Park West At Sea Overcharge and misrepresent market price Southfield Michigan
Just wanted to share my story regarding my experience with Park West while on a Carnival Cruise. Went on a cruise and my wife and I attended pretty much all of the auctions and we did buy some items under $1,000 - no problems.
During the cruise we contemplated buying an etching by a well known artist based on the claims of the Park West employees such as "this is a great price for this piece, etc". I asked the question at the time of "What if I purchased the piece and then found the same piece cheaper once I got home?" and the only answer forthcoming was "That is a great price" and "You won't be able to get the same price from Park West once the cruise is over because it was a 'mystery item' special priced item".
Being a skeptical person and knowing that they would really sell it to me after the cruise for the same price we did not make the purchase. Thank goodness. Once I got home I found the same piece for 40% (equaling over $1,500) less than what Park West was touting as a great price (Yes, I did my homework to make sure that the cheaper one I found was the real deal). The moral of the story is do your homework ahead of time - find out which pieces will be sold on the cruise, if possible, and check the prices ahead of time. I do feel that the employees pushed the ethical envelope on some of their claims.
That being said, we did enjoy the auctions and I've become interested in fine art ever since the cruise. I just wish I had the $ right now to buy a Peter Max umbrella man painting - love those colors. Good Luck to all.
H
Minneapolis, Minnesota
U.S.A.