San Antonio Estate Sales and Liquidators

ha ha ok
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I have discussed all my issues in full with Mr*** In addition, we just received the pictures of the sale and key, which the key was reported lost in the original check he allegedly sent IN addition, no where in my contract did it state that he would take 40% if we did not sell over $He claims this was a conversation, but it didn't happenThere has been no mention of the damage to the garage, and selling our items to his staff at the lowest cost If we would have waited until day I would have hit the $mark Also, in his report he claims he took in credit card sales, he told each of the guests cash or check only his machine was down Many people left and went to the bank or home to get cash and/or checks He gave a report Mr*** has threatened me, I am afraid to pursue but we want others to be very aware of this company He is not on the up and up
Regards,
*** ***

ha ha okComplaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I have discussed all my issues in full with Mr*** In addition, we just received the pictures of the sale and key, which the key was reported lost in the original check he allegedly sent IN addition, no where in my contract did it state that he would take 40% if we did not sell over $He claims this was a conversation, but it didn't happenThere has been no mention of the damage to the garage, and selling our items to his staff at the lowest cost If we would have waited until day I would have hit the $mark Also, in his report he claims he took in credit card sales, he told each of the guests cash or check only his machine was down Many people left and went to the bank or home to get cash and/or checks He gave a report Mr*** has threatened me, I am afraid to pursue but we want others to be very aware of this company He is not on the up and up
Regards,
*** ***

To: Revdex.com La Posada DrAustin, Texas From: San Antonio Estate Sales and Liquidators Re: Reply to complaint for *** *** Case #*** *** I am the owner of this company and have received this complaint from this client and am responding to their concernsAs I consider this
complaint without any merit, I feel am being pressured into a response without causePrior to this complaint, the client has never mentioned any of these issues to me either verbally or in writing or emailMy view of what happened is as follows: Contract was signed on 9/20/At the time of the contract signing, the following was discussed: a) Date of sale b) Requirements for the client be out of the property c) Client to provide copy of Power of Attorney prior to sale for the estate d) Client to procure any permissions from associations and purchase of any licenses needed by owner e) Client to remove all food items from refrigerators and freezers or they would be thrown out or donated f) The need for the property to be made safe and secure for the general public g) That sales tax must be collected on her behalf at the time of the sale and paid for herNo exceptionsh) That because of the numerous small items in the sale, accounting would consist only of pictures showing the main inventory that would be made available to her and an overall sales reportItemized breakdowns would not be available due to the small economic size of the sale1) That the owner must maintain HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE with minimum coverages of $100,per person in the event of injury or damage to property during the saleAdditional terms and conditions were discussed such as the need for all payments to clear our bank before final payment could be made and the need for the sale to be a minimum of $5,to qualify for the 30/splitOtherwise it goes to 40/60..the client getting 60% of the net proceeds and SAESAL gets 40%The client asked me if I thought there was enough in the house to meet thatI told her I didn't knowThat it all depends on the saleI asked the client to take notes as we spokeI made notes as wellI explained that the furnishings were worn and there were no collectables of any value, just some old out-dated dentistry equipment in a bedroom, a gun safe in the master bedroom and some older tools in the garage and a used electric wheel chairThe client insisted the dental items were valuableI told her I had a dentist friend who would look at it and give me an opinion of value, that I was not familiar with itThat I cannot guarantee any estimates of value especially pre-owned equipmentI only can give opinions of value on items like that and couldn't be held to itThat because of discounts over the sale knowing what something will sell for is unknowable. 1/But that I do not allow reserves to be used in salesI explained to her like I do all my clients, that there is always a difference between what something is worth and what someone is willing to pay for somethingMy job is to find that value for the clientWhile walking around the house..) also saw a number of items in disarray scattered in the bedrooms and storage areasI was told that she had been selling items for weeks through Craigslist while she was painting the house because her father was a heavy smoker and there were smoke stains and nicotine in every room and the smell was overwhelmingHer father also apparently liked to buy cooking items and tools from TV adsOne whole corner of the porch was stacked with items that looked like new items unopened still in original boxes, still had price tags on them from an apparent previous saleThe garage the sameI was also told she and her husband had still not finished going thru the storage shed out backI told them not to do it and to let us go thru it and determine what was sellable for themI explained to her that any items in the house were to be included in the sale as of the date of the contract and that if she sold them or gave them away, it would reduce the amount of proceeds availableThat she was not to sell anything else before the saleI proceeded to take pictures of the contents of the house to document the inventoryClient was advised at the time of the sale that she was not to be present for the saleThat the house had to be empty except for the items being soldOriginally, the dates for the sale coincided with a planned trip to New Orleans they had planned, but due to a conflict in my schedule with employees, we had to reschedule to a date to the following weekThe client explained that she would remain in her bedroom area doing her work during the sale and would not interfere with the saleAlthough this deviated from my guidelines, I felt I had no choice but to allow her to remain as preparations for the sale had already begun and I didn't want to create a problemThe reason we ask clients not to be present during the sale is because it can be an emotional time for them and items are being sold, often at discounted prices and it is emotionally difficult for clients to cope with the procedureWe also do not want clients being tempted to sell items outside the sale which may happen if they are allowed to remain at the saleWe have learned from experience it's best to have clients leave during the saleThis was clearly the case with this clientI could see the emotional attachment she had to her father and how difficult it was for her to sell some of the itemsI assured her we were capable of getting her sale done as quickly as possible so she could move onI always consider the client where possibleAs we prepared for the sale, I asked my dentist to take a look at the pictures of the dental tools and devices from the saleHe told me they were old and newer generation equipment was all digital, which this equipment was notHe told me his opinion was nobody would want it and to sell it for whatever I could getI appreciated his opinion. 2/In the outside storage area I saw where the client had gone ahead and removed items from the shed against my request, prior to the saleI began to see a pattern which before the sale ended, got worstDay #During the sale on the first day, Friday, the client remained on premises and insisted on helping my staff during the saleShe was told her help was not neededYet on several occasions she accepted money for items without directing them to checkout where all payments were to be made and accounted forI asked her not to do this, but to go get one of my staff members to assist, it was their responsibility, not hersI was firm but insistent she complyTax had to be added to all sales and dealers who were tax-exempt had to register at checkoutTaking money and letting clients leave was not the way estate sales workedMaybe Garage sales or yard sales, but not estate salesDay #As the sale continued on the second day, Saturday, it rained and attendance was down due to the inclement weatherMost clients didn't arrive until the later afternoon and at that point to increase sales, I began to discount items being sold to increase the sales activityI am the only person with the authority to do this and in order to assist the client, it was necessarySales increased as a resultIt was during this second day that the client began to ask my staff to help her move furniture from the back part of the house to the front of the house so she could paint a bedroomMy staff asked me if they should be doing this and I told them not to help the client and to wait on the customers insteadI asked the client what she was doing and she insisted she was moving things so people could find them betterI asked her to stop doing that as my staff was there to wait on clients and not move items for herShe explained she wanted to paint one of the rooms that she had not been able to do before the sale and I told her she could not do that while clients were in the houseShe Ignored me and started applying tape to some French Doors she was planning to paintI was trying my best to maintain control of the sale but the client was willfully ignoring meShe announced to me she was getting a hotel room and was leavingI was relievedDay #On the 3rd day, Sunday..the client returned to the house and again began to assist my sales staff and talking to clients and taking moneyIt was important that all customer go through checkup with me so paid for items could be accounted forWhen the client did his..I insisted again for her NOT to do this and let my staff bring the client to checkout for paymentThis was procedure for all my salesThe client went back into the house and it wasn't too much later that one of my employees told me the client was speaking to her neighbors attending the sale and telling them to come back after the sale, that she was going to be giving away the items in order to clean out the houseThis was the final issue that forced me to close the sale earlyI released my employees at pm and closed the sale at pmAt all times I behaved professionally towards this client and provided a service to her she was incapable of doing herselfShe had been trying for weeks and months to assume her father's house and according to her, her husband was upset she wasn't returning to Chicago where he was because it was taking too longI was able to complete in one week what took her months to do otherwise. 3/And the client received a profit from the sale for herself at a minimum expense and we saved her $1000's of dollars In additional moving costs or storage fees through our saleThis was not a large estate sale, it was actually rather smallBut profit is not the motivating factor for meI do these sales because people need help and do not know how to deal with the general publicAnd left to their own skills, often can't successfully do estate salesPeople offer them little to nothing for their belongings without a structured sales environmentI find it unreasonable now for the client to bring a number of complaints about this now after never mentioning any of this prior to me in any formNot once did I receive a phone call or email or text message about any of this until this complaint was filedAs for the matter of the $still owed, that is not correctBecause the sale totaled less than $5,net, the split was 60/40, not 70/The client was told at the end of the sale the amount received was $5200, not $And when the tax is removed from the sales figures, it is $Her memory is incorrect and it is causing her to feel as if something has been done to herThis is not the caseIf instead the client would have not sold items outside the sale such as her father's electric bed and allowed us to sell some of the electronics she was withholding..the shortfall would not have happenedBut she went ahead and did it anyway and the result caused issues for her of her own doingThe client was sent the invoice for the sale along with the photographs taken of the sale for proof of what was soldThis s all that is required in a sale of this sizeAny additional inventory is only done when the client provides me an inventory of the estateNone was providedFor my company to do this for the client requires additional time and fees and the client must order that as part of the sale and must pay for the additional book keeping involvedThe term for this is forensic book keepingAnd this generally only occurs when an estate is in probate and a judge orders itThat was not the case hereNothing of that nature was ordered or agreed upon She has made statements that are inaccurate in an attempt to force additional payment from my company which is not going to happen because it is outside the contract and not applicableAnd lastly, I never received the POA from the client for the estate giving her power to sell the items and receive the paymentI initially started to withhold payment to the client because this was not on fileAfter deciding to proceed with the payment regardless, it seems in hindsight I should have not done soI noted a complaint was made about my employees purchasing items at a discountThat is allowed at all my sales as they are customers just like any other customerThis is standard procedure and the client was paid for those items less my split, which is part of my contractNo items were sold in the sale that were not supposed to be soldIn fact..right up until the day the sale began, the client kept telling me about items she didn't want to sell and was taking back to Chicago This was forbidden as items that are for sale are included in the photographs in the adI had instructed the client to remove the items and lock them in her bedroom so people would not want to buy themThis was not done and my employees placed NOT FOR SALE tags on them to avoid them being removed during the saleSo claims of inappropriate behavior are incorrectDidn't happen. 4/We go to great lengths to ensure the integrity of our salesWe clearly mark with signage and warnings and fluorescent tape where to walk, where to be careful, how to handle items and that neither the client nor my company ae responsible for injuries to clientsI have provided pictures of this sale to the client showing these factsIn closing, while I understand that estate sales can be emotional events for the people involved, people sometimes get upset and can't see the positive aspects of what has been done for them and what effort has been made on their behalf and sometimes place blame where none exists because they become frustratedI hold my clients in high regard and strive to justify their faith in meI have been successful in that endeavorBut sometimes, it's not possible to make them happyAt a later date, I may reconsider the situation and contact the client to resolve this more amicablyFor now, I would prefer this reply to be posted to the complaint so other clients understand what we do and whyAnd for the client to understand that there are two sides to an issue and both sides must be heard

To: Revdex.com 1005 La...

Posada Dr. Austin, Texas 78752 From: San Antonio Estate Sales and Liquidators Re: Reply to complaint for [redacted] Case #[redacted] I am the owner of this company and have received this complaint from this client and am responding to their concerns. As I consider this complaint without any merit, I feel 1 am being pressured into a response without cause. Prior to this complaint, the client has never mentioned any of these issues to me either verbally or in writing or email. My view of what happened is as follows: Contract was signed on 9/20/15. At the time of the contract signing, the following was discussed: a)     Date of sale b)    Requirements for the client be out of the property c)     Client to provide copy of Power of Attorney prior to sale for the estate d)    Client to procure any permissions from associations and purchase of any licenses needed by owner e)     Client to remove all food items from refrigerators and freezers or they would be thrown out or donated f)      The need for the property to be made safe and secure for the general public g)    That sales tax must be collected on her behalf at the time of the sale and paid for her. No exceptions. h)    That because of the numerous small items in the sale, accounting would consist only of pictures showing the main inventory that would be made available to her and an overall sales report. Itemized breakdowns would not be available due to the small economic size of the sale. 1)               That the owner must maintain HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE with minimum coverages of $100,000 per person in the event of injury or damage to property during the sale. Additional terms and conditions were discussed such as the need for all payments to clear our bank before final payment could be made and the need for the sale to be a minimum of $5,000 to qualify for the 30/70 split. Otherwise it goes to 40/60..the client getting 60% of the net proceeds and SAESAL gets 40%. The client asked me if I thought there was enough in the house to meet that. I told her I didn't know. That it all depends on the sale. I asked the client to take notes as we spoke. I made notes as well. I explained that the furnishings were worn and there were no collectables of any value, just some old out-dated dentistry equipment in a bedroom, a gun safe in the master bedroom and some older tools in the garage and a used electric wheel chair. The client insisted the dental items were valuable. I told her I had a dentist friend who would look at it and give me an opinion of value, that I was not familiar with it. That I cannot guarantee any estimates of value especially pre-owned equipment. I only can give opinions of value on items like that and couldn't be held to it. That because of discounts over the sale knowing what something will sell for is unknowable.                                  �...⇄ 1/5 But that I do not allow reserves to be used in sales. I explained to her like I do all my clients, that there is always a difference between what something is worth and what someone is willing to pay for something. My job is to find that value for the client. While walking around the house..) also saw a number of items in disarray scattered in the bedrooms and storage areas. I was told that she had been selling items for weeks through Craigslist while she was painting the house because her father was a heavy smoker and there were smoke stains and nicotine in every room and the smell was overwhelming. Her father also apparently liked to buy cooking items and tools from TV ads. One whole corner of the porch was stacked with items that looked like new items unopened still in original boxes, still had price tags on them from an apparent previous sale. The garage the same. I was also told she and her husband had still not finished going thru the storage shed out back. I told them not to do it and to let us go thru it and determine what was sellable for them. I explained to her that any items in the house were to be included in the sale as of the date of the contract and that if she sold them or gave them away, it would reduce the amount of proceeds available. That she was not to sell anything else before the sale. I proceeded to take pictures of the contents of the house to document the inventory. Client was advised at the time of the sale that she was not to be present for the sale. That the house had to be empty except for the items being sold. Originally, the dates for the sale coincided with a planned trip to New Orleans they had planned, but due to a conflict in my schedule with employees, we had to reschedule to a date to the following week. The client explained that she would remain in her bedroom area doing her work during the sale and would not interfere with the sale. Although this deviated from my guidelines, I felt I had no choice but to allow her to remain as preparations for the sale had already begun and I didn't want to create a problem. The reason we ask clients not to be present during the sale is because it can be an emotional time for them and items are being sold, often at discounted prices and it is emotionally difficult for clients to cope with the procedure. We also do not want clients being tempted to sell items outside the sale which may happen if they are allowed to remain at the sale. We have learned from experience it's best to have clients leave during the sale. This was clearly the case with this client. I could see the emotional attachment she had to her father and how difficult it was for her to sell some of the items. I assured her we were capable of getting her sale done as quickly as possible so she could move on. I always consider the client where possible. As we prepared for the sale, I asked my dentist to take a look at the pictures of the dental tools and devices from the sale. He told me they were old and newer generation equipment was all digital, which this equipment was not. He told me his opinion was nobody would want it and to sell it for whatever I could get. I appreciated his opinion.                                    ...⇄ 2/5 In the outside storage area I saw where the client had gone ahead and removed items from the shed against my request, prior to the sale. I began to see a pattern which before the sale ended, got worst. Day #1 During the sale on the first day, Friday, the client remained on premises and insisted on helping my staff during the sale. She was told her help was not needed. Yet on several occasions she accepted money for items without directing them to checkout where all payments were to be made and accounted for. I asked her not to do this, but to go get one of my staff members to assist, it was their responsibility, not hers. I was firm but insistent she comply. Tax had to be added to all sales and dealers who were tax-exempt had to register at checkout. Taking money and letting clients leave was not the way estate sales worked. Maybe Garage sales or yard sales, but not estate sales. Day #2 As the sale continued on the second day, Saturday, it rained and attendance was down due to the inclement weather. Most clients didn't arrive until the later afternoon and at that point to increase sales, I began to discount items being sold to increase the sales activity. I am the only person with the authority to do this and in order to assist the client, it was necessary. Sales increased as a result. It was during this second day that the client began to ask my staff to help her move furniture from the back part of the house to the front of the house so she could paint a bedroom. My staff asked me if they should be doing this and I told them not to help the client and to wait on the customers instead. I asked the client what she was doing and she insisted she was moving things so people could find them better. I asked her to stop doing that as my staff was there to wait on clients and not move items for her. She explained she wanted to paint one of the rooms that she had not been able to do before the sale and I told her she could not do that while clients were in the house. She Ignored me and started applying tape to some French Doors she was planning to paint. I was trying my best to maintain control of the sale but the client was willfully ignoring me. She announced to me she was getting a hotel room and was leaving. I was relieved. Day #3 On the 3rd day, Sunday..the client returned to the house and again began to assist my sales staff and talking to clients and taking money. It was important that all customer go through checkup with me so paid for items could be accounted for. When the client did his..I insisted again for her NOT to do this and let my staff bring the client to checkout for payment. This was normal procedure for all my sales. The client went back into the house and it wasn't too much later that one of my employees told me the client was speaking to her neighbors attending the sale and telling them to come back after the sale, that she was going to be giving away the items in order to clean out the house. This was the final issue that forced me to close the sale early. I released my employees at 3 pm and closed the sale at 5 pm. At all times I behaved professionally towards this client and provided a service to her she was incapable of doing herself. She had been trying for weeks and months to assume her father's house and according to her, her husband was upset she wasn't returning to Chicago where he was because it was taking too long. I was able to complete in one week what took her months to do otherwise.             3/5 And the client received a profit from the sale for herself at a minimum expense and we saved her $1000's of dollars In additional moving costs or storage fees through our sale. This was not a large estate sale, it was actually rather small. But profit is not the motivating factor for me. I do these sales because people need help and do not know how to deal with the general public. And left to their own skills, often can't successfully do estate sales. People offer them little to nothing for their belongings without a structured sales environment. I find it unreasonable now for the client to bring a number of complaints about this now after never mentioning any of this prior to me in any form. Not once did I receive a phone call or email or text message about any of this until this complaint was filed. As for the matter of the $600 still owed, that is not correct. Because the sale totaled less than $5,000 net, the split was 60/40, not 70/30. The client was told at the end of the sale the amount received was $5200, not $5500. And when the tax is removed from the sales figures, it is $4771.00. Her memory is incorrect and it is causing her to feel as if something has been done to her. This is not the case. If instead the client would have not sold items outside the sale such as her father's electric bed and allowed us to sell some of the electronics she was withholding..the shortfall would not have happened. But she went ahead and did it anyway and the result caused issues for her of her own doing. The client was sent the invoice for the sale along with the photographs taken of the sale for proof of what was sold. This s all that is required in a sale of this size. Any additional inventory is only done when the client provides me an inventory of the estate. None was provided. For my company to do this for the client requires additional time and fees and the client must order that as part of the sale and must pay for the additional book keeping involved. The term for this is forensic book keeping. And this generally only occurs when an estate is in probate and a judge orders it. That was not the case here. Nothing of that nature was ordered or agreed upon She has made statements that are inaccurate in an attempt to force additional payment from my company which is not going to happen because it is outside the contract and not applicable. And lastly, I never received the POA from the client for the estate giving her power to sell the items and receive the payment. I initially started to withhold payment to the client because this was not on file. After deciding to proceed with the payment regardless, it seems in hindsight I should have not done so. I noted a complaint was made about my employees purchasing items at a discount. That is allowed at all my sales as they are customers just like any other customer. This is standard procedure and the client was paid for those items less my split, which is part of my contract. No items were sold in the sale that were not supposed to be sold. In fact..right up until the day the sale began, the client kept telling me about items she didn't want to sell and was taking back to Chicago This was forbidden as items that are for sale are included in the photographs in the ad. I had instructed the client to remove the items and lock them in her bedroom so people would not want to buy them. This was not done and my employees placed NOT FOR SALE tags on them to avoid them being removed during the sale. So claims of inappropriate behavior are incorrect. Didn't happen.          4/5 We go to great lengths to ensure the integrity of our sales. We clearly mark with signage and warnings and fluorescent tape where to walk, where to be careful, how to handle items and that neither the client nor my company ae responsible for injuries to clients. I have provided pictures of this sale to the client showing these facts. In closing, while I understand that estate sales can be emotional events for the people involved, people sometimes get upset and can't see the positive aspects of what has been done for them and what effort has been made on their behalf and sometimes place blame where none exists because they become frustrated. I hold my clients in high regard and strive to justify their faith in me. I have been successful in that endeavor. But sometimes, it's not possible to make them happy. At a later date, I may reconsider the situation and contact the client to resolve this more amicably. For now, I would prefer this reply to be posted to the complaint so other clients understand what we do and why. And for the client to understand that there are two sides to an issue and both sides must be heard.