ComplaintsforSelkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been doing business with them for a while. Basically, I found a $50 old check that I had not cashed for them. I contacted them before I tried to cash it to be safe. They said go ahead and try to cash it. I could not because it was too old. I contacted them about reissuing the check. They did not call me back. I called again and they told me they would not be giving me a check because there would a $70 reissue fee, which would mean I owe them $20, which is absolutely ridiculous.

  

  Business response

  03/02/2023

  Our auction firm sold an object for Ms. ****** on consignment in an auction which took place April 25, 2020. She was issued a settlement statement and check for that item 42 days later, June 5, 2020, as is our policy. The check issued to Ms. ****** was for $59.20. Now, nearly 3 years later, Ms. ****** has finally taken her check to the bank only to have it rejected. It is a common understanding that banks do not have to accept checks that are more than 6 months (180 days) old. Our business is not responsible for reminding our consignors (or vendors) to cash their checks within a reasonable time frame. It is also entirely reasonable to implement a reissue fee ($70) for material, processing, and inconvenience. This is our policy. It is unfortunate that Ms. ****** misplaced her check when it was mailed to her; however, not a reasonable basis for filing a complaint such as this given the egregious time that has passed.

   

• Initial Complaint

  12/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The week of November 13th, I registered for an auction held at Selkirk's Auctioneers first on ************** (third party) and then on Selkirk's website itself. I bid on an "art mirror" (Lot 246; Nov. 19th auction) on the ********** site a couple of days before the auction...I cannot remember what I bid on the art mirror initially, but I think it was $375 (as the highest price I would go to). Weirdly, on the day of the auction, the ********** site showed my registration as still "pending," so I started to get worried that my bid might not be taken into account by Selkirk's. Thus; before the auction started; I registered on the Selkirk's site as well, to be able to legitimately place a bid. When I was on the Selkirk's site, I placed a bid of $100 (as I remember), as the highest I would go...thinking that quite probably my ********** bid hadn't been taken into account and I could change the bid in the upcoming live auction. When the auction started, I grew panicked because I started to think "well, what if my bids from both sites were taken into account...? I would be bidding against myself...," so I called Selkirk's. Unfortunately, the young woman who answered the phone had no clue as to what she was doing or how to advise me. Since I had just bought a home, my brain was a bit muddled. She could have just told me to delete my prior bid on ********** and only place bids on the Selkirk site, but she didn't. When the item came up for auction, the bids jumped quite quickly. I'm fairly sure I eventually bid $325 and then $350. The bidding went to $375. I was quickly sent a message on the Selkirk site saying that I did not win the item...meaning presumably that my ********** bid had been registered after all. I have contacted the company four times since the end of the auction about redundant bids and how many other people bid on the item, but to very little satisfaction. I would like the executive director to investigate any "foul play" re: the bidding on this item.

  

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  Dear ****

  I am sorry to hear that you were not satisfactorily assisted with online bidding. You are correct that you would have needed to remove the absentee bid yourself or we could have updated the initial account created from pending to accepted and thus removed the necessity of creating a second account.

  Bids will move quickly, especially when there are competing absentee bids which was the case for lot 246. I pulled our absentee bids listing (see attachment) to hopefully set you at ease. You can see your online absentee bid of $350 existed as well as an in-house absentee bid of $350 (names have been removed, accept for yours, due to confidentiality). So, while it may have felt like you were bidding against yourself, ultimately you were also bidding against our in-house absentee bidder and thus the bidding would have gone up to your last bid of $375 even without your online absentee bid. If you had truly been bidding against yourself we would have adjusted the hammer price accordingly.

  I hope this addresses your concerns and please let us know if you have any additional questions or requests we may address.

  Sincerely,

  ******** *********

  Customer response

  12/16/2022

  I am rejecting this response because all I asked for was for the number of bidders in the auction besides me and what their bid amounts were.  I don't believe that this would break any confidentiality.  I just asked for proof of other bids.

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