Company Response
5/27/2024
Dear Sirs,
In responding to Mr. Riedl’s complaint, we believe that he is incorrect in his assertions. He did win a Miro lithograph from The Rug Life in our May 2nd, 2024 online auction, on the Live Auctioneers platform.
However, he claims that the crease in the lithograph was not described by The Rug Life in our auction listing. This is not true. I had contacted Mr. Riedl several days before receiving this BBB complaint. I had emailed him two screen shots from the May 2nd auction. I can provide these emails upon request.
The first screen shot shows the listing for the piece that he bought. I have underlined in red the following part of the description “This piece was produced specifically for the cover of Derriere Le Miroir in November 1978, on Vellum paper in Paris by Maeght France”. Obviously, since this is the cover for an art magazine, it will have a crease in the middle. It even has Derriere Le Mirroir printed on the piece.
The second screen shot is a picture of the piece. I have circled the area in red that clearly shows the crease.
Additionally, The terms and conditions of our auctions state the following in paragraph 1;
“All items are sold as-is. All sales are final. No returns. No exceptions”
The terms and conditions of our auctions state the following in paragraph 3;
“The photographs are part of the description. PB should examine them carefully before bidding.
Unless otherwise expressly stated in writing, any description of a Lot is based solely on visual
impressions, and is given solely for identification purposes, and does not create any warranty,
expressed or implied, or representation by TRL.”
The terms and conditions of our auctions state the following in paragraph 4;
“All items are sold as-is, where-is, how is, with all faults, known, apparent or otherwise. TRL does our best to describe the items. Our descriptions are in no way to be interpreted as a guarantee of any kind as to authenticity, age, condition, attribution, provenance, authorship, completeness, size and/or materials. The descriptions of item(s) appearing in the auction, and in advertising prior to theauction, are believed to be correct. However, ALL DESCRIPTIONS ARE OPINIONS AND NOT FACTS. PB shall be the sole judge of value, condition, age, genuineness, authenticity, defectiveness, attribution, provenance, authorship, completeness, or any other determinative bidding factor. Neither those descriptions nor any oral statements made by TRL, consignors and/or employees concerning any item shall be construed as a warranty, either expressed or implied.”
The Rug Life described the piece accurately and the crease is clearly in the picture from the auction. We have done nothing wrong and will not be offering Mr Riedl the refund that he requests. However, we will make the same offer that we made to him in our previous email.
If Mr. Riedl will send us back the Miro in the exact same condition as when we sent it to him, we will give him a full credit for the purchase price to use in a future auction. We will also add the return postage that he pays to that credit.
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