Heritage Auction

[gordonanalytic]

I think that it would be best to avoid Heritage altogether. The arrogance of the employees is shocking. There are too many other decent auction houses, and we should give the alternatives our business. The fact that one of their legends in the business, Mike Gutierrez had his "opinion" on a Mickey Mantle signature contradicted by PSA, the people he used to work for, should be embarrasing to the company. If he can't get that right then why deal with them. Where is the accountability?

PS.... A cyber-attack? A bit of hyperbole. Some of my more creative employees in IT came up with interesting ideas to share with the folks at Heritage.

120 emails. Sounds like excellent communication. How many were for consignments?

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by gordonanalytic

I think that it would be best to avoid Heritage altogether. The arrogance of the employees is shocking. There are too many other decent auction houses, and we should give the alternatives our business. The fact that one of their legends in the business, Mike Gutierrez had his "opinion" on a Mickey Mantle signature contradicted by PSA, the people he used to work for, should be embarrasing to the company. If he can't get that right then why deal with them. Where is the accountability?

PS.... A cyber-attack? A bit of hyperbole. Some of my more creative employees in IT came up with interesting ideas to share with the folks at Heritage.

120 emails. Sounds like excellent communication. How many were for consignments?

Gordon,

There's 2 distinct issues here. First is whether a retail enterprise has the right to terminate business dealings with a customer that they haved deemed to be overly troublesome, by their definition. Clearly, they do. They are not obligated to do business with you if they so choose. Many retail stores do the same thing. More and more, retailers are keeping track of customer profiles (e.g. - frequent buying and then returning items.) Some customers will find themselves banned, even from stores like Target or Best Buy.

The second issue is whether or not the bidding practices of Heritage are legal and/or a smart business practice. They are legal. Period. The jury is still out for the smart business practice part, at least for me.

[RichardSimon]

If they won't stand behind the opinion of Mike Gutierrez, regarded by some as a major authority on autographs, then what kind of company are they.
There are some people in the autograph hobby who regard Mike Gutierrez' opinion on autographs as the gold standard. Apparently his own employer does not deem that worthy of their support.
In the interest of full disclosure the consignor has contacted me, asking about other signatures and then telling me about this matter.
---

[gordonanalytic]

DALLAS, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- A racketeering lawsuit aimed at Heritage
Auctions and its top executives was expanded Wednesday, when a prominent
Montana businessman joined the charges against what has been termed as a
"massive auction scam." The suit charges the defendants used a secret,
undisclosed shill, or fictitious bidder, at auctions, so winning bidders paid
inflated prices.

Defendants in the suit are Gregory J. Rohan; Steve Ivy; James L. Halperin;
Marc D. Emory; Paul R. Minshull; Dagmar Byers; and their company, Heritage
Auctions, Inc.

Gary Hendershott, an expert in Civil War memorabilia, was joined in the suit
by Chris Kortlander, a prominent Montana businessman. Kortlander alleges that
he "consigned thousands of individual historical manuscripts and photographs
to Heritage," but was deprived of profit because of Heritage's fraudulent and
deceptive acts.

Mark Senter, attorney for the plaintiff, charged that "the Heritage defendants
use N. P. Gresham, a fake bidder, to rip-off legitimate bidders."

These charges appear to be the latest in a long line of lawsuits filed across
the U.S. charging the defendants with fraudulently manipulating auctions. In
1989 the FTC ordered Heritage to pay $1.2 million in restitution to victims of
Heritage and Halperin who had paid inflated prices for coins. Forbes magazine
reported that on another occasion, an arbitration panel ruled that Heritage
must pay $23 million to another plaintiff.

"Texas law strictly and explicitly forbids shill, or fictitious, bidders at
auctions, but James Halperin, Heritage's Chairman, admitted in sworn testimony at an injunctive hearing that N. P. Gresham does not exist. Yet Heritage later admitted that N.P. Gresham not only bids at auctions, but that no one outside of Heritage knows who Gresham is," said Senter.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants are in violation of RICO by "secretly
bidding in the name of N. P. Gresham at auctions in surreptitious competition
with other valid bidders."

Senter explained that using N. P. Gresham as a ghost bidder results in higher
prices being paid at auctions by innocent, unknowing bidders. The practice
overstates Heritage's ability to effectively get the best prices for items it
auctions.

Depositions in the lawsuit are scheduled to begin in the near future.

[thekingofclout]

True or False. Guilty or Innocent. Damage control on a board of 2200 members should be the least of their concerns...

[baseballart]

Jimmy

A google search shows the lawsuit was started in May 2009 and amended in September 2009.

Here's a link to an article with heritage's response

http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index...ltants-lawsuit

Max

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by baseballart

Jimmy

A google search shows the lawsuit was started in September 2009.

Here's a link to an article with heritage's response

http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index...ltants-lawsuit

Max

Max. I forgot to hit the quote option from the last post from the original poster. I think I'll take it down in order to clarify that point.

[glchen]

gordonanalytic:

I know you're understandably upset about this situation and about how you've felt you've been treated by Heritage. However, at this rate, you're probably going to be banned from the board, and deservedly so. You are only further supporting the opinions on why Heritage banned you. Take it was a lesson learned, and the next time you purchase a expensive auto, make sure that there is an LOA from JSA or PSA/DNA.

About the latest Heritage posts, to be frank, I still dislike house bidding. Jonathan mentions that even if they win the item, they have to pay the 19.5% BP. However, who gets that BP? Heritage, of course. Therefore, with house bidding, Heritage is at an advantage even if they win the item. And that "7 day rule" as far as I know, is not written into the Heritage terms and conditions. If it were, I would feel better, because then I would know not to start bidding until 6 days before the auction and just take the current bid as the reserve. I still think that major auction houses should follow REA's standard of excellence, where there is not even the slightest hint of impropriety.

[calvindog]

Jonathan, far be it from me to offer such a humble guy like you some advice, but perhaps Wikipedia is not the best source to be citing when noting litigation results. Second, as per your Wikipedia entry, I noticed that the lawsuit filed by the guy from Montana was simply removed to arbitration. I'm guessing this was done due to the contract he signed with Heritage which held that any disputes would go to arbitration and not a court. I've checked Wikipedia and I'm unable to find out what happened with that litigation; perhaps you can shed some light on this.