Lead Me Out Environmental Services

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted] , and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because: because Lead Me Out did not fulfill the contract of clearance of lead abatement from the NYC Department of Health Lead Me Out's work was not done properly, subjected my children to unsafe work conditions and damaged my home Also, there was a dispute between [redacted] and one of his workers about pay which lead to the worker showing up at my home with my children present The worker would not leave my home unless the pay issue was resolved with [redacted] as detailed on the attached email dated 03-**-email On the email [redacted] confirmed the incident and wrote back to me that the incident was resolved and the worker would not show up at my house again This unfortunate incident should never have occurred in my home Due to these reasons, I feel I absolutely do not owe Lead Me Out the balance of the invoice Attached are emails of all my complaints to [redacted] and pictures of my damaged home and unsafe conditions that Lead Me Out left throughout my home Sincerely, [redacted] ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because I completely disagree with [redacted].  I stand by all my emails and pictures regarding all the atrocious and unsafe work from Lead Me Out.  I do not agree that Lead Me Out followed appropriate safety and clean up procedures.  Regarding the driveway, how do you take lead paint off a door from the inside of the house which was part of the job, leave the lead paint all over the driveway and not clean it up especially with young children in the house.  Where is the appropriate safety and clean up procedures regarding this?
My husband and I chose to terminate the agreement with Lead Me Out because Lead Me Out was subjecting my family including my 2 young children to dangerous conditions with their unsafe work practices.  Even though it cost us more money, we chose to hire a different contractor to finish the job because even with Lead Me Out willing to return to address any location that were not approved in an inspection for no additional charge and as frequently as was necessary, we no longer wanted any of Lead Me Out workers in our home since Lead Me Out workers were actually damaging my Victorian home instead of fixing it.  
    
If Lead Me Out was an honest company that valued its customer, then none of these issues should have come up at all.  At this point, I just want to make sure that Lead Me Out does not subject any more people especially children to unsafe and hazardous conditions.  Besides filing a complaint with the Revdex.com, I have filed a complaint with United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

because Lead Me Out did not fulfill the contract of clearance of lead abatement from the NYC Department of Health.  Lead Me Out's work was not done properly, subjected my children to unsafe work conditions and damaged my home.  Also, there was a dispute between [redacted] and one of his workers about pay which lead to the worker showing up at my home with my 2 children present.  The worker would not leave my home unless the pay issue was resolved with [redacted] as detailed on the attached email dated 03-**-14 email.  On the email [redacted] confirmed the incident and wrote back to me that the incident was resolved and the worker would not show up at my house again.  This unfortunate incident should never have occurred in my home.  Due to these reasons, I feel I absolutely do not owe Lead Me Out the balance of the invoice.  Attached are emails of all my complaints to [redacted] and pictures of my damaged home and unsafe conditions that Lead Me Out left throughout my home. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

I am the [redacted] of Lead Me Out Environmental Services, Inc. I am writing in response to the follow up submission that [redacted] made to the Revdex.com concerning work performed by Lead Me Out on her very old property located at 678 East 22nd Street in Brooklyn.
First, and significantly, [redacted] does not even address the fact that Lead Me Out was NEVER cited for failing to comply with appropriate safety practices during its abatement work at her property. The reason Lead Me Out was not cited nor any reference ever made by any city inspector is because we did follow appropriate safety and clean up procedures.
Second, [redacted] submits a bunch of e-mails that actually reflect the facts that (i) I was always responsive to her concerns; (ii) I offered her and she accepted $400 for damage to her wallpaper, which was the full amount of the cost of the repair; and (iii) [redacted] obviously had and has no understanding of what is involved in abating lead paint in an almost 100 year old Victorian structure. Peeling paint and similar purported issues she raises in her e-mails are the reason for the abatement, which may take longer than expected, particularly  in cases such as hers where the property is very old, filled with lead paint, old doors and and old windows. She also tries to mislead the Revdex.com by including a picture of her driveway. Her driveway was not within the scope of work lead Me Out was retained to perform.  
Additionally, she tries to make much of an incident with a worker who stopped at her house (the job site). That incident was unfortunate, not within my personal control, but I addressed it immediately and assured her that it was taken care of. It certainly had no bearing on the quality of Lead Me Out’s work, which is supposedly the basis for her complaint
Finally, [redacted] does not address the fact that she (her husband) unilaterally terminated her agreement with Lead Me Out, despite the fact that work was progressing, updates were regularly provided, inspections were performed, and Lead Me Out did everything it was supposed to do, in a professional and appropriate manner including offering a reduction in the agreed upon price of the work as a gesture of good will.
I am attaching the e-mail that [redacted]’s husband sent to me unilaterally terminating the agreement. This was done despite the fact that Lead Me Out’s agreement with [redacted] and her husband was that Lead Me Out would return to address any property locations that were not approved in an inspection for no additional charge and as frequently as was necessary. Again, [redacted] seems to have no understanding that properties undergoing extensive lead abatement are virtually always inspected multiple times before an inspector signs off completely on the abatement project.
I reiterate my regrets that [redacted] chose not to work with Lead Me Out to complete the project. I bent over backwards to address and resolve her concerns. I attribute her impatience and frustration to her total lack of knowledge about what is involved in lead paint abatement. Lead Me Out values its customers, its reputation, its commitment to doing a professional job and being responsive to any concerns its clients may have.  [redacted] and her property were no exception.

Review: We hired Lead Me Out on 02/**/14 due to my one year old having high lead levels. The NYC Dept of Health visited our home and found lead paint in 26 locations. Lead Me Out did not follow the rules in NYC Health Code 173.14, which placed my 2 young children to further exposure to lead during the abatement process. They did not cover floor, windows and air vents with 2 layers of plastic sheeting. They tracked lead dust all over my home and did not clean up properly after each workday forcing us to mop the entire house daily. They did not bring any equipment to remove paint off a door, used my 3-year-old lawn chair as a sawhorse and left lead paint debris all over my backyard in my child’s play area. Their work was so poor that the health department could not sign off on the abatement. They also caused damage to our home resulting in us hiring a different contractor at the expense of $10,000 to both satisfy the NYC Dept of Health and repair multiple damages. We sent multiple emails outlining our complaints and sent pictures of all damages done to our home to the owner of Lead Me Out. All of our points were admitted to, recognized and there was a promise that all issues would be resolved. Midway through the job we walked the owner of the company through the entire job site notating damage done, improper work conditions and overall extreme poor quality of work. In summary Lead Me Out uses unsafe lead abatement practices and their work is beyond poor that the NYC Dept of Health inspector notated the work was not done properly in her report.Desired Settlement: Due to unsafe work practices, failure of completion of contract for lead abatement and multiple damages to my home, we are looking to having the balance of the invoice null and void.

Business

Response:

I am the [redacted] of Lead Me Out Environmental Services, Inc. and I am fully familiar with the matters discussed in [redacted]’s complaint concerning the work Lead Me Out performed for her at her house located at [redacted]. While I appreciate the fact that [redacted] was understandably concerned that her one year old child had high lead levels, we, as a company, are always very attentive to these concerns and do our best to address both the emotional distress of the homeowner and the lead problems on the property. We have a consistent and excellent history of doing this and [redacted] is no exception.

The allegations in the complaint by [redacted] that Lead Me Out did not use safe and industry-compliant lead abatement practices are not accurate. In fact, Lead Me Out always follows safe and appropriate abatement practices during abatement work and clean- up and this case is no exception. The NYC Department of Health conducted three routine inspections of the property during the time the abatement work was ongoing and prepared reports. In no instance did the Department identify a single instance of an unsafe or shoddy abatement practice, which they would have done if any were present.

The agreement between Lead Me Out and the homeowner was that Lead Me Out would do all the work necessary to properly and completely perform the abatement work for the sum of $5500. This included doing any additional work required if a Department inspector noted that initial abatement work in any given location was not approved. This is a normal and expected part of lead abatement work: the Department inspector routinely visits the property and, subject to the discretion of the individual inspector, either approves all or some of the work as it is in progress. After the first inspection, certain locations were deemed approved by the inspector and others were not. As per the agreement, Lead Me Out returned to the property and addressed the locations that were not approved. After the second inspection, this same practice was followed and Lead Me Out performed all additional abatement work on such locations so that they would be approved.

The house is very old, built in the 1920’s or thereabouts. Accordingly, the house is filled with lead paint and the abatement work is very substantial. This was exacerbated by the fact that [redacted] was reluctant to have the work done properly—instead of replacing lead-filled doors, windows, etc., she wanted to “preserve the integrity” of the house and wanted Lead Me Out to scrape off the lead. Fortunately, I was able to explain to [redacted] that the lead could not be abated properly through scraping. I also was able to save [redacted] approximately $25,000 by identifying locations that did not need abatement even though she had been told they did.

I also agreed to deduct $400 from the contract cost because some wallpaper had been damaged during the abatement work and that was the cost of repair [redacted] was quoted. She accepted that deduction.

Although our agreement was that Lead Me Out would return to address any locations that the inspector did not approve, and that this is what Lead Me Out did after the first two inspections, after the third inspection, [redacted] sent me an e-mail and unilaterally terminated the contract, and refused to pay for the balance of the work. This was contrary to our agreement, contrary to our past practices with her and her husband, and inconsistent with the usual and customary practice in the industry where it is routine for abatement work to be subject to multiple inspections and work continued until everything passes inspection.

I can only assume that [redacted] made the allegations about poor work practices against Lead Me Out to justify her unilateral termination of the agreement. Lead Me Out has never had a complaint filed against it for unsafe practices and has a long and proud history of following all best practices in performing its work for hundreds of satisfied customers throughout the New York metropolitan area. It is unfortunate that [redacted] chose to portray Lead Me Out inaccurately to the Revdex.com and the public by making the statements she made to get out of her contract. We value our reputation and sincerely wish [redacted] had continued to try to resolve any unresolved issues, as I did consistently with her and her husband throughout the approximately three week process that we were performing work for her.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

because Lead Me Out did not fulfill the contract of clearance of lead abatement from the NYC Department of Health. Lead Me Out's work was not done properly, subjected my children to unsafe work conditions and damaged my home. Also, there was a dispute between [redacted] and one of his workers about pay which lead to the worker showing up at my home with my 2 children present. The worker would not leave my home unless the pay issue was resolved with [redacted] as detailed on the attached email dated 03-**-14 email. On the email [redacted] confirmed the incident and wrote back to me that the incident was resolved and the worker would not show up at my house again. This unfortunate incident should never have occurred in my home. Due to these reasons, I feel I absolutely do not owe Lead Me Out the balance of the invoice. Attached are emails of all my complaints to [redacted] and pictures of my damaged home and unsafe conditions that Lead Me Out left throughout my home.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

I am the [redacted] of Lead Me Out Environmental Services, Inc. I am writing in response to the follow up submission that [redacted] made to the Revdex.com concerning work performed by Lead Me Out on her very old property located at 678 East 22nd Street in Brooklyn.

First, and significantly, [redacted] does not even address the fact that Lead Me Out was NEVER cited for failing to comply with appropriate safety practices during its abatement work at her property. The reason Lead Me Out was not cited nor any reference ever made by any city inspector is because we did follow appropriate safety and clean up procedures.

Second, [redacted] submits a bunch of e-mails that actually reflect the facts that (i) I was always responsive to her concerns; (ii) I offered her and she accepted $400 for damage to her wallpaper, which was the full amount of the cost of the repair; and (iii) [redacted] obviously had and has no understanding of what is involved in abating lead paint in an almost 100 year old Victorian structure. Peeling paint and similar purported issues she raises in her e-mails are the reason for the abatement, which may take longer than expected, particularly in cases such as hers where the property is very old, filled with lead paint, old doors and and old windows. She also tries to mislead the Revdex.com by including a picture of her driveway. Her driveway was not within the scope of work lead Me Out was retained to perform.

Additionally, she tries to make much of an incident with a worker who stopped at her house (the job site). That incident was unfortunate, not within my personal control, but I addressed it immediately and assured her that it was taken care of. It certainly had no bearing on the quality of Lead Me Out’s work, which is supposedly the basis for her complaint

Finally, [redacted] does not address the fact that she (her husband) unilaterally terminated her agreement with Lead Me Out, despite the fact that work was progressing, updates were regularly provided, inspections were performed, and Lead Me Out did everything it was supposed to do, in a professional and appropriate manner including offering a reduction in the agreed upon price of the work as a gesture of good will.

I am attaching the e-mail that [redacted]’s husband sent to me unilaterally terminating the agreement. This was done despite the fact that Lead Me Out’s agreement with [redacted] and her husband was that Lead Me Out would return to address any property locations that were not approved in an inspection for no additional charge and as frequently as was necessary. Again, [redacted] seems to have no understanding that properties undergoing extensive lead abatement are virtually always inspected multiple times before an inspector signs off completely on the abatement project.

I reiterate my regrets that [redacted] chose not to work with Lead Me Out to complete the project. I bent over backwards to address and resolve her concerns. I attribute her impatience and frustration to her total lack of knowledge about what is involved in lead paint abatement. Lead Me Out values its customers, its reputation, its commitment to doing a professional job and being responsive to any concerns its clients may have. [redacted] and her property were no exception.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because I completely disagree with [redacted]. I stand by all my emails and pictures regarding all the atrocious and unsafe work from Lead Me Out. I do not agree that Lead Me Out followed appropriate safety and clean up procedures. Regarding the driveway, how do you take lead paint off a door from the inside of the house which was part of the job, leave the lead paint all over the driveway and not clean it up especially with young children in the house. Where is the appropriate safety and clean up procedures regarding this?

My husband and I chose to terminate the agreement with Lead Me Out because Lead Me Out was subjecting my family including my 2 young children to dangerous conditions with their unsafe work practices. Even though it cost us more money, we chose to hire a different contractor to finish the job because even with Lead Me Out willing to return to address any location that were not approved in an inspection for no additional charge and as frequently as was necessary, we no longer wanted any of Lead Me Out workers in our home since Lead Me Out workers were actually damaging my Victorian home instead of fixing it.

If Lead Me Out was an honest company that valued its customer, then none of these issues should have come up at all. At this point, I just want to make sure that Lead Me Out does not subject any more people especially children to unsafe and hazardous conditions. Besides filing a complaint with the Revdex.com, I have filed a complaint with United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Sincerely,