We recently had the unfortunate experience of our fridge line breaking and leaking into our subfloor. We have Allstate insurance, and they used Disaster Kleenup for our house repairs. The company came out and ripped out our flooring and put out fans and all seemed what would be expected. After the demolition phase, they left us with a hole in our kitchen for a MONTH! I'm pregnant and definitely tripped over the large missing pieces of subfloor too many times. We contacted them a few times, but we were told Allstate was working with them and that may have been the reason for the delay. So we let it go and were patient with this new process. They then attempted to schedule an employee to check if the floor was dry (something they'd already sent a guy to do a month earlier. Poor communication within the company.)
Finally they came and installed the floor and I will tell you that they did an excellent job with the installation! We were very happy with the results! Well, except for forgetting to put back all the trim. Again we called to have someone come back out to finish the floor. Finally all was done and it was time to pay our deductible.
As my husband is the only one employed with me preparing for a new baby in our home and raising another child under 1, we didn't have the full $1000 required within 60 days (extended from 30 days). So we called to set up a slightly longer repayment plan if it were possible. Even if this was not an option for us, how they handled our request is my primary complaint. The lady told my husband that they had to get paid (we of course want to pay in full) and that if $1000 was not paid in full by June 1st she would put a lien on our house and charge us $800 to do so. Whoa, the threat happened so quickly!
Now, we were not trying to get out of repayment or complain at any point before this. We simply are tightly budgeted and were asking kindly what our options were. We treat others as we'd politely like to be treated. It was shocking.
**We are the family that if a food order at a restaurant comes out not quite as ordered, we will humbly eat the food and not complain or make a scene. We've both worked in the food industry and retail before receiving our degrees, and try to treat others how we so appreciated being treated in any of our previous jobs. We were both raised to be gracious and humble and kind to others. We don't raise our voices, swear or bring false accusations due to our emotions.**
So I just want to put it out there that a different business may not threaten you and possibly will not have as many hiccups between starting and finishing the project. I've never filed a complaint or gone against a business, as my father runs a small business in town and it can be devastating to receive bad reports, but if someone is treated unethically with threats and aggression, then I feel it is fair to share with the community so it doesn't happen to your family.
***After paying them in full, my husband talked with the manager and explained the facts of our experience, that we were satisfied with the work, but concerned with how we were treated when just asking if another payment plan were available. We didn't expect them to be able to give us this extension, but felt that with this type of business, most families don't have an extra $500-$1000 a month on top of their budget. The manager said, "Well you are just mad because you can't pay your bills." We do pay our bills, and try to keep about $1000 in savings for such unexpected things to occur and do not rely on credit cards, but at this time did not have our savings complete as we had some other unexpected things occur and preparing for our second child. Finally, the manager understandably became upset with my husband as he made it clear that we will be sharing these facts with the community, and stated that he has a lawyer on hand for those people that have not paid the company...(which as I stated, my husband pulled out a loan and paid them in full before talking to the manager.)
**Maybe this is normal practice, but we felt we would share what didn't feel was handled kindly and ended in threats against our home.** read more