Topic: Tantalus

[chopin-liszt]

 
And you're getting me mixed up with somebody else, Nigel - how could you?
Have fun the Fair!  :X:

[nigel benson]

Ok, so we went to collect the tantalus with some anticipation, since as many of you know, I am researching the company that produced Hailware. I was delighted to have won the auction, if at a price that I thought high, but I had to account for an Art Deco premium.

The piece was duly taken, unceremoniously, out out the boot of the car in a broken box and put on the ground for us to see the tantalus - in the outside light of the block of flats.

Not good was the fact that both decanters were badly chipped many times each around the rims, with one having a crack running vertically from it  :spls: The little wear nicks around the stoppers I guess I could live with, altough they detracted from the crispness of the Art Deco look.

"I think we've got a problem", I said.

"What?"

"The damage to the decanters!!"

"We've got another buyer whose offered more." Implication, pay or lose it.

I asked for a phone number and had to leave a message with Andy, the seller(this being his brother).

Seller replied through eBay:

Have sold to another buyer!- coast102

Well, let's hope that buyer wasn't relying on some very carefully taken photos!! Even the closer one doesn't really give it away.

Of course I realise maybe I should have asked the pertinant question, are the decanters damaged? But, I guess I fell for the old trick of thinking that having declared the damage to the metal ware he might have said the the decanters were badly chipped (beyond restoration). The old trick of drawing attention to some damage to avoid the rest.

Why mention it at all? Well, to illustrate that even experienced dealers can make mistakes, and, to let others learn from this one by me.

Nigel

[chopin-liszt]

And while you still were the accepted winning bidder, they sold it to somebody else... for more?
When you should have been offered a substantial reduction for the damage?

Beware folk you meet on t'internet!
If you're going to meet up with them in real life, make it in a brightly lit, public place and take your mummy with you.

[oldglassman]

HI ,
           And i would think appropriate feedback should be a negative , 'sale cancelled damage not mentioned', which if another buyer has indeed been suckered into it, will alert them to the problems and that they dramatically affect the items value and desirability.

Cheers ,
              Peter.

[glassobsessed]

Not what I would call a mistake Nigel - you checked condition before you handed over your hard earned cash. You were not duped but mislead by what sounds like a poor seller. If you had asked more questions about condition how confident are you that any answers would have been accurate?

I hope you did not waste a lot of time and effort travelling to pick them up.

John

[TxSilver]

What an interesting story, Nige. It sounded like something out of the movies. Anybody watching would probably figure there were drugs or guns in the trunk. I still wonder about the double auction. Did coast102 auction it again after you won? Or was there a second chance? Strange indeed.

A bit of early morning glass intrigue...