Last year I helped my cousin Stephanie catalogue a collection of books that she wished to sell. We approached Bloomsbury Auctions and agreed that the books would be auctioned on October 29. But as soon as the auction house had received the books all went quiet. Every time we phoned for information regarding the sale no one rang back.
Despite being told that the auction catalogue would be ready two weeks before the sale I didn’t receive a copy until the day before, and then I noticed errors in two of the listings.
The books were split into 33 lots. At the auction, one “lot” of seven books was withdrawn and it emerged that the auction house had “lost” them. Another “lot” was unsold and it was agreed that it would go forward into the next sale. There has been no word about this since October 29.
Five months later my cousin has not received a penny of the proceeds of the sale, £7,100 after commission, despite us chasing the company. She is at her wits’ end — she sold her books because she needed the money.
Caroline Walker
London W5
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When you send valuable possessions to be auctioned, what’s the worst thing that could happen? The possessions are lost? Listed incorrectly? Fail to sell? You don’t receive any of the proceeds from the sale?
A quadruple whammy for Stephanie.
When I asked Bloomsbury Auctions why she had been waiting so long for her £7,100 (the value of the sale after 15 per cent seller commission and 22 per cent buyer “premium” was deducted) I was copied in to an e-mail to Caroline stating: “I am very sorry for the length of time this matter has dragged on. We are in the midst of a restructuring and this has had a very serious effect on our cashflow.”
The e-mail added: “I am conscious that Bloomsbury have fallen well short of the level of service your cousin should expect from us. We are experiencing short-term difficulties which will be resolved within the next few weeks.We rely very much on our reputation and are grateful that you have not yet let this escalate into damaging national press coverage.”
Nice try.
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While I have sympathy with any reputable small company that is struggling, Troubleshooter is not in the business of protecting the reputations of those who do not look after their customers. A cashflow problem does not excuse radio silence over money rightfully owed.
If Bloomsbury Auctions was a bank customer with an overdraft it would have racked up at least £1,000 of charges by now; if it was a credit card customer that refused to pay his bills the bailiffs would have confiscated his Aga over Christmas.
“Sorry, cashflow problem” doesn’t roll with many debt-collection agencies. Bloomsbury Auctions has now agreed to repay the proceeds and £300 for the lost books, but has made no mention of the unsold ones.
Stephanie’s payment will be split into two cheques, one for £3,700 being sent now, and the rest “next week without fail”. (Bear in mind that the seller’s contract promises to pay all proceeds no later than 28 days after auction.) There is no mention of any kind of compensation either.
Bloomsbury Auction’s rigorous Ts&Cs state: “The auctioneer reserves the right to charge interest [on all sums due] which shall accrue at the rate of 4 per cent over base rate.”
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On that generous rate I calculate Stephanie is due at least another £150.
Cold hearts
My daughter paid in a cheque with the Halifax, which later informed her that it had “lost” the cheque in the clearing process and thus removed the £25 that it had initially credited to her account.
The cheque was for a Cold Weather Payment, to which my daughter is entitled because of disability.
I thought the bank bonus recipients may like to thank my daughter for her enforced philanthropy.
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David Lewis
Via e-mail
Way to go Halifax, which has succeeded in making itself look stingier than Sir Philip Green’s tax lawyer, for the sake of £25.
Halifax said that David would need to have the cheque reissued, but the Department for Work and Pensions will not reissue the payment for Hannah, who is profoundly autistic (red tape and all that) so Halifax, essentially, said hard cheese.
Of course now the bank knows that its absurd behaviour is going to be in the newspaper it has kindly agreed to reinstate the £25 and has added a further £25 as a goodwill gesture, which Hannah has decided to give to Oxfam.
No, honestly
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I tried to withdraw £250 from my account via a Nationwide cash machine in December. However, the ATM retained my card and no money was dispensed, though my Barclays account was debited. Barclays is aware of the situation and a replacement card was issued almost immediately. The money, nevertheless, has not been returned to my account. Can you help please?
Jesusa Gohetia
Via e-mail
As is so frequently the case, this was Jesusa’s word against Barclays. When dealing with the usual “computer says no” call centre lot, who, ironically, aren’t the most communicative bunch, she didn’t manage to prove that she was being honest.
Barclays held up its hands: “After referring to our records it appears that Nationwide advised us on January 20 that the funds had not been dispensed and a refund would be sent to Barclays. Regrettably, our team who handle such matters did not act on this instruction and failed to process the refund. We offer our sincere apologies for this oversight on our part.”
Jesusa finally has her £250 back, with a £50 goodwill gesture thrown in.
On the bright side
Roy Toogood writes: “I recently bought my wife a new Kenwood food mixer, but the shaft kept dislodging. It’s possible to buy replacement shafts for £7.14 each. As we needed four, the cost would be about £36, including postage. I was a little frustrated in having to fork out this money so soon after buying the mixer, so I contacted Kenwood. The next day, I was sent an e-mail, saying, to my surprise, that ‘as a gesture of good will’ Kenwood would arrange to have four new replacement beater shafts despatched that day.”
Readers to the rescue: should I hand over personal documents?
Our 13-year-old daughter has gone to stay with a Parisian family and the family’s daughter is visiting us in May. We received a set of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) forms from our daughter’s school, requesting personal data, including national insurance and passport numbers.
We were asked to give the original documents to a 13-year-old to take to school to be checked by an unknown person and then sent by internal mail to the council. I have no idea how long the data will be retained or how safe it will be. Why can’t the police or school check my records from my name and address details?
Guda Van Der Burgt
£25 voucher winner
The school should adopt the sensible alternative that other organisations do and accept certified copies of the documents. The parent takes the original passport and licence to a lawyer or accountant, who photocopies the originals and then certifies that the original was seen and that the photocopies are true. The professional then signs the documents and writes his or her professional qualifications, the date and his or her address and phone number. The parent can then give the certified copies, rather than the originals, to the child to take to school. Some professionals levy a small charge for this service.
Mike Dragicevic
The disclosure of such confidential information to the authorities is worrying but necessary. Simply providing such details does not necessarily mean that you are not a dubious character, but a criminal record check is a measure that goes some way to evaluating your suitability to have charge of a visiting child. I believe that your concern over the security of the documents is misplaced.
Your worry at having your own 13-year-old being given responsibility for these documents can easily be allayed by you taking the documents to the school yourself.
Frank Greaney
Take your CRB form to the school yourself and meet the unknown person. In my recent experience, my original papers were given back to me after photocopies had been taken. Whatever you do, don’t stop your daughter’s exchange. Fifty years ago I had a wonderful time exchanging with a French family over four years.
Alan Stewart
Can you help?
When out with my sister at a bar, she asked me to keep her iPhone in my bag. Unfortunately, during the evening my purse and both our phones were either lost or stolen. I think my sister wants me to contribute to the cost of replacing her phone, though she hasn’t said this outright. I see her point and feel bad that I wasn’t careful about keeping a close eye on my bag, but at the same she was happy to offload the responsibility of looking after her phone to me. What’s the best way to deal with this?
Adie Luff
E-mail troubleshooter@thetimes.co.uk with your answer for the chance to win a £25 voucher.