SERVPRO of Montclair/West Orange

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: We made the payment because the vendor threatened to send a collection agency after us if we did not pay.? We did not want to see credit worthiness erode, so we paid to get them off our back.? We figured that any resolution would result in a reimbursement or compensation for fraudulent activity.? ? Regards, [redacted] ***

*** ***As per company policy, every single estimate that comes through our office is either written or personally approved by me as the owner We also do not give estimates before assessing the damaged area and the hazards present in such eventsI'm sorry if that was unclear during our initial contact.We use standard insurance pricing with a program called Xactimate These aren't SERVPRO prices, nor are they mine as a franchise owner They are nationwide, standard prices for the type of work we performWork is itemized, line by line, on a per square foot and per piece of equipment basis This is standard operating procedure for anyone in the restoration and insurance industry.The average water loss is around $ Your situation was not what the industry would consider average being that it was category (dirty) water, after hours on a Sunday evening, and your entire basement was affected We received your call about a sump pump failure late on that Sunday afternoon This immediately makes everything an after-hours charge, because as a business owner I am paying people overtime wages in order to help our customers in need I had people at your home for several hours late on a Sunday evening, pumping water, extracting water, cleaning, and setting up equipmentYou informed my technicians that you would be going through insurance Your complaint states that you feel we took advantage of you by knowing that you had insufficient coverage How could that possibly be the case? We had no idea what your coverage was until several days later when you were informed you had 5k maximum coverage for your sump pump failure I've personally seen sump pump coverage up to $25,000, especially in homes with finished basements, and I never make any assumption about how much or how little coverage any customer may have.Once ALL of the work in your home was completed, we wrote an estimate, line by line, for all the work performed at your home Again - this was with a program called Xactimate which uses standard insurance pricing and rates We then submitted your invoice and estimate to your insurance company for payment At that point you reached out to me personally, asking why it was more than you had initially thought it would cost We had a reasonable conversation and personally I considered the matter resolvedBelieve it or not - I strive for happy customers They are what keeps me in business.You're claiming that you were given a verbal estimate for around $1,to $2, First of all, that figure is lower than average for a standard water loss where no demolition is performed, no after-hours work is performed, and the property can be properly restored in the typical days drying period That was not the case in your situationYou had after hours work performed, category (dirty) water, and a large amount of equipment for longer than daysSecondly, you gave us a $2,deposit check the day the damage occurred (which I have a scanned copy of if you need a copy) How could you believe the entire estimate was $1,to $2,if you handed us a deposit payment for $2,the same day we arrived? It may seem hard to believe, but I made great concessions in your invoice once I understood your coverage limits, the damage you had with the floors having to be replaced at a minimum, and overall sympathy with your situation I just quickly repriced your estimate simply changing one line item and charging for anti-microbial applications (which was performed and not invoiced) and the estimate came to $6,The major line item changed was hard surface floor extraction after hours (clean water) to making it the appropriate category water charge. Category water is a hazard to my employees and our equipment. Everything has to be thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated after use. In a situation, that’s what I would invoice and that’s what we would be paid forI also reduced the amount of equipment charge time from (5) days to That increases the estimate by another $or so dollarsLet’s say that roughly, in a standard situation with appropriate insurance coverage, I would invoice $6,for the exact scope of work performed at your homeInsurance companies (and our other customers) would pay it without much scrutiny as we only invoice the the actual work we perform So understanding your situation, I purposely reduced your invoice by almost $2,because I don’t like putting people into awkward financial situationsAt the same time, I have to protect myself because I can’t lose money on emergency work as I won’t be in business for very long I certainly don’t appreciate reducing my invoices by that much and then being called someone who likes to scam and take advantage of peopleThat’s clearly not the case and quite frankly I find the notion offensive. After our phone conversation I had thought you were more understanding of exactly why your estimate was at the figure it was at. You seemed understanding at the time and happy with our work. Immediately after work was complete, your wife gave us a certificate of satisfaction with nearly all 10s on a scale of 1-10. I've attached a copy of that certificate. However, when it became time to make your payment you filed a Revdex.com complaint, rather than contact me directly as you previously did.Moving forward I can tell you that I’ve put new protections in place for our company and our customers when dealing with sump pump failures to avoid situations like this from occurring again Our customers now receive an estimate, in full, for the work we believe necessary prior to beginning workAs you’ve learned, sump pump coverage is all over the map and it’s impossible to know exactly what coverage is before confirmation with an insurance companyI’m sorry for any misunderstanding and hopefully this clarifies the situation for you Thanks for your consideration

The complaint was dealt with directly with the customer and they made payment in full.

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
We made the payment because the vendor threatened to send a collection agency after us if we did not pay.? We did not want to see credit
worthiness erode, so we paid to get them off our back.? We figured that any resolution would result in a reimbursement or compensation for fraudulent activity.? ?
Regards,
*** ***