John Nicholson's Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers Review

Well total disappointment! I ve used this auction house regular. So I decided to spend a significant amount at there auction this time . I also use top experts to appraise n value my items also. 8 lots I ve just won and 4 are reproductions !

What appears to have happened Is the following :

They have accepted reproduction antiques from vendors for auction then completed the listings for them as genuine Antiques when they are not at all ! My opinion based on the Antiques so called I committed to buy After having them fully appraised !

According to my valuations and appraisel they are not genuine at all. Reproductions ! Later etc.

Complete scam I m afraid and when I raised this issue with them with evidence they tried to say the company I used where not experts when I m fact the company I use are all formally of Sotheby s , Christie s and other top auction houses across the world.

My emails were ignored until I rang in about it then I received a mobile call ! I challenged him appropriately he then when I said 3 of the lots I would not be paying for ! He d black list me across all auctions if I didn t pay for the lots ! I dealt with the auction house directly not an online selling platform.

I won t be scammed by this auction House when I have clear evidence that they have done.

Clearly not acceptable behaviour or practice to over inflate auction estimates at x3-x4 the actual value and even worse list them as genuine Antiques when they are clearly not !

Also not acceptable when they carry out valuations also! so In respect of that they must clearly know that they are in fact not genuine Antiques!

I stated before the complaint I m Not paying for 3 of the lots it should be 4 of them ! Out of 8 I ve offered to pay for the rest but I just like anyone else do not like getting scammed

Prior to that I was getting genuine high quality Antiques so this review just for clarification is based on 1 Auction day only without being nasty etc !

I think that s fair etc
Further Update :
I raised a complaint ! they said via email they would come to a mutual agreement! But when they found out I wrote this review they were getting a solicitor involved.

Even though I paid for most of the lots already and planned to pay for the rest anyway ! I just wanted to see how they would address the issue On 3 of the lots even though it should of been 4 of them.

Outcome:


So email sent for clarification of this and this is not a Malious review either !

At the end of the day don t accept reproduction or fake Antiques from A vendor and then put them through your auction as genuine!

If those lots were listed at their fair and accurate estimates then of course I would not of bid on them In the 1st place !



4 of them not Antiques at all and valued at x3-x4 below there auction estimated prices ! Even the insurance values were lower than there auction estimate

Only positive the Manager on how he addressed it ! until he found out I wrote this review so now they are just discriminating against me for a review and cancelled the whole sale

I Travel 370 miles to use this auction house so they obviously don t value you at all as a customer. If someone travels that far to there business obviously it s because they are good at what they do. But obviously on this occasion it was not the case !

Spitting out your dummies just because someone doesn t give a great review is just part of business on how things should be done correctly.

Have recently sold a couple of pieces here and have received a polite courteous service from everyone I had contact with.

Quality auction house which good range of products and helpful and friendly and knowledgeable staff

I contacted John Nicholson Auction House for a condition report on a wristwatch. I recieved a description and several high-quality photographs, from which, after examining them closely, I decided that the watch was, in all likelihood, a fake.

I contacted the auction house and informed them, via a very detailed email, listing all the points I felt demonstrated the watch to be a fake, and also advised that they not sell the watch until it had been verified by an expert, or, to at least alter the item description.



Unfortunately, my view seems to tally with the experiences of others here.

I have been buying at auction regularly for years through John Nicholson's and have always found them to be extremely helpful. Great bargains too!

Fantastic place full of quality antiques,people are friendly welcoming and the place is easily accessible with nice big parking.Everything is in order and neatly presented.Prices are decent for the pieces displayed.Worth a visit for sure

Do not trust them with your absentee bids as they will find a way to bid up the price for you (by someone of their own I guess). Once, I left an absentee bid for a lot, and they accidently outbid my highest bid by one increase, but still insist on selling the lot to me at my highest bid because apparently they do not want to buy the lot themselves. This is a costly and painful experience and I only share it here to stop them from fooling anyone else!!!

Have contacted Nicholson s twice by phone and both times was promised a callback - that was a week ago. Not a company that values Customer Service or basic good manners. Certainly would not recommend.

Interesting how this shambolic company removes negative feedback from customers calling them out for fake reviews from the family of staff members. Desperate measures to drag themselves from the gutter. Such a sad, embarrassing and unprofessional marketing ploy.

I have always received a very professional service at John Nicholson's auctioneers.

Great auction house, especially as they do not do internet bidding, which makes it a lot easier to get a good deal.

Having near bid in a live online auction before, I can highly recommend the thrill of the chase!

Having read a few mixed reviews below I felt I should leave one myself. Having experiences of auction houses all over the UK and Europe, I have no hesitation in recommending and praising the Fine Art department at John Nicholson's. Most auction companies have little or no specialist fine art expertise in-house but that is certainly not the case here. Buffy Parker is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced fine art departmental heads around and entirely trustworthy.

Large general old type auction room selling everything at every level. All well laid out with space to see and get about. Large easy car park. Out in a lovely rural location.

bought 2 watches,and i found out later the diamonds on it were not OEM and one watch had a bad movement,i will never buy watches from them,

John Nicholson auctioneer will scam every pennies out of your pocket. Becareful when dealing with this company.

Cornucopia of items quick work of auctioneer no shilly shallying. BANG YOU'VE BOUGHT IT

Excellent auction house! Went there for the first time today for a general household auction, and we bought six items for under
100 pounds. Very well run with professional, helpful staff, a special thanks to Sebastian who helped us to load the items into our car. Also to the lady who runs the cafe during the auction, nice sandwiches and drinks. That was helpful because the building isn't near anywhere that you can buy refreshments.

Bought an item on their online auction and drove two hours to pick it up. Only to realise that it was a damaged piece which was once repaired with cracks that are very obvious but hidden/not photographed in the catalogue. When asked about it in person they said it is my responsibility to ask for a condition report which I understand but a damage that splits the object into two is not a minor damage included in a condition report it s something to majorly consider as an auction house whether it is good enough to sell at all as a lot in their auction. And then to describe the piece in good condition and not mention the repair at all in the description! Auction house washed their hands of any responsibility for condition of items. Terrible business mentality feel scammed. Will not be participating in any of their auctions again and want to warn everyone else to please be cautious.

large numbers of damaged items. e.g Doulton figures with heads off and re-glued (estimated to be at full retail price). a G Hill "Wemyss" Pig smashed to bits and glued. other auction houses manage to mark damaged condition pieces a/f to inform potential buyers whether or not trip is worthwhile & avoid disappointment - wasted a lot of time examining the catalogue, researching the items prior to the visit, driving one hour to get there etc only to leave disappointed at poor condition of the lots.

John Nicholson = Atrocious customer service.

The reviews online speak volumes about this third rate operation.

I will never buy from them again.

I've always found this company professional and helpful and would recommend them to anybody.