Investigation: feel confident about doing business with Park West - commitment to 100% customer satisfaction to resolve any and all issues. Over 1 million clients - the majority repeat customers, excellence in the art industry.

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Rip-off Report Investigation: Park West receives a POSITIVE RATING from Rip-off Report -commitment to providing excellent customer service, pledges its commitment to 100% customer satisfaction - over 1 million satisfied clients - feel confident & secure when doing business with Park West Gallery

I boarded the Carnival from June 26 to July 3 right prior to your trip. I purchased one piece of Rembrant and two piece of Peter Max. I do agree with you the appraisal vaule by Park West is too excessive. we, as comsumers, need to stand together to fight for our right to be able to return our purchases if we feel we are induced to buy. but, on the other hand, I won't trust any art work sell on Ebay. just like you don't buy big name art work form mom and pop store down the street neither.

Hello everyone.

I just experienced the EXACT same deal with Royal Caribbean. I highly suggest not going on any cruises anymore...my wife and I won't.

We purchased a Kinkade that "...sells on land for $700 to $1000..." for $270. Go to www.thomaskinkade.com and you can buy it for $285!

I called Royal Caribbean many times and spent a lot of time on hold. They gave me the run-around and obviously don't care that Park West is ripping off people on their ships.

Once again, Bruce Hochman continues to blatantly lie to the clients of Park West Gallery regarding the Salvador Dali artwork collected by them.

1. There is no "Official Dali Gallery." The "gallery" Hockman owns is a mail drop to support his internet business.

2. Clients speaking with him should ask for his comments in writing. He will not do so as this would put him in jeopardy for liable.

3. His credentials as a member of the IFAA are of no importance as anyone with $500 and ten years in the art business can become a member. There are no other requirements, qualifications or training required.

4. Of course someone can buy an alleged Dali, "Divine Comedy" work from Hochman. The question becomes, "Is it real?" Ask what documentation and provenance a client receives when he buys from him. Would the client get a copy of a letter signed by Dali authenticating his signature? Probably not, but the client can get a copy of this letter from Park West. Would the client get a written expert opinion of authenticity from an independent expert? Probably not, but Park West can provide one.

Here is what the client will receive. This is from a certificate of authenticity for a handsigned work of the "Divine Comedy," by Dali that one of our cleints bought from Hochman. It is signed by Hochman himself.

Excerpts:

The work of art described herein is certified as auithentic, limited edition work, hand signed and numbered by the artist and guaranteed as represented. (The work the client received is not numbered.)

Edition number: xx/c (This imples a roman numeral edition number 20 of 100. Such an edition is unnkown and unreported in any literature discussing the "Divine Comedy," including the Field catalog that Hochman financed.)

Year: 1959-1963 (all dali dealers know that the "Divine Comedy" was published in 1964.)

Total Edition Size: 500: Limited tirage of 500, numbered and and (sic) signed by Dali. (I am confused. Is it from an edition xx/c (100) or 500? It can't be both. The edition of 500 is also unknown and unreported.)

Publisher: Unknown (Again, all legitimate Dali dealers know that Les Heures Claires in Paris, France was the publisher of the "Divine Comedy."

If someone wants to pay for a work with such certification they they will get what they pay for. Something that will be unreconizeable to any future scholor attempting to authenticate it as a real handsigned Dali work.)

"The Offical Dali Gallery." Official by whose pronouncement? Certainly, the "Divine Comedy" work collected from them by our client is not official accouding to the certificate of authenticity they received.

Park West does not decieve our clients. The deception come from a jealous competitor who cannot compete without lying.

We are not the only gallery that is the target of Hochman's lies. He enjoys no respect from the many other galleries who have also had their clients lied to.

The truth will always prevail.

In response to the comments of Bill Smith of Park west

1. I have NEVER stated to anyone that we are "Official Dali Gallery" check my website.www.daligallery.com
2. I would be willing to put my comments in writing. No one has ever asked.
3 The IFAA did not ask Mr. Smith my credentials. They said because of my long standing reputation as an honest Dali dealer,I could become a member
4.Our Divine Comedy works are real. In the art business, prints do not come with provenance. Provenance refers to the previous owners of the works. This is done only with one of a kind works. We give a certificate that is required by law.

Mr. Smith is WRONG in his statement"All Dali dealers know that"Divine Comedy" was published in 1964.According to Albert Field 1959-1963.
If Park West is showing collectors a letter that Dali signed authenticating his signiture be sure that the letter refers specifically to the work in question.

In question should be inflated appraisals that the owner of Park West shows to cruise ship passengers

Mr. Smith also stated "He enjoys no respect from the many other galleries who have had their clients lied to'
Which galleries Mr. Smith?
The bottom line is How come the appraiser that Park West uses on the divine comedy prints they sell refuses to appraise the works?He will only authenticate them.He appraises other Dali art,why not these?
Lastly, There is in my posession a notorized document signed by Dali that states he disovows any association to the Albaretto family. I also have an article from a German newspaper(Aug 8th,2004) that states that there is an ongoing investigation into the authenticity of the Albaretto collection of Dali works with forensic expert testimony that the contracts between Dali and Albaretto were typed on a typwriter that was not manufactured at the time the contracts were signed.

Once again, Park West Gallery is missing the point of our claim. Instead of facing up the FRAUD committed on our cruise ship, Park West is trying to make this a gallery vs. gallery argument that has no relevance to our dispute.

Let me first say that unlike Park West Gallery, I can admit when I have made a mistake. I meant to state in my original post, that we had talked to AN official Dali Art Gallery and not THE official Dali Art Gallery. That was a grammatical error on my part. We were merely trying to convey that these comparison prices were from an Ebay seller or an individual. This is NOT the only gallery that we have spoken with. Also, we knew that we had been ripped off PRIOR to contacting these galleries. I would also like to state, for the record, that the Dali Art Galleries that we have contacted have NEVER tried to sell us any artwork, nor have we asked. We simply saw a couple of gallery names pop up while doing research, specifically the USA Today article that investigated cruise ship art gallery frauds.

Forget for a moment that I even mentioned ANY other gallery. So, let's talk about one of MANY lies the auctioneer, Stewart, told us on our ship. The auctioneer and Park West Gallery tried to pass these Dali paintings off as ORIGINAL Dali's. You don't have to talk to any gallery to find out that this is a lie, any Dali book will do.

We simply wanted a painting that Dali had touched himself. That's why we were looking at the pencil signed Dali's, but since they were (supposedly) in the $6,000 + range, we inquired about the block signed Dali's. We weren't interested in these paintings at first because they were created using wood blocks. Although we are novice when it comes to art, we aren't idiots. Often an artist will create a painting, and it is then duplicated using various techniques. These reproductions are rarely touched by the artist, especially ones as famous and popular as Dali. So even though these paintings were BLOCK signed, that was meaningless to us as this signature was just a reproduction from the original painting. My wife asked our auctioneer “did Dali create these paintings as well, or is it another artists copy of what Dali did? So did Dali just supervise the process?” The auctioneer then told us that no Dali HIMSELF created these paintings using wood blocks from his original painting. That is a LIE. A number of books and references will detail that Dali DID NOT create these other paintings, just the originals. He then went back and HAND SIGNED some of the duplicated paintings, but the regular block signed paintings were never touched by Dali.

Park West Gallery can try to explain/cover up what the auctioneer was “attempting” to convey, but I'm sorry fraud is fraud. And a lie is a lie. We asked the auctioneer, Stewart, THREE TIMES during the preview “So, Dali created THIS painting. He actually touched and created this painting himself.” And all THREE times the auctioneer told us yes and went into detail on how DALI did this.

So, Bill, forget we ever mentioned another gallery, the aforementioned facts ALONE constitute fraud. Park West Gallery tried to pass off these Dali's as original works of art and that is a simply not true (something that seems to be a trend with your company, based on other Rip Off Reports and other websites). We're hoping that Park West Gallery will admit that they made a mistake, or specifically our auctioneer made a mistake. Although when speaking with a supervisor from Park West Galleries, my wife was told that she, the supervisor, would have the auctioneer call us at home to clear up what we misunderstood. When my wife declined that offer, she stated that we had already spoken with Stewart enough on the ship as he was the one who lied to us. She then asked my wife “What are you afraid of?” (A great line coming from a supposed supervisor in the Customer Service Department). All Sales are Final DOES NOT apply when fraud is committed. We have contacted our lawyer and we're fully prepared to pay a retainer that's actually MORE than the price of the art pieces that we bought. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT THE MONEY. It has ALWAYS been about not feeling victimized.

If we do not receive a refund, (NOT a bid credit) then we will have no choice but to file the lawsuit. We also look forward to warning other would be victims at the LAND AUCTION at the Wyndham Garden Airport Hotel on Saturday, September 18 in our hometown of Nashville, TN, pending this matter's resolution. Also checkout our website.www.parkwestgalleryscams.com

I just returned from a cruise and went to my first Park West Gallery auction. First I must say that before the auction the auctioneer was very emphatic in emphasizing that
a. All sales are final. Don't bid if you don't want it.
b. The price of art work is subjective.
c. Buy art because you like it, not as an investment.

With that said my wife and I bought a Salvador Dali Destino #73 we loved. We paid $3000. After reading these reports I decided to check it out, frankly your reports had me frightened. What I found was that another Salvador Dali Destino #73 (it was limited edition but not a sole work of art) was selling on Ebay for $5200. So I seem to have gotten a good deal.

I am a long time cruiser on RCCL and after my first cruise became interested in the art and actions being conducted on board. I did not purchase any art on my first cruise but did watch.

After doing a little research on art prices I went on another cruise and with just a little bit of education, felt comfortable enough on bidding and purchasing a few pieces. I must say I asked a lot of questions to the auctioneer. He was very honest in telling me which ones "could" or "might" be considered investments but should not be purchased for that reason at all. Only buy what I loved and intended to keep and enjoy. He was right. However my stubborn self was still looking for a few bargains that I "might" be able to sell on ebay when I got home.

I purchased 7 pieces on that first cruise ranging in price from $220 to $3,800. I fully intended to keep them all. However when I got home I fould that 5 of the 7 pieces I had purchased were selling for a lot more than I paid. I thought what the heck I'll post them and if they don't sell then no big deal.

The piece I bought for $3,800 sold for $5,200. The remaining pieces sold for between $50 and $263 more than I paid for them. I was happy.

I then went on another cruise on RCCL and found that this auctioneer was fairly new and did not have nearly the information available that that I found at my first auction but would always tell me they would get back to me with the correct information. AMAZINGLY he did. Within 24 hours he was able to answer everything I was concerned about. I also heard him saying the same thing to others. I admire that.

Again I purchased 16 pieces this time being a little more cocky. Again I posted them but this time 6 sold for the same or just a few dollars more, 4 did not sell at all, the rest sold for between $50 and $600 more than I paid for them. Again what a deal, BUT I HAD DONE MY HOMEWORK BEFORE PURCHASING.

Without going on further this has become my way of paying for my vacations. I STILL WARN PEOPLE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BUY UNLESS THEY ARE FULLY PREPARED TO KEEP AND ENJOY THOSE PIECES FOR LIFE!!! I can tell you right now that I would guess that about 10% of the pieces sold for several hundred and sometimes thousands of dollars more than what you could get if you wanted to sell them but that is what an AUCTION is. You are bidding on art or "pictures" you like. Nothing more nothing less. Very rarely on 6 different occasions did I feel someone way overpaid for a piece, but so what, they wanted it and they had the money so who cares.

Bottom line, this is a way for the art gallery and the cruise line to make money, but so what. If you like the piece and can afford it then buy it. If you have done ANY research at all and "think" you "might" be able to make a profit just know that it is a gamble. But I think a lot less of a gamble then throwing hundreds of dollars away in the casino. At least you have something to look at on the wall of your home as a nice reminder of your vacation.