Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / Interview Santa Clarita junk removal trash out recycle donate services insured and bonded JunkLuggers of SCV

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Interview Santa Clarita junk removal trash out recycle donate services insured and bonded JunkLuggers of SCV · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hey everybody, it's Connor McIver here.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: I do have uh a great guest for the show today.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna we always talk to local businesses.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: I have Amy Sparr with us.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: She's on Zoom, and we're gonna talk about her business.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: And we're also gonna talk about some of the ways that her business is incredibly different from the other businesses out there that offer what would look similar, but in actuality, they don't have that backing that Amy's company has.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: So Amy, thank you so much and welcome to the show.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Connor.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's a privilege to be here.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: So what we're gonna do is your company is junk luggers.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, junk luggers.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Junk luggers, J-U-N-K-L-U-G-G-E-R-S.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Showing off my college.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like junk lovers, but you know, we do lug in.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Fair enough.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me a little bit about your company and maybe the concept and where it all got started and all that would be great.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it is a franchise.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: It started in 2004 in the East Coast, Connecticut.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Josh Cohen started our business.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: He was in college at the time, needed a way to earn a little extra money.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so he did junk removal and then uh quickly found that uh, you know, just hauling stuff to a landfill was not his passion.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: So he looked at ways he could repurpose or recycle or donate the items he picked up.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so it started with just him in a truck and grew uh over the years to a multi-state uh franchise.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're actually um there's six of us here in Southern California.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, and so we not only do furniture and junk removal, but we do have a very strong um uh you know eco-friendly model where we do donate, recycle, repurpose whenever possible.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things that I noticed is you actually give donation receipts.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: How does that work?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: So when you go to a donation center, they'll give you either a receipt right on the spot or they email you a receipt.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, I'm just the the conduit.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just the person who takes uh the items from the house to the donation center.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so the donation receipt will, if they give it, hand it to me, then I will uh fax it, not fax it, scan it and send it up uh back to the customer.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Or what's really easy is I just do their give them the your their email uh contact information and it comes directly from the donation center.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Very interesting.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's very different, I guess, from other business models out there.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's something that uh is is very time sensitive.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I think what if you ask me, one of the biggest challenges I have uh is trying to find donation centers that are close to where we we are because you know our territory range from Santa Clarita, I might be in Palmdale, it might be in Burbank, all the way down to Pacific Palisades, Thousand Oaks.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so I need to be able to find somewhere quickly uh to be able to unload it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: If not, then they have to come back to storage and uh offload it there.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you know, usually we'll we'll take a couple trucks.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: So one might be filled with trash because we do pick up trash as well, um, trash recycling, and the other one may be donations.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: So then they we can you know quickly go to a center and try to to donate.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, as many people who've donated know that it's it's best in the morning.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: They most of them open up at 10, so it's easier to find uh them more accepting, and then later in the afternoon, it's a little more challenging.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I had a a friend of mine that hired somebody to come remove some stuff from his garage.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: And the people that came, I guess it was kind of a family situation, so he was a little caught off guard, but anyway, they were there, and I don't know if this was staged or not, and I I would hate to think people would do it, but he the the gentleman that was there with his family, well, I guess he had a somebody's port purported to be the brother, and then somebody purported to be a spouse.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: He actually slipped and fell in the garage, and an ambulance was called, and that lawsuit and that money was incredible.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: These folks didn't have any kind of insurance, they were just well, people that he actually you know hired to come remove junk.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Is there protections that you have in place to protect against that?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: We are licensed and insured, um, and it's important too.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think these the other challenge is safety.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I always tell our crew that it has to be safe for you, it has to be safe for the environment.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you don't we don't want to scratch floors, we don't want to cause damage, um, and we also don't want to hurt ourselves.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, you know, we have tools that help us.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: We also have, you know, other team members that can come help support us.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have uh a truck that can go down to the ground so you can just kind of roll it in instead of lift it up.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um so just looking always at what's the best way to remove this item.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we need to disassemble it, uh, and that can be challenging because then when we donate, we have to reassemble, but but it's the right thing to do.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's much better to um, you know, to disassemble and make it lighter and easier to load or to take down a uh you know, stairs, especially if the stairs are uh have a curve.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so always looking at what's the safest way to do this.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna cause harm to ourselves, harm to the environment.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and yes, I am licensed and insured as well.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I have a, for example, I have a residence, let's say, and I have a lot of extra stuff in my garage and maybe some in the attic and those sorts of things.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: How does the how does that work?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: How do you know how much?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: How do I know how much I guess I'm gonna be paying for your service?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it starts with an estimate.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we schedule an appointment.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: I guarantee that we will be there within a two-hour time frame.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's eight to 10 a.m.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Boy, that's better than all day, I'll tell you that.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be there between eight and five.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Good luck.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'll call too.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so if I after I finish a job and then on my way to you, let's say it's 8:30, I call you and say, hi Connor, it's Amy with Junk Luggers.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Just want to let you know I'll be there in 15 minutes.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is there anything I need to know about parking?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: So you might have your truck in the way in the in the driveway.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So you're like, oh, I need to move that, you know.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or it's my place is hard to hard to find.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Here's some directions.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So uh then when we arrive on site, there's always two team members.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: They will give you an estimate.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: You you just point out what you want.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to put it all in the garage or in one place.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it could be, you know, the bed upstairs, a refrigerator in the kitchen, and some items in the garage.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we will look at it.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, pricing is based on the volume.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: So how large your items are, how big it, uh how much space it will take up in the truck, um, be able to give you an honest price.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: This is what it would cost for us to do the removal.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you want us to do the job, that seems reasonable to you, we'll do it right then and there.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: If that's a little bit out of your budget and it's not something you want to do today, that's fine.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: There is no cost, there's no obligation.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll still send you the estimate.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want to do it later, that's that's fine too.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things that I read on your flyer, which impressed me, was the fact that your estimate doesn't change.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Once you get out there and you give them the estimate, it's it's done and that's it.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: And tell me about what happens if maybe it's less space in the truck or it's uh less than was thought.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: What do you do in response?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, I always do the right thing.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: So if I this has happened, I underestimate, you know, uh you it it doesn't take a it takes up more space.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Let's say I I told you it would take up a space, but I end or one truck, but I end up having to to get a second truck to get everything that you wanted.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't change my price.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: I told you what that would cost.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm I'm behind that.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but if we do a better job breaking things down um and it takes up less space, then I'll come down on my price.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll never go up, but like we will come down if it if it it if we were wrong, you know, if we uh underestimated the space that it took.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's absolutely rare, I'll tell you that.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: I know that uh I've talked to other people that have hired different junk removal services, and it's just been uh a nightmare.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: And also the folks that show up in some cases, um you know, makes people a little nervous.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: So you know, you you just don't know the background.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it's glad that you stand.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very happy that you stand behind your company.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Makes me very, very happy.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: What's the best way for people to get in touch with you?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm sure you have a website and everything.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'll put all that in the show notes here, but what's the best way?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: So the there's a call center.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So there's 800 lug junk, L-U-G-J-U-N-K, and that will get you to our our national call center.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh or you can call me directly.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm local.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm my number is 661-752-5101.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: You can call, text, or you can email me, which is my first name, Amy Amy.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: My last name, Spar, S like in Sam, P is in Paul, A is in Apple, H is in Henry, R at junk luggers2gs.com.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then our website, if you want to check us out, is junk luggers of scv.com.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Junk luggers.com.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Very, very good.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that what I'll do is I'll post this everywhere so people can watch it.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have anything further you'd like to talk about before we end the show?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, I just want people to know that, you know, um we have a passion for what we do, you know, and and I meet a lot of people that are in uh in change, in transition.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think people think of just junk removal.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, I've got a junk, a lot of junk.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but a lot of times, situations and more more times than not, there's situations where mom is having to to downsize, go into a nursing home, or we're having to um sell our home, we're having to um, you know, we had a flood, we have furniture to hear rift.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So there's always um, you know, just a transition that people are going for through.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, it's it's about showing up and providing um excellent customer service and just being able to give them their space back and be like one less stress that they have for the day.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's more of a mission.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other thing I would ask is if anybody in the community has a charity, a nonprofit that needs things, uh, I always am, you know, wanting more resources.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Again, as I said, it's a it's a challenge to find homes for everything.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I use schools, churches, um, you know, you name it.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I try to find a home for things.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So if you know of a charity indeed, please uh give them my number and let me let them know that I would love to connect with them.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's such a game changer.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're not, you know, taking everything and just throwing it arbitrarily into a landfill and saying, forget it, and making you know that issue even more than it is.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: You're actually out there finding homes for some of the stuff that people don't want and then providing you know that uh relief as far as the tax breaks and donations back to the same people.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's remarkable to me.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: It really is.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much on it for the platform.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's a it's it's a pleasure, Amy.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for coming on today's show, and uh we will see you around.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe we'll have a repeat performance in the future when uh when when the future gets here.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Connor.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: Take care.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: My pleasure.