A-Z Estate Downsizing Service

This company loaded up two truckloads of stuff that belonged to a lady that I work for. ( Beautiful Asian furniture). They broke her door and conviently left without getting her to sign a contract. They either avoid her calls or tell her a lie when she calls. Its been way over a year and she has not received one dime for her belongings. They are thieves that take advantage of the elderly!

Review: In October 2012, partial pick up of estate items. About 6 months later, the remainder was picked up. I wanted the barn emptied so my family could have Thanksgiving there. Mrs. Cathy Lynn Evers assured me she could clean out the barn for this. But 6 months later, the barn was cleared out. There has been no effort to keep me abreast of any activity on my items. After my daughter contacted Mrs. Evers, she sent me a check for $935 as partial payment. No information on what had been sold. I would like an itemized record of what was sold and for how much.

Business

Response:

We have a contract that states if inventory is wanted there is a 10% fee. Estate sale companies do not provide inventory lists, that is an auction house who is set up for this. The payment she received was a partial payment, which we do not do, but did because we were taking longer than normal to sell all the tools. We try to filter them thru so they would bring more money. There is no way there was or would ever be $13,000.00 worth of merchandise. We sell whole large estates that can not bring this amount of money. This was a barn with tools and a John boat. That is all that was picked up from this home. I have never had a complaint lodged against me, I am honest, and tell people up front that things will not bring what they paid for items. This is a tough business right now and every estate sale company and auction house will tell you that. I am sorry she is disappointed, but instead of calling me, she lodged a complaint.

Consumer

Response:

Edited, mailed to co.

She didn't ask me if I wanted an inventory. When I asked how she was going to keep track of my things, she said she only did a digital video inventory with her camera. I viewed it, felt sick. You couldn't identify anything. It was blurry & everything was just lumped together.

She sold the bass boat & motor, trailer, depth finder, trolling motor, etc., I asked her what it sold for & she just said she thought I would be pleased.

She has had my stuff for 10 months., I don't know what has sold or for how much. I've been kept in the dark the whole time.

I finally rec'd a partial payment for $935, I felt sick, like I've been taken.

I've called her several times & so has my daughter to no avail to complain.

She came with a large rental Penski truck & filled it & left, half of the barn still full. 3 mths. later she had another load removed. The barn was full, a storage workshop attached to the carport, a pickup load of stuff in basement & an out bldg. full of stuff.

My hope is she is honest & kept a record of what was sold so she would know what to keep for her 40% profit.

Business

Response:

I do keep digital photos, these can be forwarded to Revdex.com if you like, this was a barn with tools and some equipment, and a small plastic one man boat with a home made trailer. I have had 3 phone calls from the family and did respond. We didn't try to sell all tools at one time at one sale, we have filtered them thru sales. That is the correct way. Estate sale companies do not list all items, that is an auction house. I have written out the final check to her and I believe it was mailed today. Her total sales were $4287.80. Her 60% of that's $2472.68. She has gotten a check for $935.00 and the one just mailed was for $1537.68. Not sure where she came up with $13000.00, but whole house estate sales do not bring that, largest estate sale I have had in Laurel Park whole house beautiful furniture was $7000.00. She was aware I had estate before hers would come up, was also told we would TRY to get it cleaned out for Thanksgiving, but we doubted it would happen. I'm sorry she is disappointed, she was aware of this. We charge $100.00 pickup fee, and the last time we picked up I did not charge her, I paid for truck and labor. An itemized list as stated in the contract is 10% charge of sales.

Review: Picked up my possessions for an estate sale in December 2011. No invoice of items was given to me such as my moving service provided. I was not kept informed of the progress of the sale. Had to call or e-mail company to get this information. NOTE: Received a check for sold items in July 2012. That's over SIX MONTHS!

I consider this poor customer service and anybody who needs such a service should keep compliant in mind.

Business

Response:

Customer was told at time of pickup that they were behind other estates, it could take up to 6 months to get thru a sale and settled. As stated in contract, if they want an inventory, they need to let us know and it is a 10% fee. We are not an auction house, we are an estate sale company with our own showroom. We do sales 2 to 3 times a month. All of our clients have always been happy and satisfied with our work and our system. As you can see, no money owed, he was paid. When he called or emailed, he was provided with a status of sale, but no we do not call and give updates or we would never be off the phone. This person did not call me before filing a complaint.

I have to wonder why.