North American Termite Control

Review: On 04/01/2016 I had a home inspection scheduled by American Homes Services for a home I was trying to purchase at [redacted] however no inspection took place because the home was not ready for inspection or move in. Due to this fact I pulled out of escrow for this home by 04/04/2016. At this time no inspection took place and I had no further communications with North American (directly or indirectly) about a new inspection date. On 04/06/2016 my credit card was ran anyway for the full amount of an inspection ($385) even though I received no notice of a new inspection date, a report of the findings, or an autho to run my card which was given for the first inspection only. I disputed the charges with my credit card company and had them reverse the transaction only to have my card ran again on 06/02/2016 for a new amount of $150. When I contacted North American, I was told this was for a cancellation fee. How can this be two months after the fact when I'm sure someone else is living in the home I asked, and I was told an inspection DID TAKE PLACE.??? How is this possible?Desired Settlement: Refund my money since no proof of an inspection or cancellation was provided.

Business

Response:

North American Home Services has been providing professional termite inspections, home inspections and pest control services throughout the Sacramento community since 1978. In 2015 we provided these services over 16,000 times. On 3/23/16 the customer's representative made contact with our company to schedule an inspection service a property in Yuba City to occur on 4/2/16 (Saturday). As customary, we provided all the guiding documents for review and signature to the client and representative. In the documentation our cancellation policy is clearly defined. Cancellations later than 24 hours will receive a $150.00 cancellation fee. This is an industry wide standard and is not unusual. When our inspector arrive at the scheduled appointment, there was no one on site to meet him. He called the point of contact, and waited 45 minutes. He then received notice that the purchase of the property had been cancelled and our service was not needed. This short notice cancellation effectively caused our loss of business in the near sum of $430.00 plus lost wages for the inspector and additional expenses such as the costs for driving to Yuba City. The following Monday morning, our staff processed all the service charges for work completed over the weekend. The customer's card was charged the full service fee in error, which since has be returned minus the cancellation fee. We understand that the customer's representative failed to cancel the inspection which caused the collection of the cancellation fee. However, the arranged service was on the customer's behalf and the customer was responsible for all fees. The complaint listed here states and inspection has since been completed at the property, if so, it was not completed by this company. Additionally, North American Home Services did not re-charge her account on 6/2/16 as stated. This may have been a charge initiated by the credit card company since we correctly disputed the returned cancellation fee. As of 6/13/16 we have returned her cancellation fee and absorbed the total loss of many hundreds of dollars. We encourage any who may read this to keep in mind that when you fail to cancel a scheduled appointment for any kind of service provider, it may create a financial loss to that business.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. The decision not to purchased the property was not made until 4/11/16 and when my agent informed me he could not make the inspection on 4/2/16 my wife and I "did" during which time no inspector showed up. As of yet no refund has been received but a return of funds will bring this to a close.