Featured Pair of Japanese vases

I sent images of the vases to Maxwell's auction house a few weeks ago.
Good evening

"I have a pair of vases that I wish to sell. I believe them to be Yokohama yaki. They are in near perfect condition and stand at 38cm tall. Would you be interested in listing them for me? Thanks for your time
Regards"

They invited me in to view them on 3rd April. Over the phone they said that they were "Very interesting" so I booked a couple of days off work and took them in last week.

The guy I saw said that he thought that they were worth £200-£300 so I decided to leave them so that they could be put into auction.

I received this email back today

We are so sorry for the long delay in getting back to you. We are only a small team here at Maxwells and we have been working our way
through the valuations as quickly as possible, so apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Thank you for your emails and images.

Yokohama vases probably do not have sufficient value to be sold at auction. They are an interesting pair of vases of some vintage, however
their likely realised price of around £40-60 is not sufficient to warrant sale by auction.

Sorry we cannot give you better news.

Kind regards

Maxwells"

I mean what the actual f? I now have to go and collect them. I can live with the valuation but to get me go all the way there 30 mile round trip and £14 train fare twice, and then deliver that?

They knew they were Yokohama from the very off and that's the basis of them not wanting to sell them? What a awful way of conducting business. I don't want to burn any bridges but really feel like off loading my true feelings on them.

 

So sorry that happened! Ack. That's a lot of wasted time and money for you.

 

Learning curve. Just won't bother with them again. I'll have to check out some local houses. Hopefully closer!

I thought you were from Kent but you seem to be talking Scottish recently?

 

Canada !!

 

I know Canadians say Yeet but I didnt realise they said ack

 

'A Canadian Knut'?

 

we say all kinds of things ..... ya silly git !!!

 

Canuck !!!!

 

Soooo I had my rant yesterday. I got it off my chest.

Good afternoon

Not sure what to say to that. When I first contacted you I described them as Yokohama. Now you say that you don't want to sell them because Yokohama are of low value? You had an opportunity to let me know at this point that they didn't meet your criteria. However you let me continue on a 30 mile round trip costing £14. When you viewed them, you again had opportunity to say that they weren't suitable. But you let me leave them and now they require collection. Another expensive, time consuming mission into a midden of a town I would rather never visit again. Your initial valuation was factor 5 out? Wow. Incompetent? The valuation I can live with but the way you have been reckless with someone else's time, effort and money, is beyond be belief.

I am on annual leave 23rd -25th April and would like to collect them. I would also like to collect the Chinese spice jar I left which you have completely forgot to mention.

Please let me know when it would be convenient to collect.

 

Then I received this a short while ago

Good afternoon

We are so sorry about the confusion caused by our most recent email to you. Tom, our auctioneer who appraised your vases recently, was out on calls at the time it was sent. Another member of staff who had been out of office responded to some valuation emails with a different auctioneer. Unfortunately, they hadn't realised you had already been into the saleroom with your vases.

Tom stands by the valuation he gave you in person and would like to sell them for you, along with the Chinese spice jar, if you can overlook the miscommunication and give us another chance. This would also save you from visiting Hazel Grove again!

Apologies once again and we hope we can come to a mutually agreeable resolution.

Kind regards,



Glad I didn't burn too many bridges

 

Well, your rant got a good reply and now you might realize some cash to cover the travelling costs! I'm always afraid to vent too much because everyone will just think "crazy old lady" LOL.

I am Canadian! Ah, Kent is my married name. My maiden name is Sivertsen. (Go Knute!) I am half Norwegian and a mix of Scottish, Irish and a smattering of other northern European areas according to ancestry's DNA profile. But, I'm a magpie when it comes to language and dialects. So, y'all have a good day now!

 

Oh. I'll have to completely rethink my imagined image of you now. A bit more ginger maybe...

 

Y'all don't look exactly like your icons???

That's the thing about the 'net, your brain goes "why is so-n-so not actually a beach??" I had posted a partial pic of myself once so I'm sorta outted, but I still retain secretssss. For now.

 

WHEW. I was with you until you got heated around "midden of a town" LMAO! I'm really surprised they didn't write you off after that. Maybe they fear a google review.

 

And that was me holding back. Google review was next on the agenda. Maybe they'll just sell the vases and then cut me loose. I sent them a shed load of photos of paintings for valuation last week. If they don't respond then I know where I stand.

There is an auction house considerably closer to me that I wasn't aware of until I searched Google yesterday, so it might work out for the best.

 

Nae ginger, think blonde. Pretty Scandinavian looking. Although the men in the family have red beards.

 

Update: The hammer fell at £180 with a reserve of £200, so just squeezed through with discretion.

Ive not heard anything regarding the paintings I sent over to them for valuation, nor have I had a response regarding the Japanese dishes I sent over.

Looks like they have taken my comments personally regarding their town. Long may it stew in it's midden flavoured juices.