Advanced Recovery Corporation

We discovered that our crawl space was littered with rat droppings which apparently is the source for a malodorous smell permeating the cottage around spring time. The crawl space itself is sealed but the droppings were never cleaned up and absorbs the moisture in the wetness of spring and becomes pungent and unpleasant smelling then.
We were glad we found Advanced Recovery Corporation for this job. Dave and Dustin wore their respirators, vacuumed the droppings with a large shopvac machine, then treated the crawl space with an antibacterial spray, and then laying out the vapor barrier. It is an 850 square feet crawl space and Dave and Dustin worked efficiently together to get this mess cleaned up. It took them 3 hours and we now have a clean crawl space. They showed us pictures of the before and after and were very easy to work with. We appreciate their enthusiasm and hard work. Thank you Dave and Dustin!

Nick was one of the workers. He was very knowledgeable, prompt, friendly, accommodating. There couldn't be a better worker. He went out of his way to help in any way. He made sure before he left the property that we had all our questions answered.We loved him. vicki

Sorry about the delay in responding to this matterWe are in the flood restoration business and have been very busy this year dealing with situations created by inclement weatherMost people are very grateful for our help in their time of needOthers, such as this couple, smelled fishy from the start, and it got worse at time progressed, very rapidly.We were contacted by the wife and then I was to speak to the husbandWhen I spoke to him, he merely wanted an estimateWe were experiencing heavy storm conditions and many folks were flooded to one degree or anotherSo when he wanted us to just come out for an estimate, I had to dissuade him of that course of actionNo insurer including FEMA expects an insured to search around and get estimates for this type of work, as in the time spent getting estimates, more damage is caused than could possibly be saved by getting multiple estimatesThe pricing for the work in our industry is mainly controlled by clauses within the insurance contract which state that insurance carriers would only pay out what is fair market value, and there are "blue book" pricing companies that provide a service to the insurance industry and the insurance repair industry which spells out what average costs are per areaWe have this software, and we work with insurance companies every day and want no issues with them or FEMA, so we go along with this pricing, just as most other insurance repair contractors doI explained all of this first to the wife, and then to her husband and they gave us the blessing to go on and get started dealing with their two flooded structures.Although we handled many many jobs during this stormy period, theirs was the worstThe water had flooded the in-law unit by several feet throughout and the main home was flooded all the way to the subfloor -- in fact an area of the laundry had a subfloor that had actually been touched by the flood watersThe first evening we assessed the situation, got our work authorization signed and set up drying equipment in the effort to prevent further damage, and all of that is standard protocol.Insulation on hard-ducting and flex-ducting throughout was wet and had to be removed to prevent further damage, and that was taken care of the second dayBy that point the wife had indicated that they did not have FEMA insurance coverage on the in-law unit and wanted us to just address the main home until further notice.Our work authorization contract states that it is difficult to create an estimate for water damage prior to beginning work and that we would work based on time and materials until such time as an accurate estimate could be createdAs I indicated in one of the paragraphs above, insurance controls the pricing using their "blue book" pricing which is not based upon hours, but on "unit cost" pricing, which is based upon square footage, linear footage (where applicable), some hourly line items where allowed in the program, and based upon the equipment rental feesSo when we were pressed for an estimate by the husband, we naturally produced the estimate that FEMA would want, based upon this insurance software formatAnd we produced the estimate for what FEMA would have specified to be done, according to industry standardsWe also produced an estimate of what we had already completed, and a proposal for what should be done in its entirety in the in-law unit, and another for what work we had performed in that unit.The husband expressed dissatisfaction at the pricing, which we have very little control overHe demanded that we calculate the bill based upon time and materials -- the basis in our price sheet in our estimateOur price sheet indicates after hours charges, and surcharges for handling hazardous materials according to the industry standard scale of clear, gray, and black waterFlood waters are considered black water, so all charges would be a double time rates, and rates escalate according to the time of day, and whether it is a weekday, Saturday, or SundayAlso all charges are portal to portal, which means that billing starts when we leave our shop and ends when the technicians have returned to their base of operationSo I went ahead and calculated the hourly charges on this formula for all time cards of the job, and the costs of the job were higher on that basis than on the insurance computer program formulation, and I sent the husband the calculations, which of course did not give him any pleasure whatsoever.One difference between FEMA losses and other insurance losses is the control that the insurance company takes on the work itselfInsurance carriers in general see to it that the work is done, and pay out only to the mortgage holder who inspects to ensure that the property that they have a mortgage or deed on is being repairedFEMA just pays out and it doesn't matter to them whether the property is repaired.This client wanted nothing but an estimate to begin with and has been overly zealous to get an estimate and didn't even let us complete the jobThere was absolutely nothing wrong with our work performance.All that is left is for him to pay his billWe are only looking for the money that FEMA pays upon reviewing our accurate insurance industry estimateIf we have to pursue legal collection, we would be forced to drive home the full pricing based upon our written contract, which is thousands of dollars more than we are currently demanding, in addition to any other penalties and attorney's fees that our contract allows in order to compensate us for all of these added costs and time.We did receive a cancellation notice in an email, and I called the husband and talked to him about it, and he agreed to meet with my son at the earliest convenience, which was a couple of days after thisWe left the equipment on site, as it was certainly serving a purposeThey had one home which had been under water for several feet up and the other still had a very wet crawlspace and some wet floorsIt would have been heartless of me to send a crew at that point to pick the equipment up, if I cared anything about that customerI told the client that I would continue to leave the equipment there to dry the structure and he agreedUltimately we may not be compensated for that, but so be itI was trying to do the right thing for these folksAnd I know that in general adjusters from all insurance companies know what we are supposed to do and compensate us for doing the right thing, and protecting the client and their property.Their statement is filled with liesWe have been trying to get them to give us the contact info and claim information so that we could submit our bills to FEMA and so that we could contact the FEMA adjuster, just as we do with all claims, and this couple has been completely uncooperativeThey do not need to protect the FEMA representatives from our billAny of the representatives I have worked with at FEMA are quite expert and not easily fooledThe ones who are new at all of this are this coupleThe law allows for full recovery on our part, and I have not yet submitted this to my attorney because I still have a faint hope that these folks will come to their sensesBut time is running outThe law only allows us to be nice about collections for so long, and then we have deadlines for liens and for foreclosure, which requires an attorney.If our work was incomplete, it was because our work was stoppedPer our contract we are relieved of any obligation to perform punch list or other items at this pointOur crew positioned some very sophisticated drying equipment on site the first evening, which equipment typically requires several hours for a two man crew to set upWe also had to obtain and bring the specific equipment needed to the siteThey were not standing around doing nothing the first evening as she indicatesHer communication is slanderous and insulting.We are experts and serve hundreds of clients every year, and I have a stack of letters of recommendation which about four inches thick, with one or two pages from each different client that has written thoughtfully about our work and the great lengths we went to protect them and their property, working very late into the night on some occasions, in hazardous conditions, just like we did for this couple.Again, I am sorry for the tardiness of my responseMy last several weeks have been consumed dealing with a very large job where a substantial commercial water damaged and now mold infested dwelling needs to be restored to prevent severe financial loss to an elderly woman because other contractors dilly-dallied and wasted her time for weeksWe have taken over and things are getting done in a whirlwindThat's what Advanced Recovery Corporation does.Unfortunately, due to the nature of economics we must get paid for our services, and we can't let folks like this treat us unfairly by not paying their bill and stay in business to be able to help honest folks that need us and deserve our services and kindness.Please remove the complaint.Yours,Joe R***PresidentAdvanced Recovery CorpPh# 503-437-2143Fx# 503-200-

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: So, So wrong. He is not stating the facts accurately. There were employees on Friday, we cancelled on Saturday morning after FEMA arrived and talked with us. One employee only came late Saturday after we had cancelled, he was asked to take all equipment and told us that he could not
We expect to pay for only the work DONE, not inflated and inaccurate charges that the owner has billed for. He has repeatedly said he won't charge more than the insurance will pay, but if it is inaccurate I don't care to be a part of insurance fraud.Sincerely,*** ***

I have attached our cancellation of any and all work with Advanced Recovery. This was sent via email, phone call and fax within the day right of recession. They acknowledge receiving the cancellation. When they sent a person that same evening to our house, we told that employee that we had cancelled, asked him to take their equipment as our FEMA rep told us it was a complete waste and doing nothing. The ARC worker said he didn't have room in his truck.
We never reopened work with the company, yet they continued to bill us and didn't pick up their equipment. When their machines started leaking on our floors, we unplugged them and moved to the carport. There was no sophisticated setup to these machines other than plugging them in. The son of the owner of Advanced Recovery did come out several days after we cancelled, and he too said he couldn't transport the equipment. We at no point after cancelling asked for any work to continue with them, yet they continued to bill us
***SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS REDACTED BY Revdex.com***

Sorry about the delay in responding to this matter. We are in the flood restoration business and have been very busy this year dealing with situations created by inclement weather. Most people are very grateful for our help in their time of need. Others, such as this couple, smelled fishy from the...

start, and it got worse at time progressed, very rapidly.We were contacted by the wife and then I was to speak to the husband. When I spoke to him, he merely wanted an estimate. We were experiencing heavy storm conditions and many folks were flooded to one degree or another. So when he wanted us to just come out for an estimate, I had to dissuade him of that course of action. No insurer including FEMA expects an insured to search around and get estimates for this type of work, as in the time spent getting estimates, more damage is caused than could possibly be saved by getting multiple estimates. The pricing for the work in our industry is mainly controlled by clauses within the insurance contract which state that insurance carriers would only pay out what is fair market value, and there are "blue book" pricing companies that provide a service to the insurance industry and the insurance repair industry which spells out what average costs are per area. We have this software, and we work with insurance companies every day and want no issues with them or FEMA, so we go along with this pricing, just as most other insurance repair contractors do. I explained all of this first to the wife, and then to her husband and they gave us the blessing to go on and get started dealing with their two flooded structures.Although we handled many many jobs during this stormy period, theirs was the worst. The water had flooded the in-law unit by several feet throughout and the main home was flooded all the way to the subfloor -- in fact an area of the laundry had a subfloor that had actually been touched by the flood waters. The first evening we assessed the situation, got our work authorization signed and set up drying equipment in the effort to prevent further damage, and all of that is standard protocol.Insulation on hard-ducting and flex-ducting throughout was wet and had to be removed to prevent further damage, and that was taken care of the second day. By that point the wife had indicated that they did not have FEMA insurance coverage on the in-law unit and wanted us to just address the main home until further notice.Our work authorization contract states that it is difficult to create an estimate for water damage prior to beginning work and that we would work based on time and materials until such time as an accurate estimate could be created. As I indicated in one of the paragraphs above, insurance controls the pricing using their "blue book" pricing which is not based upon hours, but on "unit cost" pricing, which is based upon square footage, linear footage (where applicable), some hourly line items where allowed in the program, and based upon the equipment rental fees. So when we were pressed for an estimate by the husband, we naturally produced the estimate that FEMA would want, based upon this insurance software format. And we produced the estimate for what FEMA would have specified to be done, according to industry standards. We also produced an estimate of what we had already completed, and a proposal for what should be done in its entirety in the in-law unit, and another for what work we had performed in that unit.The husband expressed dissatisfaction at the pricing, which we have very little control over. He demanded that we calculate the bill based upon time and materials -- the basis in our price sheet in our estimate. Our price sheet indicates after hours charges, and surcharges for handling hazardous materials according to the industry standard scale of clear, gray, and black water. Flood waters are considered black water, so all charges would be a double time rates, and rates escalate according to the time of day, and whether it is a weekday, Saturday, or Sunday. Also all charges are portal to portal, which means that billing starts when we leave our shop and ends when the technicians have returned to their base of operation. So I went ahead and calculated the hourly charges on this formula for all time cards of the job, and the costs of the job were higher on that basis than on the insurance computer program formulation, and I sent the husband the calculations, which of course did not give him any pleasure whatsoever.One difference between FEMA losses and other insurance losses is the control that the insurance company takes on the work itself. Insurance carriers in general see to it that the work is done, and pay out only to the mortgage holder who inspects to ensure that the property that they have a mortgage or deed on is being repaired. FEMA just pays out and it doesn't matter to them whether the property is repaired.This client wanted nothing but an estimate to begin with and has been overly zealous to get an estimate and didn't even let us complete the job. There was absolutely nothing wrong with our work performance.All that is left is for him to pay his bill. We are only looking for the money that FEMA pays upon reviewing our accurate insurance industry estimate. If we have to pursue legal collection, we would be forced to drive home the full pricing based upon our written contract, which is thousands of dollars more than we are currently demanding, in addition to any other penalties and attorney's fees that our contract allows in order to compensate us for all of these added costs and time.We did receive a cancellation notice in an email, and I called the husband and talked to him about it, and he agreed to meet with my son at the earliest convenience, which was a couple of days after this. We left the equipment on site, as it was certainly serving a purpose. They had one home which had been under water for several feet up and the other still had a very wet crawlspace and some wet floors. It would have been heartless of me to send a crew at that point to pick the equipment up, if I cared anything about that customer. I told the client that I would continue to leave the equipment there to dry the structure and he agreed. Ultimately we may not be compensated for that, but so be it. I was trying to do the right thing for these folks. And I know that in general adjusters from all insurance companies know what we are supposed to do and compensate us for doing the right thing, and protecting the client and their property.Their statement is filled with lies. We have been trying to get them to give us the contact info and claim information so that we could submit our bills to FEMA and so that we could contact the FEMA adjuster, just as we do with all claims, and this couple has been completely uncooperative. They do not need to protect the FEMA representatives from our bill. Any of the representatives I have worked with at FEMA are quite expert and not easily fooled. The ones who are new at all of this are this couple. The law allows for full recovery on our part, and I have not yet submitted this to my attorney because I still have a faint hope that these folks will come to their senses. But time is running out. The law only allows us to be nice about collections for so long, and then we have deadlines for liens and for foreclosure, which requires an attorney.If our work was incomplete, it was because our work was stopped. Per our contract we are relieved of any obligation to perform punch list or other items at this point. Our crew positioned some very sophisticated drying equipment on site the first evening, which equipment typically requires several hours for a two man crew to set up. We also had to obtain and bring the specific equipment needed to the site. They were not standing around doing nothing the first evening as she indicates. Her communication is slanderous and insulting.We are experts and serve hundreds of clients every year, and I have a stack of letters of recommendation which about four inches thick, with one or two pages from each different client that has written thoughtfully about our work and the great lengths we went to protect them and their property, working very late into the night on some occasions, in hazardous conditions, just like we did for this couple.Again, I am sorry for the tardiness of my response. My last several weeks have been consumed dealing with a very large job where a substantial commercial water damaged and now mold infested dwelling needs to be restored to prevent severe financial loss to an elderly woman because other contractors dilly-dallied and wasted her time for 6 weeks. We have taken over and things are getting done in a whirlwind. That's what Advanced Recovery Corporation does.Unfortunately, due to the nature of economics we must get paid for our services, and we can't let folks like this treat us unfairly by not paying their bill and stay in business to be able to help honest folks that need us and deserve our services and kindness.Please remove the complaint.Yours,Joe R[redacted]PresidentAdvanced Recovery CorpPh# 503-437-2143Fx# 503-200-2252

I investigated the complainant's allegation that two of our crewman did not take equipment away after the client told them that they were cancelling the job. This is untrue. There were three technicians that went out either the day of the alleged "cancellation" and none were asked to remove all of the equipment due to a cancellation. One technician was asked to cease drying the in-law unit, as the adjuster from FEMA had indicated that there would not be insurance coverage for that part. As I had indicated in my earlier communication on this matter, I am the President of Advanced Recovery Corp and I took the initial call from this party. The husband said that his house had a completely flooded crawlspace and that his in-law unit was several feet under water and he wanted an estimate on repairs! I don't know if any of the readers of this have ever had this experience, but neither insurance adjusters or FEMA wants a client to shop around estimates at a time like that! Normally when we get a client in that situation that just wants an estimate, it is generally a clue that they want to just get the estimate to submit to insurance and then get non-professionals to perform some of the work and/or do it themselves and pocket the cash. At the time we were getting many calls so I told this client that we could only come out if we were going to do work because we are already overloaded with calls where clients want us there NOW.The second bad sign was when the client tried to cancel after just within the three day right to cancel window. Normally, a client has a three day right to cancel, if they were going to have their house remodeled. This is appropriate in situations where they are say, getting a new deck put on. This gives them time to think through whether they can afford it, etc. It could prevent problems for all parties later on. The problem in a situation like an emergency like this is that in three days there would be so much more additional damage, that in our industry it is normal for their to be a waiver of the right to cancel due to the emergency nature of the work, and the contractor should not have to fear that the client would cancel all work after three days and no owe anything.With these additional lies while filing this Revdex.com complaint surfacing, it appears that we are dealing with a real con man who tried to defraud us at every turn. Fortunately the law does have its bounds and this individual would face the full force of it if he continues to try to rip us off.If this statement and complaint does wind up on the internet, let this be a warning that if you are thinking of trying to rip us off, it isn't going to work. You had better call someone else.But if you are interested in a company that will put your needs first above our own love for Friday nights off or even Sunday breakfast, and that will do all the work to get the insurance or FEMA to pay the entire bill and won't come after you for a penny more, all while providing excellent service even in the midst of a disaster where there are thousands of people under water, and is trained and prepared to deal with such situations, then you could call no one better. And we are experts at mold remediation and handle all jobs, no matter how tough.Which is why we like to say:
"There are better restoration companies, but they're on another planet. For the best service on Earth, call Advanced Recovery Corp."