Business ProfileforWilliam A. Smith, Inc.

I want to share my very happy and positive experience with the William Smith Auctions in Plainfield, New Hampshire.

I have participated in internet auctions for several years, and learnt the hard way that there are some Auction Houses that pretty much washed their hands of any problems afterwards, once they got my payment for a lot I won. My experience with William Smith Auctions in Plainfield, NH is the exact opposite - - they indeed look out for the bidder even after they got their payment ! On April 30th, I participated in their Auction, and won an art work in frame and glass. After the Auction House got my payment, they transferred my lot to the shipper they arranged to handle shipping, viz., ***************************** in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

To make a very long and unpleasant story short, I never got the shipment ! It was packaged by the shipper and insured (i.e., declared value cost added) and shipped by FedEx. En route during transportation, FedEx discovered extensive damage inside the box (broken glass rattling) and returned the package with the broken glass and badly damaged art work to the shipper. The shipper filed damage claim two times , both denied by FedEx which stated that the packaging by ********************* did not meet FedEx standards. Ms. ******, the office manager at the shipping company called me on July 1st to give me the bad news, and she also told me that ********************* owed me nothing, and that I needed to take my fight with FedEx directly to get my money back ! She also said that her boss offered me 50% of what was owed to me as a good will gesture even though he owed me nothing. I informed her that, since FedEx denied their claims and since they did the packaging, ********************* is legally responsible to give me the full amount (the insured value plus shipping costs). She disagreed ! So, on July 6th, I called William Smith Auctions directly, and spoke to Ms. Lori V******, their Office Manager and explained to her the problem with the Shipper. She immediately decided to intervene on my behalf in the dispute, and got from me all the details. I emailed her the receipts (my bidding invoice and shipping cost), FedEx tracking etc. She immediately alerted the owner, Mr. William S**** about this problem with the Shipper. She called ****** at ********************* immediately, and persuaded her to file a damage claim with FedEx a third time. Finally, by August 4th with no refund coming either from FedEx or from *********************, Ms. Lori V****** talked to Mr. William S****, and called to tell me not to worry and that she would get me a resolution in a couple of days. Indeed, on August 9th, Ms. Lori V****** mailed me a check for the full amount (my bidding price plus shipping costs), even though ***************************** was still stubbornly denying any responsibility !

This kind gesture by Ms. Lori V****** and Mr. William S**** confirmed to me that the William Smith Auction House is indeed an honest-to-goodness highly reputable Auction House that looks after its customers. I recommend William Smith Auctions wholeheartedly ! I will continue to participate in their auctions.