ABI Art review: Fraud 14

Thank you for bringing everything to the light. My name is Tom Nelson in Raleigh, NC. Rick Hancock of Redondo Beach, California and his organization ABI Fine Art in Torrance, California also ripped me off for $12, 000 that he STILL hasn't paid me for. The funny thing is that, yes, the funny thing, I almost shipped him another piece of art to sell on consignment UNTIL all of my friends told me not to do so. You have heard the saying: "Fooled once, shame on you; fooled twice, shame on me". Rick is a destroyer of dreams; he is a destroyer of good will. He is a user and coniver and manipulator and conman and snake oil salesman and a dishonest, non-forthcoming person. He is not to be trusted in whatever line of work he ends up in. He will use you, he will take advantage of you, he will take your money from you and never give you the time of day after he has what he wants from you. You can call and call and call and he never returns your calls. While he is courting you he talks nice and politely and complimentary and will call you over and over again like 4 times in a day and plead with you to send him your art. I just have to say to you from the most intimate part of my being: Don't Do It! He promised to pay me on December 24, 2009 the $24000 he owed me. I waited and waited on that day. I really needed the money. The day before Christmas, no less. I was counting on it for Christmas. I was counting on it to provide for my family on Christmas. It broke my heart. Who promises that he will pay you on Christmas Eve and then never does so? How cruel is that? He never sent it. It is now August 11, 2010 and he has paid me the half of the money. He still owes me $12000.
Now my question is this: What is Rick Hancock going to do now? I hear he has been arrested. This is a good thing. What kind of line of work can you take up where they will hire you with a felony/criminal record? I hear he is only 48 years old or so. He has a family, a wife and a child. I only know that your actions reflect your inner being.
You now know who this person is, this Rick Hancock person. I pray I have never to deal with a person of his ilk again in my lifetime.
Tom Nelson.

I too have been ripped off by the snake, Rick Hancock. I sold a series of artwork to him for $12, 000 in 2009 and now more than a year later I have only received 1/4 of the money. I have two small children and my husband was out of work and really needed the money. I can't believe people can do something like that. It just goes to show the character he has and the character of the people working for him. NEVER do business with him.

I live in Naples, Florida and sent ABI a Erte Peace bronze to Kristin Lanctot back in May 2010. I was then told my bronze sold and received a contact of sale and what amount of money I would receive. After 2 to 3 months, no money no contact, I finally received an email from someone named Eddie. Very nice and assured me everything was still in the works and the buyers still had my piece. Again no word for months then I receive a call from Rick Hancock saying the buyers still had the piece and would know soon. Again no word so I am not going to place a criminal report with the police and FBI. I did receive a call telling me he is going bankrupt so where is my statute. I will now have to contact his attorney to try and get my property back. What a horrible experience.

I have also been scammed by this jerk. I also sent Erte's to Kristin and have been told they were sold and I would be paid. This has been going on since February of 2209. Does anyone know of anything that can be done to get our money. I can be reached at jwwardjr@aol.com
Thanks

so what do we do to become part of the complainants against him? same story for us.
david from colorado

I am a retiree who sent over $70, 000 worth of Erte's for ABIart to sell. I received about $10, 000 over the last two years and an original PETER MAX painting as part payment. He still owes me over $50, 000. He said I would be paid starting on February 18th and each month thereafter. Needless to say, I have not seen a dime and, after seeing the posting, most likely will not. The man is a con man like Madoff, who ripped off everyone he could. He should go to jail and have a cell next to Madoff so they can compare notes. I hope he rots in jail. What do we do to become part of the complaints too
Harvey, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

There is much written on ABI Art and Rick Hancock. This company owes me for 3 Joan Miro pieces. I was roped into this because Kristen Lanctot did sell the first Miro artwork I sent. I was paid for that one piece in 2009. Then a year later they asked me for 3 more Miros...so I sent them. I have been taken for $10, 500. The saddest part is that the art was my late brothers. I was selling this art to send the money to his grandchildren. I feel awful! Rick Hancock has sent numberous emails promising everything, but never sends payment. His attorney sent an email letter asking to give him time to re-structure and not file any complaints. The last email indicated I would start receiving payments March 11. Today I filed with the California Office of the Attorney General. If anyone gets wind of a class action, I would appreciate the heads up. If this company is still doing business, beware. DO NOT SEND THEM ANY ARTWORK. Chris in Illinois

Its been three years of lies unanswered calls and broken promisses. I sold a signed warhal limited Campbells soup through Rick/ABI art. I was in financial need and was promissed my quick proceeds of $22, 000 . I only received $2, 000 and a bounced bank wire. It ruined my credit as all my customers were paid against a wire bounced 10 days later. The man is a ###. Three years of stories and waiting...cutting a guy a break! All the while he is sucking your blood. I hope his is a just reward. I have a great deal of corespondence over state lines :fax, e-mail, wire fed-ex. If anyone has an atorney yet that wants to join forces, I am in. I will be persuing this on my own very soon. John, Chicago Illinois

Chris, Is this the same as Art Brokerage, Inc. in Henderson, NV. I listed an Erte bronze with them. Debbie

According to the Better Business Bureau website it appears there are 2 unrelated companies: Art Brokerage, Inc. a/k/a ABI Fine Art in Torrance, CA owned by Rich Hancock that has many complaints and Art Brokerage, Inc. in Las Vegas, NV owned by Donna Rose that has an A- rating.

Fortunately, I listed with the Las Vegas company. Whew, I was really concerned.

I shipped a $15, 000 Warhol limited edition print to ABI 4 years ago on consignment. It was a 4 month agreement. I have emailed and called Rick Hancock and Kirstin Lancot dozens of times over the years to ask why it has not sold and get no answers. Now their phones go unanswered. They supposedly have my artwork. This is grand larceny. Is there a victim out there that lives in LA and knows of a good attorney. I would love to join forces to recoup our loses. I can be reached at:
mharman@blueridgecarpet.com

I too have been scammed by Rick Hancock. In 2008 I sent him an original Anatole Krasynasky painting, and waited years for ABI Art to sell this piece. I spoke to many sales people over this period, and there was always someone interested and they would get back to me.
Last year I did some research and I discovered that Rick Hancock had been arrested by Detective KANO of the Torrance (CA) Police Department [protected]. Today (May 2, 2012), I received a NEW email from ABI Art asking if I wanted my painting back, and that I would need to pay the shipping charges to a third party company in charge of returning things. This of course is probably just another scam perpetrated by Mr. Hancock. Caveat Emptor! I guess going to jail wasn’t enough to stop Rick from his fraudulent ways.

Below is a copy of the email I received today.

Dear Newton,

I hope you are well.

Please find the below email and contact Castelli Framing for the shipping of your artwork. If you do not wish to have the return of your work please let us know and we will make other arrangements.

Sincerely,
Rick
________________________________________
From: rickhancock@abiart.com
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 12:13 PM
To: xxxxxxxx@GMAIL.COM
Subject: Artwork Return

Dear Newton,

If you have not been able to keep up with the communications. ABI had two back to back technology issues starting in October 09' with our two third party hosting companies Network Solutions and Godaddy.com that started a cascading of events with the company.

Network Solutions retained Cloudmark.com to act as a third party digital communications monitor. The deployment of their new algorithm, which in short, severely impeded ABI's ability to do business, communicate out going and receive inbound communications. After finding our self in between a finger pointing exercise between two technology companies, we then transferred all of our business to Godaddy.com, this turned into a miss management of a new account, unprecedented by our years of working with hosting companies, by their not providing a large enough size of account to facilitate the amount of email traffic coming and going, which is the premise for the companies ability to operate and do business.

These successive events impeded and in some cases eliminated the companies ability to produce revenues while the company continued its burn rate, creating customer service issues due to impaired communications and putting ABI at a disadvantage that we were not able to overcome.

We apologize for these events as they were completely out of our control, which has put us in the position that we have now been compelled move in a direction we have worked hard to avoid.

In the interim, your artwork has been delivered to Castelli Framing who will be acting as a "THIRD PARTY INDEPENDENT RESOURCE". They will be facilitating the packaging and at your direction making the arrangements for the shipping of the artwork back to you.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT CASTELLI FRAMING IS NOT APART OF THE COMPANY AND IS ONLY PROVIDING "INDEPENDENT SERVICES" TO ASSISTING IN THE SHIPPING AND PACKAGING OF THE ARTWORK AT YOUR DIRECTION BACK TO YOU. THEY HAVE BEEN GRACIOUS IN THEIR ASSISTANCE AND WE ASK THAT YOU PLEASE KEEP ALL COMMUNICATIONS RELATING TO SHIPPING AND PACKAGING ONLY...THANK YOU.

**PLEASE HAVE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS REFLECT CONFIRMATION OF THE SHIPPMENT, ADDRESS, METHOD OF PAYMENT YOU WISH TO USE AND TYPE OF DELIVERY.

INSTRUCTIONS:

> Contact persons at Castelli Framing - Ryan and Melissa

> Company - Castelli Framing

> Contact Phone Number - 310.204.6830

> Please provide your:

a. Shipping Address

b. Contact Phone #

c. Confirm your email address for digital communications

d. Payment method for Packaging and Shipping. We suggest shipping by ground as it is the most cost effective.

** We apologize that ABI is not able to provide the shipping and packaging services through the company at this time.

On a personal note, It is my sincerest apology that I extend to you for the inconvenience as this has also effected every aspect of our lives both personally and professionally, with the effects that will continue for the foreseeable future as we continue to see this through to completion in other areas that will need to be facilitated before our work is done.

I would also encourage you to review how technology is intertwined in your life via your phone, computer, banking, email etc. If you take a moment and look around you will see what you need to do and be able to identify resources that will assist in mitigating problems. It is not if, but when technology will have issues that will affect us all. It is the preparation that will provide an easier path through the challenge.

Again our sincerest apologies,
Rick

I am entering the art business with actual artwork that will be sent to potential buyer being ripped off isn't cool and I believe in doing real business so when you guys are looking for business hit me up on reyesrocio63@yahoo.com and I will promise you the artwork that you want. WARNING: I am not finished with my drawings yet so when I am I'll Post pIctures of them i promise

I Have one done... its miley cyrus im Not sure if you guys will like it, its small...and it could Have been better I know If you are interested offer starts at $20