A Tale of Two Auctions Houses (The GOOD and the BAD)

[prewarsports]

I bid in pretty much every Auction House in the country. I win so many items that it seems like I am writing checks to them almost every day (although that is certainly not actually the case or I would be divorced). I have seen it all and experienced many different examples of customer service in the last decade or more but this week I had the weird opportunity to have a small issue with two companies at about the same time and my experiences could not have been different. In a market where there are auctions every week and plenty of people to choose from when thinking about buying and consigning, I wanted to share these with you guys.

HUGGINS AND SCOTT: I purchased a lot in their most recent auction for a decent sum of money, primarily for one photograph I really wanted which was described as a "Type I" photo. Upon receiving the lot, I realized immediately that the photo was not from the original negative and was pretty disappointed. I e mailed them and Josh Wulkan got back to me immediately. Within two days he resolved the issue and I am very happy with what they did to do to make me happy. Regardless of items or prices, this is how customer service should be!

CLEAN SWEEP: I have bid in Clean Sweep's auctions since as far back as I can remember. I have probably participated and won items in 30-50 of their auctions going back well over a decade at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. My address on file with them is my PO Box and I have successfully received items at this address in every auction. This time however, they decided to try and mail an item to my PO Box using either UPS or FED-EX. I had no idea this was happening but they should have known that this was going to be an issue before it left their office. Big shocker, the item got returned. My wife called and actually spoke to Steve Verkman on the phone (Owner of the company and not an employee customer service rep) who was cold and quite rude. He informed her that this was somehow our mistake for not having a street address on file and that we needed to send him another check for $25 or they would not be sending me my winnings. They are essentially holding a customers items hostage over a shipping fee that wouldn't even cover a couple of Hot Dogs and drinks at the National. Needless to say I think my bidding in their auctions (which had been substantial for years) will no longer be a priority in my life. I hope that Steve frames that $25 because he will not be seeing much of my money anymore.

I just thought that you guys would enjoy hearing two polar opposite stories about how customers are handled by two of the larger auction houses.

Have a great day and I appreciate all of you!

Rhys Yeakley