PACKOUT MASTERS USES PREDATORY CONTRACTOR PRACTICES. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THEM.
We are unsuspecting victims of their dishonest practices and were completely blindsided by their representative during a recent plumbing leak last February. These predatory businesses take advantage of individuals in a crisis situation, especially where water damage requires immediate attention. Here is the evidence of the predation by Packout Masters.
High Pressure Tactics Employed to Sign Contract Before Insurance Adjuster Assessed the Damage - A representative of Packout Masters showed up at our home after we had hired a plumber to fix the waterline leak, which affected our garage. (We had also contacted an agent from our homeowner's insurance.) The representative said that she had to pack, move, and store off-site, everything from our garage floor near the wall where the leak occurred. (We were mistakenly under the assumption that the insurance adjuster had sent her, since we never called for Packout's services. We still don't know who called them for their service.) She said that the refrigerator, large pantry cabinet, filing drawer, plastic drawer towers, and wooden television cabinet would need to be packed up and stored during the necessary repairs.
I disagreed with her saying that there was no damage to the garage drywall since the leak dripped straight down from the ceiling and onto the garage floor. She insisted that items HAD to be moved so repair work could be done and that she had directions to store the garage items. She never said who gave her those directions. It wasn't us. She used extreme, high pressure to get us to move out the items. I told her that moving everything was totally unnecessary and that we could move the items to other areas of our garage. We were still not entirely sure what repair work was needed.
She insisted. With so much pressure, and uncertain that she could be right, I finally agreed to have only the wooden TV cabinet and the plastic drawer tower moved and stored.
Exaggerated Claims - The representative for Packout Masters exaggerated the items that needed to be moved. The larger items, the refrigerator, which was full of food, and the pantry cabinet (4' by 9') were at least ten feet from the leak area and were never touched by any water. Claiming that these items had to be moved was completely exaggerated.
In addition, when Packout Masters' claim was submitted to our insurance company, they lied to the insurance agent by saying that the car in our garage was inoperable, which necessitated the removal of the items since there wasn't room in the garage to store anything else. Our car is not inoperable.
Extreme Overpricing - These are the two items that Packout Masters ended up plastic-wrapping, hauling, and storing for two days. They are charging us $2,595.55 for the two items in the picture below.
Misleading Details Leaving out Crucial Information - Again, there was no verification that this service was authorized by the insurance adjuster. I was made to sign the agreement to have the work done on a small electronic work tablet that the representative held. I was not given an estimate listing the work to be done. THERE WAS NO COST ESTIMATE for the work.
Threats - Packout Masters threatened us with a home lien for our refusal to pay. We intend to fight the lien in court if filed.
BTW, there is no business license number on the Yelp page, like other businesses. A search for the license number on the California State Licensing Board database shows no license number under the name of the business or the name of the CEO, Francesca Palmer. Hmm read more