In the third week of September this year, from the 15th to 22nd, I invited my mother to enjoy what I thought would be a relaxing seven night cruise so that we could celebrate her 80th birthday in style, along with my step-father on a Disney Magic Cruise from Cape Canaveral to St Thomas, St. Martin and the Disney Island.
There was no intention of purchasing art aboard ship or anywhere else during the cruise. In fact, I was only interested in a nice piece of jewelry for my mother's special birthday celebration night, which was scheduled for Thursday.
I had not had any significant dealings with art before, other than buying a few pieces around the world during my 25 year career in the USAF that were mostly decorative, not collection pieces. We were strolling around on the ship and of course we came into contact with the Park West At Sea Gallery exhibit located next to "Shutters", a prime location on both Disney Ships where all photos are reviewed.
It was a natural transition to see art displayed along the plushly lit hallway leading to a vast open area where pieces were hung as well as displayed on easels with back-up lighting. We walked around and looked at the art but we weren't overly impressed since the art was mixed in with Disney memorabilia like cartoon cells, large paintings of the Disney characters, as well as a few pictures of Walt Disney at an early age. Subsequently there was an auction that was advertised by the cruise newsletter as an event, so my mother and I attended.
We looked at some of the paintings, and there was an auction and the "Art Director", Jacqueline Elliot, said, "Well, you have to register and pick out some paintings you want called up for the auction with a sticker. You should also fill out a GE Money Card in Park West's name to cover auction purchases at 0% for 12 months which will include your maximum amount of approved credit," which I accomplished, thinking nothing of it at the time other than the terms sounded excellent. I had no idea that this information would give them key data as to how much art they could "push" my way, using a variety of sophisticated sales techniques and what I perceived as predatory tactics.
The pre-auction began with a flurry of waitresses carrying trays of "Dirty Martinis" and the atmosphere was almost party-like, "Ladies and gentleman drink-up as we are about to begin the auction and remember, the martinis are on us." After a few paintings had passed, the one I was interested in came up and I bid on it and there were no other bids. The auctioneer said, "Fine, you won that as well as a drawing item," (which was free but needed to be framed). The auctioneer said, "Meet me at seven this evening so we can conclude the deal."
When I arrived back at seven, she started talking to me more aggressively. "You bought this piece, it's not very expensive, but here is this other fantastic piece; it's a collector's item and it's going at a big discount," and they showed me a Peter Max painting [print]. This was not an auction. The auction was over hours earlier. She added, moving closer to me, "I saw your eyes during the auction and I can tell you really like color." I recall that she was very flirtatious and about half my age.
She seemed confident, very knowledgeable about art, and was obviously using her feminine charms, making every effort to put me at ease, laughing, joking, with a slight touch on the arm, a glance and then a casual mention of her cabin number out of the blue if we needed to "talk more". I asked, "How much is it?" and she said, "It's about $5,600 but you probably will get it for about half that price. Look, this is more than just a piece of art – it's an investment piece. You can go back and sell it for twice the amount. And we'll give you a Certificate of Authenticity."
"And to allay any concerns you may have," she added, "You must know that the Disney Cruise Line has a very reliable and wholesome reputation to protect?" I said, "Yes, it's a very reliable line; I have heard good things about it." She said, "If we are fraudulent, do you think the cruise line would let me have an art auction on board? If you trust this ship and the reputation of the cruise line, then you have to trust my reputation."
I stated that I knew very little about Peter Max art. She told me all about Peter Max adding, "The Patriotic Series is known throughout the United States and the world but became even more celebrated after 9-11. It has great historical significance – you can't lose on this type of investment. And if you get Max, you should get Agam's Hope. Note the colors from the side, it's the only painting of its type and it's sure to jump in value!"
She started writing it up before I had time to think and answer. It was all very fast and very pressured. She didn't give me any time to consider what I was doing. It seemed very smooth, very natural. I said, "What about the paintings?" She said, "Well, they will be reframed and will arrive at your house in four to six weeks. And if you don't like them, just send them back."
I said, "That sounds fair," and didn't think to read the fine print on the invoice since my mind was flooded with her charm, attractiveness, and her willingness to meet later to "discuss any details." She quickly wrapped things up with, "You got a great deal....congratulations."
When I got home, I mentioned to a friend that I had bought a Peter Max and a Yaacov Agam. He said, "Are you kidding me?" I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Where did you buy them? From the Cruise Ship? You probably got taken." He said, "You should be leery of those auctions at sea." He said, "They probably sold you worthless prints." He said, "Give me the invoice. There are so many reproductions of this." I said, "I didn't even know. I'm looking at it for the first time."
So I was really angry. I called Park West Customer Service, and explained my situation and was told someone would get back with me. I received a call back from Barbara, who stated that Park West was willing to refund my payment minus a "restocking fee". When I asked how much the restocking fee would be, I was not given a specific answer.
The invoice and the letter from Park West, all very familiar to readers of our articles about Park West Gallery, Park West at Sea, Plymouth Auctioneering, Disney, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and other cruise lines. In fact, the whole scenario is a recurring theme: the booze, the false representations about the value of the art being hawked, the high pressure tactics, the outside of auction upsells, the refusal to honor the verbal representations of the “auctioneers”.
It really is high time this daylight robbery on the high seas in the name of "art auctions" ceases and that Park West either mend its ways or be shut down for good. The art world does not need another greedy, fraudulent purveyor of cheap, falsely represented rubbish. There have been too many already.
The cruise lines' reputations are bound to suffer to the degree that they condone this activity and disregard all warnings about the effect it will have on their name while the Park West "auctioneers" ride on the shirt tails of the cruise lines' reputation. Presumably their myopic attention is fixed on the bottom line and the huge percentage commission that Park West can afford to pay them, based on the fact that they mark up the stuff they sell by thousands of percent.
We are receiving a steady stream of complaints from people who have been conned. We will continue to publish them here and send them to the media until someone wakes up and says, "Enough!" of Scaglione, Park West and the continuing rip-offs.
The views and opinions of individual authors/contributors expressed on the FAR® web site do not necessarily state or reflect those views and/or opinions of Fine Art Registry® or its agents or subsidiaries.
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