The subject of a recent BBC documentary regarding county court judgments, the Midgham firm of fine art auctioneers and valuers are also the subject of non-payment claims and other complaints.
Cameo received some unwelcome
publicity when they were featured on the BBC programme The
Sheriffs Are Coming. The March 26 daytime show, which follows
bailiffs enforcing court payment orders, included local vendor
Janet Smith who took action to recoup a county court award against
Cameo of more than £4000.
In the past 12 months the firm have
been subject to 18 outstanding county court judgments involving
sums totaling almost £20,000 - although many people who have won
judgments said they were still unable to extract from Cameo the
money owed.
ATG has received an increasing number
of calls from Cameo vendors who say they remain unpaid for art and
antiques sold months ago.
These include Christine Ackling of
Swindon whose husband responded to an advertisement for a Cameo
valuation day in her area and sold a rare Hampton lever corkscrew
for £2400 on June 28, 2011 (an item the auctioneers highlight among
their recent successes on their website homepage) and a sheet of
signatures from participants in the 1948 FA Cup final for £95 on
September 6, 2011. Following numerous phone calls, and suggestions
that the cheque would soon be issued, she is still awaiting
payment.
Similar allegations have been made
against the firm in online forums. The consumer website
complaintsboard.com includes a long list of unhappy consignors
while local newspaper Newbury Weekly News say they
have received more than 70 complaints concerning alleged
non-payment, bounced cheques or lost items since highlighting the
issue in March.
West Berkshire Council say they have
received complaints about the firm and are investigating. Speaking
to ATG, trading standards manager Sean Murphy, who urged any
disgruntled Cameo clients to contact the department directly,
expressed surprise at the firm's consignors' agreement that
stipulates vendors will be paid only when all items from an account
have been sold - even if the sales in which they appear are months
apart.
The terms state: "Cameo can only
undertake to settle vendors' accounts between 28 and 35 working
days after the sale and subject to receiving payment from the
purchaser. Where multiple items are entered accounts will be
settled only after all lots have sold or the client has been asked
to collect unsold items." In reference to past complaints Cameo
have said many are down to people not reading these terms and
conditions.
ATG Media online bidding platform
the-saleroom.com have suspended Cameo from the site following
irregularities over credit card payments. Managing director Anne
Somers was concerned to learn that sums of £200-300 had been
debited from the accounts of several people who had simply
registered as online bidders but not bought at the Midgham
saleroom.
"We gave Cameo every opportunity to
explain but their explanations weren't substantiated and
resolutions weren't delivered. We take our good reputation very
seriously. As far as we are aware, in the instances brought to the
attention of Cameo by ATG Media, the money has been returned," she
said.
Cameo did not return ATG's calls but
when invited to respond to the allegations by Newbury
Weekly News an unattributed statement read: "We have had
dealing with trading standards and to the best of our knowledge
have satisfied any outstanding issues - we deal with approx
1500/2000 customers per month and if you expand that by the numbers
of lots it's inevitable situations will occur, we obviously do our
best to ensure every care is taken to avoid mistakes but will admit
they do occasionally happen."
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