Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  The entire lower level (2 garages and 2 sections of rooms behind the garages) of my home flooded due to the rain storm on July 3rd. ServPro came out and gave a self-pay quote of $8250 for the entire lower level for 4 days of drying time. The drying and dehumidifiers were set up in the back half of the lower level, but not in the garages because they ran out of equipment. I was told they would move them over when the other section was done. Problem #1: the units in 3 sections stopped working for 30 hours due to an electrical issue (house). This was not caught by ServPro because they did not come out on that 2nd day like I was told they would. After I called, they came and rerouted the units. Problem #2: On day 4, the areas were finished and they moved 4 units into 1 garage and none into the other. Those units ran for only 1 day. Problem #3: My credit card was charged for the full amount without notification to me or an invoice for the work done. My position: The quote was for the entire lower level to receive 4 days of drying, but this did not happen. 1 garage was not done at all, 1 garage had only 1 day, and one whole section had 3 days. I asked that the charges be reduced to cover what work was actually done. ServPro refused and said I was lucky that they did not charge me the insurance price which was higher than self-pay. They refused to address that the work that quoted to be done was indeed not done and relied solely on the idea that it was still less than the insurance price. ServPro is charging me for work that was not done. This is non-performance, faulty performance and breach of contract not to mention just bad behavior.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/28/2023

  Addressing Problem 1 (Excerpts taken from Ms. ******* complaint. Please see her complaint in its entirety below.)
  
  
  
  From Ms. *****: "Problem #1: the units in 3 sections stopped working for 30 hours due to an electrical issue (house). This was not caught by ServPro because they did not come out on that 2nd day like I was told they would. After I called, they came and rerouted the units."
  
  
  Our response: The customer states correctly that the units did stop working after the house's breakers tripped. Our Operations Managers stated this was discovered when we returned to the home. According to the notes from our Crew Chief, the units were moved due to lack of the power in the home. 
  
  
  Addressing Problem 2 
  
  
  From Ms. *****: "Problem #2: On day 4, the areas were finished and they moved 4 units into 1 garage and none into the other. Those units ran for only 1 day."
  
  
  Our response: All equipment was selected, placed, monitored, and moved according to IICRC protocol. The equipment was only removed after the appropriate standards of drying had been achieved. Regardless of the amount of days it took, proper dryness was achieved.
  
  
  Addressing Problem 3
  
  
  From Ms. *****: "My credit card was charged for the full amount without notification to me or an invoice for the work done."
  
  
  Our response: On 7/5/23, Ms. ***** was given the SERVPRO Authorization to Perform Services and Direction of Payment form, attached to this email. Since she is a self-pay customer, she was given the standard self-pay payment arrangement of paying half the quoted amount to begin the services, and paying the second half after the services were performed. She was charged $4,125.00 on the credit card she gave to our office on 7/5 and was charged the remaining half of the quoted price, $4,125.00, on the same card on 7/17. Ms. ******* is the first complaint we have received regarding our usual process for charging the second half of a self-pay amount. However, after hearing her complaint, our office changed our processes in hopes of better serving our customers. We now call and/or send an email notifying the customer that the card they gave us to use for the second half of the amount is about to be charged.   
  
  
  Regarding her My position statement: 
  
  
  From Ms. *****: "My position: The quote was for the entire lower level to receive 4 days of drying, but this did not happen. 1 garage was not done at all, 1 garage had only 1 day, and one whole section had 3 days. I asked that the charges be reduced to cover what work was actually done. ServPro refused and said I was lucky that they did not charge me the insurance price which was higher than self-pay. They refused to address that the work that was quoted to be done was indeed not done and relied solely on the idea that it was still less than the insurance price. ServPro is charging me for work that was not done. This is non-performance, faulty performance and breach of contract not to mention just bad behavior."
  
  
  Our response: The quote given, and that Ms.***** approved, was for the job of achieving the IICRC standard for dryness, not for the number of days the job took. (Also, our records indicate drying was completed in Garage 1 and Garage 2.) Once the affected areas reached IICRC dryness standards the job was finished, and she was charged the remaining half of the quoted price for the job. When she requested an estimate be done so she could see itemized charges, we did one as a concession to her. (Estimates are done for insurance jobs, not for self-pay jobs.) The estimate was a higher price than the quote, but of course, we only charged the amount quoted to her. 
  
  
  Our position: We are not charging Ms. ***** for work not done, nor was she unaware the second half of the bill would be charged to the method of payment she gave us to begin the job. According to our Operations Manager who followed up with her regarding the complaint, Ms. ***** was very rude and would not let him finish a sentence. She threatened to contact the Better Business Bureau and to have her "friends write as many bad reviews about us as they could." She then said she was going to contact her attorney. At that point, our Operations Manager had no other choice but to inform her that further communication with us would have to be done in writing since she has threatened legal action. 
  
  
  We respectfully assert that no wrongdoing has occurred on our behalf and that this complaint be removed from our record. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/06/2023

  
  
  Complaint: 2*******
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Mr. ***** does not address the issue in his response.  The quote of 8250 was given to me by Matthew ****** on 7/5/23 as we did a walk through together. The entire lower section has water damage (the 2 garages account for 40% of the lower level).  I asked Matthew why it was so expensive since there was barely any furniture and the flooring was cheap and would come up easily.  He explained that the bulk of the fee was for the fans/dehumidifiers that had to placed throughout the lower level, including the garages, for a certain number of days.  He said the quote was for 4 days, but that Servpro would come out each day and if it dried sooner, my bill would be reduced.  

  On 7/7/23 Casey set up all the equipment and I asked him why there was no equipment in the garages. He said they did not have enough equipment with them and would move it over as the other sections dried. This is the key point.  For the quote to be honored, Servpro should have gone to get more equipment for the 2 garages.  Instead, the 2 garages air-dried naturally, with 1 requiring 24 hrs of equipment.  What Mr. ***** is saying is that I should pay because the garages eventually dried on their own, meaning I should pay for the air in my house.

  Mr. ***** also refers to Xactimate which is the Insurance system used.  He told me that he did not know why I was complaining since I wasn't paying the insurance prices.  This is quite odd since I would not have been paying insurance rates anyway; the insurance company would pay those and I would have paid the deductible.

  I did not receive, despite requests, the bill for services rendered based on my self-pay quote of $8250, nor have I been reimbursed for the equipment that should have been placed on 7/7/23 and run for 4 days, but was not due to equipment shortage.  It should be obvious that Mr. ***** never had any intention of meeting my requests.

  I thank the Better Business Bureau for the platform to submit this complaint. I will now proceed to Small Claims Court.

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  Sally *****

  Business Response

  Date: 09/11/2023

  I am pleased to report that I was personally able to speak with Ms. ***** on 9/8, and we have resolved this issue to our mutual satisfaction. After discussing with her what type of discount she felt was fair, we agreed that we would issue a refund check equal to the amount of hours the equipment was not placed where she was told it would be placed. She expressed satisfaction with this resolution.