Park West At Sea - Park West Gallery - Park West Gallery At Sea ripoff verbally doubled the appraised value failed to ship refused refund Wilmington Deleware
I purchased two Peter Max overpaint originals. It was a "blind" auction so only the verbal appraisal was available. No catalog was available. I spoke at length with the auctioneer and another couple prior to purchase and stated "since I am buying at approximately one third appraised value, even if my husband does not like these pieces, I should be able to get my money back if I had to sell, even make a thousand each." The couple agreed, for they heard the verbal appraisal also.
One of my two purchases arrived with no appraisal. Park West agreed to cancel my other purchase because they could not deliver as promised. My appraisal finally arrived several weeks after it was promised (on the piece I had received) and it was approximately half of what the auctioneer stated. I demanded a refund. Park West insists that a catalog was available and that I was mistaken about what the auctioneer stated. They said they never offer a refund under any circumstances.
The ship will not go to bat for the customer. Park West stands firm. My advice: DO NOT BUY a Peter Max overpaint through Park West. I will never deal with them again and I was a previous customer.
Finally, I have never seen anyone buy over a few pieces at a Park West auction on a cruise. Comments are posted on this forum from a customer who purchased over 20 pieces at a whack-not the typical customer...most folks do not invest in limited edition prints which are in the hundreds of dollars, and the originals are in the thousands so someone had a LOT of money to spend. I do not appreciate the suggestion from such a customer that I am foolish to expect Park West to be a honest and reliable supplier of art as they hold themselves to be.
Jean
Portland, Oregon
U.S.A.