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| Ad No. 3142 |
Beware of Thompson & Riley, Ltd. and all KY auctio
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Beware of Thompson & Riley, Ltd. and all KY auctioneers as the Kentucky Board of Auctioneers (they claim to be the controlling authority) failed to act against a fellow auctioneer.Losing my Judy was bad enough. Then James J. Bates II (aka Jamie Bates)
and Julie Smith of Thompson & Riley, Ltd., Auctioneers Appraisers Realtors
lied repeatedly and extensively to get my signature on their auction contract. They were so reassuring about how I should stop what I was doing (working on the
house and contents) because they would take care of everything and they were
much better at it. Under the heading of consumer free speech, I'm here to tell
you these people were less than honest from the start and you'll be well advised
to consider doing business with a different auctioneer, appraiser or
Realtor.
My original complaint to the Kentucky Board of Auctioneers was five pages
but, for the sake of space and time, let’s begin here with these:
1. Jamie promised to "inventory and catalog" the contents of the house
and provide me with said inventory. No such inventory was received. The only
list of contents ever received was at settlement time MONTHS after the auctions
and the list received was quite small compared to the actual contents of the
house. To my understanding, not providing receipts for contents and providing
settlement results and disbursement months after the auctions occurred are
violations. These things, taken individually, could be considered oversights
(although still inexcusable) but, viewed collectively, each of the points
contained in my complaint show a pattern of deception.
2. Jamie promised to utilize Ebay for the dolls, accessories and finer
collectibles to get a wider market. We talked at length prior to the signing of
the contract. It appears that NOT ONE item made it to Ebay. In his response to
my Board of Auctioneers complaint, Jamie stated he's used Ebay for years. First,
responding to that claim as he did, it shows there was merit to my raising the
point and, secondly, he offered no factual defense (showing what items went to
Ebay and the supporting paperwork that would have been created). Numerous
promises made but not carried out.
3. Over the course of months after the auctions, numerous attempts to
contact Jamie Bates and Julie Smith by phone, fax and email were met with
silence. Even the published fax numbers were either disconnected or simply not
answered. I wanted to know what was going on with the auctions. They had the
money and simply were not disbursing. Not until I sent a registered letter
demanding response and disbursement did I receive a response. Within about four
days, Julie Smith called my friend Julie and opened with "You really must hate
me" to which Julie responded that she "was very disappointed in their failure to
follow through on what they had promised". Julie Smith said she had asked Jamie,
repeatedly, to make that phone call and when she decided that he obviously
wasn't going to make the call, she said she "decided to bite the bullet and make
the call". Bottom line: $14 was owed to me. She said they were scaling down the
cost of work performed (at contract signing, original quote from Jamie for my
costs were $300-$400) and that made my net just under $1,400. Twenty-seven
hundred square feet of “treasures” (Jamie’s word) for $1,400. What a
bargain!
Do you believe the KY Board of Auctioneers protects the public? One
would think so... and they claim that's their primary mandate on their
site ( http://auctioneers.ky.gov/ ) but that's not the case here. I
filed five pages of wrongdoing perpetrated by Thompson & Riley,
Ltd. Auctioneers / Realtors. The Kentucky Board of Auctioneers
"investigated" and then dismissed my complaint. No hearing, no witness
testimony... they turned a blind eye to each and every portion of my
complaint. Any one of the basic points about which I complained
required action by the Board. The more complicated points of my
complaint that, with thorough investigation and witness testimony,
would have proven fraud and a systematic approach of wrongdoing by
Thompson & Riley, Ltd., Auctioneers and Realtors... were also
ignored. The Kentucky Board of Auctioneers wouldn't even let it get to
the next step of a hearing. Do not, even for a second, believe there is
any protection of the public by the Kentucky Board of Auctioneers.
Oops... I stand corrected by the annual report of the Board: Between
June of 2006 and May of 2007, there were (presumably) at least 1,149
complaints filed (mine was numbered 07-1149) yet only one... ONE
auctioneer lost his license!!! Need I say more?
In short, watch out if you are dealing with a Kentucky auctioneer.
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