I had a pretty ghastly experience with this company, but I wanted to wait until everything was over to see how it played out before I left a review.
It started with a leak behind our kitchen sink. We called our usual plumber (whom we will not call again) to fix the problem. He said something to the effect of "the insurance covers mitigation, so I'll call them out". I agreed, stupidly, because in hindsight, he didn't even know what insurance I had, or if I had any.
Dry Force came out and set up a bunch of fans. Once again, I was naively under the impression that the insurance would 'cover' it. Little did I know, these fans cost 600 dollars... per day. Had they told me that, I would have asked them firmly, yet politely to leave.
They told me that they needed three days with the fans. On day five, they finally showed up to let me know that nothing had been dried. They wanted to leave them for even longer, but finally elected not to.
At this point, I hadn't received an invoice, a bill, a statement; nothing. They then called back and asked about rebuilding the kitchen. I agreed to a 'free' estimate. They sent someone out, and they told me that they would send an 11,000 estimate to my insurance. It seemed reasonable at the time.
I then received a bill for 3,300ish from Dry Force. I called and asked what it was for. A woman told me over the phone that the 3,300 was for the down payment on the rebuild.
A supervisor showed up to go over the restoration with me. We did want some upgrades, and I was then sent a quote for 14,000. Again, this seemed reasonable. I gave a cashiers check to the supervisor for the rebuild. Here is where everything went terribly wrong.
I received an email from the supervisor saying that he needed payment "in full" to start the process. I asked him what the total was, and he told me 18,000ish. Oh my. I emailed back, completely confused. I had already paid 3,300 +150, and now my total was 18,000 on top of that. This was all after I had received, and signed, a 14,000 estimate.
He called back and gave me a story about how the 18,000 quote was after he factored in granite counters. That seems silly, because the 14,000 quote I received had the granite counters included. To be fair, it said "granite or marble". Who on this planet has marble counters, I don't fathom I'll ever know.
I emailed him and told him to forget it, and that I'd like a refund. This is when I realized the ugly truth. I got a call from Dry Force, and they told me that now, somehow, the 3,300 I paid was for the fans. Surprising, since two employees had already told me it was for the rebuild.
Bottom line, I'm stuck. I got 1,700 in mitigation expenses from my insurance, so I'm out the rest. Make no mistake, this company is out to soak your insurance for every penny that they can and make it seem like they are your best friend. If your plumber recommends them, fire your plumber and find someone who doesn't deal with this company.
To their credit, a manager called to get my side of the story. To their discredit, he didn't really seem to care that much. He admitted that they 'dropped the ball', but that's about it. I wish I got 3 grand every time I dropped the ball. I got 300 of my 3,300 back, but beware, they will take you for a ride.
I'm submitting complaints the BBB and Texas AG's office of Consumer Protections. I doubt it will do any good, but people need to know about this company. read more