I have been going to George Cole Auctions for 30 years. My experience with them has always been very positive and wonderful. They have quality items for sale. I have purchased many things from them for my home. I have also sold a few things through the auction house. I have found the customer service to be outstanding. George and Robin are lovely people who are friendly and welcoming to everyone who comes into their auction house. Their staff is totally professional. The only people who deserve any criticism are those who purchase items there and leave what they have purchased in the auction all for weeks on end cluttering up the place. I whole heartedly recommend the George Cole auction house. It deserves a ten star rating. If you go there for auction night, you will find it fun and entertaining. It's a great Saturday night out for everyone. Franceska read more

Every Purchase and the prices are amazing- never buyer remorse. George and the crew are

Total misrepresented item, during a 1/2 sale the final day, a soldering unit with iron was marked $5, instead of $2,50 they charged $5 saying the stand and iron were separate items, how ridiculous is this? Course they didn't even care, I got it anyway because I needed one, I wouldn't trust them read more

First off, believe all of the negative reviews that you read about this two bit auction house. Mr Cole was uncooperative, indifferent and rude to me as well. I purchased a dining table and 6 chairs, paid immediately. As I was an out of state buyer I informed Mr Cole thatI may need a little extra time to have it picked up as I posted it on Uship. i later come to find out that my items were "disposed of and considered abandoned". This operation is crooked as can be. to this date, I have never received any sincere explanation or my money refunded. read more

Imagine this, my 87 year old mother loses her husband of 58 years. She gets diagnosed with Dementia and we her children step in to help her move in with us out of state. Her furniture is from the 1930s and in a amazing condition. We have this Heywood Wakefield dining room table and chairs. She contacted George Cole at the advice of a reputable business owner and George Cole representatives told us this furniture is of high value and demand. We thought we were in the best of hands. The furniture was picked up from my moms Kingston home on October 31 2022. We called to see after a few weeks how it was going and we were told it was going to be auctioned off in the next few weeks. December 1st rolls around and we call George Cole. The staff tells us that George is handling all questions about this and will get back to us shortly. Dec. 15th still no call from George, we leave 3 messages over a week span and still no call back. January rolls around and now we are very upset and tell the office team that we are going to call the Better Business Bureau if we do not hear back form George. Each time we called we left our name and phone number (even on the voicemails). Today we called one last time and did not tell the office who was calling. They sent the call to him and he was completely rude and started lying right off the bat. Claimed he never had our number, did not know how to get a hold of us, one excuse after another. we then pressed him on the auction. He said the furniture was sold for $75. He told us that he mentioned when we first spoke that old furniture does not sell well which was a complete lie as well. We then told him we were very angry how this entire transaction was handled and that we were going to write reviews and contact the media. We are not just bitter over the price even though that we contacted other auction houses and antique furniture stores and were told this furniture style was in hot demand and was selling for thousands of dollars, we are angry that he took advantage of a 87 year old woman and never bothered following up hoping he could get away with the true price or not paying at all. When we told him this was wrong and told him we would be writing reviews about his unprofessionalism and letting the business that recommended him know what he did he said "I do not not care ". I would avoid doing any type of business with someone who is a opportunist and takes advantage of our elderly at their weakest moment. read more

George Cole Auctions & Realty - Heywood Wakefield. Comes with 8 chairs. - Auction Houses Near Me - Red Hook, New York

I work at the auction hall and I have knowledge of some of these reviews. Everyone makes mistakes... No business or person is perfect... And challenges of operating a small business sometimes don't allow return phone calls inline with todays world of instant gratification. Admittedly, the company definitely struggles with return communication sometimes, especially with people who are let's just say more intensive communicators. That said, some of the hateful reviews I have seen here paint a false picture of evil and cheating. I just want to point out that is not the case. The company doesn't cheat people, and wouldn't have been able to stay in business for almost 5 decades, and voted Best in Hudson Valley everytime Auction House was on the ballot, if they were cheating people. I'm not going to point out any one specifically, but I'd just like to say that a few of these posters have embellished and made mountains out of molehills or multiple posts under different names to try and hurt the company's image. Sometimes the market doesn't meet reasonable expectations for sellers, and it rarely meets unreasonable expectations. And all results are published publicly and available online so it is easy to verify what an item sold for. There is no trickery or cheating... It's not even possible when eveything is published publicly. And FTR there is no taking advatange of elderly or people who moved out of state. These are a grossly innacurate accusations. I have seen the company stand behind it's service and make right for anytime there is a mistake / accident / shortcoming. Sometimes even when the fault is not on the company. It would be nice if these reviews were vetted for accuracy. I am proud of the effort that I have seen the company put forth to be good stewards and treat buyers and sellers as best as possible and always in good faith. For that I am happy to give 5 Stars. read more

I got concerned reading the reviews after we were on our way to pick up our items. However, he and his staff were very nice in person. It was refreshing to walk into a business with classical music playing, cute dogs, and people to help take the items to our trailer. He even gave us waters, offered some for our dog, and suggested a diner nearby since we came from far away. We truly made my partner and I feel comfortable and for that we are grateful. The items we purchased are also incredibly nice and not damaged which is a marked difference from some other auction houses. Nice way to end our auction pick ups! read more

We had 65 professionally framed vintage prints picked up by Cole in November 2021. Couldn't make the Nov. Auction. OK. Told it would be December: No. OK maybe a delay of some sort understandable. Now it is May and after constant unanswered phone calls We were told May. Each "staff member" is dumber than donuts. Constant inquiries were never answered. No explanations given. Phone calls not returned. No expertise or anything regarding a large number of quality items. We are stuck with this local ??? Do not recommend. Seems they want whatever commission but not a word of advice is offered. read more

I had dealing with him years ago....You'll get a "Howdy" from him and then "Doody"... Reviews here are correct as to the nebulous, and unbusinesslike tactics employed here...I don't care how many years or so called awards..There are going to be the statistical parties he decides to burn. Although my experience wit them was years ago, It still galls me. read more

I've been to several of George's auctions these past two years and have found some great deals. I've gotten a lovely couch at an extremely reasonable price, two collectible sewing machines, a few chairs and some wonderful framed prints. Many many years ago I bought an old porcelain table with matching chairs that I still have in use! The estate auctions have some interesting things in them; sometimes I go without any intention to buy. The atmosphere is casual, George is friendly, and you can even bring your own beverages/munchies although they do sell some great food there. My only complaint is the parking. Getting in and out of the place is a little crazy. Getting your stuff out the night of the auction is a little hairy and fast paced too; don't expect any help with heavy items - they're just there to collect your receipt and hand you your goods. Be prepared! read more

George Cole Auctions, and in particular George Cole himself, was deceptive in negotiating a contract to sell a large inheritance. After interviewing a couple of auction houses I signed a contract (attached) with Mr. Cole to sell the entire estate. The contract indicates, among other things, that the better items would be removed and sold at his auction house in Red Hook, NY and the less valuable items would be sold at multiple onsite auctions where the items are stored. On the day we signed the contract he removed approximately 75 of the most valuable items for his May 4, 2019 auction in Red Hook. All but 4 items were sold, two having a high reserve by me as they were favorites of my father. On the day he picked up the items Mr. Cole said he would return the following week for another load for his Red Hook auction. He never returned and soon stopped answering my calls. On June 10 I called from an unfamiliar phone number and he answered . He said he would call me on Friday June 14 regarding onsite auctions. As of the writing of this complaint this promised action has not occurred. He has done nothing to provide onsite auction service except to give me the name of some other auctioneer which I consider unacceptable since I have a signed negotiated contract with Mr. Cole. George Cole used deceptive practices to get me to select his auction house and sign a contract for estate liquidation that would have met our family's needs. He initially removed some of our best items for his sale in Red Hook, but failed to do anything else. I selected him over other auction house offers because he agreed to sell the entire estate, both the good stuff and less valuable things. He is guilty of extremely deceptive business practices as well as breach of contract. I still can't believe how poorly I was treated. I'm back searching for an honest auction house who can handle a liquidation for our family. read more

George Cole Auctions & Realty - Original contract for your information (2 sheets) - Auction Houses Near Me - Red Hook, New York

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I have brought many items to George Cole over the years and have always had a great experience with his Auction Hall and all the staff I have received payment for everything I've ever brought to him I realize sometimes it takes a little longer a lot of moving parts going on Also can't wait till we can all come back and sit in the hall it is fun and entertaining I have gotten some good deals but I've also seen other items sell for a whole lot more than I can afford I will definitely continue bringing my merchandise to him for auction read more

I had an extremely negative experience with George Cole Auctioneers. In February, I dropped off seven pieces of Ethan Allen and Pottery Barn furniture and a professionally-framed print, and I was assured reserve prices were not necessary. I was not informed when the items were sold over the summer and had to place five calls in the fall to track down the status of my items and my check. In September I called and was told a check was in the mail. The month passed and it didn't arrive. I called twice in October and my messages with staff never resulted in a return call. I called twice in November, again left messages with staff and again did not receive a return call. Later in the month, about nine months after I dropped off the furniture, I received a check. The average net sales price for each item was in the mid $30s. I will never use this business again. read more

This man is a crook. I am absolutely appalled by his business practices. His MO is to pick up your things for auction and then to delay providing a contract or agree to a starting price/minimum bid. He then sells your items for an amount you do not know and sends you a low insulting check so he can claim you received your proceeds. He provided no proof of sale or price. He literally takes your items, sells them for whatever he wants, does not inform you of that amount and then sends you a tiny amount he determines. We have also contacted the better business bureau and are also speaking w lawyers. Do NOT use him. Total racket. read more

SELLERS BEWARE! My experience with George Cole has been negative from start to finish. The information on the consignment contract is written in a way that it's easy to miss that in addition to a 30% commission, there is a $50 per hour trucking fee. I was charged for 2 hours for a trip that takes less than 30 minutes . The final amount that I received was minimal . For example, a modern oak desk with steel legs and 3 drawers in very good condition was sold for $25. If you deduct the 30% commission and the trucking fee - I received $18 for it. (If it had been a worthless damaged desk, George Cole would not have accepted it!) I received payment for the lot picked up in June 2018 in January 2019. Irene M. read more

Sellers beware. This is a dead man's auction. You will be very disappointed with George Cole Auctions as a seller. You will receive a fraction of a cent of your items worth. Ask questions, get auction estimates on valuable items, put reserves unless you don't care. And provide clear item descriptions and quantities. State approximate values if known. I recommend a yard sale. You will do much better financially. And get paid much quicker. Great auction for buyers though. read more

These folks are great. They did an estate sale for me and were very professional and easy to work with. I started going to their auctions. I always enjoy myself. read more

Those liquidating estates: be warned. We didn't get much money for the goods the auction house sold, but more importantly, George Cole misled us. He twice informed us, via phone, that he accepted all but "tupperwear and livestock." We also inquired about a few specific categories of items, and he again said that those were goods that he accepted. We prepared for a month. When George and his assistants arrived, it became clear that what he'd said was completely untrue. One of us meekly asked about his prior statements, but George offered no acknowledgement or explanation. Because we had a deadline by when we needed to clear a house, large storage structure and another large storage unit, this created an extremely stressful situation. read more

Wish I could give them zero stars. Read the reviews below and be warned. He will take your property and never tell you in advance when he will sell it. Then, he will never tell you if and when he has sold it. Then, he will never pay you until you call repeatedly and they will take weeks or months to "look into it." You will be shuffled from one employee to another. Finally, when you complain and threaten to sue and go to the D.A., he will pretend he thought you had already received your check. When you finally receive a check, it is so ridiculously, insultingly low, you realize you've been scammed. He provides scant inventory/receipt of your property, and no proof of sale, or even the auction date when he supposedly sold your property. I have no idea what he did with a George III mahogany chest that sold for $400 at Stair Galleries, I received 0$ for it, and other items that I might as well have put on the street rather than pay for a Uhaul to George Cole. I have attended his auctions in the past and I know that the goods I consigned would have sold for much more than he claimed. This "business" is disgusting, daylight robbery. If you've already consigned, make sure you have pictures of every item, preferably with good old Georgie in the photos. Then go to every auction and make SURE you witness what the item sold for. Make it hard for him to scam you. Good luck. Again, you have been warned. read more

I love this auction house. I have furnished half a Victorian house with them, and have found them complete sweetie pies. They have some very good stuff, and some trash, like most houses here. Phone bidding seems to be a bit complicated, and pickup after the auction is a little chaotic, but they held stuff for me for weeks without charging me, when I was out of town and had to delay pickup. I find George cole quite amusing, as do many other regulars there. "Burn it!" Is a house mantra. Maybe not the top dollar for sellers--if you want rich buyers, go to Stair Galleries in Hudson-- but a great place for furnishing nicely on a budget. If you want to see real chaos, go to Ralph Fontaine's Heritage auctions! read more

A few months ago when I discovered a book that was published in the 1890s and written completely in German, I contacted this company. I was willing and able to have them sell my book at one of their auctions. Although it took them a few days to respond, they explained that they would be willing to take it, if I was willing to accept to the terms that they take 20% commission on the final auction price. Life for ahead of me for awhile, but today I walked into their store(which the doors were locked at first). Upon being let in by their (auctioneer himself?), he was able to take a look at the item. However, he was unable to take the book because of the sizable rip it had in back cover, and also because the type of book I had(they claim) was a set of books that were written in volumes-but information in book(I understand some German) proved differently-so they are missing out on this sale at their auctions! Watch out for the little dogs that run around near the door. They ended up going out of the door, but nothing else happened as a result. They were just a bit on the rowdy side. read more

I engaged George in January 2019 re 5 antique items that I was looking to auction. His truck picked up all the items with the promise that I would receive an email with the itemized antiques that were picked up. I never received this. I called a few days later and George told me I would receive a contract in the mail containing a list of the items with a suggested start price for me to approve with the understanding that they would be placed in his March auction. February went by with no email, no letter, no call. I reached out beginning of March, left numeorus messages on his voice mail, with no calls back. Finally I called and he answered and his response was that it wasn't in the March auction because he had other items ahead but it would be in the April auction. Again, I asked for an inventory list as well as his suggested start price for auction which he assured me I would receive as soon as the items were brought out of his storage. Nothing. April passed. May began. Another round of calls. At this point, I still had no receipt of my 5 items he had picked up in January. Now it was end of May and again numeorus calls of him not being there when I called and never calling me back when I left messages. Finally he answered and when I questioned his way of doing business he assured me that he would not auction anything without my consent to a start price and that for sure they'd be in June auction. Mid June I called and he tells me they've sold!!!! I asked him how that was possible when I had never been contacted for an approved start price??? He had NO explanation and told me my check would be issued and sent out last week of June. I was beyond frustrated but at that point realized my items were gone. Beginning of July- no check arrived. Last week I called him. Again, after 5-6 attempts, he answers the phone and tells me my items were sold over the course of 2 auctions and he will overnight the checks to me. It's now July 27th and I just received one check for $35 for a 19th century English Oak & Mahogany grandfather clock (no weights or pendulum) which he allegedly sold for $50!!!. And a second check for $62 for an extremely detailed wood carved Flemish armchair & 3 Crystal Decanters which he allegedly sold for $160. Again, I NEVER received an inventory receipt of what had been picked up, I NEVER received a contract indicating an agreed upon start price for auction or any valuation whatsoever of my items. This man is A CROOK. I would have never agreed to these giveaway prices. And there is NO indication of a bill of sale that I can even confirm that this is what he sold my items for. He is SO DISHONEST and I am so appalled that he is in any way called an auctioneer let alone has a business license. STAY AWAY from GEORGE COLE!!! read more

Do NOT use this little scam artist and his obnoxious staff PERIOD. Zero start. When he came to my house and looked at possible pieces to auction, he verbally told me to my face that he's take EVERY piece. Also, when i asked him what the commission is that the seller pays, he answered 'the buyer pays the premium' and NEVER mentioned that he takes 35% of the total!!!! He skillfully lied to my face (i had never auctioned anything before) and found a way to avoid my question, answer it inaccurately and get away with it. On the contract i signed, yes, at the very bottom in small in, it mentions 35% commission, but HE would not answer that directly-- just to get my business. In every way this little creep failed me, took many beautiful pieces and put money in HIS pocket. I could have made more having a yard sale (not to mention he charges a pick-up fee to come get the stuff)... worst local business i've ever dealt with in the Hudson Valley. Choose Dom Navarro, a very nice man who's up front about what he does and what he charges. :( read more

The short version: This auction house staff appears to not have their act together at all, and much worse the owner doesn't seem to care. They may be a great place to get a deal if you show up, but I wouldn't bother doing any bids by phone or online. This is also one of the last places I would ever consign anything if I were intending to receive full gavel value. The long version: I placed a phone bid to buy my brother a lot he was interested in as a birthday present. A five-minute long, friendly conversation with the employee established that if I won they would hold it for me for two weeks, and my bid amount of $275 (+ an additional 15% BP on top), a number that she repeated at least twice during the call, and in the context of bidding really high so as not to miss out on this lot. I called the following Monday, and after learning the hammer price and that I had not won the lot, I was informed by the owner/auctioneer that the employee had mysteriously entered not $275, but only $75.00 as "that's what she thought I'd said", an excuse that in retrospect rings pretty false. The item sold for under $200.00 including the buyers premium. Needless to say I was very disappointed. The auctioneer gave me a very terse apology by phone and claimed he would contact "the winner" in an attempt to rectify the situation (which also rang false), but in spite of contacting him for a follow-up twice I never heard back. My wife and I put a lot of time into this attempt just to end up feeling snubbed by these folks. If I were the consignor of the lot I'd be pretty unhappy, too. Sellers beware. read more

i went to this auction last night because there were several items i was interested in purchasing. specifically one item that i had been looking at all week online and eeger to purchase. when i arrived at the auction house after registering, the first thing i did was go right for that item. i immediately saw that it had been mis-advertised and not the item i wanted. i explained to the auctioneer how this had been mis-advertised and his answer was ...."sorry, but you're here so buy something else".... so now being disappointed as i was, i reluctantly went to look at some of the other items i was interested in. after all, i just drove over an hour to get here. i walked around for about an hour looking and taking notes until auction time. now auction time is here and i'm in my seat ready to bid. i'm waiting for the first item to come up and on comes a tv screen. i'm thinking, "what the hell is this"?... now i go to about a dozen different auctions every month and at every single one of them, the item up for bid is brought to the front of the room for everyone to see in person. well not here. you get to see a picture of it on the tv screen....that's it.... so now, reluctantly i'm here anyway so i might as well stay and bid on a few items. in the first half hour or so, i won 2 items. but now i need to wait about an hour and a half until my next item comes up. while waiting and watching throughout the entire auction i was becoming more and more disgusted with this place. the auctioneer was extremely rude to all of his patrons. he was constantly stopping the auction and complaining that the items weren't bringing in enough money. he was mocking people and making fun of people. he stopped one persons bid and told him if he was only going to bid $25.00 he would rather burn the item. the auctioneer even made fun of and embarrassed an old lady in a wheelchair because her eyes were closed. it was so bad that i watched half of the room stand up and leave. but his comment to that was "well they weren't spending any money anyway".... on one item, there were 2 phone bidders and they were the only ones bidding. at the end of that item which sold for $150.00 he stood in front of the room and said...."see, i don't need all of these chairs here to do this".... it got so bad that the auctioneer even faked a $10,000.00 bid on an item just to make some heads turn. finally about 3/4 the way thru the auction this guy stepped down and another auctioneer got up to the podium. things wend smoothly for about the next 20 minutes or so and i purchased a few more items. but then this auctioneer started to become the same way. not as bad as the first guy but still quite rude. i had finally had enough. so i went up to the cashier and paid my bill. now trying to collect my items was another whole nightmare in itself. it took 45 minutes of dealing with even more rude people and stupidity just to get my small items. i would be happy to continue on this rant but there isn't nearly enough time or space for me to write. but i warn anyone intending to go to this auction to stop. there are dozens of great auctions around here. all with great items and great people. there's no reason anyone should have to deal with being treated so poorly. these auctions are supposed to be fun and relaxing. nobody should have to put up with this "dick". read more