Sunday, November 27, 2011

Warning about Peter Francis Auctions in Carmarthen

If you are looking for an auction house in the Carmarthen area of Wales, I recommend you look elsewhere and avoid Peter Francis auctions!

Why?

1) VERY bad attitude, especially by auctioneer owner Nigel J Hodson
2) Unprofessional or even fraudulent conduct which costs both the vendors and buyers money.

I have a friend. He placed an absentee commission bid for an antique sword at Peter Francis auctions in Carmarthen (Lot 516 - 15th November 2011 sale). His bid was accepted / confirmed back to him. The lot he bid for sold for only £220. He was delighted as he had placed a bid way in excess of that amount. He was delighted because the sword is worth over £1000. When he contact Peter Francis to pay however, they ignored him. They refused to reply to him.

Only after my friend contacted SOFAA (Society of Fine Art Auctioneers) did anyone at Peter Francis Auctioneers Ltd reply. Peter Francis' nasty owner Nigel Hodson told my friend that he had not won the lot because of an administrative error. Hodson refused to even compensate my friend for the phone calls he made without reply. Hodson refused to contact the person who bought the sword to see if he would sell it to my friend at the higher price / bid my friend had placed!

What?!! Think about it. Peter Francis auctions declined to get more money for the lot? That is crazy! They and the seller would obviously benefit, right? The seller / vendor would get more money, Peter Francis would get a higher commission / premium! So why did Peter Francis refuse??!! It does not make sense, right?

Then we heard something from another sword collector that put everything into perspective. Allegedly 3 other bidders had been "let down", had their bids ignored by Peter Francis. It seems the actual "lucky" buyer is none other than an acquaintance of Nigel Hodson, someone who often benefits from such "administrative errors" at this dodgy Carmarthen auction house. Seems like Nigel Hodson is running a well known and highly illegal auction scam.

In an auction house scam, a friend of the auctioneer indicates the lots he wants. As most of the bids are absentee commission bids, they can be "missed", "forgotten to be added to the bid sheet". The auctioneer's friend buys at a very, very low price. He pays the auctioneer the auction house commission based on what the lot should have sold for (less VAT), and he pays the auctioneer in person in cash. This way, the friend and the auctioneer both profit, the friend from a much lower price, the auctioneer from income tax evasion. Of course, the seller / vendor and the suckered other bidders all loose out.

Given Nigel Hodson refused to contact the person who bought the sword lot to see if they would sell it to my friend and thereby make a profit, and given other bidders apparently also had their bids ignored, and given the very bad attitude of the staff and management of Peter Francis, the only logical explanation to me is that Peter Francis runs such a nasty auction house scam.

So, if you are looking to buy or sell at auction in the Carmarthen area, I really recommend you avoid Peter Francis.

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