Cooper Barrington LLP - Llangollen

Iain Langford

Very disappointed after several phone calls going through what I had for sale from my old antique’s and collectibles stall a large amount of mixed items were dropped off and after several auctions I lost a lot and several items unaccounted for . I’ve asked for a list of what’s been sold as I’ve got pictures and a list of all the items that were dropped off but as of yet I’m still waiting . Would I personally recommend them NO

Ruth Lane

Terrible service. I paid for items to be posted. Still not received customer service non existent. They don’t answer emails and can be difficult to speak to over the phone. Don’t bother biding on anything as you will never receive it. Very poor company and service

Robin Crossley

Had to send them SEVERAL emails for them to ever get back to me about whether or not they shipped my paid for items. Turns out they did not (this was over a month after I sent payment). Do not think I will be using them again as there are many better auction services who communicate and provide better service.

Jim Ransley

First time I have successfully bid in an auction ! Had read the description of the books I wanted and expected them to be somewhat less than described.
Received them marked "fragile" but subjected to Parcel Force special packing test (how easy is it damaged ? ) Thanks to Cooper Barrington anti-destruction experts the books were undamaged and better than described in the auction prospectus.- so pleased-in fact overwhelmed - I look forward to reviewing their future auctions with great confidence.
Thank you , all the staff at CB Auction house.- Great! Super ! Smashing !

Frost Darren

i have read a few posts on here and a similar thing as happened to me that as happened to other people, which enforces what a crooked place this auction house is, i to bought from overseas, i was stuck there because of covid , i told my situation, they said they understood, when i got back in UK i chased my items up, i sent four emails got no reply, when i finally got through to speak to the boss, i was casully told they had resold everything!
oh bit of a shock as i had asked many times where are my items? then i was told theres no money either, the sale was last november, i want to make it clear i never recieved any correspondence about reselling or charging me for storage or a settlemount account, still today i have recieved nothing,
i also want to thank all the other auction houses who i bought off whilst also overseas and kept my goods until i could collect, rydale, darwins, calder valley, railtons, golding young mawar,
these guys need investigating

Michael Forman

I’ve won a few bids at Cooper Barrington and never had any issues...always received my purchases safely and in good time... polite and helpful staff.. that done a great job at helping me auctioning my items too.

Many thanks,Michael.

Emma Soda

Terrible. Sold two items with them, which came to £30 total. Far below their estimates. They charged me over half of that amount in fees. I was expecting their 20%~ commission as this is the same for most auction houses, however I have never had an auction house charge me around £2.50 per item fees on top of that (which I was not informed about beforehand) that they then charge VAT on, and another £2.40 to 'send me a cheque' which I had to go and pick up.

My fees on £30 ended up being over £15.

I also never had any information from them about when my items would be auctioned, I never had an invoice through after they did sell, never had ANY contact from them at all other than their email advertising and had to go to their auction house twice to chase it up after a month. Items sold for far less than their estimates, could have made more money taking them to cash converters after they'd hammered me with fees.

For the amount of hassle and the VERY high fees I would definitely not use them again, I have used four other auction houses in North Wales and not one of them charged all these extra fees on top of the normal commission.

Graham Grainger

I purchased an item (valued £150-200) online which the auction house wrongly sent to my old address even though they had my new address on file. I was distraught enough to drive to my old address where upon the new occupants said they had not received the item & happily signed a paper to that effect, a copy of which I sent to Royal Mail & after which they eventually agreed to pay compensation. They sent the cheque to Cooper Barrington as they were the 'clients' (i.e. they had posted the item), Cooper Barrington duly cashed the cheque & after 6 weeks (the partners were on holiday according to Mike their 'despatcher') & 4 phone calls from me, I received a cheque which was £27 less than the compensation agreed by Royal Mail. After 3 further phone calls I was told by Imogen (one of the two partners) that 'they' ('they' being her father Colin, the senior partner), were 'holding' the £27 on my account with them as they had sent me a cheque for the original amount I had paid them for the item plus postage. Despite me pointing out that I wished to have the £27 forwarded to me as this was the outstanding amount of the compensation It was determined I should receive by their chosen courier Royal Mail, Imogen remained adamant it would remain in 'my account' with them where it would be deducted from the next item I successfully bid for at a future auction at Cooper Barrington's. I regard this action as tantamount to blackmail in that they clearly are 'withholding monies for future gain' through premium payments. It is not the amount that grieves me but the principle although, who knows what amounts Cooper Barrington may deem fit to withhold in future as there is no mention of this type of action in their terms & conditions. Hence my rating, it being the only action I can take 'against' this auction house given I know of no 'governing body' I could turn to in order to 'investigate' this draconian exploitation of clients. I leave others to decide whether or not they would feel trusting enough to bid online at Cooper Barrington given my experience.

I write now some time after Cooper Barrington's reply to my original email above, the delay being due to ill health, it now being eight months since the auction in question.

Cooper Barrington say in their reply that "We know there are inaccuracies in your account.." I would be obliged if they could be more specific as that sentence in their response is tantamount to calling me a liar, which I am certainly not.
They say "We are disappointed not to receive any thank you for our work in recovering your money". Cooper Barrington's 'work' in recovering my money (bearing in mind they held back £27 of the compensation paid by Royal Mail), amounted to a phone call to Royal Mail to "complain" about a wrong delivery, a phone call during which Imogen informed me "They hung up on me because they said I was shouting!". A great piece of 'recovery work' there then. Royal Mail then contacted me by email asking for my account of events which I relayed to them & included a copy of the signed paper I had taken the trouble to get from the occupants of the wrong delivery address after which, Royal Mail informed me they had taken the decision to compensate me in full & so I conclude that it was my efforts alone that 'recovered' the money in the form of full compensation from Royal Mail.

Two days after I posted my original email, I received an email from Cooper Barrington stating "You have been banned from bidding on any future auctions with Cooper Barrington. Please fell free to contact us if you wish to discuss the situation" In effect their ban means that even if I should wish to, I am unable to now bid at their auctions therefore the £27 on 'my account' remains with them. A phone call to them answered by 'Mike' who told me "They're on holiday. We don't owe you any money & if it hadn't been for me you'd have got nothing so think yourself lucky" after which he hung up. Despite emails asking that they refund me the monies as I have no other means in which to retrieve them, to date I have received no reply