Bennett & Roelofs Estate Service

Horrible Customer Service. Didn't give us an itemized list of each item that was sold at the sale. Took 30 days to get a check. Didn't return calls, text or emails in a timely manner Didn't disclose an additional charge to take away items. Didn't take unsold items to Hospice gift shop as we requested. We felt he took advantage of our grief.

I contacted Chris Bennett from Bennett and Roelofs with some initial questions and later I asked for references (I was not an Angie's List member at the time). I was able to contact 3 of the 4 references that Chris provided. Those three gave Bennett and Roelofs good reviews. We then asked Chris to meet us at our father?s house. Chris impressed us with his knowledge of the our father?s belongings. He seemed honest. He said, among other things, he would take a 4% commission on any vehicle he sold for us, and many of our valuable items he would rather sell on eBay after the estate sale as opposed to reducing the price during the sale to get rid of it. In short, Chris impressed us with his initial presentation. We signed his contract and he started the process. Over several weeks Chris went though the stuff, organized it, and priced it. He pulled out family memorabilia / keepsakes and separated it for us to go through. He also found cash in our father?s things and set that aside for us. During the set up there were several people at the house setting up the sale. They showed little respect for our father?s estate. One or more of these people would throw their cigarette butts on the driveway, even though there was a garbage dumpster 15 feet away. Often we would find lights they had left on. Several times we found empty beer cans or wine cooler bottles they left in the house. In several instances they were moving furniture and hit walls. This scraped the furniture and put holes in the walls. This is a forgivable offense, except they did not tell us, instead we found the damage ourselves and had to ask Bennett and Roelofs to repair the wall. Which they did, quite poorly. While moving items around they damaged an antique clock and lost one of its parts. Admittedly, the house is in a remote location, but the signage and directions to the sale were inadequate. One local friend told us later that several of her friends could not find the sale. Additionally, on the Saturday of the sale the weather did not cooperate and the parking access at the property is difficult (the parking and the weather, of course, were not Bennett and Roelofs? fault). Many things did not sell. For these reasons Chris agreed to do a second sale, something which he does not typically do. Untrue to his statement at our initial meeting, during the second sale, Chris Bennett dropped the prices on many items seemingly to sell them quickly as opposed to selling them later on eBay. Also, untrue to his initial statements Chris Bennett charged us 20% commission for selling the vehicles, instead of the 4% he had said. We foolishly did not have the 4% in writing so we could not hold him to his word (lesson learned). He agreed to change it to 14%. An accounting error on his part meant in the end he charged us 10%. Still 6% too high as far as we are concerned. Chris Bennett did not provide a good indication of what was to be sold on eBay following the estate sale. For example a painting he priced at $495 he deemed to be ?too big? to ship and therefore not eligible for his eBay service. This was in no way made clear to us during out initial meeting. Once again this eBay ?service? is not detailed in the contract and we relied on his word. He sold nothing on eBay for us. Following the second sale it took them a long time before they gathered and donated some of the remaining items of value. We became frustrated waiting for them to finish the work of donating the remaining items as well as disposing of the rest. So, we did the last part ourselves. Lastly, we had to ask repeatedly for a list of items sold (with prices) as well as a list of items donated. He promised several times that he would send the lists. Yet, he did not send them. After weeks of delays, Chris Bennett finally claimed that an ongoing family emergency kept him from working promptly. We did receive the lists, almost two months after the first sale. I feel the initial prices he placed on the items were appropriate, except the vehicles, which were significantly undersold. I suggest anyone preparing for an estate sale to check over the pricing before the sale. Unfortunately, Bennett and Roelofs performance has fallen well short of our expectations. They have taken a stressful and anxious time for us and made it far more stressful and anxious. I DO NOT recommend them.