Estate Sales by Southern Trading Reviews (5)
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Estate Sales by Southern Trading Rating
Address: 1024 S Harbor City Blvd Suite 5, Melbourne, Florida, United States, 32901
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My son, who was doing the follow-up, attempted on multiple occasions to reach out to her to let her know that we desired to move forward, but she did not get back to us. However, because she told us that she was going to be traveling to see her grandson we made allowances. Finally, when she did get back to my son, she told him " Well, I was disappointed when I got the message from your mother letting me know that you all were going in a different direction and would not be using me." My son knew that I had not made such a call, so he politely told her that it was not me. She then expressed supposed delight, never apologized, and set-up another appointment to come back to the home to meet with us again. The next time she came she had two of her site workers with her.
On multiple occasions she stated to different people that I had made the call mentioned above to cancel, and again I had to remind her that that never happened. In fact, one of her site leaders asked her if she ever found out who it was, Nancy ignored her.
We never received any information that gave us instructions on exactly what we needed to do before everyone showed up on the initial day to begin site set up, we were told by Nancy that our site would take "8" people and "3" days. The home was cleaned, organized, and we were up and ready when the team showed up that Tuesday morning. But then the site leader showed up she began to walk the property and seemed upset. She shook her head and whispered to some of her team members. I then asked her what was wrong, and if she felt that we were not ready. To which she responded that she did not think that we were but needed to speak with Nancy. When Nancy finally showed up at the site, she tried to make everything our fault. What was not done was that everything that we were keeping had not been moved to an out of the way location. Once my son and I understood what was needed we explained to her that we could get that done that day. She expressed doubt but said that she would return at 3:00. That conversation was after 9:00 that morning and we were done with what needed to do at 11:25 that morning. She never came back that day!
The sale went on as scheduled. However, it was not until the day before the sale that she shared with me that her approach to pricing was that on the first day all of the prices hold as marked, then on the second day they go down another 30% minimum, and then on the third day they go down at least another 30% percent. When I expressed concerns because she had also be sharing, as had members of her team, that she have people that follow her around from sale to sale expecting pricing like this. She became more rude than usual when I expressed concerns and threatened to cancel the sale. If she had of it would have been fine with us. At that point it was clear that were not the true clients, but rather those whom she relies on to follow her around from sale to sale. She stated initially that she had people that wanted vintage items. She even wanted a bar top that my dad built taken off to sell along with the chandelier in the dining room. Stating that she had customers that would buy them. Basically, demo areas of the home in the hopes that someone would buy them. We did neither.
Because we were not interested in fire sale pricing to satisfy her followers, she decided to punish us by pulling half the team on Sunday, final sale day. She did not even have the decency to tell us ahead of time. Our home was over 4K sq feet with a two-car garage, outdoor shed, and backyard to cover. Her actions clearly demonstrated that she didn't care about ensuring that the home was properly covered for security reasons, not did she care about making her team have to do more work to try and monitor 12 rooms inside and three areas outside. (This includes areas that were deemed 'private.') She didn't care! When I made the statement to one of the site team members that this was her attempt to punish us because I knew how to say no, they replied by simply shaking their head and saying "yes!"
When all was done, a lot of smaller items and tools were gone. Only one piece of furniture was sold. She stated in a text to me that the sale was 'dismal!' Of which I responded to her that if it was, it was because of her suspect sales practices. In order for the sale to have been a success in Nancy's eyes we would have let everything go at fractional pricing. Her followers are conditioned to know that they will get low deals if they wait for the final day. If you are someone who just wants everything gone and don't care about what it takes to do it, she might be a good fit for you. Just know that she lacks the ability to take any responsibility to her missteps!
Nancy never stopped to ask us what success would have looked to like for us. Also. as these sales are emotional to those in the family that are dealing with them, there should be better pre-sales information sharing at the time of prospecting on her part that gives full disclosure of how she works, all that is expected. It is not enough to simply tell people to be ready (what does that mean) or think that once she gets the contract that she has total control, and the family has no say about anything. The irony is that during the sales process she recommended that if we were going to speak to any of her competitors that we stay clear of anyone who has thrift stores because they will only low ball us to clear us out. That is exactly what she attempted to do to us during the sales process. Her team we appreciated! To her credit, I will say that the cost of advertising was returned to us from their 35% fee. We only got handwritten listings of what was sold after asking for sale documentation. If you do use Nancy and her company, Good luck!
Unscrupulous Company...SELLER BEWARE!
My 85 year old father recently hired Nancy *** and her company for a partial estate sale. Throughout the entire process, owner Nancy *** consistently reminded my Dad and me of her decades of experience, her self made success, and how busy she is at all times. After the sale was completed, I returned to my Dad's house to find that his home was left in a huge mess. Several sale tables were left standing, covered with unsold items. The floors throughout the house were covered with unsold items and trash. The garage (biggest mess) was left unsafe and hazardous for my Dad to enter, with unsold items and trash covering the floor. Large amounts of trash and cardboard were left strewn outside his home. I spent countless hours/days cleaning and putting my Dad's house back together,which had been professionally cleaned just before the sale. During my cleaning, I found a *** sale tag that was mistakenly left behind. The tag clearly showed that my Dad's Mid Century Modern Dining Table and 6 Chairs sold on day 1 for $890.00. Upon receiving the *** Settlement papers and check several weeks after the sale, my Dad and I were shocked to see that the high value Dining Table and Chairs were listed as selling for $90.00? That is an $800.00 discrepancy on one item, ..which I can prove. When I questioned Nancy about the discrepancy...she texted me a made up story of broken chairs and it sold on day 3 for a reduced price? I sent her my picture of proof of the sale tag, to which she responded by changing the subject; which has been her pattern throughout the process.
In addition, many high value items (selling for more than $50.00) were not listed on the settlement sheet and haven't been accounted for or located. When I asked Nancy's assistant about a refinished antique not being on the high value list...her response was that the cashier may not have known it was an antique. Really??? It's their job to know the difference between an antique or not. Many items that were clearly marked not for sale haven't been located or accounted for to this day. The financial result of my Dad's sale was insultingly low, considering the high volume and quality of items that supposedly sold. Too many unanswered questions with this company. After attempting to contact Nancy several times after the sale, she finally returned our calls. Instead of answering our questions on the phone, she responded with questions and informed us that she was too busy to talk and abruptly hung up. Very rude and untrustworthy behavior by any company that has been hired to provide a professional service to the public! Nancy *** and her *** took advantage of my Dad and were overall disrespectful to his home and contents. Neither my Dad nor I would ever recommend this company to anyone!
An UNSCRUPULOUS COMPANY. SELLER BEWARE.
Response to reviews from Eleta *** on 05/10/2020
In response to the above complaint we are greatly privileged to answer MS *** concerns.
Out of respect for our client Mr. Harry ***, with whom we contracted for his Estate Sale, we want to note that he was wonderful, and he fully participated with us throughout the sale from beginning to end. One of the first things he told us was that he wanted to downsize so that MS *** would not have to contend with much after he passed away.
We were the company that provided the professional cleaning service that Mr. was so happy with. He was fully aware that his home was in extremely poor condition and needed this type of professional help.
Mr. a wonderful friend (Wally) that helped him for two weeks prior to the sale. Wally helped him to cleanup and organize the garage which was where the brunt of the sale would be.
Because Mr. continued to live in the home, we conducted the inside portion of the sale from the Living Room, small Bedroom, small Kitchen, Lanai and one half of the Den. All the other bed and baths were to be for his use throughout the sale.
The Master Bedroom had been treated for black mold and was to be closed off. We cleaned it again and encouraged Mr. to allow us to sell the mid-century modern bedroom suite to garner him more money.
We had a team of six staff members who staged, organized, cleaned where needed, appraised all the military items and a garage full of wonderful tools.
Mr. offered a collection of gold jewelry and coins for us to sell. MS *** was aware at the time that the stones in the rings were NOT diamonds which was not disclosed to us. After the sale we had to refund the purchaser $750.00 and we did not request that Mr. reimburse us. It is just part of doing business.
On the last day of all our sales we drop to 50%/70% off our original price so that more items move, and the homeowner has less to contend with. This was explained to Mr. and he was agreeable. We presume he informed MS *** of this fact.
A long-time client of ours who repurposes broken and damage items purchased the bedroom suite, the dining room table, and some smaller items on the last day of the sale.
On the last sale day, we usually offload items left and remove our display tables and setup items. At Mr. request we left it as is. MS *** lives in Virginia and did return after the sale so that they could decide what to keep and what to donate.
When MS *** arrived, she called me (Nancy Lewis) several times to berate me, call us thieves, charged us with being unscrupulous and she told her Dad that we had scammed him.
We really think so much of Harry and continue to be in touch with him to this day. So much so that we asked him to participate and interact with our customers. His being one of the original test pilots and an "old" military man added to the customers enjoyment of the sale. This is something we rarely allow.
To end on a respectful note, we do appreciate MS *** concerns. If there is any further slander against our company and staff, we will reach out to the attorney that referred us to Mr..
Sincerely,
Estate Sales by Southern Trading Co., LLC
I have been to several sales by Southern Trading They staff is always perfectional and helpful The items are displayed in an organized fashion for easy viewing Prices sometime seem a little high but I am not a perfessional so can not say the worth of those items They are willing to barter if you make a fair offer and sometimes have 1/off the marked prices at the end of the sales All in all a good company to work with
I was a potential customer of one of their estate sales and had questions regarding several items. Instead of helping me, the lady was very rude and too busy with her personal life to help secure me as a customer. Besides this, she came off as very lazy and not willing to do any work. If you are thinking about hiring this company to host your estate sale, I would avoid them.
Yes the customer was right I was talking to the husband
Who called to let me know his wife died.this young woman worked for our company many years was a shock to us all! Of us please accept our apology as we value each client and there needs
I have been to several sales by Southern Trading. They staff is always perfectional and helpful. The items are displayed in an organized fashion for easy viewing. Prices sometime seem a little high but I am not a perfessional so can not say the worth of those items. They are willing to barter if you make a fair offer and sometimes have 1/2 off the marked prices at the end of the sales. All in all a good company to work with.