and then makes it right, I think I can live with that.

Jeff Payne

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

If you and Jake would like a list of auction houses that are run by people who have been in jail, defrauded little old ladies out of their retirement on TV, allow consigners to bid on their own items, have molested children, or are known to trim/soak cards, I'd be happy to send it to you so you can make sure you don't support the real criminals in this hobby either.

If the worse thing Al ever does is mistakenly put a lot in someone else's package and then makes it right, I think I can live with that.

Jeff Payne

Lets see if someone goes forward and says they got his cards packed by mistake with their order and will return it....if they do, ill send them a T206 for free...not a good trade for them but better than nothing!

[vintagewhitesox]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

If you and Jake would like a list of auction houses that are run by people who have been in jail, defrauded little old ladies out of their retirement on TV, allow consigners to bid on their own items, have molested children, or are known to trim/soak cards, I'd be happy to send it to you so you can make sure you don't support the real criminals in this hobby either.

If the worse thing Al ever does is mistakenly put a lot in someone else's package and then makes it right, I think I can live with that.

Jeff Payne

Very well said.
Al is a stand up and honest guy. Mistakes happen.

[MVSNYC]

I’ve consigned and bid in every one of Al’s auctions since day one. Saying he’s top notch is an understatement. Sorry this happened to you, but he will work hard to make it right.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by botport

I will scan a copy of the envelope and postmark to this thread when it arrives...

Frank, Al has proven to the vast majority of this board about his being a stand up auction house owner and person. You are treating him like he is the guy with socks on the floor holding up a superimposed T206 Wagner for sale.

You will find the board are overwhelmingly on his side. Sorry you have had some issues...stuff happens, and it is the true test of a man's character how they handle it.

Brian Park:er

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Frank, Al has proven to the vast majority of this board about his being a stand up auction house owner and person. You are treating him like he is the guy with socks on the floor holding up a superimposed T206 Wagner for sale.

You will find the board are overwhelmingly on his side. Sorry you have had some issues...stuff happens, and it is the true test of a man's character how they handle it.

Brian Park:er

Almost forgot about that guy. Hard to believe it has been so long.

[Eric72]

Add me to the list of Net54 members who have had nothing but positive experiences with LOTG. I am confident that Al will make this right.

[Moonlight Graham]

Add me to that list as well-Al is the man. And he runs a great auction house too!!

Joe K

[Kenny Cole]

Originally Posted by eric72

add me to the list of net54 members who have had nothing but positive experiences with lotg. I am confident that al will make this right.

+1000

[orly57]

Obviously, Al is well-respected by the members of this forum. It is also clear that anyone can make a mistake. But I don't think we need to belittle the OP's feelings here. I don't know how common or rare the card he purchased may be, but I think he has every reason to be angry that he's not getting the card he purchased. And getting his money back isn't going to change that. So while I think that the support for Al is wonderful, and extremely telling of the kind of guy he is, I don't think it's right to write-off the OP completely and make him seem irrational. I know I would be extremely angry if I bought a card and it was lost, and I know that some of Al's defenders here would be too. Maybe we need to stop treating issues as black and white, right and wrong, true and false. Al is a great guy. LOTG is an amazing AH. And the OP has every right to be pissed off.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I can't believe some of the responses that I'm reading. There's this notion with a lot of Net54 members that if a "good guy" makes a mistake, they shouldn't be called out for it. I wouldn't have handled it the way the OP did, but I don't fault him either. He's waited a month since cleared payment and he doesn't have his cards or his money back. Is a month not a reasonable amount of time? If you purchased something on eBay and you still didn't have it a month after payment received, wouldn't you feel like the OP does? Maybe you would handle it differently, but I can almost bet that you would feel the same way. Being a "good guy" doesn't excuse you from making mistakes or getting called out for the mistake. I think it was an honest mistake, but the "he's a good guy, so we're on his side" has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on this board.

[philliesphan]

David-

I think Al has accepted accountability, and no one here is giving LotG a "free pass" for making a mistake.

The overriding notion I keep coming back to - why didn't Frank pick up the phone and make a call instead of going to social media?

[packs]

People usually move quicker when others are watching.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by philliesphan

David-

I think Al has accepted accountability, and no one here is giving LotG a "free pass" for making a mistake.

The overriding notion I keep coming back to - why didn't Frank pick up the phone and make a call instead of going to social media?

I agree, Al did accept accountability and handled the situation very professionally. But statements like "You will find the board are overwhelmingly on his (Al's) side" sure sounds like a free pass to me. The buyer did nothing wrong, but we're going to overwhelmingly take the sellers side? And I'm not picking on the person who wrote that statement or calling him out, there are many other similar statements.

Originally Posted by packs

People usually move quicker when others are watching.

This. I recently had a similar situation as the OP, but I waited over 2 months for my refund. I was very patient, but I finally posted bad reviews on several websites, posted on my neighborhood website (it was a neighborhood business) and filed a complaint with the BBB. I got my refund check the very next day. So social media does work.

Let me repeat, I would have handled the situation differently from the OP, but we all handle different situations differently, But to take the side of the person who is in the wrong even if they do accept fault is absolutely mind boggling to me.

[OriolesHOF]

I understand the OP's frustration as I had a similar incident recently with Lelands. I was awarded lot #156, (2) 1941 Lou Gehrig Memorial July 4th Ticket Stubs, in their October auction. After having made payment and not receiving delivery information I called the auction house. I explained to the gentleman who answered the phone the reason for my call and he placed me on hold for several minutes. Upon returning, he indicated their system was down and he could not determine whether my item had been shipped. The following week, I called again and was transferred to a woman in the business office who explained to me the ticket stubs could not be found. Rather than accept an immediate refund I told her I'll wait one more week, maybe the tickets would reappear. The following week, I requested my refund and within two days it was received.

As for LOTG, Al C. is #1 in my book!

In keeping with the spirit of transparency and the rules, my name is Hal Taylor.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

I cut and mailed a check for the amount in full the following day, December 29.

I'll also stand 100% by everything I've said here.

Hmmm....