Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/07/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Nature of the Complaint:I am filing a complaint regarding an estate sale arrangement I had with Bries Estate Sales. I was visited by **** ******, an employee of the company, at my home. During that visit, he explained that the terms would be a 50/50 split on any items sold. He selected dates for the sale, took photos, and began the process. He also arranged to sell certain items on ************** no time did I receive a signed or counter-signed agreement outlining any terms, fees, or conditions. I was told that if the sale proceeds fell under a certain amount, it would still be a 50/50 split with no extra charges.Over a month later, I was notified by the company that the charges for staff and employees exceeded the sale proceeds and that I would be receiving nothing from the sale. This was not communicated to me beforehand, nor did I agree to such terms. Based on the items sold, I believe I am owed at least $****** make matters worse, I had additional items placed on consignment with ****. I was then informed the company planned to deduct $372 from my consignment proceeds to cover the so-called estate sale charges without my permission. This is an unauthorized deduction and a breach of trust.Despite five attempts to reach **** via phone, email, and text, I have received no response. I have also requested to pick up my items from **** on Wednesday with no response.Resolution Requested: Immediate return of my remaining consignment items. Immediate stop to any unauthorized deduction of $372 from my consignment proceeds. Payment of the funds I am owed (estimated to be at least $900).

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2025

  Bries conducted an estate sale for this client March 7-9,2025. We were introduced to the client by ****, who has selling space and works at the ************************* and also happens to be Bries Estate Evaluator.The client visited the antique mall to inquire about consigning her mothers estate items and **** agreed to visit her mothers apartment which is on the fifth floor in a senior living building on the north side of *******. When **** arrived, he determined that the quantity of items was too great to take them all on consignment so he recommended an estate sale to the client. As part of his evaluation process, **** takes photos, notes and recommends the length of the sale. I reviewed the information and agreed with **** that a 3-day sale would be an appropriate length of time. We normally conduct 4-5 day sales when we are hired to help to clear a single-family home. Generally, apartment or condo sales are not as well attended as those in homes because of the extra effort it entails for the general public to park, enter a lobby and ride an elevator up to the unit. However, the client agreed to man the door so I would not need to hire a helper, minimizing labor costs. Taking everything into account,this cost savings tipped the scales in favor of accepting the sale. I selected our top stagers, a mother-daughter team who happens to live nearby to spearhead the preparation. Our site manager was present as well to shoot photos and price the items of most value. I advertised the sale extensively through all of our channels, reaching tens of thousands of estate sale fans. Despite our best efforts, the sale was not well attended. For only the second time in our 17-year history of conducting thousands of estate sales, the total sales generated did not cover the major expenses which are the helpers, advertising and credit cards.Bries contract terms specify compensation of either a flat-rate commission assigned dependent upon the total gross sales OR the total major expenses plus Bries minimum fee of $1,000 to conduct a sale, whichever is greater. The contract also states that because there are many factors that can affect the results of a sale which are outside of Bries control, we cannot guarantee results. Although the client promised that she would man the door during the sale, she did not and as a result I had to hire a third helper to perform this task at a total cost of $276.75 for the three days. In addition, items were removed from the sale and sent to consignment and I was not made aware of this until after the sale was in process. Had I known about the plan for upfront consignment and the need to hire a third ****** to man the door during the sale I would not have accepted this sale. When I presented the client with the estate sale reporting,which was right on time according to the terms of the contract, I offered to waive Bries minimum fee and requested that I be reimbursed for the major expense outlay deficit, which was $374.13. I also offered to not bill the client for the outlay and let her know that I was willing to wait for her consignment items to sell with **** and deduct this amount from her consignment sales. Her response was to lash out and criticize everything we did, when she never had any complaints during the entire process. She also said she would retrieve her consignment items from **** so I could not be reimbursed for what I am out.She then proceeded to leave a negative review on Yelp and file this complaint with the Better Business Bureau, without giving me a chance to respond privately.I tried to settle things amicably but the way things stand now, I am owed $1,374.13 for conducting this sale. Attached are copies of the completed contract and reporting, including the estate sale summary which includes the initial offer to waive Bries minimum $1,000 fee.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We used Bries Estate Sales to sell my dad's home belongings at a reasonable price, and in an orderly controlled customer purchase manner within my dad's home. And a detailed summary of what was sold.We did not have any of that done. My dad's home was ransacked. Nothing was left including very small items used and unused. The sale continued for two more days beyond the signed contract. The details in their summary were not detailed rather generalities such as miscellaneous household, garage, kitchen, tools, and basement items. Most of his belongings were either stolen or unaccounted for that occurred on the last two days of the sale. My dad's internet was disconnected, two boat motors specifically told, a sign placed on it, and e-mailed them to let them to let them know it wasn't for sale was gone and not in the report. They were not allowed into the attic and the crawl space. They even removed an expensive LED light bulb from the ceiling. Almost all of the items up there were removed, stolen, & not accounted for in their report. My dad's huge safe was not on their report, nor the deep freezer. My dad's back storm door arm hinged was removed and holes were cut into his walls. All of the backyard missing items did not appear in their report. It cost us over $650.00 to clean up everything that was thrown onto the floor.We did not expect such destruction, ransacking, uncontrolled/unsupervised customers to enter my dad's home. Their initial statement was that he didn't have enough to justify a sale to be conducted by them. To this was the best sale that they ever had done.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2023

  I am writing in response to the complaint made by our client regarding the estate sale Bries Estate Sales conducted for her April 27 through May 2, 2023. My name is *************************** and I am the owner of Bries. We first heard from our client who was seeking information about a potential estate sale on or about February 23, 2023. She spoke with our office manager, *******,who then e-mailed our Summary of Services document to her on that day. An in-person meeting with estate evaluator ***** was scheduled for April 11. Our client was not present for the meeting, ***** met with her sister. After the meeting, I reviewed the information and photos provided by ***** and determined that a four-day sale would be appropriate with a possible extension to Monday and/or Tuesday. We regularly conduct sale extensions when there is enough remaining to sell to maximize the value of the estate and minimize the number of unsold items and clear out cost. In anticipation of an extension, I discounted gradually as the days went on the sale was advertised Thursday and Friday at full price, Saturday at 25% off, Sunday at 50% off, Monday at 75% off and Tuesday at 90% off everything except any items on which the family set final pricing. We experienced strong sales each day we were open and to my knowledge did not hear from our client until after she visited the estate home at some point after the sale ended.
  
  Regarding the condition the home is left in after the sales are complete, because typically the next step is for the family to schedule a donation pickup and/or hire a clear out service to remove the unsold items we do not tidy up the homes afterwards. Our contract calls for a fixed commission rate or major expenses plus a nominal fee to Bries (whichever is greater) so we do not want the clients to incur additional labor cost for us to tidy up,only for them to have everything removed. This is explained to our clients during the initial phone call, at the in-person meeting, in an e-mail in advance of the sale week outlining our upcoming schedule and is listed in our contract on the signature page. When our client called to express concerns about the condition of the home and ******* tried to explain this to her, she admitted that she did not read the contract that she signed. She told ******* that she had better things to do than to deal with us and promptly hung up. She sent us photos and in my opinion the home was left in a respectful after the sale manner.
  
  This is the first time that I have heard about potential missing items. I have a corporate background in accounting and IT and use of technology and accuracy of results are very important to me. I use a state-of-the-art point of sale system at every sale which records every ***** we collect.Everyday items are categorized (we have about 150 categories to cover all sorts of household items) and more valuable items are itemized. We put cards on display with a description and price for the more valuable items and the cashiers save these cards for me. When I compile the results, I review the cards to be sure the item descriptions are reflected on the detailed report. Our clients are paid precisely based upon what we collect for their sales.
  
  An estate sale is a liquidation of items that the family does not need or want, which they determine before we begin our onsite work. We all worked very hard on this sale and went above and beyond to achieve the best possible results. Standard estate sales are 2 days in length and we conducted a 6-day sale for our client. We do not personally handle the clear out of the homes as I feel this is a conflict of interest. Our job is to sell the items on site and the remaining items are left for the family to take care of as they wish.We are a full-service company and do provide recommendations for third-party donation and clear out services to all our clients. At $650, a clear out service is a real bargain and this low cost was primarily due to our selling of the majority of the items. Although we do not know the scope of the job the clear out company performed for our client, the services we recommend start at $1,000 and up. We sold nearly $14,000 worth of unwanted items during this sale and the sale turned out positively, meaning the set commission covered the major expenses and there were no additional charges. In our opinion this was a highly successful sale and we are disappointed that our client did not feel the same. She cashed her check over a month ago after holding onto it for more than 7 weeks; our business is concluded.