Eric J.
Charged upfront fees but refused to perform services
Charged upfront fees but refused to perform services Gallery 56 in Clinton, MA accepted over 200 items of mine on consignment. The owners, Don and Nancy Koswieski, charged me over $1400. to pick up the items on whch they would collect 50% of the selling price of items sold but after a while they refused to complete the offering for sale of all the items after taking more than a year and half to offer for sale what items they did. They also damaged an antique clock of mine and were unwilling to reimburse me for its value and that became part of my original complaint to the Court.The Magistrate ordered that Don and Nancy Koswieski reinburse me for the value of the clock damaged while in their care. I took them to Small Claims Court also seeking "Specific Performance"—meaning that the Court compel the shop to finish offering my items for sale as had been originally agreed—but as it was a small claims action, the Magistrate did not rule on that specific issue. Instead, she ordered the items to be made available for me to pick up. I had not asked for their return nor for the associated pick-up charges in the original complaint, and because I had not done so, I could not later ask for the refund of the associated pick-up fees for those items. Though I had asked, many, many times, for the complete list of the items they had accepted on consignment but not offered for sale, inexplicably, they steadfastly refused to provide one. The shop never refunded me approximately $300 in pick-up fees for the items never offered for sale. Nancy and Don Koswieski had filed a counter-claim seeking to charge me storage and other fees, but they did not prevail and the Magistrate denied their claim. No matter how many times I had asked the shop to simply complete the offering of my property for sale, they refused. I was obliged to take them to Court as a result. I would certainly not recommend consigning to Gallery 56 in Clinton Massachusetts