ComplaintsforBlack & Gold Auctions

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello, My name is ****** ****** and I wanted to share my experience with the BBB on this establishment.
                  In July of 2023 I had purchased a house that came with very high priced collectibles and antique items.  After doing research on the items,  I spoke with several antique businesses’  that all recommended Black and Gold.
                  In August of 2023 I had contacted Black and Gold to see if my items were qualified to be in their auction. After discussing the items that I wanted to auction off, I made an appointment with them to bring my items to their auction house for review.
  
  Example: (items such as)
  -1977 Elvis McCormick decanter with music box
  - Three vintage antique meat grinders (time ranging from the 1800's-1900's)
  - Pair of welding glasses (1920's) 
  - Winnie the Pooh antique plate set (collective edition 1930's)
  - Lou Burdette Baseball signed (1957')
  - Tall standing antique Ashtray (1920's)
  
                  My first encounter  meeting with Black and Gold, I was under the impression and reassurance from their employees, that they had a wide clientele that purchased, and my items without doubt, would sell. I was also made aware that when items are brought in, you do not receive them back if any item that was listed for sale did not exceed their twenty dollar sale minimum.
                   to this information, I signed my paperwork with the assurance that my items would sell over the minimum sale amount.
                  What I didn’t understand was the business wanting my bank account information for a direct deposit, and not just a check sent out to my address, that was also collected?
  
                  After three weeks, I received no word of the auction being placed, nor any information about whether or not my items sold. I called Black and Gold to check how well my items sold. I was advised by an employee that all of my items sold and I would receive an email with the information.
                  I waited yet another week and I still did not receive an email with the list and amount that my items sold for. I also was yet to receive a direct deposit for the items that were sold.
                  I proceed to go back to their business in person, to find out what was going on.  I finally was given a list of items that sold, along with the amount. This is when I discovered the reason why I had not been contacted. Black and Gold not only misspelled my name horribly, but they also listed my email address incorrectly. This was really disturbing when I had written both down at the time I signed the contract.
     I was devastated and beyond disappointed due to not only their employee lying stating all of my items sold, but only ELEVEN out of the THIRTY-FIVE items I had brought in sold. The Employee also reminded me that the items that had not sold where donated to "Habitat for Humanity"  because they did not exceed their price limit. The Employee stated my items were "junk." due to not selling for the minimum auction amount of twenty dollars.
     My research said otherwise. Thankfully I had written down all my items that I had brought in. So I proceeded to ask the employee to see their copy of the list of my items. The employee then proceeded to tell me that they DO NOT keep records of items brought in?!
                  I was shocked and stated I wanted my payment right there because I no longer wanted to have business with their establishment. The employee also stated that the reason I have not received my payment was "Due to account issues" so a check would be sent to my address. I informed the employee I would not be recommending their business to anyone with the way they choose to do business.
  
     Due to the employee stating that any unsold items were given to Habitat for Humanity, I decided to check with their business in regards to the items that did not sell because I could not trust Black and Gold with the experience I had with them. To my surprise, I was correct. Habitat had stated that they had not seen nor recalled any of the items I had on my file. They also stated they never did business directly with Black and Gold, as Black and Gold had stated.
  
   Black and Gold is a fraudulent business. I would not feel so ill about this business if I had brought "junk" in but the items that I had brought in, had some serious value if they were sold to the correct buyer. 

  

  Business response

  11/03/2023

  Hello, 

  We apologize for your experience with Black and Gold Auctions. We shred all payment information after the consignor has received payment. I wasn't present when you spoke to my employee so I can't speak to exactly what happened. Regarding your concerns here are the answers.
  
  1. We have a record of everything that was listed and sold for you. Even if it has a no bid.

  2. Our minimum bid is $5. If your item didn't get a bid that means of our thousands of weekly buyers none were willing to pay $5. 

  3. We don't save no bid items for return to the customer because in our experience it incentivizes customers to bring lower quality items regardless of their value if they know they will get them back. 

  4. We don't keep no bid items. They are donated or discarded. All these items would have been available to bid by thousands of people. Because of this there is no reason for us to keep your items for any reason. 

  5. The contact states you will be paid within 30 days and we do our best to make it as soon as possible. However sometimes it approaches 30 days. 

  6. All these terms and conditions are listed on the contract you received and signed upon drop off. 

  Thank you

  ****

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩