Update - Yesterday (12 days after posting this review), I finally received the partial refund, along with a letter of explanation that some of the items were out of scope according to industry standards, and that other things could have happened between the time of inspection & sale. I doubt this since the home was vacant, but oh well. Original review below:
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Sloppy, false sense of security, and dishonest.
We retained Allen from Inspection Specialists for our home inspection, and everything seemed well at first. Once we moved in, we immediately started finding discrepancies in his report from our actual experience. At first it was just a minor thing here and there, and then it really piled up after a couple weeks.
Since we were dissatisfied with the accuracy of the report, I followed up with Allen about the laundry list of missed or misleading items. He took no accountability, but eventually agreed to issue a partial refund, and that he would put a check in the mail the next day.
A week goes by, no check. Follow up email sent. No response. Make a follow up phone call the following week "oh sorry", and states he didn't know the address for some reason, and takes it down again (even though it's the same address as the one in the report). And then indicates that he remembers the refund amount to be lower than we had agreed upon. Now, it's over a month later with more ignored communication, and guess what - the agreed upon partial refund never came.
1) a/c filters stated inspected & clean; in reality, they were the dirtiest filters I have EVER seen. It was obvious the previous inhabitants had multiple hairy pets, and those filters must have been at least a year old.
2) smoke detectors - saw one was pulled down, and stated that in his report. This concluded the inspection of the smoke detectors. Did not bother to inspect the other 11 detectors. Did not even bother to push the test button. Turns out they were 15 years old and well past-due for replacement.
3) dishwasher leaked (claimed to be fine)
4) tub drain clogged ("it was fine when I checked. clogs can happen anytime"; the home was vacant...)
5) water softener non-functioning
6) multiple faucets technically working, but hot/cold not correct, don't shut off unless moved in a very specific way, etc. ("technically hot/cold don't have to be on a specific side, and "warm" doesn't have to be in the middle")
7) missing/damaged fridge parts
8) obvious signs of water damage under sink & dishwasher
9) several doors not aligned to properly open/close (allegedly, the standard is that "only have to check some, not all doors")
probably more to come as we continue to live here. We still love the house, but all these things would have been useful in negotiating with the seller. I wish we had saved the $600 on this inspection and I would have taken the time to inspect myself, but working full time, I chose to pay for a service that, in the end, failed to provide an accurate assessment of the condition of the home.
Sloppy work at best. When confronted, doesn't take accountability, and then makes promises about refunds that weren't kept.
0/10 would not recommend. read more
