Bonhams Reviews 190

I feel terribly treated by Bonhams ,discriminated against as foreigner and for not being a VIP antique dealer.i was not allowed to sell at their auction as my piece is apparently below 2000 pounds threshold whilst at their last auction dozens of pieces sold for less then 1000 some for 100 pounds.their explanation "it's discretionary" -you read it's discriminatory!I felt deliberate slap in the face and then a sham sorry we slapped you.i wrote to senior management.instead of accepting my piece and correcting their staff mistreatment of an customer, they asked me to refrain from emailing the person who repeatedly discriminated against me .I asked to make an appointment to view an auction earlier.they asked me who I am,my name. when they realized I am not a VIP and I have foreigner accent they assumed I don't have much money and I was refused an appointment saying other people are coming.
How awful treatment of an customer in 21st century

Asked for a valuation on a quality item , no response for the second time recently. I find them arrogant, pretentious, self serving so called experts. The absolute minimum would be some sort of response, even if it was a disappointing evaluation. Any response would be better than no response at all.

Excellent and trustable Auction House

I consigned a photo in Bonhams July '21 Space Auction which was sold ($750) but the unfortunately the purchaser did not pay. After calling and emailing, A. Stackhouse (Bonhams space rep) advised in Sept.."the worst case scenario is that we can re-offer the photo". This was Stackhouse's only response until Dec '21 where he promised to chase it up, the first week in Jan '22. We're now into the third week into Jan and this guy hasn't had the common decency to reply to my emails or calls. This photo may be small $$ to a large auction house but it speaks volumes for their customer service. Bonhams also ran another Space auction in Nov '21 which my photo was not offered. I'm very disappointed with Bonhams and won't be consigning with this auction house anytime soon. Challenges happen in all business', it's how they are handled that determines the merit of a company.

Arrogant attitude. Play games with VAT fees. Recommended shippers overcharge and play dumb. Gravy train all around for them - buyer beware. Make excuses for poor service.

My son and I attended a mph aution at Bicester Heritage 3 months ago. He bid on a Ford Thunderbird but was supposedly outbid. The car didn't sell and he was told an offer for less than his bit would probably be accepted,but No one was really interested in following in it up. I believe the auction tried to run his bid up to get past the reserve price but it back fired. Later we made an offer and left it with Tyger Tholstrup who was in charge of dealing with this car. He has never contacted me but I have called in the the office on numerous occasions and tried phoning and emailing etc...
He was supposed to be trying to negotiate with the owner but 3 months later the car still sits in their compound at Bicester with flat tyres and has just been left dumped outside in the elements. It is truly disgusting and disappointing beyond belief. We own over 40 cars ranging from the 1930 - present day and are keen collectors/ restorers. Since the auction we have purchased various other vehicles for all sorts of people all of which have been better than Bonhams. We've brought vehicles for other classic/ vintage auctions and have always had good service. My son did successfully buy another car in the same auction but this didn't make them take him anymore serious.

I was interested in entering a vehicle in the Bonham's Beaulieu sale, 2021. I contacted Tyger, and supplied all the details and a vast number of photographs. A valuation of 4 to 8 thousand was touted. This sparked my interest, but as the car was a barn find I was advised to sell with no reserve. The car required restoration, but I did supply 4 new genuine Mercedes wings with the vehicle ( now unobtainable, so valuable in their own right ) I personally delivered the car to Beaulieu, there where no directional signs as to where to go, no help unloading. Lot of talking not a lot of action. Car was sold for exactly half the lowest estimate. £ 2000. probably the value of the wings on their own. It has then taken numerous phone calls and e mails to get paid , over 3 weeks, and I end up with £ 1500 for a car estimated at up to £ 8000. To add insult to injury, the car is now for sale on E Bay and making considerably more than Bonham's obtained. So there is the answer to any question about using Bonham's, their services are rubbish, valuations ,highly inaccurate, they are slow payers, and you will get more money and paid quicker on E Bay. This is 100% genuine review, it was my car and my experience. Needless to say I will not be using this company again, whole heartedly unprofessional, in my experience.

First of all their software and websites are very poorly designed. Then they insist on me providing them with my bank account data before they will pay me. Apparently they do not want to issue checks!! Reluctantly (they do not seem very trustworthy) I agreed, but the form I filled out must be faxed to them, AND THAT NUMBER DOES NOT ANSWER.
Don't even think of using Bonhams as an auction house!

I was interested in a car at a recent MPH sale and I got in contact with your Richard Stafford. Richard could not do enough for me - he toured the car for me while I was on the phone and efficiently dealt with all my questions. At the auction itself he assisted me with a telephone bid. He is an asset to your team and I look forward to dealing with him again.

Very helpful indeed prior to a recent clock auction with expert advice. Excellent condition report sent in good time enabling me to make decisions.

James Stratton the clock expert is always very helpful and knowledge. When you are buying clocks and live in Australia its important to have an expert on whom you can rely to give honest feedback in addition to excellent photos.

love it . Nice service.

A wonderful, efficient organisation.

Great experience, have always been from the first time I bid at their auction

The lamp does not light up. So I have to look into getting it rewired which I don't think is a big deal but until I get it done I don't have a working lamp. The condition report did say the wire was frayed but didn't say it wasn't in working condition. The lamp did arrive in good condition. Something might have changed in shipping. I just need to get it rewired.

A lamp restorer by me fixed the wiring and electrical components for only $75. The lamp looks beautiful and everything is great. I had a great experience with Bonhams.

I think it's ok. What else you want me to elaborate?

Treated my husband so well as he consigned his collection of watches to Bonhams in New York.
Especially Max Traber in New York and Heather in Seattle

We would recommend Bonhams to anyone wanting a very knowledgeable group of specialists and a great experience.

I have had two sales with Bonhams and my experience has been the same in both. The two people that I have dealt with directly, David Hancock and Kristi Lavis have both been very helpful, courteous and efficient. My only reason for four stars and not five is that on both occasions it was necessary to chase the payments from Bonhams which were very slow. On both occasions a call to Kristi to speak to the accounts department produced the required result quickly.