auction house lost my auction win

RFW

theoretica said:

Perhaps not bother up trying because the easy first step might not work?

Continue to kick up a fuss, tell the auction house they will report to police/art loss themselves, and follow through.  Check the T&Cs on the auction but it probably became the buyer's as soon as the hammer fell so this is the OP's item that has been lost or stolen, not the auction house's to make the decision over. Even if they probably don't want to do anything much because it isn't worth the fuss to them - and the more fuss, the more damaged their reputation... There was a poster on here a few years ago where something very similar happened but the auction house then did find the painting.

Unless it's a lot of money or they have evidence of theft they won't be calling the police. Things get lost in auction houses all the time, it's the nature of the business. They'll likely pay out the vendor on the sale price and cover it themselves. I can't imagine it will make much of a dent in their reputation no matter what fuss is made. I'd be politely badgering them rather than being mean about it.

theoretica

RFW said:

theoretica said:

Perhaps not bother up trying because the easy first step might not work?

Continue to kick up a fuss, tell the auction house they will report to police/art loss themselves, and follow through.  Check the T&Cs on the auction but it probably became the buyer's as soon as the hammer fell so this is the OP's item that has been lost or stolen, not the auction house's to make the decision over. Even if they probably don't want to do anything much because it isn't worth the fuss to them - and the more fuss, the more damaged their reputation... There was a poster on here a few years ago where something very similar happened but the auction house then did find the painting.

Unless it's a lot of money or they have evidence of theft they won't be calling the police. Things get lost in auction houses all the time, it's the nature of the business. They'll likely pay out the vendor on the sale price and cover it themselves. I can't imagine it will make much of a dent in their reputation no matter what fuss is made. I'd be politely badgering them rather than being mean about it.

Exactly - the auction house currently doesn't seem bothered.  And many buyers would perhaps accept the situation.  But the OP is emotionally involved and asked what can they do, which does include more than asking nicely.

RFW

theoretica said:

RFW said:

theoretica said:

Perhaps not bother up trying because the easy first step might not work?

Continue to kick up a fuss, tell the auction house they will report to police/art loss themselves, and follow through.  Check the T&Cs on the auction but it probably became the buyer's as soon as the hammer fell so this is the OP's item that has been lost or stolen, not the auction house's to make the decision over. Even if they probably don't want to do anything much because it isn't worth the fuss to them - and the more fuss, the more damaged their reputation... There was a poster on here a few years ago where something very similar happened but the auction house then did find the painting.

Unless it's a lot of money or they have evidence of theft they won't be calling the police. Things get lost in auction houses all the time, it's the nature of the business. They'll likely pay out the vendor on the sale price and cover it themselves. I can't imagine it will make much of a dent in their reputation no matter what fuss is made. I'd be politely badgering them rather than being mean about it.

Exactly - the auction house currently doesn't seem bothered.  And many buyers would perhaps accept the situation.  But the OP is emotionally involved and asked what can they do, which does include more than asking nicely.

Point taken. Although if OP ever wants the item then the best way to do it is to try and be nice. If it is a genuine error it may turn up again, if it isn't and it's been stolen or sold elsewhere then they've got no chance. Issuing the auction house with threats will just narrow the chance of OP ever seeing it.
I'd be putting some alerts for the item with Ibidder and see if it turns up somewhere else or even with the same auctioneer at a future date.

theoretica

RFW said:

 if it isn't and it's been stolen or sold elsewhere then they've got no chance.

[...]
I'd be putting some alerts for the item with Ibidder and see if it turns up somewhere else or even with the same auctioneer at a future date.

That is the point of the art loss register - it aims to make things unsaleable on the honest market.  Antique dealers are supposed to check all purchases over, I think, £3k and auction catalogues are checked too.   Of course, not everything relatively rare is that valuable or art so this may not be relevant to the OP's item.  Not threats, just making sure the incident is handled with seriousness.