Auction house prevaricated over courier collection times, now closed due to coronavirus. Rights?

Tobster86

Asking on behalf of a family member who purchased several items with a total worth of ~£400 via an online auction at Stroud Auction Rooms Ltd.

One of the items was disputed which led to a personal disagreement between family member and auction house CEO, now supposedly resolved as family member chose to accept the disputed item.

However, the auction house refused several visits from family member's appointed courier, stating that the items were "inaccessible due to being in storage", over the course of about two months. I believe that the prevarication is malicious due to the previous personal disagreement, though this is probably legally irrelevant.

Now the courier has been told by the auction house that they are completely closed until the end of March due to coronavirus.

Payment was by debit card.

What rights are applicable and what's a sensible course of action from here?

born_again

Possible chargeback for non receipt of goods.

elsien

According to their website, the saleroom is closed "until further notice."  As the lockdown is being reviewed in mid February I would be very surprised that a decision has been made to definitely close until the end of March.
The person needs to stop getting third hand information e.g. via the courier. 
The website said that their office is still being staffed and they are still doing home valuations, On that basis,  I would suggest a polite letter asking what actions they plan to take to make the items available and when. You could always reference any bits in the relevant guidance:

• non-essential retail, such as clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. These venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected without entering the premises) and delivery services.

and take it from there, depending on their response. But do it in writing, so that you have a written trail, not by phone. 

steampowered

We are only getting half the story, which makes it very difficult to advise. 

Your friend should contact the auction house directly to make arrangements for collection, not rely on second hand information from the courier.

The starting point will be to review the auction T&Cs which your friend agreed to, to determine whether the auction house has complied with those T&Cs or not. A chargeback may be possible if the goods were paid for with debit card, or a credit card dispute if the goods were paid by credit card.

Tobster86

elsien said:

According to their website, the saleroom is closed "until further notice."  As the lockdown is being reviewed in mid February I would be very surprised that a decision has been made to definitely close until the end of March.
The person needs to stop getting third hand information e.g. via the courier. 
The website said that their office is still being staffed and they are still doing home valuations, On that basis,  I would suggest a polite letter asking what actions they plan to take to make the items available and when. You could always reference any bits in the relevant guidance:

• non-essential retail, such as clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. These venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected without entering the premises) and delivery services.

and take it from there, depending on their response. But do it in writing, so that you have a written trail, not by phone. 

Thanks for the sluething! That definitely shapes the way forward with any legal proceedings.

However, surprisingly, I've just heard from the relative that their bank has instigated a debit chargeback; so all being well that's the end of the matter.

eddddy

Tobster86 said:

However, surprisingly, I've just heard from the relative that their bank has instigated a debit chargeback; so all being well that's the end of the matter.

The auction house might challenge the chargeback, and get it cancelled.

Or if the chargeback goes through, the auction house might persue your family member for the £400 - if they believe that they haven't breached the contract.

Or the contract might allow them to re-auction the goods, and then persue your family member for any shortfall (e.g. if the items fetch £300 when re-auctioned, they persue your family member for the £100 shortfall.)

KatrinaWaves

When you arranged couriers for pick ups that were refused, had you arranged those with the action house?