Bonhams Reviews 

Only use if you want to sell your items at an under sale and then be charged high fees

Just tried to view an online sale in Knightsbridge. When I asked for some sort of catalogue or printout I was told there was one downstairs in the other sale room but that it was being used! Alternatively I was told I could use my phone, assuming I had one and could read the small print.The young porter said he would tell me anything I needed to know, which suggests he should have been upstairs cataloguing with the experts rather than being a porter.
This unhelpful penny pinching lack of professionalism is what I would expect from this auction house, having encountered their lack of professionalism before as a vendor.
In this case, they have lost a bidder and possibly a buyer, neither of which helps their vendors to achieve a good result.
With the high commissions they charge one would expect at least some catalogues or printouts in their salerooms and a more positive professional attitude to their customers.
As it is there are plenty of other salerooms to deal with who are more professional and helpful.
Take your pick.....

Cheaters, not recommandable. When you send money they ask for ID. When you send this info they ask for copy of a bill and so on. Now it is 2 month ago i sent the money and still do not have the wine!!!!
One star is at least 2 stars to much!!!!

Would definitely not recommend seem to have little knowledge of modern art .definitely shop around before trusting there poor opinion.

Lousy appraisal, do not have any knowledge of quality and authenticity of items.

Absolutely appalling customer service. I would give Bonhams zero for effort. I completed the Bonhams online valuation request form for an oil on canvas and heard nothing. After three weeks I chased for some kind of response. Since then I have sent chase emails, phone calls, messages and still no reply. Two months later Ive given up hope of ever getting my valuation. Disgraceful!

They miss lead you and aren’t not honest. Buyer Beware

Disappointed in their lack of knowledge in art. Very slow to respond as well.

So I had 2 completely incorrect valuations for an Asian antique. One assessment was that it was a fake. I uploaded details to several larger auctioneers. Bonhams gave the highest valuation and the hammer price exceeded that. Buyers fees seem high but there was no other route for me and I was very happy with their service. Bonhams collected the item from my house at an agreed time too.

Embarrassing company. In my opinion embarrassing low knockdowns on porcelain and silverware. I can not recommend this auction house.

I am writing this review to express my utter dismay and disappointment regarding the abysmal level of service and professionalism from Bonhams. In all my years of engaging with auction houses, I have never encountered a more reprehensible, incompetent, and discourteous group of individuals such as Bonhams.
After successfully winning an auction item, I experienced an egregious mishandling of the shipping process by Bonhams, resulting in a significant month-long delay. Despite this setback, Bonhams demonstrated a shocking lack of accountability and indifference towards resolving the issue promptly.
Exasperated by their negligence, I resorted to seeking legal assistance to rectify the situation, incurring additional expenses that should never have been necessary had Bonhams fulfilled their obligations responsibly. To my dismay, even after legal intervention, Bonhams remained uncooperative and failed to provide any meaningful assistance, leaving me to bear the brunt of the financial burden alone.
Adding insult to injury, Bonhams made a feeble attempt to appease the situation by promising a mere 5% refund, which they callously reneged on. Subsequently, I was compelled to escalate the matter with my credit card company to secure the refund that was rightfully owed to me.
In light of their dishonest practices, appalling customer service, and blatant disregard for their obligations, I am left with no choice but to vehemently denounce Bonhams. Their egregious conduct has irreversibly tarnished my perception of their integrity, and I vow never to engage with their services again.
Bonhams is without a doubt, the epitome of incompetence and deserve every negative review and loss of clientele that comes their way.

Back in January I purchased a painting which when received did not not match the description of the item from a condition standpoint. They ultimately promised to send me a refund via check of $750, as part of the cost to make repairs to the canvas.

It has now been 2+ months and nothing has been received despite several emails requesting status, with one response over a month ago that the paperwork had been submitted!

Extremely unprofessional and obviously don't give a crap! I had done business in the past with them but doubtful would do so again.

I bid on , and won one of their items in a December 2023 auction. They sent me an invoice which I promptly paid which included the cost of the item, their fees, shipping, and insurance. They packed and shipped the item to my home and it arrived broken in 20 or more pieces- not exactly what I bid on. I contacted them to straighten the problem out and they denied all responsibility. Apparently their position is they keep my money and I keep the broken pieces. Not really in my opinion a way to treat customers. Just my experience- you may get lucky and your item arrives intact but just be aware that based on my experience if it doesn't you won't get any help from Bonhams.

Absolute look down their nose at you vile snobbery. Dont buy anything unviewed, unseen, undriven, you will get their and like gypsies they will be packing up & leaving you with an unusable mis sold bag of cr@p.

All of their online auctions have a delayed echo….extremely distracting and seems like that would be an easy fix. It has been that way for two years.

Also, the real time online bidding is faulty. I had bid on an item in a jewelry auction today and thought I was the high bidder….but ended up not winning the lot. I realize these things can happen but it seems their software is lacking which is vital.

I called to relate what happened and it was obvious to me nothing was going to happen. And I’ve bought two items over the past several months. Don’t plan on being a return customer!

Nothing positive to say, poor communications, poor advertising, poor service, poor price. I would stay clear of Bonham's, absolutely shocking in everyday. Very, very disappointed.

Utter and complete crooks, never came across bigger lying, twisting and cover up company in my life.

Buying from them not only are you exposing yourself to arrogance and continued belittling but the goods are not as described, fake or its "provenance" not checked by their staff.

If you have fake goods, this is the place to offload them.

Had to recover my money through litigation!

SHOCKING!!!

Long term Bonhams customer, tried to bid in an on-line (only) auction, web site suffered continual denial of service problem. Phoned Bonhams. Was told "we know, sorry." Bonhams should not run on-line bidding without required server capacity and systems configurations.

my experience of dealing with Michael lake was fantastic he obviously treats everyone with respect&politeness whoever they may be.He was so knowledgeable&helpful,gave an honest constructive advice to me credit to him.

ASTONISHINGLY UNPROFESSIONAL
We wanted to sell 2 beautiful bronze statues with an amazingly strong and interesting provenance, gifted to a family member by the wife of the artist (a famous one) in the early 1900s.

We chose Bonhams because of the reach of their marketing, their "prestigious name" and we had our 2 bronze statues shipped from S. Francisco to London, to have them included in their London auction of art works and books from "the age of discovery."
husband and I to the best "fit." They did post the sculptures on their far-reaching websites ("Invaluable," etc) and we were told (I can't verify this) that they contacted some parties (galleries?) that they knew have an interest in art relating to the exploration/colonization of Africa.

We fully realize that Bonham's cannot control the level of interest in any work of art.

What Bonham's SHOULD control is:
1. The quality of the photographs of the pieces -- which were more than substandard. I have many photos I've taken with my 3-yr old Android cellphone (a cheap one) in my living room with no other light but what came in thru the windows -- which are all on one side and no ceiling light. Not great or professional light. Yet the photos I have of the scuptures showed MUCH more detail and the beauty of the bronze and marble bases than the photos that Bonhams took and posted. Theirs looked rather 2-dimensional and as I said, didn't indicate the beautiful detail of the face and body.

They did not even show in their photos the original engraved plaques that the wife of the artist had made and attached to the marble bases of the statues, naming my great-aunt and stating that they were a gift to commemorate their "lasting friendship" (and dated). They also failed to include a photo of the fondeur's mark, so important for proving the originality and authenticity of the work.

2. THE DESCRIPTION: I had sent details that I felt were pertinent and would be likely to increase the sales price -- most notably regarding the provenance.

Yet Bonhams descriptions did NOT t mention that the sculptor had been in Africa with Stanley, (he great explorer of the African interior -- relevant since these bronzes are a bust of a Congolese man's face and a study of a male traditional danger in a leaping pose).
These 2 sculptures were a personal gift from the author's wife to my great-aunt -- who was a member of one of America's prestigious literary families (multiple Pulitzer-prizes awarded).
The descriptions were so lacking that I actually contacted Bonhams and sent my suggested copy -- which they did accept (and seemed happy to include). What did I pay Bonhams huge fees for? Poor photography and copy in their catalogue? (I've been a professional advertising/marketing copywriter for 30+ yrs -- so when I say it was not good copy, I have some experience.)

3. 40 DAYS SINCE AUCTION CLOSED -- AND WE STILL HAVEN"T RECEIVE PROCEEDS! I was appalled that they keep the funds for 30 days -- as if they don't have a huge bank account and couldn't send 10k to us -- but have to wait till it "settles"? Okay, maybe this is industry standard. We have a letter saying we'll receive funds on July 13th. Today is July 20th -- and we STILL do not have the funds in our account. NO proactive communication about this --we have had to call 3x. Given NO explanation for this delay. When we asked just now, we were told that there was a problem with the buyer submitting payment. I fail to understand how this is our problem or should affect when we are paid. Our contract is not with the buyer -- it is with BONHAM'S, who gave us written assurance of when and how we would be paid. That is a contract -- yet 5 days after that date, there had been no effort made to contact us to inform us there would be a delay -- we had to contact THEM? iCan you imagine any other international and "reputable" business the size of Bonham's conducting itself in this manner?

All-in-all a very unprofessional, frustrating and poor experience. NOT at all the "first rate," or "premier" experience that we had expected.