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moe

by: cheryl ehlers

Park West Gallery attempts settlement

Avery Hershkowitz Case Study Continued

Park West Gallery Attempts Settlement

by David Phillips for Fine Art Registry™

In our article of 21 September, The Art Auction Afloat – Continuing in a Long Tradition of Piracy on the High Seas, we detailed the experiences of Avery and Joyce Hershkowitz with regard to a Park West at Sea art auction.

Time has moved forward and there have been developments. A Jordan Sitter, who claims to be a Senior Auctioneer at Park West, reporting only to "Albert" [Scaglione], contacted Abe (along with at least two other Park West victims that we know of) and made certain offers.

Following is the e-mail correspondence in sequence. There were also phone conversations with regard to Abe's complaint.

First is an e-mail which came out of the blue to Mr. and Mrs. Hershkowitz several months after their cruise and their original request for rescission of their sale. (Please note that all spelling and grammar errors and typos are exactly as they were in the original. No attempt has been made to correct these.)


From: Jordan Sitter
Date: November 1, 2007 2:25:13 PM PDT
To: AbeChipz@aol.com
Subject: Your Park West File
Reply-To: Jordan Sitter

Dear Mr. and Mrs Hershkowitz,

Please allow to introduce myself, my name is Jordan Sitter and am the Sr. Auctioneer with Park West gallery. Sometimes Albert asks me to investigate certain customer service issues and take control of the file.

I have reviewed your requests and your file. I feel that your situation could have been handled differently, and I plan on correcting that. When I do step into client cases, I do so not only to protect client services, but also the client.

I will treat your case with the up most respect and will treat you fairly, I only ask that you do the same to me. Please understand I report only to Albert, the owner of Park West so can authorize just about anything to help resolve this case, including a refund if that is what you really want.

I am sure we can come to a quick, gentlemanly resolution to your situation between us.

After reviewing your file, I have to say a few things.

1- I stand behind what you purchased.. if it is the Max works you are questioning I have spoken to the Max studio in NY and they would be happy to speak to you, not only to confirm they are true Max works, but to verify what similar works sell for every day at retail pricing.

2- While I do stand behind the works, at the end of the day, your peace of mind and resolution is more important to me and the company than the money you spent. If speaking directly to the Max studio won't help, just let me know and I can authorize a refund immediatly.

I guess what I am asking is what is it you are looking for? Whatever you need I can take care of for you. If you want more info, great, if you would like your money back and be on with our lives, I can do that too. I am here to work with you.

Please let me know, you can reach me at this email, and we can speak next week. I would be happy to work directly with you to resolve this.

Sincerely,

Jordan Sitter
Sr. Auctioneer
Park West Gallery


To which Abe Hershkowitz replied:


Three months and all I get is a faceless, voiceless response. What class! It’s great to see PW cares about unhappy customers. I will not talk/respond to an email. If you are serious about putting this to rest, please call me. I have not finalized my agreement with a law firm that promises to put this right. I am scheduled to meet with INSIDE EDITION next month here in N Y, and I will tell my story.

YOU GUYS RUINED MY 25th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CRUISE. If you want to make it right, fine, otherwise, if you have seen my file, you know you reopened a closed account without permission, put unauthorized charges on my bill, my wife did not sign one of the bills, which is fraud. My sister-in- law, an A.D.A. for NY FRAUD DIVISION, feels I have legitimate case. With all the lawsuits coming up, I hope to be a lead case against what PW did. We are the perfect people to showcase what you did. Perfect credit rating, no record, witnesses, and with FAR’s help everyone will know as well.

What happened? Your lawyers said I have no recourse. What changed? I’m sure their in-depth look into my case was complete. They didn't talk to people who heard the whole episode. I have sworn statements attesting to what Justin, your employee, said and promised. Did you contact them?

I will wait a couple of days. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll see you on TV and in court.

Abe Hershkowitz, not Hershkouit as your bills are addressed, which I have asked to be corrected many times. But I guess you guys are to busy ripping people off.


This was followed up by a phone conversation in which Jordan Sitter promised Abe to refund the money but also to pay for a cruise to make up for spoiling the Hershkowitz’s 25th anniversary. Abe also insisted that his friend, Greg Schultz, be refunded his money too.

This was agreed to in principle and then Jordan sent the following email and attachment.


From: "Jordan Sitter"
Date: November 8, 2007 10:15:03 AM PST
To:
Subject: Re: Your Park West File
Reply-To: "Jordan Sitter"

Abe,

Attached is the non-disclosure for your review. It is very straight forward. If you agree to sign, then it is done. If you have your cruise receipts (cruise only) I can issue a credit for them by way of check.

Unfortunately our window on this is very short, and the non-disclosure agreement is non-negotiable.

I need an answer from your right away, as this is about to turn into a legal matter at which time I can have no involvement.

I would suggest you speak to your friend Mr. Schultz as well, if he agrees to sign a similar agreement, I can offer him a full refund, but as of next week, it is out of my hands, and he is in for a very messy legal battle in which all involved will be held accountable. Not only will he not receive a refund, or any of the compensation being promised by the crusading attorney, but I think he will have a most non-enjoyable few years that will turn into counter suites, and it is just not worth it.

look forward to hearing from you... please treat this as confidential.

Jordan


The following non-disclosure agreement was attached.

It is interesting to note that Park West considers it has the right or authority to enter into agreements on behalf of Celebrity Cruise Line and their affiliates, employees, etc. One wonders if Celebrity knows about this.

Also notable is the absence of any signature on the part of Park West or Celebrity or any affiliate, etc. Just a space for the Hershkowitzes to sign.

Further emails and phone conversations ensued. The spelling and grammatical errors and typos in the e-mails are as they were in the originals.



From: AbeChipz@aol.com
Date: November 8, 2007 7:29:32 PM GMT-07:00
To: jordan@pwgauction.com
Subject: Re: abe

I have not changed anything. We picked Royal Carib to Hawaii. Departs 5/13 to 5/23. The total including airfare and 3 days in Vancouver, like last time, and covering excursions is about $9000, which is little more than our other cruise. Thats the cruise/trip my wife picked out, which is what you suggested, and would put this to rest.


From: jordan@pwgauction.com
Date: November 10, 2007 7:29:17 AM GMT-07:00
To: AbeChipz@aol.com
Subject: Re: abe

Abe... I have reserved you a cabin on the cruise you described departing on 5/13.

As I promised I would get you a "cruise". I can't deal with the airfare, excursions, ect. I have gone the extra mile for you on this.

There is nothing further I can do, I suggest we put this to rest.

Jordan


From: "AbeChipz@aol.com"
To: jordansitter@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2007 7:40:06 PM
Subject: abe

When we first spoke, you told me you wanted to make us happy and agreed to pay for a cruise, not my entire vacation, which I admit to and is fine by me. You went on to say and suggest that my wife pick out the cruise. Now you tell me that you’ll only reimburse us for messing up our anniversary cruise. To me, it looks like the money is your priority, and not doing right by us. I am willing to accept a cruise, EXPENSES PAID. That is within reason. The cruise is more important to me than the extra few dollars are to you and it will make things right. If what you say about making us happy is true, this is what it will take.


From: Jordan Sitter
Date: November 8, 2007 6:20:35 PM GMT-07:00
To: AbeChipz@aol.com
Subject: Re: abe
Reply-To: Jordan Sitter

Abe... once again you have changed your tune..

You were supposed to send me a cruise you had picked... and you did not.

Here are you options

1- send me the reciepts, and we will reimburse your last cruise
2- send the cruise you said you would, and I will review,.(this was supposed to be ALREADY DONE TONIGHT)
3- Let us send you on the cruise of our choice.. non negotiable
4- Good luck in court.

That is it....

time is up,

Jordan


From: "AbeChipz@aol.com"
To: jordan@pwgauction.com
Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2007 5:59:39 PM
Subject: Re: abe

When I spoke to you on Wednesday morning, you told me to have my wife pick out a cruise that she wanted, and so on. Now you want me to pay for my own airfare. You also preferred that you pay us and we would book our own trip. What happened?

In light of your last offer I respectfully decline. I have no problem going to court. You admitted that there were things wrong with my situation and wanted to correct it. That’s now what I see. I’ve arranged for FAR to print and play all our conversations on their web site. The final insult was the letter you asked me to sign. I am looking forward to seeing you in court. Our first conversation you told me you had the authority to sign off on any deal. I guess that was a lie as well. All in all, you've given me more reason to continue.

Be well and thanks for your effort.


From: jordan@pwgauction.com
Date: November 10, 2007 4:21:06 PM GMT-07:00
To: AbeChipz@aol.com
Subject: Re: abe

Abe... you knew you would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Good luck in court.

Jordan


From: AbeChipz@aol.com
Date: November 10, 2007 5:28:38 PM GMT-07:00
To: jordan@pwgauction.com
Subject: Re: abe

I wanted you to sign as well. I can’t believe for couple dollars you would scuttle the deal. While money is part of deal, we need to feel content about whole thing.

I’m not afraid of court – never have been. I wanted to put this behind me yes, afraid in court no. All you've done, as of now, is justified everything I’ve thought about Park West all along, that all it cares about is the bottom line. If your priority was to do right, you didn’t. When it came down to a couple dollars you changed your mind.

You treated me fairly, your company did not. I’ve given FAR and others to use all information about our conversations.

Again, be well and best to you.


Abe had this to say about his dealings with Jordan Sitter.


In my negotations/discussions with Jordan, I asked him about the two or three other people that he contacted, including one particular one. He said, “Oh, they’re finished. We’re sending his lawyer a copy, he’s signing the release and that’s it, he’s done. He’s not getting a cent more, he’s ready to sign and by the time the weekend comes he’ll have signed before you.”

At the same time I was calling you [David Phillips] and you told me that the person wasn’t even in the country and certainly hadn’t settled.

[This person at the time told Fine Art Registry™ that he had been contacted by Jordan Sitter with an offer quite similar to the one sent to Abe. He told FAR® that he was just going to turn it over to his lawyer. He did not trust Park West and was not going to deal with them. He then left the country for a week. He had at that time not settled with Park West when Jordan said he had.]

More than once Jordan said, “Oh, they’re finished, they’re done.”

I had problems with them paying me off. I said, “I don’t trust you guys. How do I know you’re going to keep your word?”

He said, “That’s a good question.” So he called me back an hour later and said, “We’ll give you a check up front for you signing this nondisclosure agreement.” They’re the ones who brought up money instead of the cruise. I never brought it up. They did.

Also they demanded an answer from me within 24 hours, while it took them five days to get back to me when I first approached them. Then they rushed me. They said, “Take it or leave it.” They gave me a 24 hour deadline.

But Jordan was lying when we were negotiating. Not only about the other people who he told me they’d settled with. He also told me in his first email that he answers only to Scaglione and that he had the ultimate authority to make the deal. Then when it came time to give an answer, he said he didn’t have the authority, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t swing it. So to begin with he tells me he has the authority to do it without question. Then at the end he said he didn’t have the authority to do it. He changed more than a few times.

They also keep sending the stuff I’ve refused.


Abe also heard from GE Money who, not surprisingly, determined that Park West was in the right. They still cannot even spell Abe and Joyce Hershkowitz’s name correctly and insist on writing to Joyce Hershkouit! Their letter follows.


We also were shown the letter from the Park West Miami based lawyers. The same piece of boilerplate nonsense and lies that they copy and paste as a reply to anyone who writes to Park West or Scaglione with a complaint. As Abe says, “They’ve investigated my case? I’d like to see their investigation.” Of course there’s no investigation. If anyone bothered to look into what was going on they would see what we see.


Abe adds a comment which explains why negotiations with Jordan really broke down in the end.

A day before my last e-mail, I was talking to Jordan, my friend, who only cares about my happiness, and I asked him, “After all our conversations, what would happen if I didn't accept the take-it-or-leave-it offer – would Park West start shipping their unwanted, overpriced merchandise to me again? Would I still get misspelled, overcharged credit card bills?” I told him, "Look at the signatures on the bills – they don't match. Only my wife was authorized to sign. There is no buyer’s remorse here. You said so yourself." I pointed out to him that he had admitted over and over that I had been cheated. When he said that Park West would indeed continue to ship the unwanted art and send me the false bills, it really struck home how phony this guy was. What a joke his assertions of knowing that there was something wrong and how he cared about putting it right were. This conversation was the final straw.


And that is where it stands.

Abe has nothing to lose and everything to gain by going to court.

We await the outcome with interest.

by David Phillips  |  November 29, 2007  |  Print Version - PDF PDF (3.2 Mb)

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