|
Author
|
Topic: [Bonhams] The Space History Sale (April 2014)
|
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-16-2014 06:04 AM
   
Bonhams' service stinks.Cheque cleared SEVEN weeks ago and I still don't have my items. I finally got a shipping quote on May 30th - over two weeks ago. "I'm so sorry for the delay - I was out of town for work" was the glib response. They can't even locate one of my unsold items. Never again... Anyone else still waiting? |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 06-16-2014 09:53 AM
I'm also still waiting. I inquired via e-mail twice last week and received no response. I'm still waiting for a shipping quote, even though I paid for my lots around the same timeframe you did.Absolutely horrible customer service and it would make me think twice about participating in their auction again. |
JasonIUP
Member Posts: 282
From: PA
Registered: Apr 2004
|
posted 06-16-2014 03:48 PM
How have consignors' experiences been? Would you recommend Bonham's? |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 06-17-2014 10:50 AM
I fired off another e-mail this morning. I'll keep you posted as to the results. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-18-2014 06:18 AM
Thanks. Me too. I've skipped the invoicing operative and gone direct to Customer Services. I've told them I'll be considering my options if I don't hear by Friday. quote:
Originally posted by JasonIUP:
How have consignors' experiences been? Would you recommend Bonham's?
Paid fairly quickly but after 9 weeks they still haven't returned my one unsold item. Communications is shocking. Happy to accept your items or your bids but then it's radio silence. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 06-24-2014 12:40 PM
I did finally receive my shipping quote on Friday the 20th at 4:20 pm. Color me surprised that I found their shipping/handling rates excessive. Another auction house sent my lots, which were 100 pounds heavier and 6 times the value compared to my Bonhams lots, for half the shipping charge Bonhams wants.In the future, unless Bonhams offers an absolute must-have artifact to fill out my collection, I'm skipping their auctions. |
Tallpaul
Member Posts: 153
From: Rocky Point, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
|
posted 06-24-2014 01:42 PM
While the delay in shipping my lot was no where near as dramatic as the examples given in the thread my experience precludes any future business with Bonhams. I was informed that I would have to either use a courier service or have a friend pick up the lot that I won. Why? Because Bonhams' shipping department is geographically challenged and they said they would not ship to any of the five boroughs that comprise NYC. The only problem was that I live 65 miles outside of NYC. Once the geographical miscue was corrected I was still charged $65 to use Fedex's 3 day service to ship a postal cover. Bonhams might have a large first-world presence on three continents but their shipping and customer service is differently third-world caliber. |
YankeeClipper
Member Posts: 617
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2011
|
posted 06-26-2014 06:08 AM
quote:
Originally posted by JasonIUP:
How have consignors' experiences been?
Bonham's is an auction house that is more interested in a Ming Dynasty Vase or a Monet than a Michael Collins.I have direct personal experience of consigning two identical Breguet timepieces (5 figure values), one to Heritage Auctions (Dallas) and one to Bonham's (Knightsbridge, London). Heritage were superior to Bonham's in every respect from fees charged to lot presentation to prices realised. Having consigned expensive space memorabilia to Heritage, I find them generally okay but I have had to chase them for settlement checks on two separate occasions. Their shipping policy is pretty inflexible too e.g. will not FedEx to the Marriott Starr Pass Tucson, would not hand me a paid-for item in person at the Spacefest III auction in Tucson. Everything I have seen points me toward RR Auctions - a very good experience by most accounts. |
spkjb
Member Posts: 144
From: Merritt Island, Florida USA
Registered: May 2011
|
posted 06-26-2014 07:05 PM
I agree about Heritage.A "paid-for and deliver policy" at Spacefest III would have saved me the inexplicable disappearance of one of my items. It "disappeared in transit" between Tucson and Dallas. I also agree about RR. They are best auction house I have had dealings with. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-29-2014 05:19 AM
quote:
Originally posted by YankeeClipper:
Bonham's is an auction house that is more interested in a Ming Dynasty Vase or a Monet than a Michael Collins.
Meanwhile Heritage is in a $60m lawsuit with Christie's over HANDBAGS!  |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 07-03-2014 06:57 AM
I thought my next post might be more positive since the items I won arrived today — nearly THREE months after the auction concluded. However, despite several requests to include my one unsold item... it isn't there.  To rub salt into the wound(s) Bonhams would not ship using my Fedex account unless I signed an indemnity.  Having them arrange the shipping added another 2% to the already excessive premium. Truly shocking service bordering on incompetence. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
|
posted 07-03-2014 07:03 AM
Absolutely amazing... |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
|
posted 07-03-2014 11:19 AM
Though I did have a satisfactory experience with them after their auction in early 2013, I feel your pain, Paul... must be extremely aggravating after waiting so long. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 07-04-2014 07:06 AM
Thanks Chet. They have apologized and will resend the missing item at their expense. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 07-07-2014 11:59 AM
My items finally shipped this past Thursday, nearly two weeks after I chose my shipping method. I couldn't imagine why anyone would choose the "next day shipping" option, seeing the shipping department takes forever to even get the package out the door.Coincidentally, I'll receive my items tomorrow on the 8th, exactly three months after the auction. |
Dwight
Member Posts: 576
From: Germany
Registered: Dec 2003
|
posted 07-08-2014 07:55 AM
I have won items on RR Auctions twice. Both times they were extremely flexible and responsive to my suggestions regarding shipping etc. In both cases I have had extremely fast shipping and for very reasonable prices. Most importantly I get email responses within 30 minutes, and that is across the Atlantic. Awesome service. |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 07-10-2014 03:45 PM
As a buyer, I am still waiting for the cover item (the Mercury space suit) and the 8-ft. tall LM strut. Sigh. I wish I knew what was going on over there. I have not faced delays with prior Bonham's auctions. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 07-10-2014 10:19 PM
Steve, as many of us have experienced the same, it is an unacceptable situation. I look back on the many auction experiences I've had with other houses and I just shake my head.When dealing with RR, Heritage, Regency, Goldberg, and even the ASF...won lots have shipped within a day of payment and arrived in Michigan within a week. It is unfathomable to think an established auction house cannot deliver the same, especially when it concerns their "cover star". Honestly, I think a partial buyer's premium rebate is in order for those of us who have waited this long for our lots. |
advertisement