Bidder Reviews for Altair Auctions (51)

I was supposedly the winning bid for a painting, but never was charged for the item, never received it, and never heard from this auction house despite several emails.

i have tried contacting this auction house many times. i have never received this item.

Twice I have bought jades at Altair. When asked specifically before auction if item was real jade, they assured me they were. Wrong! Modern crude pieces in soft stone. Either they do not know there stuff or they are less than forthcoming. Not for true collectors!

Excellent service

We paid Altair for the item and for shipping. They refuse to ship the item. We have contacted Altair. They do not respond.

Have had an awful ongoing bad experience with Altair/Essex. They will NOT return phone calls & will not reply to emails. This has been an awful experience. Still NOT resolved after 4 months. Robert

On 29th November I won a stem bowl, after payment I should have received a shipping notice from altair auctions, however I did not receive, so I sent an email to them, but they did not reply, I have sent their preferred shipper an email twice, they have not replied, since then I have sent 5 more emails, with not one reply. I still do not have the stem bowl, or any email explaining why I haven't received it or why they haven't sent me the shipping invoice. I would not use them again. I am an international buyer, I have bought from many other different auction houses without any issues, why this auction house does not reply it is anyone's guess?? I'm still waiting and still sending emails to them, hopefully this issue will eventually get resolved, but their lack of interest I doubt I will receive my item

I still haven't received the item. I received a shipping quote from Michael "(apparently in house shipper) which I accepted. I received no feedback from him so I sent him another email. Still no response. Better Business Bureau has some negative comments about the auction house and its sister house Essex Auctions. I emailed Live Auctioneers but have not received a response. I'm hoping this is all a mix up but I'm not sure. What is your experience with Altair Auctions. Am I the only one with complaints?

I already paid my purchase and received my order but my account from Liveauctioneers still shown payment due.

The item I received is not authentic. I try to reach out to get a solution, but no body answer the phone.

A ll of staffs got very good experience for the service to their customers!

Slow in shipping and overcharges twice what other houses charge. But worse, a woman named Caroline has to be the rudest employee I have ever interacted with. She has ZERO training in customer service and I won't EVER be using this place again. It's just not worth the nasty, self-important attitude that one has to suffer through with her! If Wang, the owner, was paying attention, he'd fire her.

Took too long to deposit check, provide shipping info. Very un-responsive to calls and email regarding status of purchase.

We ask many time above the shipping information after that receive the money, Never return email, I still not one can help me above the shipping yet.

slow response, likely fake stickers to the bottom and many of the provenances are likely to be fake as well

auction date 9/18/16; invoiced and paid 10/1/16; told by Altair that shipper would call me with quote; no call received so I called Altair and was told that Altair would contact shipper; as of 10/18/16 still no contact from shipper; on 10/17/16 received notice that Altair Auctions filed dispute; contacted Altair on 10/18/16 to discuss dispute and point out item invoice had been paid on 10/1/16 and they blamed computers for the mistake. Once again Altair promised to have shipper contact me. Appears that there is another auction house in CA involved in this. If I don't hear from shipper by Friday I will cancel purchase and file complaint.

The shipping is too expensive, a string of beads less than 20 grams, mailing costs $87.5. I haven't received it yet, and I don't know what to send to me.

The auction house "lost" my item. When I called the shipper to arrange for shipping, he told me that Altair Auctions could not find my item. I called the auction house, and they said they couldn't find it and to give them a couple of days to talk to their inventory manager and they would get back to me. They never got back to me. I had to call again, and they confirmed that my item was "lost." They did refund me my close to $1, 000 payment as well as about $50 shipping charge. Nevertheless, I smell a rat, and I will NEVER do business again with Altair auctions. A sleazy enterprise.

After a number of dealings with different auction houses, I realize that Live auctioneers just acting as a middle man more like Farfetch and Net-A-Port in fashion businesses. However, their payment systems are far superior than yours. Your payment system is a pain on the neck! Most importantly,, most of your auction houses are selling faked Chinese antique porcelain pieces. Most of the seal mark and period Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong are fakes! I am getting my finfegers crossed and waiting the shipment from Altair Auctions from whom I have bought pieces most of them with very old paper sticks reads "C. T. Loo", 'Sidney L. Moss' , "Spinks" etc. These pieces are also with provenance of Dr. P. H. Plesch Collection. I HOPE THOSE PIECES WERE NOT BROCKEN AND REPAIRED. On the subject of Chines Scroll Paintings, I hope that they are not photo copies. If those auction houses are selling them as' 'wood block' 'then they still have little value just like people are buying lithograph of western paintings. Best regards. Frank

I am still waiting for an estimate to ship my items??

I do not know for sure the auction manager for the goods. Did you sell things in your feelings is certainly a rarity gapum?

This auction house is committing fraud. Look them up and you can see that they have faked provenance on pieces and were investigated by the Department Of Justice and the FBI for both fraud and theft, as well as being sued for selling pieces. I did some research after they were stalling on shipping my item after I provided them with my credit card information, and ascertained that the item I bid on had a provenance. I contacted galleries listed as previously exhibiting the piece and they can not confirm that it was ever shown there. Also the labels on the base do not match with authentic ones, and the handwriting on all of the pieces are the same, even though they are supposedly from multiple collections. (The DOJ/FBI investigation surrounded a provenance created by putting stickers on the bottom of the piece; this is strangely similar to my situation.) They never got back to my repeated follow ups on my invoice; the sale was almost 4 weeks ago, and I provided my cc # the following day. Emails go unanswered. Very unprofessional and should be shut down for fraud.

HI? I just want to complain the Auction house. I am very very frustrated for the biding in Altair Auctions. I won the biding and paid for that for few weeks, and I tried to contact them for many times but I never got any response from them, I never got any information of shipper, I don't think I can get my goods. Altair Auctions is absolutely a cheating company, It is a very very negative experience. I am sure it is a big harm either for Altair Auctions or Your company. I just want them return my money immediately. Looking forward your further response Regards

the worst auction house in the world. is unfair and unreliable. have lost an item i already paid. i have strongly urged to pay invoices already paid and so on........!!!!!

They never responded to my email regarding payment and shipping. No response at all.

purchased lot 86 viaLiveauctioneers.com on the 22Nov.. As stated by the Altair and re-presented by you in your website that the item was part of George De Menance collection sold by Spink & Co, I do have a question on it authenticity of the statement. Can you comment or provide me some comfort to it authenticity. Stating an opinion have no warranty as and opinion is and opinion of oneself. However, stating a fake provenance as a fact is fraud. I strongly suggest for the reputation ofLiveauctioneers.com, you should be more careful in selecting your clients on your site. rgds

I won the item, I paid by credit card next day, they want me to use their in-house shipping. I found tey over charged, I called their shipping deparment, they were not happy with me, thought I want bargain. He asked me "what price you want to pay" roughly. Since I have similar thing ship in from the same area, cost me $26.50. I told the guy should not over $30. then he said "I will charge $30". still over charge me. I didn't want to ague, just let it goes. The second time I won an item, I paid next day, I told the woman on the phone, I don't want to use their in-house shipper, she still pass the phone to their shipping department without telling me. I hung up and called again, i told the woman again I will get my own shipper, will let them know who will pick up the item for me. The same day I got a email from their shipping guy, said will pick-up and ship my item. I answered I will not pay it if they insist to do it. It is no professional, they again my right. When I made purchase, I expected to enjoy it. They done this to me two times already. It was so unpleasant. Next time even I see something I like from this company, I have to think it twice. Thank for giving me the chance to tell. Grace.

descriptions and dating of items need to be more careful. The provenance stated are questionable. i may try them one more time to judge their honesty, as trust is the most important aspect of online sales.

I have purchased a lot from both Altair and their sister auction house Essex, on both LiveAuctioneers and Invaluable. 1. I had a dispute with Altair where I requested a condition report as a piece looked damaged and repaired on the images but I could not be certain. They ASSURED me that the piece was NOT damaged, however when it arrived it was damaged and repaired. It took numerous mails to get a response and they will only do a refund if I return the piece, but they will not cover shipping which means that I will be out of pocket if I ship the item back as international shipping (both ways) will be at least half what I paid for the item. They are not interested in an amicable resolution. 2. Quite a few goods are not as described and one needs to be very cautious. 3. I purchased a piece and they now cant find it after selling it to me-one would think that when you offer something for sale it is actually available. 4. Overall not a pleasant experience.