that's bad news, sorry to hear. sadly they are only human, if their system had no record it had no record, how can they tell one genuine case from a bunch of chancers? there has to be a cut off point and inevitably there will always be some disappointment.
as for 'next', maybe she felt the dialogue was going nowhere and to be fair they must be snowed under.

be positive and hope you get lucky next time, not that that really helps

I dont plan to stop buying from POW and one day i hope to speak the same nice things about them. I just aint had any great experiences of POW, jus great prints. Tho to be honest, I aint been collecting long enough to speak at all on this subject. I understand the 'Chancers" thing, but i wasnt. I truly belived I had one coz of the message they give out at the time. Hey-ho, good things are coming....

Holy Moley! ... made me chuckle! ;D

AGREE WITH MELMOTH - THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

I knew wot you meant mate, Offence didnt come into it. No probs.

When I worked in London I used to regularly go round various galleries in my lunch hour. All would make you feel very welcome and were happy to discuss the artists and their works in great detail. It was probably obvious I couldn't afford most of the work they were selling but they were happy to talk because they had a genuine passion for what they were doing. I appreciate POW aren't a London Gallery (yet) but I have never witnessed the same passion for art from them.

That's not my experience of laz. They have always been very friendly and chatty when I have gone in. Sometimes I have found it hard to leave.

This is taken from Art newspaper dated 22/11/07





Mixed messages from Banksy's publishers over eBay print fraud
William Oliver | 22.11.07 | Issue 185
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LONDON. Last month, we revealed that employees of Pictures on Walls (POW), the company which publishes and authenticates works on paper by the anonymous graffiti artist Banksy had sold unauthorised works by the artist on eBay. These had been stamped with a replica of the POW blindstamp and some of them carried forged signatures.

According to the account of a whistleblower who participated in the online fraud, prints from the Grin Reaper, Grannies, and Soup Can series were circulated in addition to the authorised print run. These were placed on eBay by a network of collaborators working with POW employees.

Fake bids were then placed on the unauthorised prints by the people selling them, a process known as shill bidding, in which prices are artificially inflated. This is illegal in the UK under the 2006 Fraud Act.

According to our source, the fraud has taken place for around a year as prices for Banksy's works have soared. The unauthorised prints on eBay were not accompanied by the POW paperwork which is issued with authorised prints. Buyers of the unauthorised prints were told to call POW and speak to specific employees--those collaborating in the fraud. An email, seen by The Art Newspaper, from a POW employee to an outside agent who had been asked to sell an unauthorised print on eBay explained that POW was attempting to obtain a "new old emboss" for the print in question.

When we first presented these allegations to POW, Banksy, and his dealer Steve Lazarides, they issued a statement through Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent in which they acknowledged that "25 bad prints have been sold on eBay" and said that an immediate investigation had been launched. They stressed that they "along with members of the public have been victims of criminal behaviour". When we presented our evidence to eBay, the company shut down four seller accounts.

Just two weeks later, POW published another statement on its website. In contrast to their earlier comments, this said that the company was "unable to find any evidence of a serial fraud being conducted by current or former members of staff. We are aware that former staff have sold a number of prints via eBay but we have found nothing to indicate these prints were issued fraudulently. Our investigation has led us to believe that there are questions over the provenance of a small number of prints."

The statement then listed 11 works in the Happy Chopper and Weston-Super- Mare series. POW was unwilling to provide further information about these prints.

When challenged on the apparent speed with which the POW investigation had taken place and the discrepancies between the two statements, POW released a third statement through Mark Stephens which said that the investigation had in fact not been concluded but was "ongoing" and that POW had instituted a "ban on any member of staff selling any type of artwork over the internet as a condition of their employment".

"We can confirm that our investigations revealed some prints given to staff as gratuities by some artists have been sold on eBay, however, we reiterate that we have no reason to suspect that these prints are fraudulent in any way."

The company was unwilling to answer any further questions about authentication, the numbering and embossing of prints, or doubts over the Grin Reaper, Grannies, and Soup Can series.
Top

"11 works in the Happy Chopper and Weston-Super- Mare series "

Pow never had the details of these prints on there files and were just updating there records

We're still none the wiser and in the dark.


Fudge anyone?

dont know mate but the POW response was buried and quickly forgotten about with the release of trollies. SOunds well shady to me and you figure if there wasnt a shred of truth they'd get the liable lawyers.

;D

Couldn't of said it better myself.

Before POW closed, did they have this book in stock? If not what should I be paying for one of these?

Thanks.

Kool, thanks Snakes!