Please avoid Junken Monkeys for junk removal. Nothing can replace what was lost, or the stress…read moreadded during an already traumatic time with my mom's sudden death. But if this helps even one person avoid what we went through, it's worth sharing.
My boyfriend and I had to clean out my mom's apartment. To ease my stress, he called Junken Monkeys for next-day removal. We were quoted $750, we were told to expect a crew between 2-4pm, and asked them to please text before arrival so we could let them into the locked building and locked apartment and escort them so that we could show them what to take, as well as grab two bags of sentimental keepsakes (some of which my mom had saved since my childhood for my future children) and confidential documents that we left to the side as well as some plants that they were not meant to take.
There was very little communication. At 3:41pm, after asking for an update, my boyfriend was told by an employee that he "wasn't sure" when someone would get there and that another crew might come. We were understanding and stayed patient. We then spoke with Gavin and we were told, "I'm pretty sure someone already completed the job." Shocked, we went upstairs into the apartment to find everything gone--except a litter box.
The owner, Brian, called us and admitted this was a massive mistake, apologized, and said his employees broke company policy by entering without authorization or the heads up that we asked for twice. He promised we wouldn't be charged. He sounded genuine, empathetic, and for a moment, we felt grateful that he took accountability and showed integrity. Despite being upset that these things were gone forever, I still felt that maybe this was all a sign from my mom to try to help us make her traumatic death as uncomplicated and stress-free as possible. This feeling was short-lived.
The next day, Brian texted claiming they had "found" my mom's belongings, that we can pick them up at the warehouse, and that we "deserve a discount for our inconvenience" - $490 instead of $750. We pushed back about the price especially being 2.5 hours away with full--time jobs. He then threatened "to take us to the local magistrate" and stated "if you think the local magistrate is going to give a shit about some kid from Philly who lost a few things, you're out of your mind" among other disrespectful things. Wanting to avoid more stress, my boyfriend paid the $490 immediately and asked for the address of the warehouse to come on Tuesday.
To make matters worse, after we had already paid and settled things, Brian sent my boyfriend another threatening late-night text just a few days later on Sunday after 10pm with a screenshot of someone else's poor Google review, accusing us of writing it. This text was sent while I was picking out an urn for my mom. Not the greatest timing! He wrote: "We have decided to get the rest of our money. We are going to magistrate Paul Ware on Monday which is tomorrow. See both of you there, we won't be bullied. We will be leaving reviews of you with the corporations you work at. It's social media, we all use it. See you in court within 30 days." I called him, told him my name, that I am the woman who just lost her mother, and that we did not even have time to be writing any Google reviews since we were in the middle of planning a funeral, and that I was confused why we were still being harassed when we already paid him & had plans to pick up my mom's belongings. Brian then stated "see you in 30 days," hung up, and blocked his number.
When he drove 2.5 hours to pick up my mom's belongings the following Tuesday, as planned, they were not there. Associates claimed bags had been stolen outside the warehouse the night before and told him to call Gavin "to make things right," who had by then blocked his number too.
In the end, many of my mom's sentimental items are gone forever, and we were manipulated and harassed by this company during one of the hardest weeks of my life. Complete lack of professionalism and empathy from the owner himself and I am still disgusted to this day.
