Nationwide Estate Sales Inc.

We went above and beyond to help this client and provided all that we promised.  The sale was busy and we had lots of shoppers. We sold as much as we could at the same time getting the most money for the client. We provided all the advertising as promised including an ad in Newsday, an ad on...

[redacted], social media, signs around town, signs in front of the house, Our newsletter and we also told all our shoppers that attended the other sale we ran that same day to come visit this sale as well.  We are in this business to help people and have never and will never steal from our clients we are good people and don't need to steal.  The idea of us stealing from you is false we would never do that.

Sorry you feel that way but We did not over book and stated on the phone with the owner who was not present at the set up that we could still conduct the sale for them as planed and it was not a problem.   They told me at the orignal meeting that they wanted to make money not just pay us...

for our services and I stated no guarantees.  We also tried to push to have the sale on a Saturday a week later not a Friday where we would get more foot traffic since people are off from work and they declined. The man that was present at the house told me he spoke to the owner and she said if they were not going to make any money then they didn't want to do the sale. Again I stated to him we could still do that sale for them but there are no guarantees.  I had a signed contract that they would have had to pay me my fee regardless and was only looking out for there best interest.

Review: Due to the passing of our mother in the beginning of March 2015, my sister & I have to empty her house. I called Nationwide Estate Sales because they were Revdex.com accredited. We met with [redacted] on 4/**/15 @ 4:30 at my mother's house. We went over the contents we wanted to sell which included items such as a sofa, an oak dining room table w/8 chairs, 2 china closets (and some of the contents), a coal stove, a couple of dressers, curio cabinets, a lot of collectables and more. I explained to [redacted] that we were hoping the sale would more than double the cost of the sale. They charge $1000.00 + $250.00/advertising for a 6 hour event. After I explained our situation he offered a 3 hour event for $500.00 + $150.00 for advertising. He said he was absolutely sure we would make a substantial amount over the cost. [redacted] asked which day we would like and even suggested a Friday-we asked about 4/**/15 and he said it was fine. He emailed us the contract a few days later. On Saturday April [redacted]'s mother [redacted] called us about the sale. She asked us if we would change our date from 4/** to 5/* and if we did that they would be able to stay the full 6 hours if the sale was going well. This tells me that the value of the contents of the house exceeds $1250.00. My sister & I were in a car with our husbands when this phone call came in from [redacted] and we all witnessed the conversation. My sister explained that we wanted to keep the 4/**/15 date as planned. [redacted] scheduled with us for [redacted] to come on Tuesday morning (today 4/**/15) to set up and price everything. My brother-in-law stayed home from work to let [redacted] into my moms house. When [redacted] got there this morning he told my brother-in-law that a lot of things disappeared from the house and they don't feel it will clear the cost. NOTHING has disappeared from the house. I think they overbooked 4/**/15 and b/c we wouldn't change the date they made up this story. Either that or they have our mom's house confused with someone else's. As of today, the contract was still in our possession and the fee had not been paid.Desired Settlement: I don't think they should advertise on their brochure & website that they are Revdex.com accredited when they lie to people not to mention time we took off from our jobs just to be jerked around. I guess being Revdex.com accredited doesn't mean anything anymore.......

Business

Response:

Sorry you feel that way but We did not over book and stated on the phone with the owner who was not present at the set up that we could still conduct the sale for them as planed and it was not a problem. They told me at the orignal meeting that they wanted to make money not just pay us for our services and I stated no guarantees. We also tried to push to have the sale on a Saturday a week later not a Friday where we would get more foot traffic since people are off from work and they declined. The man that was present at the house told me he spoke to the owner and she said if they were not going to make any money then they didn't want to do the sale. Again I stated to him we could still do that sale for them but there are no guarantees. I had a signed contract that they would have had to pay me my fee regardless and was only looking out for there best interest.

Review: I hired Nationwide Estate Sale Company during a recent move which include a significant downsizing from a 5500 sq. ft home. We planned a sale date of Sept **, 2015 .

- Nationwide was to advertise , post signs around the neighborhood and contact customers from their database to drive up traffic on the day of the sale.

- Nationwide was to examine, photograph, set-up and price my items for the sale.

- Nationwide was to provide no less than 3 staff members to assist customers and tidy up if needed on the day of the sale during the hours of 9am - 3 pm. (no mention in the contract of lunch)

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*They didn't advertise which I paid $150,

*They did staff with 3 people who helped customers, however, several customers were frustrated because the staff were too busy helping themselves or just clueless that some customers started to walk out without paying!

*During busy times they took lunch which I don't a problem with but they should've had back up for that not expect people to wait for them. to be on the floor.

* Marilyn came in with $200. of my money for the costume jewelry that she took 2 days earlier and said that was all the money she had on her.......YET she SHOPPED THE ENTIRE DAY, IN MY HOME WITH THE POUCH OF MONEY ON AND WALKED OUT TO HER CAR AND CLAIMED TO HAVE PAID FOR THE ITEMS.....Doesn't that sound fishy.

*YOU STOLE MANY ITEMS FROM ME......if the shoes were reversed, you would say the same! Especially since you stated when you first came in that all you had on you was the $200 that was my money from the costume jewelry!

* In business, we don't take advantage of others...... BOTH YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND WALKED OUT TO THE CAR MORE TIMES THAN I CAN SHAKE A STICK.....YOU SOLD MUCH MORE THAN WHAT WAS CLAIMED AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU FORGET I WAS WATCHING,.........Desired Settlement: Marilyn and Jim, own Nationwide along with their son James who is the first point of contact....I feel that they owe me no less than the $1200 I paid for their services Plus another $4000 of which they STOLE in Merchandise and Receipts from the days take. For a Total of $5200. The reasons are they failed to do what they claimed in their contract.

The tools alone, were a significant part of the sales and I gave them them the price list for those.....the other items, I walked the house with Marilyn and we priced what was for sale in each room and I priced each item. . Marilyn did no investigation of any items nor did she even attempt to fake it. Had I know how she operated I would not have hired Nationwide, I did in fact get great reviews from her references which is disturbing because I now know they are false references. The reason I 'm asking for this amount is because all of the items missing were either sold or taken which leads me to believe much more was sold than claimed. Even if Marilyn and Jim collected a portion of what the asking price was the receipts should have been much higher!!!! I want my money, or this will go to court, I refuse to allow you to steal my hard earned money and allow this charade to go on. You should be using a CASH REGISTER......NOT A POUCH ON EACH OF YOU....NO ONE CAN SEE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU'RE TAKING IN OR WHAT IS BEING SOLD.

Aside from that you failed to do anything that you claimed you were going to do in the contract! You never showed me the advertisement and none of friends saw it either, where was it posted? My home wasn't appropriately staffed if people were walking out yelling that they were tired of waiting to pay, and were leaving.... You do this for a living and should know what is required that's why I hired an outside company otherwise I would have done it myself. You barely took photos and the ones you did, didn't drive business in but thankfully the word TOOLS DOES and that was our big DEAL OF THE DAY, because the four car garage was enough, and women came and found stuff with 5500 sq. ft.

As for your FLAGS IN THE CORRECT SPOT to show people how to find my home on a cul-de-sac! When you said on that phone call, you were afraid to put them in the CORRECT SPOTS IN FEAR THE Would've been STOLEN, I nearly fell down,!! I have no idea what neighborhood you thought you were in but this is a GOOD AREA of LONG ISLAND ! have you heard all Suffolk County is the most expensive place in the Entire NATION to LIVE.....

YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING THAT YOU STATED IN THE CONTRACT THAT YOU SIGNED ------YOU FAILED ON ALL LEVELS........ THE ONLY THING DONE WELL WAS LINING YOUR POCKETS WITH MY HARD EARNED MONEY!

Business

Response:

We went above and beyond to help this client and provided all that we promised. The sale was busy and we had lots of shoppers. We sold as much as we could at the same time getting the most money for the client. We provided all the advertising as promised including an ad in Newsday, an ad on [redacted], social media, signs around town, signs in front of the house, Our newsletter and we also told all our shoppers that attended the other sale we ran that same day to come visit this sale as well. We are in this business to help people and have never and will never steal from our clients we are good people and don't need to steal. The idea of us stealing from you is false we would never do that.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

While Nationwide, claims they posted advertisements in multiple places for my the sale, Marilyn never provided a copy of one single advertisement to reflect where or what was posted. Even though I asked. Additionally, she has made claim to going above and beyond for me on the day of set-up and on the day of sale, I'm not sure what she considers work but my home was prepared for a sale long before she ever entered the doors, as mentioned earlier all she brought in was 3 tables and 3 staff for a 5500 square foot home. If she UNDER ESTIMATED what was needed to operate the sale in my home that is not my fault, that is why I hired an outside agency. In regard to how much was sold, I agree quite a bit of merchandise was moved that day, the problem I have is THE MONEY DOESN'T REFLECT WHAT WAS SOLD....And listening to customers complain that they were leaving without paying caused me concern in addition to watching Marilyn and Jim take merchandise out to their car during sale hours WITH THE MONEY POUCH ON, how do I know you or your staff paid for anything that you took, I never saw you pay, did you pay outside. ..... How do I know what you paid? How do I know you didn't take money out of the pouch and put it in the car? I don't know you people! More went wrong the right, items that were roped off not to be sold - were sold. A great deal of merchandise was sold that day which is fantastic, but the CASH DOESN'T REFLECT THAT - SOMETHING IS WRONG. This wasn't a yard sale, this was an Estate Sale in a very nice home. And I didn't see the Receipts don't match the days sales. THAT IS THE PROBLEMS! n order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,