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:06/15/2023

  Type:Order 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.

  "Caring Transitions" is a predatory business that preys on older, vulnerable and often desperate people. They still owe us money but I also want to warn anyone thinking of using them. I signed a contract to sell an entire household of 70+ years and the online sale was held from Mar. 27 to Apr. 3. A copy of the contract will be uploaded. The quotes are from them- "We believe you have closer to 300 lots, there is much to sell." (3/2). "We thought you have some awesome stuff to sell.. if I had to guess your auction would bring in somewhere between $5500-$8000" (3/3)On 4/6 we were informed: "There are some things we would like to put back up on auction (at no cost to you) so we will come down and pack it up and take it to our storage unit. We had a bidder with a large order who didn't pay so we tried to sell as much of her stuff as possible." 4/9)" We took the drop leaf table and about 40 other items to sell."Per their contract we were supposed to be paid in 14 days- we were not. I had to ask multiple times for an explanation and finally: 4/29 "What happened is that a bidder purchased ******** in merchandise mostly ***** and smalls (it was a ten-page invoice) and she didnt pay. Her credit card was declined multiple times and I emailed and Called her.She didnt respond. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens. I will also send another check when the items we brought back sell in our storage unit auction that closes in 12 days." Never received another check. On 5/11 I finally received a first check for $17. They kept nearly $5,000 and the check was incorrectly made out.When we complained, "Auctions do better when there is more to sell. Most of the items were outdated and unwanted."They did a poor job conducting the auction, did not even list many items, poorly described many others- we had NO control over any aspect, yet we were held responsible financially. This is a predatory possibly illegal contract - they only "Care" about separating you from your money.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/15/2023

  When we originally came to do the estimate, the home was full of items, and we were happy to help with a liquidation auction for the sale of the unwanted items. I told ************** several times we are a liquidation auction company, and we could sell unwanted items, and whatever did not sell could be donated. When we arrived to begin the job much of the furniture and valuables had been removed to family members. This is completely normal, and we encourage people to hold onto the things they want because again... we are a liquidation auction company, our goal is to empty your home to ready it for sale.

  Our charges and fees are in line with every franchise in the company. We agonize over our prices constantly as it is a balancing act between having affordable prices so we can serve as many clients as we can, paying my employees' wages that they can live on, paying the franchise company and taxes. We had a bidder that purchased a large amount of the items and when she went to pay her card was declined. We spent hours calling existing clients to sell those items and salvage what we could. It was an unfortunate situation. We are working to fix this loophole, but devious, deceitful people are a part of sales, and we feel like we did what we could in the situation.

  This client has also failed to mention I sent 2 moving men and our truck, free of charge, after the sale to clear out and donate things that were unsold including an extremely heavy unwanted piano. She kept my men occupied for almost an entire day. She also randomly accused us of trespassing, giving random teenagers her address, threatened me with the ************** for burglary, and accused my staff of stealing her dangerous chemicals, none of which actually happened. We deal with a lot of older adults and realize selling a home of 70+ years is very stressful. We were holding her items, again for free, until we had an open sale, and was providing the family with 100% of the proceeds but I think its better if we just cut this off now and return the items. They will be boxed up and available for pickup on Tuesday the 20th.  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/17/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  This response is filled with lies. I wonder if this owner really knows what is going on? First, very little was removed by us that they first saw, there were only a couple items I told them then that we were keeping, including some rugs and a grandfather clock. In light of the botched auction, I did appreciate they sent 2 men with a van to take donations and it was stated "for one hour" - they certainly were not there beyond that, plus they did NOT remove a piano, which is still there. It took us another month to clear out twice that amount that was left. As to their "solution", I saw online the warehouse auction on 5/9/23 where they sold our items and that most were sold, so how can they give them back to us? Somebody is lying or very misinformed. We want to be paid for the items that were sold and they can have their greedy 35%.
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/11/2023

  From: m ***** <********************>
  Date: ***, Jul 11, 2023 at 8:39 AM
  Subject: BBB complaint 55527554-7E5F5
  To: <**********************************************>
  

  
  
  

   This is in reference to a complaint I filed last month about Caring Transitions in charlottesville- #55527554-7E5F5.
  

  I would like to update it to say that they finally did send a payment for the items they resold so I am satisfied with that result.

  Would appreciate it if you could add that.

  thank you,

  *************************