Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) – It appears even a court order from the Attorney General isn't enough to get a local auction company to play by the rules.
In April, after dozens of complaints, the AG's office demanded T.W. Conroy to live up to their contracts and pay customers within 30 days.
But that’s still not happening.
Back in June, Mario Arena put the contents of his life for the past twenty years up for auction when he and his wife decided to move to Rochester. He hired T.W. Conroy.
The sale brought in nearly $43,000; his contract says he's to paid in full within 30 days.
44 days after his auction, Mario's still owed around $20,000.
“I'm heart broken…I can't believe that they've taken everything from me. I just can't believe it - and no response,” says Arena.
No response when the last $19,000 check from Conroy didn't clear at the bank. Nobody was around when we stopped at the showroom today to get an explanation, but Mario's story is very similar to several others who have waited and waited to get paid by T.W. Conroy.
The Attorney General's office sued the company in April for pretty much everything they're doing to Mario right now - failing to timely pay consumers for auctions, issuing checks with insufficient funds and failing to respond to consumer complaints.
The terms of the judgment clearly say T.W. Conroy must make payment to clients within 30 days. They have not done that in Mario's case.
“I'm going to take every legal avenue to try and collect my money,” says Arena.
The AG’s office tells us they have received additional complaints about the auction company and are actively reviewing them. If the company is found to be in violation of the court-ordered judgment against them, they could face a number of additional penalties.
The owner, Tim Conroy, could even be held in contempt of court and arrested if he's found to be knowingly violating the terms.
Our calls and e-mails to T.W. Conroy also went unreturned Monday.
