ComplaintsforWorld Auction Gallery

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  World Auction Gallery ***** *** executed a consignment contract. ***'s agent, **********************, came to my home, executed a contract, collected the consignment items & brought them to ***. The commission to *** was 5%. *** advertised & sold my items for $ ********. ***'s commission was 5% or $265.00. The net amount due to me was $ ********. Instead, *** only offered $ ********. I called *** to ask why lower amount. I said "I didn't have the contract" leaving out "in front of me''. *** then emailed a modified contract: a '2' added before the '5' in commission; many cross outs; entire lot crossed off. I have a carbon copy of our original contract which shows that *** made these fraudulent changes to our original contract. *** agent, ********************** stole jewelry which was not for sale - value approx. $ ***** - $6,000. He asked for water *** went to get him a bottle of Poland Spring. He was unsupervised. He asked to use the bathroom several times - which was odd since he did not drink the water. *** now states that ********************** is not their agent. Yet, ********************** came to my home, executed a contract w the *** logo, took my items to ***, *** took photos of my items, placed them on their website for sale, sold them, & collected the money. If ********************** is not their agent, then *** *** never had a legal ********** & *** must return all of my items immediately - or give me the full monetary value. *** says they mailed a certified letter w payment of $ ******** - & that I 'refused' the letter. This is false. *** mailed a certified letter to another address not mine - my address is ***************************** mailed it to 67 Gates (t) ****** *** agent, ********************** offered to sell several stainless steel platters on his own to someone he know as he said these were not worth enough to put up on auction - worth about $500. I never received payment for these items. This was not part of the original contract, it was verbal.I am legally blind and disabled.

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  World Auction Gallery received $975 payment for two rings purchased on Liveauctioneers on Sept. 15. However, World didnt confirm receipt of the payment until Sept. 21.In the interim, on 9/20 arrangements were made with a shipper via email to have my item taken to him from the auction house, which is Worlds preference. On 9/29, MY ITEMS WERE STILL NOT DELIVERED TO THE SHIPPER. Repeated requests to have the transaction cancelled and refunded were denied by the auction house. On October 3rd I contacted the shipper and was told that my items were still NOT DELIVERED to him.The nature of this dispute is non-fulfillment. I demand a full refund immediately as they HAVE NOT DELIVERED THE ***** AND HAVE KEPT $975. I no longer wish the items as its been over 44 days.

  Business response

  10/25/2023

  Regarding the complainant waiting on confirmation of the payment of the items she purchased, since it was an online payment, once payment is made, an invoice/receipt is automatically sent to their email. It can also be viewed on their online account under their history of purchases made if they cannot see it in their email. Once payment is made, it is up to the buyer to arrange for shipping. We don't release items to shippers unless the buyer has arranged and paid them for it. We received an email from the complainant on September 26th stating that she had just paid for shipping with a *** Store. We received a list from that *** Store on September 27 that stated that she had paid and arranged for shipping with them. We were planning on giving the items to the shipper on that Friday (9/29) with several other orders but due to the weather, ******** had called a State of Emergency and it was not safe to drive or be outdoors due to flooding. We delivered her items to the *** Store on the next business day, Monday October 2nd. ************************* proceeded to call *** and refuse delivery for the items.  The *** Store then returned the items to us. We have the pieces here and are still willing to ship them as originally planned, as she is the one who refused the shipping. Our auction was on Sunday September 10th. They had from that day to arrange for shipping. 

  Customer response

  10/25/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  This issue is far from being resolved because BOTTOM LINE, World Auction Gallery have the rings and my money which makes them a thief, plain and simple.  I want my $975 immediately.
  This auction house is irresponsible and unethical. It has been 6 weeks and they are in the wrong.  Promises to deliver the items in a timely fashion were broken on 3 occasions and each time we spoke on the phone a different person answered and was clueless as to the situation.    There was no one that could provide a direct answer as to when the items would be dropped off at the shipper and ultimately, by Oct. 3rd, MY ITEMS WERE STILL NOT DELIVERED TO THE SHIPPER AS PROMISED FOR THE 3RD TIME.

  
  THISBEHAVIOR IS UNBECOMING OF A PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS AND THEY AHVE FOUGHT AGAINST ALL NEGOTIONS TO RESLOVLE.  BOTTOM LINE, they have the rings and my money which makes them a thief, plain and simple.  I want my $975 immediately.

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business response

  10/27/2023

  Dear Better Business Bureau,

  The only reason that we have ******************** rings still is because she called the *** Store to cancel her shipping of the items. She was approved by the shipper on September 27th along with two other customers (as documented in the email) so we planned to bring the items to the shipper on that Friday, September 29th. That Friday was declared a State of Emergency in ************** as we said so we could not bring it that day as originally planned. After dealing with the aftermath of the flooding that occurred on Long Island that Friday on Monday, October 2nd, we then brought the items to the shipper Tuesday October 3rd. (I thought we brought it on October 2nd but it was actually the 3rd, my mistake). The shipper informed us then that ************************* had decided to cancel shipping and returned the items to us at that time. We brought the items to the shipper within four business days of the shipper approving her. We now have her rings because of this, but are still (and always have been) ready to ship her the items. We have not fought against all negations to resolve; **************** has only requested a refund which unfortunately, we do not give refunds, as stated in the description of every auction we upload (I attached this section of the description in the attachments). I also included the full thread of our emails with **************** since she only included one side of them. As a small family-run business who take the items to this shipper ourselves, or in any case, I do not see how taking 4 business days to get the items to the shipper is irresponsible nor unethical. 

  Thank you,

  World Auction Gallery

  Customer response

  10/30/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  WAG continues to make excuses and deflect from the real issue; THEY ARE THIEVES.  It is now more than one month and they still refuse to GIVE ME A REFUND FOR GOODS NOT DELIVERED.  Honestly, hiding behind lies and inaccuracies is shaemful and I WANT MY $975!

  
  

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

*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. ↩