The High Court rejected a claim by Albert Crowley, Helga Crowley and Fountains and Decor Ltd that an auction of garden centre and household goods should have been conducted with a reserve price. It found no agreement for a reserve and no breach or negligence in the auction’s conduct.
The case followed the sale of the Crowleys’ property at Kingswood Cross, County Dublin, to Wilsons Auctions Ltd for €4.75 million. The company was later engaged to auction the contents and stock. The plaintiffs said they had agreed that items would not sell for less than 50% of their marked retail prices. Wilsons said the auction was without reserve.
After hearing the evidence, the court concluded that there was no agreement for a reserve price, whether for some or all of the items. It dismissed the claim for €650,000 in damages based on the alleged term. It also rejected the plaintiffs’ complaints that the auction was chaotic or negligently conducted.
The court considered Wilsons’ counterclaim for losses relating to security equipment, site clearance and goods that the plaintiffs allegedly retained after the auction. It found that security equipment included in the property sale had been removed, but awarded Wilsons €2,500 rather than the €7,661.25 sought for replacement and fitting. The court said Wilsons had refused the offered return of the equipment and had not shown its actual value.
The court dismissed the claim for site clearance costs, finding that Wilsons had waived any entitlement to damages over vacant possession by closing the sale without reserving that claim. It also rejected claims concerning auction goods bid for by Ian and Ricky Wilson and by a Scottish company. Those individuals and the company were not parties to the proceedings, and the court found the defendant company could not claim their personal losses or the other company’s alleged loss of profit.
The court awarded Fountains and Decor Ltd €55,098.50, less the €2,500 allowed on the counterclaim, and awarded €47,000 in interest. It refused deductions for advertising and commission because those amounts had not been pleaded in the counterclaim. The judgment records the award in its final paragraph as £99,598.50.