Park Wset Gallery - Fine Art Sales - FASI Insurance comapny said worth $25 Park West said $2,000 but would not put in writing Fort Lauderdale Florida And Detroit Michigan Florida and Michigan
I received a lovely wedding gift in 2000, of a Dali print, from dear friends who took a cruise on Royal Carribean. However, the print went into storage for almost four years while my husband I traveled though work, before finally settling in London, England. Our storage was opened and all of our wedding gifts finally went on display, including the Dali.
When setting up our house insurance, we were told to go and see an art specialist in London. This we did. However,. a shock was in store as the valuer said that the piece was a poor reproduction of what we thought we had, and it would only be worth about $50 for insurance purposes at the most. In fact, he said that the frame was worth more!
A couple of weeks later, our friends visited for dinner, saw their piece and asked if we were enjoying it. We told them of our tale with the valuation and they both hit the roof. They expained that they bought the piece as an signed lithograph, signed by Dali himself, for which they paid over $4,000. having bought other works on other cruises, they took the auctioneer at his work and purchased the piece.
To cut a long story short, I phoned customer service at Park West and also at FASI in Florida. Neither party was able to help me, and said that since such a long time had passed they had no way of knowing if the print even came from one of their ships. When I informed them that it indeed had, and that I had the origional bill of sale, park west said that too much time had passed and that there was nothing they could do for me, and that I should have contacted them within 30 days of the sale, if I had any questions.
The painting still hangs in our hallway. we put a sign under it saying "original Fake by Dali!". It gives all of our visitors a laught, but will I purchase something from Royal Caribbean's art show when I next cruise, NO.
There are other auction houses that will refund for the slightest reason, that are on cruise ships, because I phoned around and asked. However, Park West seem only to be in it for the ripoff. If you cruise on Royal Caribbean or are on a ship with Park West or Fine Art Sales Inc, FASI for short, BUYER BEWARE. You'd be better off in the casino or getting a tan.
Raquel
London
United Kingdom