Gallery not paying

hi,

i am very upset. the objects of desire gallery in louisville, ky has
had my work since last july. then, I made a special group of
one-of-a-kind work just for the gallery that i delivered in october.
i was really excited to be involved with this gallery!

i have called over 10 times and had friendly chats about how well my
work is selling. i asked for a check, and in november was told i
would be getting one. It never came.

i called in january and was told i would be getting a check. it
never came.

i did get a statement telling me what work had sold and how much i
am owed. over $1500.

i emailed at the end of january and did not receive a reply. so i
called 3 days later and was told a check was in the mail. 4 weeks
later, no check. so i called again 9 days ago and was told…oops!
looks like we had the wrong zip code. she would put the check in the
mail that night. no check a week later. i emailed yesterday asking
when i would receive the check. no reply.

needless to say, i still have not received a check. i am super
pissed. i am also super pissed at myself for not signing a
consignment contract with her. i felt ok about the situation because
the gallery represents some really good artists and has an
established name. that is my fault. but that shouldn’t mean she
keeps my money.

i am wondering 2 things: has anyone else had a problem with this
gallery? and what the heck should i do?

I am livid! i wish i were a less trusting person! but really, i am
glad i am not…:wink: i just want MY money!

thanks for any input.
joanna gollberg

Hi joanna

i did get a statement telling me what work had sold and how much i
am owed. over $1500. 

The fact that you have this statement is of some help to you. It
costs 35.00 to take someone to small claims court and you don’t need
a lawyer. I would make a log of the phone calls and emails that I
had sent. Organize everything in a nice package to show that you have
a well thought out case. Try one more time to collect from the
gallery in the form of a letter sent to them by registered mail. Pack
up all of your documentation with a polite and professional letter to
them stating that, given the circumstances, you are forced to seek
the help of small claims court should this situation not be resolved
within (however many days you decide). That should do it. Once they
see you are serious and you have this statement that says how much
they owe you, they will pay. If it does have to go to small claims,
don’t worry. It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be and
yours sounds like an open and shut case. They will have to pay you
what they owe plus they will have to pay you the 35.00 filing fee.
As an aside though, I would stop using their name in any way and just
refer to them as “the gallery”.

best of luck
Kim Starbard
Cove Beads

joanna -

you did not mention your locale - is it also in louisville? if it
is, or if it not far away, then take a copy of your agreement with
the gallery to the county courthouse and file against the gallery in
small claims court. the newspapers usually list such claims every
week or so their cheating will come out.

also, when you are assigned a date to appear in court for your
claim, take any and all paper/notes about your calls to the gallery -
the notations can be on napkins, calendars, old receipts, old
envelopes, paper towels, anything at all with about your
calls and their response (or lack thereof). courts will accept any
records - in fact, such impromptu notes can be acceptable as more
believable than neat, orderly records, theycan prove the chronology
of your case.

don’t worry about embarrassing the gallery - i mean, what can they
do, refuse to accept more jewelry from you?

good luck -
ive

who knows that when you stand up for yourself, no one can use you for a
doormat. do it people!

Call the District attorney’s office in their area and explain the
history and your dilemma. They will be able to give you some
direction. Been there, done that…different gallery.

Lisa, (Its hot, its cold, its freezing, its hot, its
raining…California seems to be going through menopause)Topanga,
CA USA

Good example of why you get your money up front. I don’t like
"con"signment, and the few times I have done it in the past, there
have been problems.

Tom

dear list - i think we should name these galleries who dont pay. no
judge or jury can incriminate anyone who states the facts ! that a
gallery is x # of months past due. now if you name call or suggest
others dont do business with the business in question or say things
to malign them thats a different subject. but its time to stop
feeling intimidated and just say who it is and thier account is past
due. i dont see the better business bureau being dragged into court
every time they give out info that a business has recieved any # of
complaints i am sure 99% of galleries havent even heard of this
discussion group.

best regards- Goo (sitting here in my blue plad jammies w/ my felted
red elf slippers & hat !#~%&^ off because i have a sore throat in
columbus ohio where the weather cant make up its mind !)

I would very much appreciate knowing who is NOT paying their bills
so that I may avoid doing business with them. I’m quite sure many
other Orchidians feel as I do.

Please keep us “posted” on this one.

Michael Rogers
M. M. Rogers Design
Albuquerque, NM USA

Hello Joanna,

Good advice on using small claims court to collect, but you’ll
likely have to appear in person and that may be a problem as your
comments sound like you are some distance from the gallery.
Otherwise, you could have said, “Wait, hold on to that check - I’ll
be there in an hour to pick it up!”

Re the suggestion to stop using their name in any way: Assuming that
your efforts to maintain open communication and collect what is due
to you, are accurate - frankly I appreciated knowing the name of the
offending gallery.

My suggestion would be that you retrieve whatever other work you
have in the “gallery” and do it now.

Judy in Kansas, where it’s slushy weather. Waiting for a winter storm
to hit and turn the slush to ice! Poor daffodils, redbuds, tulips.

I would very much appreciate knowing who is NOT paying their bills
so that I may avoid doing business with them. I'm quite sure many
other Orchidians feel as I do. Me too!!! And I have a bunch I could
add! 

But couldn’t that cause a problem? Could the gallery sue or try to?
And if other galleries/stores caught wind that one was badmouthing
stores would they not want to work with the tattler (for lack of a
better word!)?

that was my thought exactly…there are, unfortunately, potential
problems with saying things publicly. That doesn’t stop you from
emailing among yourselfs. However, since Orchid is publicly
archived, what is said could get back to any given gallery. I had
that issue once when asked for opinion of a certain other forum and
I stated my opinion on Orchid. Some time later, someone who wasn’t
on the list emailed me and told me off because they had found my
comments in the orchid archives online.

It would be another matter with a closed forum where the archives
were not generally available to the public…however, there’s always
the chance of things being passed on to the ‘talked about’ party.

Joanna!
Hope you get your money from them soon! That does seem to always be
an issue with consignment!

Jeanne
www.jeannius.com
www.rhodes-moen.com

Hello Amery,

   But couldn't that cause a problem? Could the gallery sue or try
to? And if other galleries/stores caught wind that one was
badmouthing stores would they not want to work with the tattler
(for lack of a better word!)? 

There are all kinds of restrictions on what you can and can’t do to a
retail debtor. For a commercial one things are completely different,
almost no restrictions on any form of harassment, Newspaper ads, bill
boards, brass bands all are legal.

Lewis Tappan founded the Mercantile Agency and did quite nicely
selling a paper that listed businesses, not only who was good and who
was bad but also came up with a way to rate everyone in between.
Important when you are giving credit. We all know what
happened to them.

Tony.
who isn’t listed with Dun and Bradstreet.
Anthony Lloyd-Rees.
www.OpalsInTheBag.com
www.TheGemDoctor.com
Vancouver,
Beautiful British Columbia

I’m sure that if a gallery isn’t paying their bills, there are many
people talking about it. The same would go for the galleries who
treat their artists fairly and send them money monthly when stuff
sells. (ANY business not paying bills will be talked about!)

Of course, a gallery can sue, but if they are committing fraud (by
not paying artists) I would assume they would lose. Badmouthing
would be lies? no? Telling the truth, is not “badmouthing”. If they
cheat artists, they would, more than likely, be cheating the public
too!

i think we should name these galleries who dont pay. no judge or
jury can incriminate anyone who states the facts ! that a gallery
is x # of months past due. now if you name call or suggest others
dont do business with the business in question or say things to
malign them thats a different subject. 

So, is it snowing in Columbus? Not snowing in Cle.

You’re right, the more we know about galleries, the better off we
all are!

Sheesh, I’m a gallery owner, and I actually pay my artists who sell
work

Tony,

There are all kinds of restrictions on what you can and can't do to
a retail debtor. For a commercial one things are completely
different, almost no restrictions on any form of harassment,
Newspaper ads, bill boards, brass bands all are legal. 

I don’t think I understand that statement, what do you mean retail
and commercial? Aren’t they the same thing?

I have a jewelry designer friend who wasn’t getting paid for a very
large invoice. She called the account, at home- because they
wouldn’t take her calls at the store. She told them that if they
didn’t pay immediately she would come to their store and stand in
front of it with a sandwich board and pass out flyers saying that
they don’t pay their artists!

My jaw dropped when she told me this! Not only is she one of the
sweetest people I know, but my first thought was “they would call
the cops”!

Needless to say, the store owner relented and paid up in full. I’m
tempted to try this myself!

-Amery

Hello Amery,

I don't think I understand that statement, what do you mean retail
and commercial? Aren't they the same thing? 

When Joe Public buys on credit and pays full whack retail he gets the
all kinds of legal restrictions placed on the vendor in return.

A business or other commercial venture that doesn’t pay their bills
have no protection from harassment whatsoever.

If you do make yourself a sandwich board and hand out flyers I
suggest invoicing the gallery for the materials and your time. Ad
agency rates. Sending them this as a pro-forma invoice
might inspire them to pay without you having to embarrass them or
yourself. Include the proposed flyer.

Tony.
Anthony Lloyd-Rees.
www.OpalsInTheBag.com
www.TheGemDoctor.com
Vancouver,
Beautiful British Columbia

I second Amery’s response.

My hubby who is usually a kind soul but he doesn’t like to get
screwed. Although he hasn’t done this for collection purposes, he
has done the stand-in-front-of-the-store thing to a store when they
wouldn’t give him his money back for a defective product. AND it
works and yes, the store did call the cops but the cops told him he
could do it outside the store (he started inside) and they couldn’t
do anything about it then.

He stood there and yelled things like “Don’t shop here because they
don’t stand behind their products”. They did relent when he took it
outside and give him his money back.

Shall I send him over…LOL?

Donna

Donna,

Yes, please, I need some muscle. I’ll hire him at a nice hourly rate
and bill the store! :slight_smile:

Amery