Tom Thomas Gallery

I had a terrible experience with this antique dealer! I purchased 2 «antique» iron benches after visiting his store at 315 East 91^st Street in New York, which he stated came from a famous hotel in the south of france, circa 1930. The price I agreed to pay Tom was based on the provenance of the benches – when they arrived (10 weeks later) from an address is Buenos Aires, Argentina, I became suspicious. After about 10 minutes of research on the internet, I discovered that they had recently been manufactured by a furniture seller in Buenos Aires and sent from their store. I anonymously contacted the manufacturer in Argentina the next day regarding these benches, and the manufacturer quoted a retail price that was almost ¹⁄₅ the price I was charged by Tom (as far as I know, this mand did not know of the shady transaction that had just occurred). I immediately contacted Tom with this evidence and his response was, «what do you want me to say, do you want your money back?». He insisted that I had to pay for the return shipping and would not send a check until he received the benches back in perfect condition. Surprisingly, Tom indeed sent me a refund check once he received the benches back. Just a bad experience all around.