AAA Inspection Group

Review: Mr [redacted] was hired by our real estate agent to complete a home inspection, prior to our purchase of a home. His web site advertises the details of his inspection. He blatantly over looked problems that my wife pointed out. He made statements in the report that had no basis, such as the A/C duct work being insulated when he refused to go into the attic. Vague statements were made in the report with nothing in many cases to substantiate his statements. In several areas he made no statements, even though there should have been, such as the operating condition of the toilets. He did state we had electrical switches and outlets, but there is no evidence he tested these items. His report is a check sheet that states: inspected, not inspected, present, repair or replace. It does not state the general condition of many areas inspected. He does have a very well thought out disclaimer in his report and it seems to allow him to provide a less than professional report. His business card does not provide a contractors license number nor is he licensed as a contractor by the State of California.Desired Settlement: Mr. [redacted] did not complete the inspection and what was provided was erroneous. When we voiced our dissatisfaction with his services, he first made excuses and then hung up on us.He has made no effort to correct this problem. Our real estate agent verbally requested a refund, due to poor quality of service and he refused.He should return the $195.00 he charged us.

Business

Response:

Customer’s Statement of the Problem:

Mr [redacted] was hired by our real estate agent to complete a home inspection, prior to our purchase of a home. His web site advertises the details of his inspection. He blatantly over looked problems that my wife pointed out. He made statements in the report that had no basis, such as the A/C duct work being insulated when he refused to go into the attic. Vague statements were made in the report with nothing in many cases to substantiate his statements. In several areas he made no statements, even though there should have been, such as the operating condition of the toilets. He did state we had electrical switches and outlets, but there is no evidence he tested these items. His report is a check sheet that states: inspected, not inspected, present, repair or replace. It does not state the general condition of many areas inspected. He does have a very well thought out disclaimer in his report and it seems to allow him to provide a less than professional report. His business card does not provide a contractors license number nor is he licensed as a contractor by the State of California.

In response to the complaint made by Mr. and Mrs. [redacted].

The inspection and report was done on 10/15/2013. When I arrived at the inspection, I was greeted by the buyers realtor and the current owner of the property. The buyers arrived while I was performing the inspection. Mr. [redacted] was very pleasant. When I was introduced to Mrs. [redacted], she seemed annoyed that I was talking with her realtor and seller. I was trying to find out if anything was disclosed on the disclosure forms. I also was asking the current owner if she had any roof leaks, plumbing leaks, electrical issues and or any structure issues. Mr. [redacted] tried to translate my questions to the seller, I was told to wait for his daughter who spoke Spanish fluent. Mr. [redacted] confided that he too was an inspector, but a commercial inspector for fire and casualty, performing residential inspections on a commercial level.

This is why I am a bit confused. They claim that my "contractors license" does not appear on my business card. I never stated in any way that I was a "Licensed Contractor." It would be a conflict of interest for me to be a "licensed contractor" in the State of California. As a matter of fact the State of California does not have any legislation what so ever where Home Inspectors must be certified or licensed by the State. It's not required. Mr. [redacted] should know this since he calls himself a professional inspector.

My PROFESSIONAL report which is widely used by the majority of professional inspectors in licensed states and non licensed states is recognized in all 50 states, Canada and Europe. HomeGauge Inspection software is the largest inspectors software in the USA. This is why I am shocked that Mr. [redacted] being a professional commercial inspector would know this. (HomeGauge is used by both commercial and residential inspectors.) I was hired to perform a residential inspection. This means to point out the issues of the home. If the home does not have issues, then we will state that it was inspected. Without comment means No issue. When we do find an issue, we will comment what the issue is, make a recommendation take a picture of the faulty item or if the item is a mechanical issue then we take a video of the component.

I did not go up in the attic, because the owners personal items were blocking the area of the master bedroom closet. Clothes were below the attic scuttle hole, and personal items were on the floor blocking the access for me to put my ladder. We are not responsible to move clothes from the clothes bar, nor are we responsible for moving personal items from the floor of the closet or any other access point that is not readily available. I explained to the buyers realtor and Mrs. [redacted] at the kitchen table when I was going over my findings that I will be happy to come back prior to close or within the next couple of days free of charge to go up in the attic and finish that part of the inspection. But the items would have to be moved, including the clothes that were right below the attic scuttle hole. If the clothes become dirty because of insulation, possible rodent droppings we are not responsible for the damage to any clothing or personal items. I was asked if the toilets were low flow toilets. I explained they were because the year the home was built, the home was required to have low flow toilets. The home is under 10 years old, the ducts used by builders that build planned communities are flex ducts, which have been used for the last 2 decades. This is why, when I stated the duct was insulated, I knew what I was stating was fact. Mr. [redacted] should be aware of the current building standards being a fellow professional inspector.

Mrs. [redacted] contacted me by phone a couple of days later. She was very abusive, would not let me finish a sentence. If she was not hearing what she wanted she would be abusive. I will not accept abuse from anyone. I asked her several times to stop the abuse, she refused. I told her I was terminating the call. She was still abusive, I told her to ONLY contact me by email. I also gave her our legal departments email address. She was still abusive so I told her I must call thank you for calling and have a nice day. I then hung up. I never spoke with Mr. [redacted] on the phone. The last communication I had with Mr. [redacted] was at the inspection. When I rolled up the manual door to see if the door had issues. He asked when was the last time I saw a door without an electric opener. I answered yesterday. I see that all the time. Some houses don't have electric door openers.

The request for a refund is denied. Mrs. [redacted] emailed me stating if she did not get a refund she would take me to small claims court. I turned all correspondence to our legal department for review. Our in house attorney advised me that I was within my legal right not to enter the attic, and the report was within National Standards.

Attached you will find the report that was performed. In the attachments section of the reports (shown in the Table of Contents) Please see Standards and Practices, Code of Ethics, and Please see the Inspection Agreement.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am surprised that Mr. [redacted] has presented the facts in the manner he did. When I, Mrs. [redacted], was introduced to Mr. [redacted], I was not upset he was visiting with our agent. He is a talker and was visiting with our agent on several occasions. Even our agent acknowledged they were probably visiting too much. The owner of the home is of foreign decent and does not speak English. I felt it was an intrusion on our part for even being in her home let alone her not understanding what was being said. At one point I told our agent to stop talking to him so he could get the inspection done. It was a matter of manners and thinking of how the homeowner must have felt.

The purpose of having a home inspection performed is to see if there are any underlying problems that exist to decide if we want to proceed with the purchase or not. Mr. [redacted] stated several times he would come back and reinspect when the closet was empty. There is a small window of time allowed to have an inspection performed and we didn't have time for another inspection. But even if there was not room for entry, our objection was reporting on areas that he had not seen. The furnace is in the attic and according to the report, the furnace was "installed and inspected". When I questioned him about the furnace he started telling me about the size of the flame in the furnace. I asked him where the furnace was located? He kept talking about furnaces and inspections of them and I asked again where the furnace was located. He told me he was talking and not to interupt. He wasn't answering my question. I was frustrated at that point because he kept talking about things that meant nothing to me when I kept asking where is the furnace located. He said he had to pull up the report and then said it was in the attic. I asked him how he could report on a furnace that he hadn't seen? Then he told me he turned on the thermostat and it was fine. I was accused of being "very abusive". Not one word was used in our conversation that was inappropriate. Mr. [redacted] likes to talk and he likes to be heard. He does not want to be interupted even if your question is not being answered. After being corrected several times that he was talking and I was not to interupt him I finally asked him if I could speak now. That is as abusive as it got.

There were 10 items listed, in a letter writtten to Mr. [redacted], stating why we were not satisfied with his inspection. It was not only the fact of not entering the attic. He reports on the diverter of the spout in the bathtub being inoperable, but missed that the foot-press plug on the drain was missing. When there are so many items that are not reported on correctly, how do we have any trust in his inspection overall? Even down to a small detail as to the which direction the house is facing, he stated it faces east when in reality it faces west.

Mr. [redacted] stated he is the owner of the company so there is no surprise that "his" legal department didn't agree to refund the cost of the inspection. I asked him in an email if $195 is worth going to small claims court. He then wrote me and told me that he would make sure the venue was changed and would take it to Superior Court.

He has a dissatisfied customer and all we are asking is to have our money refunded. We are having an A/C specialist come out to service the A/C and furnace just to make sure they are operable.

Regards,

Mrs. [redacted]

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com,

In response to Mrs. [redacted], we offered the [redacted] a free re-inspection. The inspection was performed in a professional manner according to the Standards and Practices of ASHI. We do not offer a refund because someone truly wants a service for free. I advised the customer and the realtor at the inspection I was unable to go in the attic due to personal items being in the way. I offered to come back free of charge to re-inspect the attic and the furnace. She did not complain at the time of inspection. The realtor stated she will contact me when I can go back to inspect the attic. Mrs. [redacted] paid me at the time of inspection without complaint. If Mr. and Mrs [redacted] want something for free, the county of Riverside have many free offers if they qualify They can get a rebate for a new water heater, re-insulate the home they purchase, give them free insulated windows, a free new roof. We are a private company that believes when you hire a person to perform a service and that company performs the service according to National Standards, then give them a free offer to re-inspect the area they were unable to get in (normally it's a $100.00 re-inspection fee) the customer does not deserve a refund what so ever.

Refund is denied

AAA Inspection Group, Inc,