First class service and supreme packaging
Very easy to deal with staff and very professional.
All 4 of my purchases at their auctions went extremely well.

I purchased 2 porcelain vases via Invaluable. Johnny and team were efficient, professional and friendly dealing with me. I opted for their in house packing and transportation as it proved cheaper than engaging a third party. Items were packed well and double boxed. All in all I was extremely satisfied

We have purchased several items from Fontaine's and have always been pleased with our purchases. They do a good job describing their lots and are always very responsive to questions. And items they have packaged and shipped have always arrived timely and undamaged. We will purchase from them again in the future.

The lamp shade is beautiful..when lit it’s a special little lamp

Easy peasy, and expertly packaged for damage free shipping.

I LOVE THIS Auction place , John is super knowledgeable and friendly and very importantly honest , great selection, love the furniture I bought this time

Fontaine's were really helpful - assisting me to get the item I won at auction, delivered from the USA to Australia. Thank you!

All items were as descibed. Pleasure to work with.

Items as described. What is most impressive is the speed of shipping and the care put into packing

Bought a great ring, Service was excellent. Shipping and payment were smooth. Thank you!

One of the best auction houses in the NY, MA and CT area. Great selection of objects, helpful staff, accurate photos and descriptions. Highly recommended. Has only gotten better over the years.

This is a serious and professional company. Not all are on this platform. They were responsive on the phone and did what they said they would do. I emailed them a label which they used to send my items, which were received on time "as described."

It was a nice transaction, nice product, looking forward to do more business in the future

We inherited a lamp and never knew how to obtain information on it til we found John Fontaine who so kindly identified it and gave it a value.

A great find at a reasonable price. Staff is attentive and professional...with a personal touch

I have been dealing with Fontaines Auction for many years.   They are great people to work with and I have always been pleased both buying and selling there.   Highly recommend auction house!

Fast and easy transaction, many thanks!
Very helpful and easy to work with, 5 stars!!!!!
AH inc.

Really great experience. Easy purchase. In house shipping. Very nice. Thank you.

Great gallery, very honest and take care of the customer. I have purchased many items from them and I'm always satisfied.

Good service.. and well described... no complaints here..

Very good auction, professional service. Thank you very much!

Excellent auction house. Good descriptions. Fast and reasonable shipping

Great auction house always the highest quality some of the rarest stuff I ever come across comes from here, and the staff is always pleasant and courteous I love my new watches. All of them were in mint condition running keep in time. Great collection.

Don’t participate in very many auctions due to high, associated costs (like everything else these days) but Fontaines provided the resources (fair, in house shipping) that made this winning bidder satisfied to spend money to acquire well represented and lovely addition to our home.  Highly recommend 👍

Very professional.  Organized shipping  The item arrived in a timely manor and in great condition.

I've been buying and selling with Fontaine's for about 45 years and you'd be challenged to find a more reliable, trustworthy and capable auction service. If there's something better than perfect, Fontaine's is it.

Highest marks for courtesy and integrity along with detailed knowledge of antiques and the current market pricing/trends.  We placed nine items with Fontaine's auctions which were well positioned in the most appropriate auctions including accurate identification and excellent pictures.  Contractual terms were followed precisely with timely payment after sales.  Much appreciate John's personal and professional courtesy.

Great experience and shipping on a higher end product. Glad the item came up and is rare. Happy to bid again in the future.

Fontaine's is great, and they provide in-house shipping, which is always well packed. Solid auction house.

John Fontaine recently handled the sale of my late fathers collection of over 150 antique clocks. The photographs and descriptions were amazing. He was able to get very good prices for the collection and we were paid in a very timely manner. Could not have asked for a better auction company to have handled my dads collection. Thanks!

John Fontaine’ is an honest man that draws an amazing crowd because of the quality of his reputation. I’ve done business with him and can tell you it’s the best in the country. I was an antique dealer for 40 years and always new I could rely on John to take good care of me. It’s not often that you could find someone that cares and will always do his best . Cynthia Keller antique Dealer of quality antiques

Very nice selection and very helpful and understanding staff and owner. They will even pack your item and ship it for an additional price if you live far from the auction or bid online! Thank you again. You won’t be disappointed!

John Fontaine is so very helpful and willing to assist. He took time out of his schedule to help and educate me on a difficult sculpture. That speaks volumes regarding a persons character.  Being in the Midwest, I am used to stuffy east coasters(LOL)- John is the furthest thing from that!  Thank you John!

I called John to ask for his opinion on the authenticity of a Tiffany lamp.  I emailed him photos and he called me within the hour.  Not only was he lightning fast in his reply, but very knowledgeable and courteous.  I would highly recommend him.

This is the best auction house in New England! I have been auctioning with John for years and have always had a five star experience. John is professional, experienced and highly knowledgeable on all items. I know I am in good hands and can trust John to manage my auction items in the most professional way.

Great place amazing collection love the staff

I registered to bid online with Fontaine's a few auctions ago and have been very pleased. The online platform is easy to use. When I called to ask some questions about how the auctions worked the person on the phone was helpful and pleasent to talk to. I definitely will be back to bid!

My parents and I have bought, sold and consigned antiques with Fontaine's. We are very happy working with John Fontaine and his staff, and have never had an issue.

This is a large auction gallery with monthly antique auctions. Easy parking and lots of seating inside.  Each auction I have been too has had a small catered food concession set up.

They have a A+ BBB rating.  This site has no popups and tested clean and safe from malware. The site has a contact page, with email and a phone number for easy visitor support. AVG and quttera found no issues with this site. Sucuri SiteCheck reported Verified Clean, Google Malware Diagnostic Tool reported this site as safe. Ratings and Stats were as listed at time of this review.

Hello Katherine,

We are an auction gallery, not a store. Our business hours are accurate and we are open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm for consignments, purchase pick-ups and previews. If you rang the bell at our main entrance, someone would have greeted you at the door.

Best,

Fontaine’s

Looked great, but it’s apparently not a shop you can actually go into. Despite the open hours being posted online, the doors are locked and no staff is on sight. Looked nice through the windows though.

Hello Chris,

You are not a customer with us. We have never received any of your items to sell. It appears you have mistaken us with another auction house. Please double check.

Best,

Fontaine’s Auction Gallery

Not a good auction to sell your items at . Poor customer service. I called and emailed many times with no responce. I followed the directions sent photos then I call two weeks later and was told I would get a phone call , never happened. I guess you did not read my post nor undersand it

On April 1, 2023, this customer purchased three items from our "American & European Timepieces" auction. She sent an email on April 17th authorizing the release of her items to the shipper of her choice. The delivery was delayed so she asked us to get involved, which we did. We contacted her shipping company who confirmed a delivery date within 2 weeks from that date. The customer decided not to accept the delivery in that time frame, and she wanted the items returned to our gallery so she could make different arrangements. After nine months had passed, she finally sent another shipper to retrieve her items. At some point, there was damage done to the glass dome on a clock she purchased. She called on March 19th to let us know of this situation and stated she wanted a full refund. We explained to her that she had some responsibility in the matter because she left the items with us for nine months. She said she wanted "no part of that" and the only thing she would accept was a full refund. In the next half hour, we received four aggressive phone calls from her with one berating our receptionist and calling her "delusional." We attempted to work things out with this customer, but she was being unreasonable and unwilling to negotiate a fair resolution.

Atrocious experience with John Fontaine and Fontaine’s Auction House. I reported him to the Better Business Bureau as I see was done by another customer just last month! Was treated horribly by Mr. Fontaine for requesting a full refund for an item damaged after the auction and prior to my shipper picking up. Was refused a refund and belittled on the phone by Mr. Fontaine for the $693 clock when a huge crack in the back was made PRIOR to my shipper removing the clock (shipper took photos of the crack before leaving auction house) No cracks when bidding as the photos show no cracks & the condition report has no notations. Mr. Fontaine hung up on me several times. His justification for not refunding me was that “we should call it even” since he chose not to charge me a storage fee (?!). Then he went about threatening to charge me a storage fee just because he did not like that I asked for a refund for my damaged property after it arrived.

It’s a sad story when a business such as Fontaine’s is allowed to operate and bring in revenue when they are deceitful and have zero concern for the legal rights of the customer. I sincerely hope the others reading this review chose a honest and ethical auction house instead of Mr. Fontaine’s.

I would not bid on anything online. I reported this pathetic man John to the BBB. He is deceitful with his picture representation. He's also a liar. He will agree to a partial refund and not follow through. Fontaine's is the reason I will never bid online ever again.

If someone approaches you with an online assistant job from this company, it is a scam. Don't send them your personal information.

Hello Wendy,

Due to the increase in internet fraud, we have to strictly follow our protocol for first time buyers. We explicitly state that a personal check takes seven business days to clear. We received your payment on December 12th and the item was shipped on December 21st, covering the seven business day hold. You received your item today, December 23rd. You did not have to wait almost a month; in fact, it took less than half of that. 

Regards,

Fontaine’s Auction Gallery

A horrible experience. I was a new customer, and the owner John  waited the full 7 days formy check to clear. However, the check cleared the day after he received it. Then after the check cleared I  payed pack and ship 42.00. I did not hear from them for two days. I called John on Monday, and he screamed at me, and said" I was going to ship today" but I will wait two more days until Wednesday.
really spiteful.  I had to wait almost a month to get my item. A horrible experience.

I wish that I had read a few of the reviews that aren't on Google before committing myself.

I am out of state, and won a lot online. However, one of their preferred shippers (Custom Pack & Ship) charged 5 times the industry standard to package and ship the lot.

As an example, I also won a similar lot at another auction in LA recently, and had it shipped across the country for 1/20th of the price that this auction's preferred shipper charged to send my other lot over two states.

Dolly,

Defending against allegations from 13 years ago is difficult; this is not the type of business practice we employ, nor have we ever. Fontaine’s has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, which is the highest standard they award for businesses. We have been in business for over 50 years because of a broad customer base who puts their trust in us. If we picked up a consignment from you, there would have been a consignment contract filled out and signed by a Fontaine’s representative. This contract would have all of the pertinent terms relating to the consignment, including consignor payout on the 31st day after the auction, the day after our 30-day guarantee for buyers expires. You also state that upon inquiry, "the girl was rude and said we owed them money," which is not plausible because a consignor could not owe us money unless a purchase was also made by them, not paid for and there was an outstanding balance. A review like this does not represent our company, as the thousands of people we have done business with, spanning over 50 years, would agree to.

Best regards,

Fontaine's Auction Gallery

In 2007 my husband and I  contacted Fontaine's after reading of a clock auction. I emailed pictures of items I wished to sell. I expressed concern as to how to get the items to their auction. They said they had a truck that picked up item in other states and would stop at our house on the way back from one of these pickups. We sent a large hand painted and dated German trunk, a slag glass tiffany style stained glass lamp, an old circus poster professionally framed and 2 large store display spice tinsel. After several months I inquired on the status. The girl was rude and said we owed them money. We never received a statement or any monies. We acted in good faith that we would receive a check.  Nothing! My husband has since passed away and for some reason I am still on the mailing list. I do not recommend this auction and will always feel hurt that we trusted some our treasured items to this auction and got nothing.

Be very careful when buying high-priced Laterndluhren and Dachluhren!

Auction Nov. 17th 2018: Lot Nr. 121 - "BIEDERMEIER LATERNDLUHR 1 YEAR ASTRONOMICAL REGULATOR" is a total fake!
A few years ago, an Austrian clock collector bought this Vienna Laterndluhr from the Viennese art dealer Stephan Andreewitch for a large sum of money. After experts found out that this was a complete forgery, Andreewitch had to take back the clock, refund the purchase amount and pay all the costs for the Vienna court and the lawyers. An expensive affair for a worthless Laterndluhr fake!

Time and again, forgeries of Viennese Dachluhren and Laterndluhren you may see in the world of Internet.
Unfortunately, such bad copies are also offered by antique and art dealers in large cities such as Vienna, London, ... but also in large auction houses as "original" and the customer needs a lot of expertise to distinguish original from replica.

Therefore, my tip: Stay away from buying such high-priced copies, if you do not understand! You usually never see your money again!

********

Meanwhile, I have seen that Fontaine`s Auction Gallery has responded to my posting and has removed the clock from the auction. That's a good thing and  I hope, that the experts of Fountain`s Auction Gallery also have testet the remaining Laterndluhren for originality! They all seem to be also very suspect!

I brought in a pair of 18th century candlesticks to sell, not only did the owner say he wouldn’t want them in his house but he said a piece was missing that catches the dripped wax and that ‘someone really saw someone coming’.  The candlesticks were purchased in Palm Beach, FL for $2500 but apparently I was taken but didn’t appreciate being insulted.  I also had photos of a small painting purchased at the world renowned Wally Findlay Gallery along with several Eduardo Cortez paintings, Mr. Fontaine called the piece ‘tourist’ art as though it purchased in a convenience store! The third insult!  Horrible place!

ONLINE BIDDERS BEWARE!  After submitting a recorded bid via Live Auctioneers, the item went to another bidder for the same amount.  After contacting Fontaine's Auction Gallery to better understand where the glitch was, I was sent a rude, belittling and condescending email in response.  This Auction house evidently does not want nor appreciate online bidders.  Whether you are a professional designer like myself or a novice at online auctions, Fontaine's is NOT the place to purchase online.

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