Interest on Consignment Offsets?

[Exhibitman]

I got my statement from the November Heritage auction and noticed that the sneaky bastards charged me interest on my consignment offset. They treated the invoice as unpaid until their artificial "settlement date" of 12/31. And I know that my lots were paid off long before the 'settlement date' because I saw my stuff listed all over eBay within two weeks of the sale.

The details: I sold a bunch of stuff in the November 15-16 auction and won a few lots worth far less. I contacted them on November 19th to ask them to offset the wins against the sales, as every other auctioneer does, and got a response saying it was all taken care of. Not a word about interest or charges. Had they mentioned it I would just have written a check.

I have never seen an AH do this before. Definitely gives me pause before considering another consignment.

Anyone who did a consignment offset, you might want to check your statement and see if you got hit too.

[RedsFan1941]

what was their explanation when you called to question this?

[Lorewalker]

I would hope this is nothing more than the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.

[Leon]

From my understanding this could be the case. Those charges are generally wiped clean but are done manually, I believe. And it could have been overlooked. I am very confident this situation will be rectified in Adam's favor.

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

I would hope this is nothing more than the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.

[Exhibitman]

They say it is a screw-up. Their policy is not to charge a consignment offset interest for the same auction. They will charge a point a month if it drags on, which seems fair, as I do the same with overdue invoices.

What it boils down to is that the accounting department told me one thing (the offset was taken care of) and did something else (did not net the two as of November).

[mantlefan]

Adam, given their track record, I'm not surprised by your experience.