Hlp - violation of an auction consignment contract

roadrunner

I would appreciate some high powered advice to a predicament that I just found about. Seems that a high dollar value coin that I consigned to a major auction firm has been placed into a lower grade sale contrary to my wishes and the agreement I had signed with the auction company. I had discussed this very situation with the company President upon receipt of the contract and we both agreed to eliminate if from the list of venues. I struck out the item on the contract and listed the only possible venues that my coin would appear at. Again, this was verbally agreed upon by the company. I sent off my signed portion of the contract but the strike out was never initialed and sent back by the auction firm. However the auction firm pre-signed my contract so it IS signed. I have heard nothing from the company as to the change that has occurred.

I know I can call attorneys, PNG, ANA etc. but I'm looking for some more subtle ways to get this resolved asap. I have sent off a letter/email to the principles of the firm insisting that the coin be pulled from the sale and the situation be resolved within the next 48 hours. At that point, I will take all actions at my disposal. Any inputs from the forum would be most appreciated. Feel free to PM me to keep things confidential. I do not wish to name the firm but just want to get this resolved as per my original contract. It has bothered me that I requested a status of my consignment 7 days ago and received no notification all last week. This really got me thinking that there was something gone awry. If you have some recommended numismatic lawyers I would appreciate PM's. If things continue to go badly I will air out the entire affair in the forum to ensure that no one else has to go through something similar. I thought this was why we had signed contracts...to protect all parties.

Thanks

Roadrunner

roadrunner

At times I find the numismatic hobby like the wild west. One can try to do everything in their power to ensure there are no things left to chance, and you still have no guarantee. It still comes down to the personal integrity of each individual and the firms involved.

Unbelievable.

roadrunner

merz2

It sounds like you had the bases covered.It seems like a screwup by low level management.If it is a reputable auction house,i'm sure it will be resolved by tomorow.

Coinosaurus

Well. We will have to keep a lookout for some primo seated material in one of the "2nd tier" sales

I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me that the burden is on the auction house to prove that they had your authorization to sell the coin in that sale - which they can't do because their copy of the contract is marked up otherwise.

Roadrunner, I hope this works out for you - hopefully a couple phone calls during regular business hours tomorrow should do it. Also the threat of going public with this is something everyone (including you) would like to avoid, I'm sure.

kranky

I'd like to think this is going to be resolved quickly, as soon as they understand that you not only had verbal assurance from the company president, but your contract put the same agreement in writing. Shouldn't take long at all to get your issue to the appropriate level where someone can correct it.

elwood

let me guess??? Heritage

boiler78

I am sure it is just an administrative foul up but you shouldn't have to take a "bullet" for someone elses mistake!

roadrunner

It's very annoying that my emails over the past week have been ignored. The same thing happened back in December and then I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I don't think this is a low level screw up but it could be. There are other parts of the verbal agreement that may have been ignored also but that's another thread. Contract comes first.

Thanks for the inputs so far. TDN and Mr. Eureka, if you read the thread would appreciate your inputs based on your business acumen. It's a crappy feeling knowing you don't have the coins nor the money. Adds fuel to the theory to sell outright and avoid hassles.

roadrunner

tradedollarnut

I'd pick up the phone and call Greg Rohan tomorrow morning. No one in their right mind would want a coin of that value to be sold in a Bullet Sale!

Heritage usually bends over backwards to resolve these types of issues [at least Greg has in the past on the few items posted to this forum]. I'm certain it'll get worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

A word to the wise: For around a 2% finders fee paid by the auction companies, many national dealers will handle all of this for you, from beginning to end.

Nic

Heritage? If so agree with contacting Greg Rohan. Don't even waste your time talking to someone else. K

MrEureka

TDN - What makes you think it's Heritage???

Brian - I'm sure it will be fine. Just pick up the phone and call Greg and he'll take care of it. The company is undergoing "growing pains", which include not being able to promptly reply to every e-mail, fax, letter etc. That's not an excuse, but there's no reason to think that anyone's "out to get you". For all it's worth, I've had (not exactly) similar problems and they have ALWAYS been resolved satisfactorily.

roadrunner

Thanks Andy that's good to know. But there is a bunch more to this that really scares me. Several people would have had to screw up and it was supposed to be months before the coins were put up.
In fact at the very least, said coins were to be crossed to PCGS in the event they did not upgrade at NGC/PCGS. The whole process should have taken months to complete and my account was being personally handled by a seasoned pro. So I don't know how my coins got sent right in to a an auction. Makes no sense. Someone would really have to had dropped the ball bigtime. I mean BIGTIME.

Much thanks for all your kind responses. And I didn't mention any particular company. This could happen, I guess to anyone, at any auction. Figures me since I haven't consigned a coin to anyone in over 14 years and this is my first time with this firm.

roadrunner

RR

Hi Roadrunner:

Again, this was verbally agreed upon by the company. I sent off my signed portion of the contract but the strike out was never initialed and sent back by the auction firm.

Contract revsions should be initialled by the parties. The fact that they did not initial your revision could present a problem. They could argue, of course, that they never agreed to the revision, but your counter would be then why did they proceed with the auction since the revision obviously changed the terms, consequently, there is no contract unless both parties agreed to the revision.

RR

oreville

I will just sit in the balcony and watch!

291fifth

Auction houses that disregard consignors wishes are common. This is true for coin and other auctions. Good luck.

roadrunner

Jim Halperin called me and resolved the whole affair. See updated thread. I was very pleased with his professionalism and demeanor.
I probably should have stepped back from my 60 kilo ton approach
but sometimes circumstances get the best of us.

roadrunner

rkfish

RR,

That's good to hear !!