SunnyD
Hawaii,#2Author of original report
Sun, January 27, 2013
This is a typical Bill Mett scenario...his MO...
1) You had bought a bunch of art work from Mett over the years and have obviously had a lot of money. Now with the recent economy, times are hard, you are trying to unload some Skelton art. Maybe you bought new certificates, maybe you paid to have your artwork listed on their site that gets virtually no traffic. He gives you the spiel that millions of people from all over the world come to check out the site. BS. Have you ever checked yourself to see the amount of traffic the RedSkelton.com website gets? bizinformation.com.my/www.redskelton.com...it gets less than 10 hits a day. He will wine and dine you, and be your best friend in the whole world...as long as he sees opportunity. If he doesn't see anymore money he can scam from you, he barely remembers your name. So now you have your art work listed on their site for quite awhile, and there are no sales, not even ONE inquiry. You lower your prices SEVERAL times....based off his astronomical appraisal. When you can finally get in touch with him, or a returned call, you ask him about it, and he tells you oh, the economy is bad, people are worried about losing their homes, no one is buying fine art right now, blah blah. Once again, BS. Yes the economy is bad, but that doesn't change the fact that he lied to you about what Red Skelton artwork is worth...he super inflates the value of Red Skelton artwork on your certificate of authenticity. A) you could lower your prices to $5, and without any traffic coming to the website (other than the people who are looking to sell their own artwork), no one is going to buy your artwork. B) you could lower it to $500, and it probably still wouldn't sell. People are selling their same exact pieces of art on Ebay for $200 or less and those aren't selling either. At least Ebay gets traffic. Why would people buy it for thousands on Redskelton when they can get the same exact thing on Ebay for probably less than $100. Think about it, if he told you your artwork was worth less than $200, would you pay $150-$300 for a Certificate of Authenticity?
2) As far as Lothian Skelton, I don't believe for a second that she has anything to do with that company. Maybe she posts pictures with them (they are apparently friends, no one is denying that), but every single person seems to say, she mysteriously is NEVER around when they call and want to speak to her. She stepped out, or she just left, or she's away. But yet, if they get a voice message or email, she's always right there. I don't know what the deal is with that, but all I can is, that it seems fishy that not one person has ever spoken to her or seen her, but yet she is so involved with the process or business? Fishy.
It is extremely disappointing to deal with characters such as Mett and Wiseman. You are not the only person disappointed in them...I wish all their victims the best.
Legenda
Nevada,#3Consumer Comment
Sat, January 26, 2013
I think you are correct about the phd.... No I have never spoken to Lothian personally. I never succeeded in doing that. I did trust them (thought that he and wiseman were actually a couple) and bought artwork from several artists years ago. I paid royally for it. . When I stopped spending money and asked questions, everything stopped. May be I am too easy in trusting people....I am more dissapointed then anything else really.
SunnyD
Henderson,#4Author of original report
Sat, January 26, 2013
The doubt doesn't lay with his law degree or bachelors degree in Wisconsin. But this is not where he got his PhD. He supposedly obtained it during his prison years or after, lol, which for some reason I find amusing. Which happens to be when he started tagging Dr to the front if his name.
And how do you know that Lothian has a hand in everything? Have you PERSONALLY spoken on the phone or talked to her in person? Maybe you're more trustworthy than me, but I would never believe a man who has a criminal history of defrauding people for millions of dollars, based on his word or splashing Lothian's name across emails or letters to give himself some credibility.
I'm not sure if you read the article, but if you haven't check it out...http://www.dalifraud.com/part3.html. He is a liar and ultimate scammer, and red skelton was named in the lawsuit as well. As for him and wiseman, the rumors are they needed each other a little too much....who knows, all I know if they ripped off a dear person close to my heart, and I hope they both rot.
Legenda
Nevada,#5Consumer Comment
Sat, January 26, 2013
Well. I have to disagree with some of what is spilled here: Mr. Mett
has been an attorney long before Center Art started. Studied at UWM
in Wisconsin.
Phd was years later but very true, so actually Dr. Mett is correct.
They work under the eyes of Lothian Skelton. She is the one to directly
complain to as nothing is done without her knowledge.
It may be very true that little Skelton art is sold: economy is bad and Skelton may
be less popular.
As to Mr. Wisemans past, I have no clue, it would not surprise me.
I found him not very pleasant., seems like these two need eachother to exist
or something.....
This is what my research brought me.
The phone is never answered really and an appointment seems impossible.
So are difficult questions, you will not find anyone if you want answers.
If you have no money to spend, you are not interesting to them.
Legenda
Nevada,#6Consumer Comment
Sat, January 26, 2013
Well. I have to disagree with some of what is spilled here: Mr. Mett
has been an attorney long before Center Art started. Studied at UWM
in Wisconsin.
Phd was years later but very true, so actually Dr. Mett is correct.
They work under the eyes of Lothian Skelton. She is the one to directly
complain to as nothing is done without her knowledge.
It may be very true that little Skelton art is sold: economy is bad and Skelton may
be less popular.
As to Mr. Wisemans past, I have no clue, it would not surprise me.
I found him not very pleasant., seems like these two need eachother to exist
or something.....
This is what my research brought me.
The phone is never answered really and an appointment seems impossible.
So are difficult questions, you will not find anyone if you want answers.
If you have no money to spend, you are not interesting to them.