Have you ever had a major auction firm lose or misplace your consignment?
goodmoney4badmoney
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I'm not going to publicly state specifics in order to be sure to stay within forum rules. I may be in the position of having my consignment items lost or misplaced. My coins are not/have not appeared in the intended auction and the firm is "unsure" why they are not. There is email confirmation that they have received the items, but nothing else. They were received about 2 months or more in advance of the deadline for consignments.
Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation, this is a new one for me so I don't know if this is a common thing to occur or if it is unusual. My girlfriend thinks I am being way too calm about it and that I should raise a big fuss.... I haven't made a big fuss but I am a little bit annoyed and thought I would get some feedback here.
So.....If your coins were lost, what was the outcome? What did it take did you get reimbursed? If the coins were misplaced, did they simply just put them in a future auction?
Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation, this is a new one for me so I don't know if this is a common thing to occur or if it is unusual. My girlfriend thinks I am being way too calm about it and that I should raise a big fuss.... I haven't made a big fuss but I am a little bit annoyed and thought I would get some feedback here.
So.....If your coins were lost, what was the outcome? What did it take did you get reimbursed? If the coins were misplaced, did they simply just put them in a future auction?
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Finest Toned Ike I've Ever Seen, been looking since 1986
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>Have you called them? Try talking to a key person at the company and let them know how you feel, and what you think they should do. >>
The coins were submitted through a 3rd party I trust 100%, but this has me at a disadvantage in that I can't call the auction house myself and inquire. I'm just wondering what is the worst case scenario I'm looking at if they do turn out to be lost somehow.
Heritage lost track of an 1895 Specimen Halfpenny from the 1984 Christie's Freeman Sale which I consigned to their 2010 Boston ANA sale. It was part of about 115 British coins, and one of 6-7 which were not slabbed at the time.
I suspect the sharp edges of the Saflip punctured the bubblewrap, went unnoticed, and then dumped in the trash............so, it's most likely in a Dallas landfill somewhere, or the recycler found a prize.
In any event, it was noted within a day of them delivering the tentative inventory, and several searches never turned up anything.
Heritage (working with Warren Tucker), to their credit, added a 4-figure sum (the estimated hammer value of the coin) to my final settlement check-----no questions.
Heritage Auction Exam Grade: A+
BTW, here's the coin in question. If it should turn up HA has title to this coin.
<< <i>
<< <i>Have you called them? Try talking to a key person at the company and let them know how you feel, and what you think they should do. >>
The coins were submitted through a 3rd party I trust 100%, but this has me at a disadvantage in that I can't call the auction house myself and inquire. I'm just wondering what is the worst case scenario I'm looking at if they do turn out to be lost somehow. >>
Did you get a receipt from this 3rd party? What kind of value are we talking about? Worse case is you lose your coins and don't get paid. At that point you have to decide if it's worth the cost to hire a lawyer.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Thank you MacCrimmon for sharing your experience.