I waited. I wanted to be calm, reflect on the situation, and ensure that the information wouldn’t be clouded by my emotions.
I’m a United States Army veteran; an MP who went to Afghanistan. Before that, I was a business owner – several times over. I’ve owned antique stores, run estate sales, been a licensed caretaker and have taken pre-law and psychology and continued to furthered my education even as recently as two years ago. I’m a mom, cared for my own mom for over 8 years.
I just lost my mother last year. While I knew what needed to be done; I could have done it myself, I just didn’t have the energy. My injuries from my time in the Army get in the way sometimes, so I just thought it would be easier to hire someone. I needed someone to go through my mom’s things with me and have an estate sale. Left on my own to do that, it may have taken a few years. I had made up my mind to move to a new state; get a fresh start. The emotions, and the memories seemingly tied to trinkets, it all seemed like something that needed to be tackled with a “battle buddy”, if you will.
Antique Gallery, Inc. owner Tina Carr knew my family, and having been an antique store owner myself in the past, I hired her. After a few weeks, she came to me crying, saying that my timeline was too fast-approaching, she’d never done this before and asked to be relieved; asked if I would be willing to hire someone else. I agreed. So fast-forward three weeks and she comes to me again, begging to be re-hired and asked if I would train her. Against my better judgement, I re-hired her.
My best friend had just lost her mom and had lived next door to me for about a year. When she moved, she asked if I would hold on to some of her things because, at the time, she couldn’t afford storage costs. Of course I helped her out. So there were rooms I had locked and clearly delineated as strictly “off-limits” with things I had set-aside for me to keep, things that belonged to my best friend... That didn’t stop her – or her husband, Jason, who was now there to “help”. The day of the estate sale was approaching and she said it would be better for me, emotionally (pot calling kettle), if I were out of the house for it. Looking back, I should have seen that as a red flag, but that statement pulled on my emotions that were running through this situation so deep.
The day of the sale came and went and I knew – having done exactly what I hired her to do so many times before in my career – and I was not prepared for what she had the audacity to do to me. I was handed a check for half of what I was expecting and then found my house to be literally ransacked. Those rooms that were locked and off limits, had been picked through. My personal jewelry, things I had boxed up myself and put away that I had lovingly wrapped, cherishing the memories they held, were stolen from my own house by a woman who dared to say she had my best interests at heart. Things I had been holding on to for my best friend, were gone. Under false pretenses, she made suggestions I be elsewhere for the sale; preying on my grief.
By my calculations, and after handing me a check for less than $3,000.00, she pocketed 57%. In the estate business, that isn’t even CLOSE to a normal – or fair – bottom line number. I haven’t even cashed the check because I can’t put a number on the damage that she has done to me or the value of what she took. She took commission, then double-billed her time and left out the agreed-upon fees for the time I had taken to train her. After being advised to cash the check and donate the money in my mom's name, the check can no longer be cashed due to "insufficient funds".
I’m here to get this information out to the masses. I’ve given Tina Carr time to make things right with me and she hasn’t, so in an effort to ensure others don’t get swindled, I’m sharing my story. A business owner who lied to me, ended up getting free training, only to steal from a veteran who just lost her mom, is appalling and just about the most despicable thing I’ve seen in a very long time. She didn’t just steal from me and my best friend; she desecrated the memory of my mom and what should have been a time of healing, ended up being a nightmare.
Do with this as you will, but it’s just my own opinion that Antique Gallery, Inc. 117 South Wasatch, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, should be out of business.
Antique Gallery Inc. Reviews
I waited. I wanted to be calm, reflect on the situation, and ensure that the information wouldn’t be clouded by my emotions.
I’m a United States Army veteran; an MP who went to Afghanistan. Before that, I was a business owner – several times over. I’ve owned antique stores, run estate sales, been a licensed caretaker and have taken pre-law and psychology and continued to furthered my education even as recently as two years ago. I’m a mom, cared for my own mom for over 8 years.
I just lost my mother last year. While I knew what needed to be done; I could have done it myself, I just didn’t have the energy. My injuries from my time in the Army get in the way sometimes, so I just thought it would be easier to hire someone. I needed someone to go through my mom’s things with me and have an estate sale. Left on my own to do that, it may have taken a few years. I had made up my mind to move to a new state; get a fresh start. The emotions, and the memories seemingly tied to trinkets, it all seemed like something that needed to be tackled with a “battle buddy”, if you will.
Antique Gallery, Inc. owner Tina Carr knew my family, and having been an antique store owner myself in the past, I hired her. After a few weeks, she came to me crying, saying that my timeline was too fast-approaching, she’d never done this before and asked to be relieved; asked if I would be willing to hire someone else. I agreed. So fast-forward three weeks and she comes to me again, begging to be re-hired and asked if I would train her. Against my better judgement, I re-hired her.
My best friend had just lost her mom and had lived next door to me for about a year. When she moved, she asked if I would hold on to some of her things because, at the time, she couldn’t afford storage costs. Of course I helped her out. So there were rooms I had locked and clearly delineated as strictly “off-limits” with things I had set-aside for me to keep, things that belonged to my best friend... That didn’t stop her – or her husband, Jason, who was now there to “help”. The day of the estate sale was approaching and she said it would be better for me, emotionally (pot calling kettle), if I were out of the house for it. Looking back, I should have seen that as a red flag, but that statement pulled on my emotions that were running through this situation so deep.
The day of the sale came and went and I knew – having done exactly what I hired her to do so many times before in my career – and I was not prepared for what she had the audacity to do to me. I was handed a check for half of what I was expecting and then found my house to be literally ransacked. Those rooms that were locked and off limits, had been picked through. My personal jewelry, things I had boxed up myself and put away that I had lovingly wrapped, cherishing the memories they held, were stolen from my own house by a woman who dared to say she had my best interests at heart. Things I had been holding on to for my best friend, were gone. Under false pretenses, she made suggestions I be elsewhere for the sale; preying on my grief.
By my calculations, and after handing me a check for less than $3,000.00, she pocketed 57%. In the estate business, that isn’t even CLOSE to a normal – or fair – bottom line number. I haven’t even cashed the check because I can’t put a number on the damage that she has done to me or the value of what she took. She took commission, then double-billed her time and left out the agreed-upon fees for the time I had taken to train her. After being advised to cash the check and donate the money in my mom's name, the check can no longer be cashed due to "insufficient funds".
I’m here to get this information out to the masses. I’ve given Tina Carr time to make things right with me and she hasn’t, so in an effort to ensure others don’t get swindled, I’m sharing my story. A business owner who lied to me, ended up getting free training, only to steal from a veteran who just lost her mom, is appalling and just about the most despicable thing I’ve seen in a very long time. She didn’t just steal from me and my best friend; she desecrated the memory of my mom and what should have been a time of healing, ended up being a nightmare.
Do with this as you will, but it’s just my own opinion that Antique Gallery, Inc. 117 South Wasatch, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, should be out of business.