Bidder Reviews for Mathesons' Gallery (34)

I sent many emails to the auction house, but no one responded to me

I had a very easy time with Matheson's. They recommended a shipper who did a great job. Everything went very smoothly.

Superior customer service and items purchases are exactly as described. Thank you.

I am a return buyer and I could not be more pleased with this auction house. The staff is first class and goes out of their way to make it a positive experience for the bidders. Their preferred shipper did a terrific job to safe guard my purchases. I have been buying through Live Auctioneers and online auctions for many years and have never found a comparable auction house.

Mathesons ’ Gallery was a pleasure to work with! Jan did an excellent job in staying in contact with me, helping me with pick up arrangements and payment. I am very pleased with all of the art work that I purchased. Everything was exactly as described and I could not be happier! It was such a breath of fresh air to work with a company with integrity and caring about customer service. Jan and her team wear very impressive and easy to work with. I would not hesitate buying again from her Gallery. A big shout out to Kai! He was also a pleasure to meet, prompt, respectful and kind! I hope to work with them again soon.

I had a very positive experience with Matheson’s gallery and their service and responsiveness was excellent. Jan went beyond the call of duty to accommodate my schedule. Would definitely do business with them again.

The items were as described, photographed well, and Jan is very pleasant.

Smooth transaction

Usually, auction houses that offer in-house (or captive shipping, like here) provide faster, smoother service (no delay for pickup). Not the case here. Took multiple calls/emails just to pay them to ship. And, I don't usually complain about the cost of shipping, but from my experience this was about 1.5-2.0x what it should have cost. I'd buy from Matheson's again, but I'd find a Florida UPS store to do the shipping.

Smooth transaction all around, thanks

AN ALL AROUND POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

No in house packing/shipping. Paid more for shipping then I did for purchased item. $50 for two perfume bottles and outside shippers charged $60. After 11 days I finally got my package.

Not bad experience, sold with price they offered even only one bidder. Invoice came quickly. Quick response for inquiry.

My auction experience was good. The photos were accurate, and crucially for me, Mathesons connected me with a shipper, who quoted me before the auction and performed according to promise. I don't think auction houses realize how important the shipper is. For someone far away, it is absolutely necessary, and how am I supposed to find a shipper? Also the shipping is a significant part of the cost and needs to be quoted. Finally the performance of the shipper is viewed by me as a critical part of the overall auction experience and not really separate from the experience of the auction house itself. Auction houses that just default on this obligation are in my mind significantly devaluing the items the are selling. In any event the pick up an shipping were according to bid and plan. The auction of my item started hours after the scheduled start of the auction and it would have been nice to get an estimate from the auction house of the likely time each piece would actually go on the block. But the auction was fair, I won, though I likely paid "full value" but I'm pleased with my purchase.

Tyler was helpful and did a good job.

After processing payment I contacted the Auction House to ask for local shipping, was then told they offered in-house. Was super happy to hear that because the won lot was for an antique painting with a fragile gesso frame and it lead me to feel very confident that it would be shipped properly. When I received the package it was more than a bit of a shock. The painting had not been securely wrapped, there was only loose styrofoam placed along the inside of the box, nor was insurance purchased for something that clearly should have had insurance. Of course the frame arrived destroyed. There were 56 broken pieces and 1 long stretch of fillet-making it impossible to repair. I contacted their shipper who apologized and said "At least the painting was undamaged". I then contacted the Auction House who then stated that they out-sourced their shipping (I have written proof otherwise) They too apologized and couldn't believe I was told that "at least the painting was undamaged" They then offered to try and find an alternative frame that might serve as a replacement. I never heard back from them. After 2 weeks I reached out again-only at the third (and final time) did they respond that they could not find a suitable frame and now their stance too is "At least the painting arrived undamaged". Highly Disappointed.

Very bad communication and a poor shipping policy!