Colony Rug Company, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 23, 2016/01/27) */
Dear interested parties:
I wish I would have had time to deal with this nice older couple. Last year was my busiest year since 2004. 8-10 calls a day for help with mold, water problems, etc. Only able to deal with 2-3/day or less.
In...

short, we were contacted by them in the early summer last year to deal with a moldy smell and discomfort by Mrs. [redacted] We tested the home and inspected it to find low levels of surface mold sporadically under the home, with highest concentrations under their bedroom. Their AC unit was also dumping water under the home, with standing water 2-4" deep affecting 2/3 of the crawl space. Water intrusion from several cracks in the cinder block foundation and an open door on the east end of the home which was allowing water to run under the home.
We contracted with them for XXXX-XXXX providing a senior discount. Estimate depended on how much would be actually needed, we only asked for $500 deposit to start the work, because they were short. We normally ask for 30-50%. We went down to their home at least 4 times over the next month to assist. We have documentation and pictures of the problems and what we did.
We purchased $780 of vapor barrier plastic, foundation concrete waterproofing, special below grade glue to adhere the plastic membrane under the house, cleaning products and started work.
The first item was to make air quality better for them inside. We scheduled a time and fogged the home. This required they leave the home for the day on a Saturday to prevent exposure to the fungicidal gas. We did that treatment. We then returned the next week and retested the home to find that the airborne mold counts had been substantially reduced to within normal levels found outdoors. With analysis of the test results, that work alone was over 500 of the 500 deposit.
Then, we returned to start cleaning and applying waterproofing to stop ground water from running under the home from the yard.
We were able to get over 1/2 of the work done under the home before several days of rain set in from the hurricane remnants in June/July. The crawl space stayed flooded for 2-3 weeks, plus. We even brought in a sump pump of our own installed it temporarily in a small pit we dug, to assist with keeping water levels pumped down. We could not do any other work until the water subsided. We were able to set a portion of the vapor barrier, but not get it glued and we cleaned over 70% of the underside to remove mold. We could not continue to go down there and crawl around in the mud under the home. One of my people went down there at least 4 trips to move the sump pump and do what he could. We most likely performed around $1XXX-XXXX worth of work, plus expenses and travel.. We had to put completing that on hold until things would dry up.
About 5 weeks later they called and said they had some local guy finish the job & to come get our water proofing buckets, lights and misc. materials AND... they wanted their 500 back. WHAT! We spent 18-21 hours over 4-5 days under the home and contributed a $100 sump pump and nice 2" discharge hose, along with tuckpointing work and waterproofing over half the underside, while cleaning the majority of the underside floor joists, etc. A job of that magnitude is often XXXX-XXXX to conduct. We just couldn't finish due to rains.
I understand that with fixed incomes they needed the $500 back, but give me a break!! After finding out that they had someone else finish and he said we hadn't done much under there so he would get all the credit, what can I say. I didn't want to be rude and send them a $1500 invoice for what we had done, so I dropped it. I guess that came back to cause you to be contacted. I wish I could have sent them a letter with a bill but we were swamped and I had no clerical help working XX-XXX/wk. WOW. AND now with recent 10" rain it will be another crazy spring.
I hope this helps tell the true story. Please forward this to Mr. & Mrs. Cowen if needed. I am truly sorry we could not finish that job as we love helping people. They should be lucky we don't charge for all the actual time and work that was conducted on their home.

Contact me XXX-XXXX with any questions you may have. Thank you for your understanding.
[redacted], BSIH
Industrial Hygienist
OSHA Compliance Consultant
Licensed Air Sampling Professional

Lee Safety and Environmental Services, Inc.
[redacted] XXXXX
Mobile: [redacted] Fax: [redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 25, 2016/02/01) */
Hello [redacted],
I'm sorry Mr. [redacted] has not responded to you. I was so in hopes he would do the right thing and pay us. He has not called us. What do you recommend us do next? How long do we have to keep this stuff before we can get rid of it without him accusing us of destroying his property? Would love to get it cleared off our front porch. We don't have alot of storage space. We really appreciate all you are doing.
Should we call the attorney general?
Respectfully Hazel [redacted],
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 28, 2016/02/05) */
Case # XXXXXX X-X-XX
Received your letter yesterday. We are not happy with his letter. most all are lies. our AC was not (dumping) water it did leak some when it ran but he was to fix that the 1st thing he never did. There is no door at last end of home a crawl space but water was not comming in there. He did not as for 4500.00 deposit that was later. He as for $150.00 which was inspection fee. W3 paid $286.00 for fee & pictures. The only stuff $500.00 later we saw is plastic & 5 gal white paint which did not cost $780.00 Half of paint still here we ask him to come & get. the kid did not spend 18-21 hours down here He may of told Mr [redacted] he did. He got here 5pm to 5:30 I stayed maybe an hour maybe one time he stayed a little longer. The plastic he cut up in pieces which would no no good. The sump pump is here but if he doesn't pick it up soon we will dispose of it. We did not have local guy do job he lives about 35-40 miles away. I was under house several times myself and seen mod in floor joints & insulation which Mr. [redacted] did not treat. the only thing I seen he done was paint a maybe 18 in wide stript arount the foundation. and set u sump pump that done no good. we already had one there working. I didn't write down the time the kid was here so I can't prove it so would be our word against his. I have sure learned a hard lesson do not pay till job is done right. His letter is full of lies but we'll just drop it and suffer the lose. If he doesn't come with sheriff and see when we can get rid of it. I'm tire of it in my front porch & we don't have storage to put it elsewhere.
Thanks for the work you have done just wish would of come out better. We learned a lesson
Thanks