Well... Actually a little more than a day late on an authorized return of a damaged doll - more like 4 months to receive a refund of under $400 on a total purchase of over $4600.
And certainly more than a dollar short - closer to $35 short - didn't even cover the hammer price plus Theriault's commission. No refund on their $10 fee for handling the doll, no refund of my return shipping and insurance, no refund of my original shipping and insurance.
Same old, same old, whether you are a buyer or seller - endless phone calls, emails, but no money. Florence Theriault is recognized expert on antique bisque, but their business practices are worse than the local pawnshop. And no one there is an expert on Madame Alexander dolls which were the bulk of the Candy Spelling auction. However - you didn't have to be an expert on Alexanders to see a missing fingers on a hard plastic doll. I saw it immediately when I unwrapped the doll. It may not be an issue on an antique doll with compo hands, but it is a big issue on hard plastic.
I think they are purposely blind because they don't think they are getting paid enough to write an honest description or provide detailed photos to internet customers. Many of the Spelling dolls (which she originally purchased from Theriaults) had wrong costumes, accessories, replaced wrong year dolls etc. The dolls were poorly packaged - tightly wrapped in bubble wrap that wrinkled the beautiful clothes, and the hats were sent without any protection to keep them from crushing. And unless you have your credit card to back you up (for which Theriault's charges an extra 2%), your hopes of getting any of your money back on a return is based in making yourself a nuisance.
I expect that Theriault's thinks that they are so famous and snooty that they can get away with cheating a little with their descriptions. And being so rich, they don't have pay their obligations on time like everyone else. Theriault's spends a lot a money on promoting themselves thru mailed color brochures, catalogs etc., but they seem to be borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Everyone i spoke with at the recent MADC convention agreed that having been a customer of Theriault's, they would never consign their collection to them for liquidation.
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