The apology, which came in the wake of the Antiques Trade Gazette’s front page report last week, appeared on the International Auction Houses Litigation website. It read: “If you received a Claim Packet in the International Auction Houses Litigation, please note, the figure(s) for the hammer price(s) listed in Section II of the Claim Form is meant to be in the currency in which the item was originally purchased or sold. If your hammer price(s) has a US dollar sign next to it, please disregard the dollar sign as it was inadvertently printed next to your hammer price(s).
“Your Estimated Distribution Amount, shown at the bottom of your preprinted transaction form, has been correctly calculated in accordance with the terms of the Settlement and is correctly shown in US dollars. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.”
Many claimants, however, remain unhappy with the administration process and the difficulty of contacting the Garden City Group direct in Melville, New York. Few claimants have found their list of transactions to be complete and a significant omission thus far appears to be those transactions completed with Sotheby’s South, or Sotheby’s Sussex as it was in the 1990s.
• Confusion over the sale dates for which compensation applies has arisen because they are different for buyers and sellers.
It has now been confirmed that compensation payments for buyers relate to purchases made between 1993 and 1999 while for sellers the relevant dates are from September 1995 to February 2000.
Apology issued over compensation error
THE company appointed to administer the Sotheby’s/Christie’s price fixing settlement in Europe have apologised for the error on the compensation claim forms which has delayed the process. The Garden City Group, who sent out the forms last month, transcribed the compensation amounts in dollars rather than pounds sterling. The amounts were listed in the section of the form titled Pre-Printed Transactions Supplied by Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
