Spectrum Wine auctions

[David_T1]

@Michael Powers

@jordan whitehead

Haven’t bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

I think that they are contractually obligated to sell the wine to you. They would have the option to find the wine or cover the difference in what you paid and what it would cost to get the wine elsewhere. Hard to imagine the recovery would be worth the effort.

Their terms & conditions are a bit murky here. I’m not a lawyer to discuss the legal details, but on the one hand they state

“Auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw any lot at any time, even after the hammer has fallen, until the Bidder has taken physical possession of the lot.”

Contrast that with

“on the fall of the Auctioneer’s hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest Bidder”

As a third caveat:

“Once the hammer has fallen and the Auctioneer has announced the winning Bidder, the Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for the lot”

So the title is yours, you’re unconditionally bound to pay for it, yet they can withdraw it at any time, even if it’s yours and you’ve paid but not taken posession??

[andy_velebil]

I’ve generally had very good luck with Spectrum. However, on two occasions I’ve won a lot and they delivered the wrong wine (completely wrong wine and vintage). When I’ve called them to return the error and get the wine I won, they’ve told me both times they made a mistake and don’t have the wine I won. That seemed odd to me as how do you list a completely different wine that what you have. I could understand a vintage error (typo, hard to read old label, etc), but how do you mistake a 1970 Dow’s for a 1963 Quinta do Noval?

I’ve only had one other bottle to return due to being in a condition not as described, but this is no different than any other auction house I’ve dealt with so no biggie there.

That said, every time I’ve dealt with them they have been very responsive and took care of the issue (refund, or I still kept the wrong lot as it ended up being something I liked and was at a good price). This good customer service is why I still bid there as it makes up for the odd error.

[AAgrawal]

@David_T

@Michael Powers

@jordan whitehead

Haven’t bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

I think that they are contractually obligated to sell the wine to you. They would have the option to find the wine or cover the difference in what you paid and what it would cost to get the wine elsewhere. Hard to imagine the recovery would be worth the effort.

Their terms & conditions are a bit murky here. I’m not a lawyer to discuss the legal details, but on the one hand they state

“Auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw any lot at any time, even after the hammer has fallen, until the Bidder has taken physical possession of the lot.”

Contrast that with

“on the fall of the Auctioneer’s hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest Bidder”

As a third caveat:

“Once the hammer has fallen and the Auctioneer has announced the winning Bidder, the Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for the lot”

So the title is yours, you’re unconditionally bound to pay for it, yet they can withdraw it at any time, even if it’s yours and you’ve paid but not taken posession??

I would absolutely love to hear a legal perspective on this. It’s fascinating.

[J_Wei]

Spectrum is very local to me . . . free delivery. With that said, only bid and won 1 auction, pair of 1999 Bouchard Montrachets. Lot’s of people mentioned they can’t get a hold of people on the phone, but I’ve always gotten through . . . think I talked to a gal named Lauren? (could be wrong on the name) Anyways, not jumping for joy on Spectrum as they do indeed cater to the HK audience far more than here, but not complaining either.

[J_a_y_C_a_i_n]

I’ve got a buddy who work there. too. I’ve never bought form them. Nonetheless, I emailed a link to this thread to him.

[T_Altmayer]

Funny, a couple of years ago, I sent off a list of wines to them and WineBid to get estimates. Two emails and no response from them, so off they went to WineBid. I have been using Heritage for both buying and selling lately and both experiences have gone very smoothly.

[jordan_whitehead]

will update if and when this is resolved

the issue 2 years ago was one, the auction starting a few hours late (after midnight local time) and moving in slow motion. Second, I had won a lot but they decided about 20 lots later to reopen the lot. Was outbid by someone in HK