Samons Services

Initially, when this claim was assigned to Samons Services, Inc, our on call administrator, Stacy S requested we deny the assignment due to the customer being nasty. Against our better judgment, we accepted the assignment as we are here to provide professional, quality services to both the policy holder and the insurance company. Samons Services, Inc. received this claim due to the customer had requested an estimate from another contractor, and she was not satisfied with them.
Our process was explained to the customer by me and our other manager several times. This customer was not happy to be inconvenienced by her water damage, and uncooperative from the initial call and visit to her home. She complained that we called her on the wrong number, which we were transferred to, and declined to allow the crew to begin work on a Friday evening, even after the insurance company was contacted for approval. After being onsite for 2 hours, our manager advised the customer be means of voice mail, that the crew was going to leave, and was not to return the same evening but if she called him back, he would schedule her for Saturday. Customer did not call back until Sunday.
While removing affected (wet) building materials crew uncovered microbial growth. As an Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) Certified Firm crew stopped all work and contained the area. To follow insurance company protocol an estimate was required for remediation, and approval by the insurance company prior to any further work taking place. . Customer was extremely angry about this as she already had her contractor scheduled to measure for repairs and schedule repairs, and that our work was delaying her house being put back together. Additionally, I explained to customer that we recommend a clearance test performed by a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). She declined as she wanted the repairs done as quickly as possible.
In order to comply with standards set forth by the IICRC, the personal property in the affected areas required packing and relocating to prevent cross contamination. Again, customer was very angry to be inconvenienced. Items were packed and relocated within the home, and remediation took place. Customer would not permit the crew to move anything to the upper levels of the home and insisted everything remain in the basement. Space was very limited, and again, customer complained that they were not able to access the laundry area of the basement. The process was explained to the customer multiple times throughout the course of the work being done.
On Wed, 6/27, nearing completion of the initial remediation, all required forms were emailed to the customer for review, and to sign and give to the technician upon customer's return home and inspection. Additional microbial growth was identified on the backside of the wall to the bathroom. Crew notified me and I immediately contacted the customer at work to advise her additional work was needed and would be completed while the crew was onsite. Again, customer was angry due to the additional work, and did not have concern that the home be properly remediated. She was only concerned with having the repairs done, and was scheduled that day for her contractor to measure.
During removal of drywall behind the bathroom vanity, an old brittle CPVC supply line broke due to excessive glue on the pipe causing it to adhere to the drywall. Water to the basement bathroom and kitchenette was immediately turned off and a plumber sent to cap off the pipe. Plumber made repair and turned water back on. Even though, the broken pipe was repaired, the water cleaned up, and the initial job completed, customer tore up the required paperwork and refused to sign for the work that was completed, which is also authorization for the insurance company to make payment for the services provided.
While the plumber was onsite, an acquaintance of the customer was out front and asked our plumber if they had a copper "T" fitting for the bathroom upstairs. On Saturday 6/30 customer called and left a message that she does not have cold water to the bathroom upstairs, even though I spoke with her on Thursday 6/28, and there was no report of the problem. After speaking with my plumber and technician to confirm that only the water to the basement bathroom and kitchenette were affected, I spoke with customer in the morning and asked she check with the person that asked for the fitting. Customer denied even knowing that person. Later in the day, I spoke to customer again, and now she states that the outside hose bib was not working on Sunday. On Tuesday, 7/3 customer called to say that her adjuster came out and confirmed that our plumber caused the problem. I called the adjuster who confirmed that he is not a master plumber and had no idea why the upstairs plumbing did not work. Frank S called the customer back and explained everything to her, and offered our plumber come out but, if the problem was not caused by the work he completed, then the customer would have to pay for the visit. Customer declined and had another plumber come out; the problem was a valve in the ceiling, not the valve turned off by S Services, Inc. technician. Receipt was shared with S Services, Inc. by insurance company. Frank S spoke to customer on 7/9 and customer did not pursue any further. Customer would still not sign the required paperwork. At this point customer would only speak with Frank S.
Customer called back to speak to Frank on 7/13 who was out of the office. I offered to assist and customer said her insurance company told her only to speak with Frank. Frank called back on 7/15 and customer wanted to schedule the resetting of the personal property, which could have been scheduled by me on 7/11 when she initially called for Frank. Customer wanted a crew to come out on the same day. Frank advised I would call her on Monday and schedule, which I did, and had to leave a message. I explained to customer that I would need her to sign our paperwork for the emergency mitigation and the packing (there is another set of paperwork for resetting everything), prior to someone coming out. Customer finally called back on 7/19 and stated that she no longer needed us. At that time she advised that a telephone and cable box were missing. I updated customer's insurance adjuster, and *** to provide them with our policy. Frank S spoke with customer on 7/20 and explained that we are in hundreds of homes a year and have never had a complaint, and that our folks simply do not steal. Frank explained that our policy in this situation is for the customer to file a police report, and we would cooperate with their investigation. Customer stated initially that she was not "pointing fingers," however, when Frank did not offer any monetary resolution and stood by his process, customer stated she was going to file a complaint with the Revdex.com and file a police report. As of customer's complaint to Revdex.com the list of items has increased, as did the plumbing problem escalated after customer was not offered a monetary resolution.
The insurance claim file was updated as required by the carrier as all of the above events occurred.
Customer was advised to check with the other companies that were in her home, and to file a police report; that all of our folks involved in working on her claim would cooperate with the investigation.