Chiswick Auctions Omdömen 

Bought some items via saleroom auctions, won the bid for a collection of autographs on the basis that they do “in-house” shipping (which their information still shows”. Only found out after its outsource this to ARTA shipping company . They quoted £150 for shipping . By far the most expensive I’ve paid , however it stated it was a priority service of 3 to 4 days. 7 days after their collection and I still don’t have tracking information .
Warning - be aware their shipping policies have changed and their prices are very steep! Service on delivery is to be desired ! You have been warned ….

Sold 5 lots in their camera sale made over £90 ended up with£4.18 after the offtakes of £15 per lot fee and various admin fees

I am writing to address my recent experience with your Auction House, which unfortunately has left me greatly disappointed. As a seasoned collector of books and antique items since 1999, I have had the privilege of engaging in numerous successful transactions with various auction houses, both domestically and internationally, including esteemed establishments such as Sotheby's and Christie's. However, my encounter with your organization over the past five months has regrettably been far from satisfactory.

My initial contact with your company was prompted by a recommendation from Sotheby's, leading me to reach out to Mr. .... to discuss the items I wished to consign. Despite the logistical challenge of the items being located at a friend's residence due to their illness, Mr. ... graciously arranged for their retrieval, for which I am sincerely grateful. Our correspondence commenced in late December 2023, during which Mr. ....... remained responsive and attentive to my inquiries.

As I was unfamiliar with your auction schedule and the appropriate department for my items, I continued to liaise with Mr. ..... It was conveyed to me that the Indian and Islamic art department would evaluate my items, with further communication to follow regarding their inclusion in an upcoming auction. However, after waiting for over a month without any updates, I proactively reached out to Mrs. ........, the individual responsible for the aforementioned department, to seek clarification. Despite multiple attempts to establish communication via email, my efforts were met with silence. Subsequently, I resorted to contacting Mr. ...... by phone to express my concerns, which prompted a response from Mrs. ......

Over the course of our correspondence, Mrs. ....... and I discussed the auction calendar, item evaluations, and the logistics of their inclusion in the auction. While my preference was for all items to be auctioned together, Mrs. ....... advised against this approach, citing potential saturation of similar items in a single auction. Ultimately, it was agreed that the items would be dispersed across multiple auction dates.

Anticipation built over the five-month period, culminating in the expectation that a selection of my items would feature in the auction scheduled for April 23. However, upon visiting your website, I was dismayed to discover that none of the 42 pieces I Consigned were listed for the upcoming auction. Despite reaching out to Mrs. ....... to rectify the apparent oversight, my attempts to seek clarification were met with silence. When I subsequently addressed the matter via phone, I was informed that my approval for the final auction listing had not been secured, nor had I signed any relevant documentation—a claim which perplexed me, as I had diligently responded to all communications and provided my consent for the items to be auctioned.

In light of these circumstances, I must express my profound disappointment with the unprofessional conduct demonstrated by your Auction House. As someone who prides themselves on maintaining the highest standards of professionalism throughout their career, I find it disheartening to have my trust undermined and my time seemingly squandered. It is my firm belief that this breakdown in communication and execution stems from the absence of face-to-face interaction, which has hindered our ability to establish a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Regrettably, I am obliged to reconsider any future collaborations with your Auction House, as I cannot afford to jeopardize my confidence and endure further inefficiencies.

If there are still people who want to work with this company and put their works up for auction, please reconsider after this message!

Unlike another opinion bellw, I got an effective answer on appropiate time from Chiswick Auctions.

I asked for the condition report that Chiswick Auctions readily offer for an item that I was keen to buy. I was concerned about whether their online photography (which was rather poor) accurately showed any problems.

In the event I had no response from them at all.

If their report had been positive, I would have bid more than I did online. This may have done a disservice to their seller as the bidding may have been higher.

Whenever I've been at their premises I've generally found their staff to be rather snooty and stand-offish. I'm not sure why - they're hardly Christie's.

Not recommended.

Contacted chiswick auctions i have a handwritten diary photoalbum belonging to a Luftwaffe adjutant who was with erwin rommel and albert kesslring and was also present with Herman goring in sicily his diary is incredible emailed them for a certified valuation to ignorant to reply your loss this diary is worth a considerable amount of money on a professional level don't have time for your ignorance plenty of other auctions houes would be very interested in this a big thumbs down. Sent all the photos wrote a complete history Thanks for wasting my time completely useless.

Extremely poor communication and shabby and unprofessional. Didn't even to bother to answer emails....although very politely sent by this writer.
I asked for my original receipt of the items I was selling- ignored my polite emails. Sold 1 piece of the 2 fine art's I had in the Novemever 2022 auction but had the audacity to return my unsold property in an appalling state. I had submitted my works with conservation glass and professionally framed. Instead my unsold property was stuffed into a Ikea type frame with cardboard backing which was stapled! I am shocked at this behaviour of MD the sales rep. I have sent in a complaint but radio silence from.auction house. I am very disappointed and will not use this auction house again.

I was not impressed by the overall service provided by Chiswick auctions in terms of communication and the (what I can only describe as) exorbitant fees charged. To give an example on one of my items which sold with buyers premium for £625.00, i received just £383.00. They - like all auction houses nowadays- have a slew of add ons such as “insurance” and “advertising” on top of the already high sellers percentage fee. I can see how the auction house has such plush offices.
The reason I consigned items to Chiswick is because i am writing an article on the best way to sell antiques and the items i sold were in a specialist sale but the sale itself was quite disappointing with my lots making reserve or below and quite a few items in the sale remained unsold. I realize that an auction is just that.....the items might do well or not, however I was hoping that a specialist sale would maximise my potential. What I did find quite annoying is that having consigned my lots i received an email shortly before the sale to reduce my reserves to such a level that I would have preferred just to keep the items rather than selling...I am not sure whether this was a conscious tactic by them or not
Then after the auction there was no word from them. Weeks passed and i emailed them to no avail. Then I thought i would mention about my article and then finally i received a response .
The whole experience has left me a bit disappointed with Chiswick Auctions. I know that auctions cannot guarantee a good sale but was hoping for at least a first class customer service for the high fees charged,
I am sure many people will have positive experiences with Chiswick but I can only review my personal experience and it was not a particularly good one.

Registered to bid they rang me up and asked for a deposit as it was a high value item I wanted the telephone bid for
In good faith I gave them £1000 they requested
to be told if I didn’t win the lot , k would get my £1000 back straight away
Still waiting
Not impressed
Good lesson learnt they could have made another 35% on top

I think I should call it bad luck, that is what I’ve called the watch I’ve had the misfortune of buying from Chiswick auctions, OK, I didn’t go to view it first because I thought I could trust the valuation,, never mind,, I’ve just paid £156.00 for something that has no value at all, only good for the dustbin,, how can a so called ! Expert ! accept this into any sort of auction??????

I went there with some eighteenth century engravings and some ceramics. They weren’t interested and that was fair enough.
However the manner of the bloke that I spoke to was really unfriendly and rude. I couldn’t understand what he was saying as his Welsh accent was virtually incomprehensible.
I would never go back there and hope that they go bust.

In May this year I submitted an uncommon antiquarian book to their Erotic sale, which they realistically estimated and protected with a fair reserve. The book failed to reach its reserve, probably because of its obscurity, and I was advised to resubmit it to their Rare Book sale at the end of June. The book was duly offered with a slightly lower estimate and with a fixed reserve. This time it sold in excess of its higher estimate at a price with which I was well pleased.
In my experience I found Chiswick Auctions to be efficient and professional and I am happy to recommend them to anyone seeking to sell high value books, even those of an obscure nature.

I asked about a reserve in my online valuation request but they ignored/missed that in their reply, so I replied to their email, again asking about a reserve - no reply. If they don't want to give a reserve, why not just say so?

Appalling service purchased and paid for items. Travelled over an hour to collect only to be advised that one of the items could not be located. Had absolutely zero prior communication advising of this. Very good client had placed the item with a collector who is now rather disappointed to say the least. Highly unprofessional auction house with a clear lack of diligence. Did not even have the decency to refund the item immediately.