Auction Company called me today.....

agentjim007 · January 18, 2005 7:10AM

....said the consignor of the lot I won wanted his coin back (actually said lot withdrawn). I said I had seen the coin on their web site before the auction and floor bidders were also bidding so I know the coin was at auction preview. He said sometimes coins go on web site before auction and lines got crossed not pulling the coin before preview. I'm not pissed actually the guy was decent about it and waved buyers premium and postage on other lot I picked up. This is wierd...isn't it?

edited for spelling and that doesn't mean everthing is spelled right now.

mrearlygold · January 18, 2005 7:11AM

It happens.

Not nice though. Which auction co?

Tom

atarian · January 18, 2005 7:12AM

i like happy endings.

agentjim007 · January 18, 2005 7:12AM

The guy was decent. I'm not dropping a dime on him.

agentjim007 · January 18, 2005 7:14AM

i like happy endings

You mean like the ones at the end of a massage?

Outhaul · January 18, 2005 7:14AM

I'd say tough titty for the seller AND the auction house. Once a coin is hammered and there is a winning bid it's too late to pull the lot. That's not only a lousy thing to do, it pretty damned unprofessional.

Just my eversohumble opinion.

Cheers,

Bob

goose3 · January 18, 2005 7:15AM

<< i like happy endings

You mean like the ones at the end of a massage? >>

Russ · January 18, 2005 7:24AM

A consignor can get their coin back after it's already sold? In my opinion that's crap. What about contractual obligations?

Russ, NCNE

robertpr · January 18, 2005 7:33AM

<< A consignor can get their coin back after it's already sold? In my opinion that's crap. What about contractual obligations?

Russ, NCNE >>

I believe it's agentjim's call at that point. Technically, he could have refused and the auction house and the coinsignor would be SOL.

darktone · January 18, 2005 7:36AM

I don't think this is right once the hammer goes down the coin is owned by the high bidder. I would be pissed! mike

pharmer · January 18, 2005 7:36AM

Still not clear on whether you did return the coin. You don't want to mention the company, how about what the coin was, grade, price, cert #, date of sale, nothing specific. BTW, spelling checks out, yur gud ta gough.

agentjim007 · January 18, 2005 7:42AM

Still not clear on whether you did return the coin

I never saw the coin, I got the call before it was shipped (although my credit card was billed) For the record I figured the coin should be mine. What if a floor bidder bought it and paid for it at the show. It would have been long gone. Since I don't intend to kill anyone over this my options are limited (and more limited now since we made a deal)

darktone · January 18, 2005 7:42AM

Does this mean anytime I get a good deal on something at an auction the consigner has the right to get his coin back?

goose3 · January 18, 2005 7:43AM

<< Does this mean anytime I get a good deal on something at an auction the consigner has the right to get his coin back? >>

also,,,,if you get hosed can you simply return it without any hassle.

agentjim007 · January 18, 2005 7:43AM

Does this mean anytime I get a good deal on something at an auction the consigner has the right to get his coin back?

Thats exactly how I was feeling.

pharmer · January 18, 2005 7:49AM

<< I don't think this is right once the hammer goes down the coin is owned by the high bidder. I would be pissed! mike >>

Mike, considering the beauties you have won/shown here lately, and if you were licensed to sanction like the good double 0 guy here, I would not want to be the auction co. guy.

Barry · January 18, 2005 7:52AM

What if it were the other way around?

Suppose I'm a winning bidder and after the auction decided I bid too much. Would they just let me off the hook?

JrGMan2004 · January 18, 2005 7:55AM

<< What if it were the other way around?

Suppose I'm a winning bidder and after the auction decided I bid too much. Would they just let me off the hook? >>

Isn't a return policy apart of the contractual agreement with most Auction Companys? I don't think there's any provisions in the Consignor's contract that says they can take it back, even if the coin sells...

stev32k · January 18, 2005 7:58AM

Might want to check with a lawyer, but I believe if they charged your credit card the coin belongs to you. Once the money has changed hands you become the owner of the property. At that point it makes no difference what the previous owner wants - you now own the coin. The auction house cannot just say "sorry the owner wants to back out". When you paid for the item via credit card the title passed into your hands. Been there-done that, and got the tee shirt to prove it.

morgannut2 · January 18, 2005 8:03AM

I don't believe any MAJOR auction firm would ever try this with a coin that is already sold and paid for.

Neptune · January 18, 2005 8:09AM

Might want to check with a lawyer, but I believe if they charged your credit card the coin belongs to you. Once the money has changed hands you become the owner of the property.

Sounds like you got a raw and realllllll unfair deal there.

I'd like to hear from one of our forum attorney's on this, as I just had the same type situation just happen to me. It is not yet resolved. I ordered a computer via phone from Gateway, and to seal they deal, the guy gave me free shipping. (I did not ask for this.) They then proceeded to charge my account for $12 bucks (the rest is financed). Today I was informed, that they are not going to give me free shipping. I was supposed to call the guy back, but haven't. The plan was to put my order on hold and/or cancel. It's the principal - and it ticks me off.

morgannut2 · January 18, 2005 8:42AM

Unless a lawyer knows better, and I know they do, I'd let the firm know that you are informing the appropriate Federal/State agency as to their bait-and-switch tactics. I'd write the president of the company too.

Conder101 · January 18, 2005 11:21PM

It would seem to me that it would hinge on exactly what they said on the phone.

If they were nforming you of the error and ASKING if you would void the sale that's fine. You have the option to say yes or no and if you say no then they have to work it out with the consignor.

If they were caolling to tell you that they weren't going to ship you the coin you bought and paid for because the consignor wants it back then they are completely in the wrong and would owe damages to you.

Now I can see that maybe the consignor may have requested the withdraw before the auction began and the auction house errored and didn't withdraw the coin before it sold. They could still void the sale up to the point where they collected the payment for it. But after that it would seem to be your coin EXCEPT, if he asked for the withdrawal BEFORE the hammer fell the firm no longer had the right to sell it and can't deliver clear title. If he asked after the hammer fell and before it was paid for then the firm can probably deliver clear title and the consigor would probably be in breach of contract.

Neptune · January 18, 2005 11:25PM

yes true - I forgot - they have laws about that stuff. Atually they may could lose their license?

NoGvmnt · January 18, 2005 11:36PM

Could it be that the consignor found out that the coin in question was something more than first thought (rare variety that wasn't listed on the insert, one of a kind), that sort of thing?

Jim

dorkkarl · January 18, 2005 11:42PM

you got screwed! who was it???

K S

LanLord · January 18, 2005 11:47PM

How about tell the seller and the aution house they can keep their coin, for a price. And make it big!

JadeRareCoin · January 18, 2005 11:49PM

If they waived the fees on your other auctions lots, then that could be an acceptable remedy. Depends on how much money they are saving you. Are we talking $100? $500? $1000? Also, if you were not in love with the coin in question, then this could be a blessing. Only you will know if it's a good thing or not. Based on your action, it was a good thing.

pharmer · January 19, 2005 12:01AM

I think by now, the overwhelming opinion is that you owned the coin, and this cannot happen, short of you going along with it. Just curious, how do you know the identity of the caller for certain? Why not tell all, you've been screwed. Is that what it takes to earn your loyalty, treat you like this? Come on, we want to help.

JadeRareCoin · January 19, 2005 1:34AM

Holy crap! You won't believe this, but I just had the auction company call me!! Really! Same thing. They told me that there was "a descrepancy over the coin's ownership". I won the coin in a very recent auction and needed it for a client. I asked them if the coin existed or not. They said "yes, it exists". So I asked them if the consignor just did not like the price and decided to withdraw the lot. The auction company representative just responded, "well, I can't discuss this matter any further, but I am just calling to let you know that we deleted the invoice and the sale never happened".

I think that agentjim007 has jinxed me. Just 5 minutes after I posted, I got the same call!

Sphinx357 · January 19, 2005 1:39AM

unacceptable

pharmer · January 19, 2005 1:39AM

Uh huh. Well, be sure not to besmirch their sterling character by telling who and what. Never happened before, and now twice. Funny, guys.

Russ · January 19, 2005 1:54AM

Out them.

Russ, NCNE

IrishMike · January 19, 2005 1:57AM

Sounds to me like one of the biggies listed coins for sale that the sellers had requested be removed and they didn't get removed. I don't buy ownership questions, seller got cold feet excuses. Is this a case of the most obvious or simple answer being the correct one?

mgoodm3 · January 19, 2005 2:04AM

Name names.

stev32k · January 19, 2005 2:25AM

<< Holy crap! You won't believe this, but I just had the auction company call me!! Really! Same thing. They told me that there was "a descrepancy over the coin's ownership". I won the coin in a very recent auction and needed it for a client. I asked them if the coin existed or not. They said "yes, it exists". So I asked them if the consignor just did not like the price and decided to withdraw the lot. The auction company representative just responded, "well, I can't discuss this matter any further, but I am just calling to let you know that we deleted the invoice and the sale never happened".

I think that agentjim007 has jinxed me. Just 5 minutes after I posted, I got the same call! >>

Did they charge your credit card, or had you paid in some other way?

AuldFartte · January 19, 2005 2:37AM

Okay, you don't wish to name them on an open forum like this. I understand completely, regardless of your motivation for doing so.

Will you consider PM-ing the identity to those of us who are interested? I, along with many others here, would like to know. In my case, I only want to know so I can avoid ever dealing with them.

pharmer · January 19, 2005 2:46AM

I think we're being had

stev32k · January 19, 2005 2:49AM

<<Will you consider PM-ing the identity to those of us who are interested? I, along with many others here, would like to know. In my case, I only want to know so I can avoid ever dealing with them. >>

I would also like to know for the same reason.

<>

You may be right.

dorkkarl · January 19, 2005 2:51AM

c'mon dudes, let's have names!

WHO WAS IT???

K S

JadeRareCoin · January 19, 2005 3:01AM

WHO WAS IT???

Surely you people know who we are talking about.

dorkkarl · January 19, 2005 3:02AM

enuff of this pu55y-footing, just say it was heritage & be done w/ it.

K S

stev32k · January 19, 2005 3:09AM

<<Surely you people know who we are talking about.>>

Oh, well I guess now that I think it. Yeah - it must have been Joe Bob's Household items and coin auction.

Edit: Never a good idea to make assumptions like that.

pharmer · January 19, 2005 3:10AM

It's truly admireable that they would come right out and tell it like it is in the open and all, a truly manly and lumberjackian thing to do

JadeRareCoin · January 19, 2005 3:24AM

I should say that Heritage was nice enough to send us a $25 gift certificate for use in future auctions. However, I refuse to say who the auction company is.

Seriously though, mistakes happen and they handled it well enough. I can't blame them. I just really needed the coin for a client. I told him that we won the coin and now I have to call back and explain that the coin is gone. I hope he doesn't think that we are jerking him around.

shirohniichan · January 19, 2005 3:32AM

If my British Honduras 50 cent piece doesn't show up, I'm going to be pissed.

agentjim007 · January 19, 2005 6:46AM

I don't know if Jade's yanking your chain but mine happened. You guys are way more pissed than I am. I would like to have owned the coin at my bid (plus juice) but one thing I know is there is no shortage of coins I'd like to buy, and I did get the other for a discount.

JadeRareCoin · January 19, 2005 6:55AM

Jim, it really happened to me. I stated that I was not happy about the problem, but I understood that mistakes can happen. They are sending me a $25 certificate for future purchases. Not too bad, but I would have made much more on the coin that I got at a GREAT price.

Dennis

RYK · January 19, 2005 7:01AM

So what's the deal? A consigner can renege on an unreserved lot if he/she does not like the outcome. I would like to hear from an auction company rep on this.

agentjim007 · January 19, 2005 7:40AM

My discount came to about $75

Conder101 · January 19, 2005 1:33PM

<< So what's the deal? A consigner can renege on an unreserved lot if he/she does not like the outcome. I would like to hear from an auction company rep on this. >>

I suspect the consignor withdrew the coin after the catalog was printed and before the sale began, but the auction house neglected to announce the withdraw in the presale announcements and proceeded to sell the coins in error. After the sale the error was brought to their attention.

Auction Company called me today.....

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