OPINION!!! 8 red Flags... bells clanging: Buyer beware...

If you don't know me, ask anyone. I am as honest as the day is long. My honesty is something that has actually hurt my career: I was not "correct" enough to "gain favor." I call 'em as I see 'em. So, this is the story of my family's experience with a local company and my opinion of their customer service.

This has been a tough year for my husband and I. We had been taking care of his mother for about 18 months when she passed away. My mother in law and I have had an always touchy relationship and she had a really hard life. We were happy and blessed to have been able to take care of her when she needed it. She never wanted to "sell or rent" her house after she moved in with us. So, there it sat, empty. She paid the higher insurance rates, and we moved the majority of her things here to my home. 

After she passed away, we knew that we needed to liquidate the majority of her belongings. My husband did not have the appetite to go through her things himself, and I simply didn't have the time. I called a few estate sale companies and many of them turned us down since the estate was so small.

I saw some "bandit signs" calling attention to an estate sale happening in my neighborhood. So, I checked out the company: they had a website and a Facebook Page. From both of those, they seemed to be above board and they had several good testimonials on their site. So, I left a "Contact Me" message on their website and to my surprise I received a phone call within 30 minutes. Wow! I thought. Great customer service! This is for us!

I met with the owner at the house so she could look over the estate and we decided on a sale date. She followed us home, looked over the remainder of the estate and she took 7 of my mother in law's Louis Vitton (and other designer) purses with her to "have them appraised." We paid her 399.00 for her "set up  fee" and signed a contract stating that we would have all the belongings back to the house and ready for her crew to set up by the middle of June for a late June estate sale. We also talked about when the settle up date would be - she said 10 days after the sale. All house keys and the proceeds would be turned over. For the fee, her company would do all the advertising in the newspaper, online and on her website. For running the sale her company was to take 40% of the proceeds. Yes, a contract (her's) was signed.

Week of Sale:

1. red flag: I tried calling her to ask what the appraisal of the purses were. I never could get her to answer. I left a message.

2. red flag: I never saw the ad in the newspaper. I could've missed the ad online (one of my friends showed it to me the second day into the sale) and it was NEVER on her website. 

3. red flag: After the first day of the sale, we went over to check out the process and we found a large statue of my mother-in-law's marked at a price of 60.00 in the garbage can - broken to smithereens. We called her immediately. This is one time she picked up the phone! She said it was broken when they started the set up, but it was not broken the night before when we checked it all out the night before. She said she would pay for it.

Post Sale:

4. red flag: That first week post sale, I did not receive a call from her telling when we could meet to settle up.  I called, received no return call.

5. red flag: I called the second week and texted. She responded finally! Said the crew that ran the sale (a family) went on vacation right after the sale and she only then had the receipts. That I would get an accounting that Thursday night. 

6. red flag: It's Thursday night: no text. 

7. red flag: The third week, no call, no text. We went out of town for a few days and on our way to our destination on Wednesday, I tried texting her again. No luck. Bryan actually called her too. No luck.

8. red flag: Thursday, Bryan left her a message (he does not text) that she would be hearing from our attorney if we did not hear from her by Friday. We heard from her on Friday! 

She wanted to leave the check and key under our front door mat! We told her that we would be back home late afternoon Friday and she could come by at 5:00 p.m. because we wanted a face to face for the hand off. She said Monday would be better for her. So, 11:00 - exactly 4 Monday's after the sale, she came over. She sat out in her car for 25 minutes, making her 25 minutes late for our meeting. She breezed in, and gave us a typewritten page, on her letter head with simple math on it explaining the sale total, less her 40%. No accounting, and after all that, we were to take her word for it. And she did not have our key.

She was surprised that we were less than thrilled. We asked why it took so long for us to get the check, she insisted it was because WE were out of town. Then she said that she had a new accountant. And oh, darn. She left the complete accounting print out on her printer at home.

Bryan insisted that she send us the accounting that night once she returned from her errands that day. She even put it on her calendar as a To Do item for 5:30 p.m. At 7:00 - nothing. We texted her... where is it?  twice! Finally, she texted me stating she wouldn't be home for another hour. At 9:30 p.m. we received a pdf containing a typed list of general items and prices. Things were not accounted for. Remember that large statue her crew broke? And the LV purses? She said they were all fake except one - which she sold and one real Gucci which she didn't sell.

The house is rented. The tenants due to move in soon. And she still has the key. 1 week after she gave us the check. We want to be done with her before we cash it. We actually bought a new door lock today. She has caused us too much trouble. I suppose, you could say it is better than a stick in our eye! But, barely:  Did the sale happen? Yes. Did we make a little money? Yes.  Did she finally turn over the check? yes. Did we have to go through the emotional upheaval of an estate liquidation? Yes. Did we have to do the hard work ourselves? no. But what we had to go through these last few weeks was unnecessary.

This week, Bryan looked her up online - by her name. Much to my embarrassment and chagrin she and her company has an F rating by the Better Business Bureau. 

I am a small business person. And I have been late turning projects over, but I have always tried to stay in contact with my clients. It is so important to the well being of a company. Today, we took the check she gave us to her bank to cash it. Insult to injury, her bank wanted to "authorize" the check with her by giving her a call. Lo and behold, she answered her phone for them! Standing right in front of the teller, I heard the teller respond to one of her questions: "yes, they are right here." Then, we walked down to the teller's station to cash it out, she told us since we were not their customer, there would be a check cashing fee of $6.00. I nearly blew a gasket. I said that was ridiculous! She ended up waiving the fee after she heard me exclaim to Bryan that it was things like this that made me LOVE Frost Bank. Just to tie this all up, I will probably email her the amount of cost of the new front door lock and pray she has a conscious.

In my opinion, she was so quick to get her next job that she doesn't know how to complete a job with any grace or follow through. She takes advantage of people and their emotions. She should just stop.

The company name is Clean Sweep Estate Sales. She totally swept us. Buyer beware.