Bizarrely rude/hostile attitude towards me as a customer. Denied the terms of one particular sale even though they were detailed in an advanced email from her. When I sent her back the email showing her own words she replied with sickening insult. Nothing is worth bearing the brunt of someone else's insecurities like that. read more

Murco's Cinderella story is the stuff of legend: single mom does good by starting an innovative auction company and sells the good stuff off through her partner's junque shop. And then the unknown Discovery Green comes knocking and suddenly you have a TV show. Jenny Z and I unwittingly walked onto the set of that show - a tear down in La Downers - and unwittingly signed on the dotted line. Big mistake. We should have turned tail and blazed back into the city. Instead we spent nearly an entire day walking room to room in a house that was days away from demolition. What ensued was a bit of fun and a lot of inflated price tags - but not for everything. Buyers from various architectural findings stores clamor for the same thresholds and doors and ancient wood, but know their limits. The same cannot be said for the casual consumer, who, without the discipline of retail, tends to over-bid. A piece of home depot crap rug? You could get it for ten at your discount store, but here you'll fork over 25. Sucker. What baffled me, and still baffles me, was how the owners of Murco accused Jenny Z of stealing some cast iron clothing hooks from a closet. I was Jenny's handyperson, taking down - and, in one case, breaking - her purchases that day. I never touched anything she didn't buy. And why, pray tell, would Jenny, who is more honest than a virgin school teacher, steal something and jeopardize her professional standing? Murco didn't care. Though there was no evidence or witnesses, they stood by their claim. Jody, you were wrong. And, sadly, you probably lost a good customer - and all her friends - for life. read more

The deal here is that houses are going to be demolished. Lovely older homes razed, generally to put up some ticky tacky shrine to New Money, but these guys give everything they can sell a second lease on life through their top to bottom salvage auctions. You need landscaping or pavers? Murco. Need a door? Murco. Looking for wainscoting or radiator covers? Murco again. That being said, I have a love/hate thing with Murco. Amazing finds to be had, but everything is NOT necessarily for sale...allow me to elaborate. What I love: Reusing stuff from old houses. Very descriptive e-mails for demo sales making it easy to decide if you want to attend or not. You can get some AMAZING bargains, as long as the deep-pockets don't want the same items that you do, on everything from antique light fixtures to high end sinks. Incredible variety, really. The auctions are really fun. Even if you aren't bidding on an item, you'll find yourself rooting for (or against) other attendees. Very fun, very exciting, a great spectator sport. What I don't love: Bidding against guys from the big salvage houses - you want ONE door? If they want all of them, you are SOL, they are going to sell them as a lot. They can be unreasonable. I inquired in one room about some cast iron hooks that had not been auctioned. The auctioneer checked to see if anyone else wanted to bid and then told me to make her an offer. I did, she countered with an obscene amount, which I countered. We could not come to an agreement, so I walked away bummed that they hadn't considered my offer. A few days later, the auctioneer had the stones to call me and ask if I had TAKEN them. WHAT? STEAL FROM AN AUCTION? Not this girl. Did she not see Lindley and I trying to wrestle that chandelier from the ceiling? Where would I have found the time/skills to extract the hooks? What made her think I was a thief? I was truly offended. I'm sorry someone took the hooks and didn't pay for them, but to call me at home and essentially accuse me of stealing them? NOT cool. The auctioneer can be a *bit* too perky and pushy, which can be really annoying at 8am. They have a lot of "leftovers" from auctions that they sell separately, but good luck trying to buy them. I tried a dozen times to set an appointment to look at things, but it's almost impossible to get a call back from them. OTOH, if they think you are a thief, you'll get a call in record time. :( 2 stars off - 1 for never returning my phone calls about leftover items, the 2nd for the "hook" incident. Overall, I'd go to another Murco sale and I'd encourage anyone interested in salvage to do the same. If you go, keep this in mind: Cash only Bring your own tools and the muscle/transportation to remove your items Be prepared to be on camera if they are filming the auction for their TV show, Wrecklamation ~ leave your dignity at home and bring your sense of humor. read more

I watched a little too much HGTV and convinced my husband to buy a fixer upper. Break down walls, renovate a whole house in 4 weeks with just a few thousand dollars?? TV shows would never lie. -_- When our contractor told us that we would have to pay for demolition of the kitchen and also pay for the dumpster, I knew there had to be some other way. My friend recommended Murco Recycling. They came, measured the space, put it up for auction and on a scheduled date, out my old kitchen went. We were shocked at how smooth the process went. Best of all, it was a win-win situation for us. We made money on a kitchen we were going to get rid of anyways AND we didn't have to pay for the demolition and dumpster! Jodi and Madelyn were great to work with and followed up with us every step of the way. We have lots of other renovations to do. We are definitely calling Murco again! read more

Thank god for "Cook County Demolition" and "Demo-Pro". The woman who runs Murco acts like an absolute psycho when I offered a price that I thought was fair. Her rude attitude wasn't acceptable. Even when she did lower the price, I walked away. Take it or leave it but don't ever yell at a customer over a price offer. It's tacky. read more

I like Murco! They do what they say. You might not get your price, but if you do they are great to work with. Very helpful with arranging pick up of items and always on time. You will have fun if you go even if you don't buy anything. read more

Murco recycling provides a great service. I have been both a buyer and a seller. I used Murco to market my unwanted used building materials when I gutted my house. Instead of paying someone to remove them, I actually got a check for over ten thousand dollars. It was efficient and painless. I have also been to several of the auctions and have bought plumbing fixtures at a deep discount. You have to know what you want, and be willing to remove it and cart it yourself, but it is a great way to get quality stuff at very affordable prices. They normally have kitchen cabinetry and bathroom fixtures so if you are in the market, and have access to a truck this is a great way to go! Even if you aren't in the market for anything specific, the auctions are sheer entertainment. Pound for pound, Jodi is the highest energy person I have ever seen and she moves everything along quickly and with great humor. read more

I recently inquired about a product for sale, listing stated the following: - Description: Stainless 48" Viking gas range with 6 burners, griddle/simmer plate, and downdraft - Unit is not dual-fuel - Unit was made in 2002 - Contemporary models retail for $10,300.00 - Price: $3500.00 - Availability: Available for immediate purchase - Unit will be disconnected and staged in garage; pickup can occur around the end of August - Location: Glencoe, IL I contacted them with questions, said I wanted it and offered to give a deposit. Several hours later I received a phone call stating another person offered $4000, did I want to up my price. No. This was not listed as an auction and suddenly it is one? Available for immediate purchase means purchase, not bid, not auction. I will not even consider looking at their listings in the future. read more

I'm remodeling my old house, and am committed to using as much recycled material as I can. I've purchased several items from Murco for this project. The items were high end, in good shape, and I love what I bought, which includes doors, vanities, sinks, and mirrors, all of which came at a reasonable price. That is why there are two stars here. Now for the downside.... I brought friends with me to help deconstruct, and rented a truck to transport after waiting 3 additional months to remove the stuff. That was fine....we set up a date and time, and had everything ready to go. Unfortunately, Madelyn hadn't checked with the owner, who would not let us remove the 12 ft. sliding glass door due to security issues. The owner was upset, And after several phone calls with Jodi and Madelyn we wound up having to board up the hole. $300 and two additional hours in 90 degree weather wasn't pleasant for our friends or us. Jodi did pay the extra for materials, but that was a lot of unexpected work! Remove a star there. The second star-removing incident occurred when I nearly bought carpet from a separate house. It was advertised as "all rolled up and ready to go". Initially the pad was included too, then that was amended to "you'll have to remove that yourself. I wanted to look at the carpet before purchase, and made an appt to look. An hour before the appt, Madelyn called to say that Jodi said to tell me I'd love it, and bring a crew to remove it. I replied that if I liked it after looking, I'd make arrangements. The carpet was nice mid-grade carpet, and I was ready to purchase it. But....it was not rolled up and ready to go....I would have to do that. When I asked if the price would be lowered due to the additional labor, Jodi became hostile, indicating that Madelyn had told her that I was bringing a crew with me. I told her what I had said to Madelyn, but Jodi got stuck on not wanting to "negotiate" the price, and essentially had a little tantrum and booted us out of the house. Very unprofessional and totally unwarranted! I merely asked a polite question. Needless to say, there will be no more purchases through Murco. Treating customers like naughty children is unacceptable. By the way...the ad as I write this states that the carpet is "all rolled up and ready to go", which is not true. Buyer beware! read more

I just bought an empty Chicago 3-flat and need appliances, cabinets, and a smattering of other things too. A friend who is on Murco's email list forwarded me info about an auction with the note, "Don't you need dishwashers and cabinets?" Yes I do and Murco had 'em. I emailed Murco and got a note back from Madelyn (the daughter of the founder of Murco) within the hour letting me know what was available -- a Bosch stainless steel dishwasher for $150 (+ 10% finders fee), and what wasn't -- some pretty sweet looking hardwood cabinets. :( Over several friendly and pretty rapid-fire emails we worked out a day and time for me to come check out the DW. Three days later, my friend and I drove over to the property. This wasn't an auction; the property in question was in full demolition mode and full of stuff you could purchase on the spot from Murco. We walked into the demolished kitchen and there was the DW, unhooked and ready to go. It was a little older model, but looked really well taken care of - no scratches, no dings, even around the buttons it looked very shiny and scratchless. I see-sawed only because the unit didn't have the features you see in later model DWs - settings for china/crystal, heated dry, brush and fluff your cat. I wanted to look up the model # on my phone but we couldn't find the sticker detailing model #. As my friend reminded me -- this is a (lightly) used Bosch dishwasher for $150, not a brand new Bosch for $1000. Right. And at the end of the day I need three dishwashers total so let's get on it. Madelyn assured me that the unit works (we couldn't try it out as it was already unhooked from electrical and plumbing), and that if it didn't work Murco would make it right. I haven't yet hooked up this unit so I can't attest to whether it works or not. But I will say that Madelyn put me at ease about this, and I am confident that one way or the other I will be satisfied with this transaction. We grabbed the DW, got it into the car, and took off. Madelyn emailed me the receipt which was convenient, and sent me a thank you note too. The whole experience was a good one and I anticipate purchasing from Murco again. read more

Our personal experience with Murco Recycling has been nothing other than wonderful!! Jodi Murphy was very attentive and willing to go the extra mile in assisting us with our purchases. Jodi sought out contractors in helping us extract our purchases from a demolition project and with such a quick turn around time. In addtion, Jodi has facilitated the process in helping us find additional items to complete our remodeling project. We can't thank her enough for her personal service and can only give her a 5-star rating as we have been suitably impressed!! read more