Madlene I
map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Misleading

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Me and my husband cruise often we finally decided, to peek in on a art auction and purchased The first Child by Pino.

Beautiful pierce of art. Love it by was mislead.

We where told that the piece was never touch by anyone beside Pino and it was on he had in is own collection, and told us the appraised value so we where exited about collecting this piece of art.

Received the Art and it was not the one that was promised to us, so I called... I was then advised we don't give you the piece of ship we send on to you from the office(warehouse) but they advise no worries it still has the same appraised value.

Ok!

So I left it alone to find out it was not appraised at the value I was told, at this time it was too late to send the piece back.

I misplaced my appraised paper work and had to request a copy for my insurance and they send me a new one that was 7,000 under the value they advised me it was I have both papers the one I lost and the one I received when I got the art from Park west. This is how I learned that I was being ripped off. At this point I had already bought 2 more Pino's and one was still being ship so I returned it and still lost money on the return but they are not getting no more from me.

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1 comment
Guest

I have bought several hundred thousands of dollars of art through Park West....not one piece is valued at what they said. At best I would get pennies on the dollar....argh...frustrated.

Anonymous

A+ credit ruined by Synchrony Bank/Park West Gallery

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After ordering several paintings on numerous cruises, we ordered two more to be framed identical and the matting to be enlarged to make up the size difference. When the first one came, I immediately called and asked how they were going to do that, without them side by side, and was assured the next one would be okay.

The next one came the next month and was not okay. We were offered the choice of sending them back and getting them fixed or them sending the frames and matting, with us fixing it local (which we did). During this time, they started the payments with the first delivery, even though it was not right. I called and told them I would pay in full, when the paintings were actually right.

I was bounced back and forth from Synchrony Bank to Park West, with both saying they didn't have control over the other and Park West didn't work for the Bank. We eventually got late charges that I refused to pay, but we paid in full for the Art. I called again and again, trying to get this resolved, to no avail. It has gone on our credit report and ruined our credit, because they kept adding late charge to late charge.

We can't even get any other credit cards now, because of this. When I have time again, I will take this to an attorney, because obviously your credit rating is worth a lot.

I will not be buying from them again and I will certainly spread the word, that if you apply for financing on the ship, it is Synchrony Bank-however the Bank says they don't work for them. (?)

View full review
Loss:
$500
Reason of review:
Problems with payment

Preferred solution: Change the charge off on my Credit Report from Synchrony Bank/Park West Gallery.

5 comments
Guest

Absolutely horrible company and customer service reps are the worst. They are rude and not helpful at all.

When I asked for a supervisor I was placed on hold and never connected to anyone. Disguised with this company and will NEVER use again and would recommend everyone stay far far away from them.

Guest

I feel your pain. Almost same situation.

It has been a fight since day one. It is now 10 months later and I am getting an attorney to get this straightened up. My 'real' bank has been very helpful in how to handle this situation.

Never never ever will buy art work on a cruise ship again, a most horrific experience. Good luck to you.

Guest

Well duh...if you don't pay your bills, your credit will be impacted. This is not the bank's fault.

It is YOUR own fault.

You should have disputed the charge. Ignorance is no excuse people!

Guest

I have the same problem. My credit has gone from 738 to under 550 in 8 weeks because I am not paying a cent until they resolve an issue where they sold me a picture they didn’t have, a bait and switch.

My credit has been so ruined, I have accepted it will never be fixed, and the 6 pictures I have received were gifts I have no intention of paying for them. This is just one of 5 BS issues that Park West will not address.

Guest

Maybe you should've disputed the charges. If it's in dispute, you don't pay anything.

Get a little more credit knowledge savvy before applying all willy-nilly for credit. Synchrony Bank is easy to get credit from, but you have to be responsible as well.

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Anonymous

Scam Artist Gallery should be their name

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They tout a 40 day cancellation and refund policy, but I have been waiting for over a month to get my refund. I cancelled a couple of orders that I put on a cruise one week after I got home, and I have been waiting for more than a month, with no refund.

They put my order on hold but they have yet to credit back the amount minus their charge to my credit card. The service representative keeps saying it takes time. I requested a call from a service manager... they never called.

I don't think there is another company out there that hangs on to one's money like this company. It is ridiculous.

View full review
Loss:
$1000
Cons:
  • Customer service and how they treat clients
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund

1 comment
Guest

Did you ever get this refund?

Jermell Oeq
map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Wrong frame, split frame, defective artwork, and worst customer service

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Park West Gallery - Wrong frame, split frame, defective artwork, and worst customer service

Purchased 3 pieces of art on cruise in JUL 2017. Received shipment at the end of AUG.

1. PW shipped one painting in wrong color frame and at first acted like I was to blame. When they discovered their mistake they send "oh well..." Not the way to treat polite customers, who are only trying to get what they paid for. Returned that painting and still have received no status updates on this project.

2. Other painting (see photo) has split frame at all four corners. Three small and one huge gap. Whiet dot inside plexiglass grame and fraying on the serigraph itself.

Contacted PW and they sent a garbled voicemail and generic email that someone would be getting in touch soon. Nothing 2 weeks later. 3.

Requested full refund today. I'll be posting in social media forums like this and with Royal Caribbean until I hear back from them.

View full review
Loss:
$3500
Pros:
  • Service onboard the ship
  • Nice pieces of artwork
  • Sales people were nice
Cons:
  • Defective artwork
  • Non customer service
  • Late delivery
Reason of review:
Damaged or defective

Preferred solution: Full refund

2 comments
Guest

We did a cruise in december and purchased 6 piece of art work 3 have arrived so far and are not what we purchased they looked great on board the ship when they arrived they were 3 pieces of paper with a backing sticky taped to them. Im now waiting on the 3 framed pieces we purchased i just hope they are the art work we saw and purchased in the correct frames i asked when we went to sign the paper work that they would arrive in the frames that they are in now i was told they would be the same frames but new ones that would not be chipped or scratched when i asked to take a photo they said we werent allowed so i waited and took photos on another day when they were busy talking to other people .

I will keep you posted when they arrive fingers crossed ... i wish i had seen all these reviews before i purchased

Guest

I need their phone # to complain about my splited frame please Any help I tried !

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Anonymous

Excellent service

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Park West Gallery - Excellent service

I was recently on the Sun Princess and paid a visit to the Park West Gallery. The staff Henry, Bruce and Ian were so professional and very knowledgeable.

Henry Bruce and Ian are friendly and easy to talk with. They were all veru helpful and could answer any question asked of them. I bought my first Peter Max, thank you Henry. I also added to my Thomas Kinkade collection.

I highly recommend Park West if you need anything to do with ART.

I can not speak more highly of the team from the Sun Princess gallery, thank you for such a wonderful experience. Regards, David and Joy.

View full review
Pros:
  • Service
  • Artwork on board the ship
  • Sales staff
Reason of review:
Good customer service
1 comment
Guest

you must be kidding! Park West is the LAST place I'd go to talk about real art.

They are selling nothing but overpriced schlock to neophytes who don't know anything about art. Hey, that's fine, we all start somewhere, but I don't like businesses that feed on the ignorance to sell mass produced work that has no real value other than the value you get out of enjoying looking at it on your wall.

It will not appreciate in value and it will never re-sell for anything near what you are going to get suckered into paying for it on a cruise ship. Go ahead and ask them if anything is original and watch them dance around making stuff up as they go along.

Sydnei Gcl

This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ

Verified Reviewer
| map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Never Again!

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After the so called "auction", I discovered there's a 12 week delivery time. I called customer service several weeks after the end of my cruise & was told my order was still not "manually" entered in their system.

I suggested they update their system to the 21st century and digitally process their sales. The agent said that she would pass my suggestion on to management. Don't hold your breath... Their stall tactics are deliberate; making it more difficult to dispute your credit card purchase.

My experience with Park West is disappointing. Although their name is an attempt to conjuring images of a high-end art gallery on the upper West side of NYC; it is far from it.

View full review
Reason of review:
Order processing issue

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

1 comment
Guest

what number did you call, because they're not answering us on any number or email we use

Anonymous
map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Beware of the scam

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Very dishonest company me and my wife attended a art auction on a cruise ship i sign up for the credit card for free art work little did i know they would commit faud and sign my name and charge me for art work i never agreed to purchase. Beware stay away now i have pay a lawyer or pay for some art work that might not even be the real thing .This company is the worst with horrible customer service my advice to anyone research this company before you ever attend this scam auction . This will ruin your vacation dealing with this company
View full review
Loss:
$1700
Reason of review:
never agreed to the purchase

Preferred solution: Full refund

Anonymous

DID NOT GET WHAT I ORIGINALLY SAW ON THE SHIP

Park West Gallery - DID NOT GET WHAT I ORIGINALLY SAW ON THE SHIP

THE SERIOLITOGRAPH IN COLOR ON PAPER I SAW ON THE SHIP WAS MUCH BRIGHTER AND NOT SO SHINY. REGISTRATION NO.182470.2238 BLOOM STEVE HIGH STAKES 2006.

MICHAEL HOITASH 11/4 DR. BIRAM STREET HAIFA 349**** ISRAEL I SAW IT ON THE CROWN PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP. I WAS VERY DISAPOINTERD, ON THE SHIP THEY TOLD US THAT WE GET THE SAME PICTURE . AND GOOD SERVICE.

I HOPE THAT YOU WILL CHANGE THE PICTURE FOR US. TO ENTER 100 WORDS I WILL WRITE: GOOD SERVICE,GOOD SERVICE,GOO SERVICE,GOOD SERVICE,GOOD SERVICE,GOOD SEVICE, YOU HAVE SENT THE PICTURE TO ME 324 TREMONT STREET NEWTON MA 02458 REG#182470.2238

View full review
Loss:
$250
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

Anonymous
map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Park West Lost my Artwork!

I purchased an original piece (one of a kind) at a Park West event in Chicago in April 2016. The piece has been in layaway and I have paid 21 of the 24 payments due.

Received a call last night from their Sales Department stating they "don't have my artwork anymore". WHAT???? I asked what happened and he said he wasn't sure, he was just told to call me and tell me they were sorry but wouldn't be sending me my artwork once I made the additional 3 payments. I asked why he was telling me he didn't know what happened.

He said sometimes these pieces "get lost" or are damaged. I believe they sold it to someone else and don't want to admit it. I am livid as this was a one-of-a-kind piece and can't be replaced.

Giving me my money back isn't acceptable at this point. I will never go business with Park West again and I urge everyone else not to also.

View full review
Loss:
$9900
Pros:
  • Artwork
Cons:
  • Customer service sucks
  • Lack of product delivery
  • Still have defective artwork that needs repaired
Reason of review:
Order processing issue

Preferred solution: I want proof that this piece was damaged (photo of it) as I believe it was sold to someone else and they don't want me to know that.

1 comment
Guest

I attended an auction for park west gallery and purchased 3(one of a kind)PETER MAX for $15,000 only to be told unfortunately the piece is no longer available stating art had been double sold. When i asked the gentleman rodney what he meant by double sold i was placed on hold and the line dis connected.

When i called back i was placed on hold for 13minutes once the young lady allanty answered i requested to be transferred to a supervisor. After once again being placed on hold i was told no manager's or supervisors were available to assist me. I find this UNACCEPTABLE!!! I MEAN WHO IS RUNNING THIS PLACE!!

I believe park west gallery is telling customer's that their purchasing the item that's won during bidding then reauctioning the sold artwork again.

WHAT ELSE COULD DOUBLE SOLD MEAN!! I WILL BE CONTACTING MY ATTORNEY & THE BBB.BUYERS BEWARE PARK WEST GALLERY IS A COMPLETE FRAUD

Anonymous

DeRubeis Lighthouse

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Park West Gallery - DeRubeis Lighthouse

On our very first cruise back in 2016, and our very first encounter with PWG, we purchased a number of items. One happened to be The Lightouse by Chris DeRubeis, which was not a small amount of money to buy.

Now this art piece was an individual artwork, as explained by the PWG aution team. We appreciated this, however, the artwork shown onboard the ship at teh time, and an image that of the same piece on teh PWG website showed a lighthouse with a bright illuminous light at the top of the structure. The piece we received, eventually, barely had a colour being shown at all. Practically no "light" shown at all.

Totally fdetracted from the "lighthouse" meaning. We immediately contacted PWG, to say how disappointed we were with the piece. From the beginning, they were extremely helpful. After numerous emails, and a small passing of time, we finally were able to ship the art back to PWG for the original artist to touch up the piece to resemble the display pieces (restore not replace).

However, after all the time taken to get the issue to the point to get the art back to PWG, it immediatly reappeared on our doorstep a week or so later, totally untouched. We again set out to have the piece worked on, with my wife actually contacting Chris by social media. He was quite helpful and said he would work on our artwork himself to bring it up to our expectations after seeing the photos of the item we had. Again, we were finally able to send back the piece at PWG's expense, after much frustration of little to no replies to emails, and no contact.

This time, a few weeks passed, only to have the art turn back up untouched. I regected the delivery from FedEX, which meant this was to return the delivery to PWG. Emails were sent again - with no replies. It has now come back to us for a third time, unchanged again.

We bougth this art work back in May 2016. We have tried many, many times to email information and chase the PWG person up.

Very, very disappointed, and will not be prepared to buy from the gallery until this issue is sorted. It is a huge shame, as we have bought quite a substantal quanity of art from PWG, with this being the only negative I can comment on, but the way it has been handled has left ashes in my mouth.

View full review
Pros:
  • Service onboard the ship
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

3 comments
Guest

Beautiful piece I wonder who owns it now. I sure hope they can enjoy it as it is.

Guest

We tried to buy The Lighthouse from PWG and had a horrible experience!

Guest

OMG! No reputatable gallery would have some employee do a touch up on a piece!

No self respecting artist is going to agree to that, nor are they going to touch up a piece. So what does that tell you? The 'artists' they represent are hacks and this 'gallery' is setting a bunch of worthless copies to gullible people stuck on a cruise ship. This work is worth nothing.

It's not original, it is not recognized in the art world whatsoever and it is the art world equivalent of Beanie Babies-- mass produced with no resale value.

Sure, buy art because you like it-- but wow, what a difference you could make by supporting the artists in your local community or the communities you are visiting on a cruise ship instead of getting suckered in by this outfit.

View more comments (2)
Tijuan Tel
map-marker Southfield, Michigan

Great experience on event December 14-17, 2017

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Me and my husband attend a and event December 14-17, 2017 hosted by Parkwest gallery at the Breakers Palm Beach. What a great event it was!!!

John Block was the auctioner. But he was not just an auctioner (we'e been to a lot of Parkwest gallery auctions). He was a real MC. What a show he had put on!

He was knowlegeable, professional, great marketer and funny. Because of John we hd bought 5 paintings. Great show John! Katie Woodruff who organized the event was great.

The entire event went thru with no problem, smooth and professional. A big praise to the mentioned employees and their assistants!

All in all it was agreat event, and we would not mind to attend any Parkwest gallery in future. Sincerely Marina Shapoff & Igor Pavlovic

View full review
Pros:
  • We like parkwest gallery auctions
Reason of review:
Great Parkwest Gallery event
Lorey Cgf

VERY UNPLEASED

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I HAVE CONTACTED PARK GALLERY FOR A FULLREFUND OF MY PURCHASES. I WAS TOLD THEY WERE ONE OF ONES ONLY TO FIND THEY AREN'T EVEN ON THEIR WESITE. THEY GOT ME FOR OVER 13,000.00 AND I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE ANYTHING IHAVE ORDERED. I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT AND PLAN TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION IF NECESSARY. DO NOT GO TO ONE OF THEIR ART AUCTIONS/LESSONS ON ART ON ANY OF THE CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES. ALL THEY ARE ABOUT IS SERVING YOU BOTTLE AFTER BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE WHILE TALKING UP THIER GAME, GETTING YOUR MONEY AND YOU NEVER GETTING YOUR ART WORK. VERY ANGRY AND DISSAPOINTED.
View full review
Loss:
$133000
Reason of review:
FEEL BETRAYED AND FOOLED

Preferred solution: Full refund

Anonymous

How many lawsuits does it take...

to have people realize this is a scam? You must research anything you purchase. Spotty wifi on the ship? Oh...so sad, you can't research the REPLICA of the piece you love. Is this on purpose? Of course, it is. You won't get what is on the ship. Nope. You get a factory made giclee or sculpture. It takes months to make because...well...this is a business. It isn't about the art. It's like the time share scams. Go on a great vacation, but you have to sit through a short "presentation" on your first day. Then, you get hounded. The poor salespeople are pressured and threatened with dismissal continually. "Make more sales..." You cannot force people to spend that kind of money. Ethics are unknown with Park West. Integrity is a foreign concept. Salespeople with integrity do not do well, as a result. The Dali series from Destino? They have sold the lot so many times and "appraised" them at ridiculously high prices. Their "appraisals" are done by them. Are you ok with that? When you get home and look on the internet, you find the exact series you purchased on eBay and Craigslist. You can buy them if you look and it won't cost you that. I am still wondering why people buy "fakes"? Why would anyone pay anything for a fake, let alone thousands of dollars?
View full review
Cons:
  • Fraudulent business practices
Reason of review:
Deceptive business practices

Preferred solution: Stop defrauding people.

1 comment
Guest

A very good friend of mine bought 5 Salvador Dali's (to the tune of over $14,000) and years later asked me to help her sell them. A deal (a friend of mine in Beverly Hills) said Park West has horrid reputation of jacking up the prices of their art and their appraisals are worthless).

Then another dealer in Kansas City told me the same thing.

Her art is worth under $5000 ~ IF anyone would even purchase it. Do not trust this company and don't buy anything from them!!!

Anonymous

Scam artists

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I called a few days after we docked at home and cancelled the order. I was told they did not even have the order in the system, but they would give me a 15% voucher for the next cruise.

I said I did not want that, I wanted it cancelled an my money refunded. I received a voucher for the next cruise in the mail and I am still going to fight to get the entire amount refunded. cancelled because I could not find the "art" I ordered on their web site.

My next step will be to complain to Celebrity Cruises. I never received the art and they had the order, but kept part of my money

View full review
Loss:
$302
Cons:
  • Will not just cancel before they even have the order
  • But keep a portion of your money
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund

1 comment
Guest

They sent me a voucher for $302.40 (15% they keep) and never refunded the remaining 75% of $1732.60.

Anonymous

Park West Gallery Auctions - Anthem of the Seas

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We recently returned from our cruise aboard RC's Anthem of the Seas. Not our first cruise, we were familiar with PWG's auctions and had some fond memories along with (4) of PWG's artwork hanging on our walls - all "mystery" pieces we opted to buy.

Times have changed and so have PWG's practices. Here's a review of our experience. We attended the 1st auction (2nd day of the cruise, a sea day) with a good attitude based on past experiences. It started off as usual: We registered, got our bid card and some extra tickets for the raffle box, and walked in to possibly "tag" some items we might be interested in.

Almost immediately one of the auctioneers goonies latched on to us and began grilling us with questions. Is this your first PW auction? (No) Is there anything particular you are interested in? (Possibly a Le Kinff) Do you like Peter Max?

(Yes) What was our price threshold? (Not looking to spend a lot of money) This continued for about 10 minutes as we walked around and browsed. As we were looking at a Peter Max the goonie asked if we were interested. We were and tagged the item.

I inquired about the price and the goonie pulled out a notebook, looked up the SKU and told me the "fair market price" followed by the opening bid and then something he called the "pre-bid" price. In addition, he showed us another artist who's work we liked. Pre-bid price? What's that.

He proceeded to explain we could pre-bid before the artwork hit the auction block and, as long as nobody out bid us, we could own the piece at a "substantial" savings. We declined to pre-bid. So the auction starts and I immediately pick up on the fact that "pre-bid" artwork that hits the block have unrealistic bid increments. For example, if the pre-bid price was $1200 (and the person who made the pre-bit raises their bid card) the next bid increment would be $1500 which made it near impossible for anyone else to challenge the original bidder.

Not much of an "auction" IMO. Seems like just an agreed upon sale price with some *** banging a hammer in the background for show. As we had previously done, we raised our bid cards for all the "mystery" items and even won one of the raffles for a free piece of artwork. In addition, we got (2) more free pieces of artwork for signing up for the Park West Collectors Card.

The goonie came over once during one of these "limited" mystery deals and tried to put some pressure on us ($5900 for a "one of a kind" Peter Max) but I blew him off. After the auction we setup a time in the evening to select the mystery paintings we wanted and (3) free pieces. We showed up at the gallery that evening and we were treated to the "used car salesman" pitch. They tried everything they could to close a bigger sale to the point that I was ready to just walk away.

We wanted a Peter Max but just couldn't swing their price tag. They wanted to sell us "museum quality" framing for $300+ for the other artwork but I told him we could get framing at our local supplier for half that cost. We ended up with just the (3) free pieces in a tube for $35. I can only imagine they hated us since at one point they asked my what "I" would pay for the Peter Max (at this point my wife shoots me a look since this is a classic car salesman tactic) so I told him I'd give him all the money in my pockets for it.

He looks at me with a nasty face and I say "ask a *** question, get a *** answer". At the next auction they put together a "mystery" package of (8) pieces of artwork, (2) from four different artists (including Peter Max) and again put pressure on us. I went back and forth with my wife about the $$'s and finally dropped the bid card on the floor in front of me and put my feet on it to show I was not bidding on it. The auctioneer stopped, pointed at my wife and said "I'll except a hand raise from you" since the bid card was out of her reach.

Wow. We made another appointment to view some of our mystery choices. The deal was picking (1) hand signed and numbered Ilyayev lithograph out of the three shown for $250. We really liked them and were considering getting (2) of them for $500.

Upon arrival we were immediately shown the (3) choices AND they had setup the identical three HAND-EMBELLISHED versions which we could have framed and delivered for the bargain price of $750 each - not a terrible deal and we were interested. The issue for us was the current frames didn't work where we would be hanging the artwork. I asked about changing the frames and was told that would be an additional charge of $200 (shipping to the framing facility and shipping from there to my home). I tried to haggle the price a bit and the head auctioneer wouldn't budge a dollar so we just walked away without buying anything else.

Upon returning home I started Googling some of the Peter Max's we were interested in and was not surprised to find that they could be purchased for about 30-35% less than offered by PWG's pre-bid pricing. Buyers be ware.

Do your due diligence if you have paid for a wi-fi package on board the ship. If not, be sure you REALLY are comfortable with the price you are paying for the artwork.

View full review
Reason of review:
#ruinedexperience
1 comment
Guest

Beware of the park west card. They sell you on FREE interest, when it's actually differed interest and if not pain in full by the end of promotion period you pay 29.99% interest on the whole amount from day 1.

If you do the math, you're paying almost 60% interest on full amount if not paid in full over 1- 2 years.

Free interest indicates you pay no interest on amount paid off during promotion period and 29.99% on balance not paid during promotion period. Another deceptive tactic used by pwg to make sales.

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