Elegance Gallery and Auctioneers

I hate to leave a negative review but I just have to warn that I don’t think they are to be trusted. The whole transaction ended up being really difficult and there were strange delays, then they just were not responding to calls.
I guess it comes down to horrible customer service, not just bad customer service but RUDE customer service. Avoid.

I purchased several lots from the auction in late 2014 and paid for them promptly and I still have not received the items. They claim to have shipped them, but I have not gotten any notice of tracking numbers. I have tried calling them dozens of times, and most of the time it goes to voicemail. When I can get a live person on the phone, they are very rude and refuse to answer any questions. They just say they are «looking into it» and so far no one has called me back. Several times, a young lady working in «customer service» has refused to give me her name and hung up on me several times. Every time I call back to ask for a manager or supervisor, someone takes a message and never calls me back.

On March 8^th, 2014 I was top bidder on item 0388 at Elegance Gallery & Auctioneers. Immediately after, I contacted them to make payment. While making payment with my credit card, I offered to pay for shipping at the same time. They refused stating they would contact me for the shipping costs after I paid the purchase costs.
After waiting several days, I tried calling them about shipping. Shipping was not available, so I left a message. After waiting several days more, I left another message and another. Finally, someone answered the phone who said they were not in shipping but would help me. She said they were too busy filling orders. I tried pressing for an answer as to when I could expect to be called and she hung up on me. No one has answered the phone since then and they do not respond to my emails.
Every other purchase I have made at different auctions has been handled promptly making me wary about this purchase. The hanging up on me has angered me and I have now made this review. Review date March 23^rd, 2014 with still no word.

Know what you’re doing before bidding on anything from this auction house. I didn’t and paid for it, literally. I wanted Asian pottery and they have plenty of that. Many of their items can be had for $ 50 – 60. But beware, because all of those things are of the quality that can be had for $ 2 at any garage sale. It appears to me that they’re importing a lot of junk specifically to sell online. None of it appeared to have been part of an estate that was being liquidated, which sets up a certain expectation. I mean, if items in an estate were worth putting online to sell, they must be nice, right? Wrong. This stuff is junk and should have been sent to the Goodwill.
One mistake of mine was not understanding that an auction is simply a cheap way to sell cheap things without having the bother and expense of maintaining a retail store. Another mistake was thinking that the items had value at, or approaching, the minimum opening bid. Not in the least! Things with a $ 50 minimum bid were worth about $ 5. I bought two lots of three small vases each, only to receive six small… what can I call them? little wall plaques? They were meant to be hung on a wall so they were like vases cut vertically in half. Quite cheesy, actually.
Another item, a metal urn, came to me damaged. I haven’t asked them to accept it back, mostly because I’m so embarrassed and disgusted with myself for being such an ignorant and gullible consumer.