Auction House sold my stuff without permission

sarahjw

I left some jewellry at an auction house in a nearby town for a free valuation, when I went to collect the items a couple of weeks later they had been sold at auction without my permission.

Two of the items were of great sentimental value and I had no intention of selling them - some of the items have subsequently been recovered by the auction house but the most important one has not. I am a little unhappy about the steps taken to recover my items but naively trusted them to do their best. I sent a recorded delivery letter before christmas to the Chief Executive asking what she intended to do about the situation and have had no reponse.

I would be grateful if anyone can give me advice on how to proceed with this - do I just need to go to a Solicitor?

Thanks

scheming_gypsy

Probably worth a half hour free consultation with a solicitor to see where you can go from here.

Torry_Quine

When you left the items was there a time frame when you had to pick them up.

sarahjw

Torry_Quine wrote: »

When you left the items was there a time frame when you had to pick them up.

No time frame - assured they would be kept securely

Thanks for advice re solicitor - do they all give a free half hour?

Torry_Quine

If they gave no time when they needed to be collected then you definitely have a case by the sound of it.

shaun_from_Africa

Even if the auction house claims that you were given a date to collect the items by and that you failed to do this, they still had no right to dispose of them so quickly.

There is a laid down procedure that must be followed before disposing of uncollected or abandoned goods.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/keeping_lost_found_and_uncollected_goods.htm

somethingcorporate

Pick up the phone and find a solicitor with a free half hour, check websites or have a look in the yellow pages.

Most do!