ServPro

Servpro of Joliet & Lockport / Lemont / Homer Glen is OK for cleaning and mold mitigation services. But if you can overcome your shock and grief from the accident fast enough, you would be wise to make sure you take some of the things you want to keep and figure out how to clean them yourself. Servpro charges for storage and they would not hand the boxes of what I had told them to clean for me until the house was completely rebuilt and I had been in the house for a while.

Even though there are some issues of absolute honesty and transparency of the salvaging of contents from the house, avoid signing any documents that Servpro puts in front of you. There is small, faint print on the back of a one page document that they said was just to allow them to go into your home to salvage goods and demolish any part of the house that needs to be reconstructed. This document says in small faint print on the back that you agree to hand over ALL the insurance payout to Servpro. I signed it because I thought it meant that I agreed to pay them all of the insurance payment designated by the insurance adjuster for parts of the insurance payout that they did the work for (such as the cleaning, demolition, storage, reconstruction). However, when you sign that form, you are agreeing to allow them to do the rebuilding / reconstruction of your home. Since Servpro deals with people who have suffered a disaster such as a water (and mold), wind or fire damage, the cost to rebuild will be covered by an insurance company. I signed because the guy they sent to explain to me how he would do the reconstruction is an excellent talker and knows how to win trust from strangers who are going through a disaster. He says everything that will make a person suffering from shock and grief wants to hear - that they will fix everything and you'll be back in your newly rebuilt home in a very short time. He assured me that the costs would all be covered by my insurance company and that I had nothing to worry about.

The first disappointment and frustration for me was that Servpro waited 5 months with beginning the rebuild of my badly damaged home. The second disappointment was that Servpro claimed that it is industry standard to NOT have a written contract and for the insured party to give them all the insurance money so they can do the rebuild. I had no intention to profit off this accident in the house, so I thought it was fair to sign their form with the small and faint print on the back of the form to agree to give them all the money from the insurance company for the rebuild. The guy from Servpro assured me it would just be the money I receive for the rebuilding part of the insurance pay out. I thought it was fair to agree to give Servpro the money if they were going to do a good job and get me back into my house as soon as possible.

The first problem was that I had a hard time understanding what exactly they intended to do with the reconstruction, so I insisted on a written contract. I wanted to know what was going to be done, when it would be done, who would do it and at what costs. Instead of providing me with the usual contract outlining the details of the rebuild that is standard when engaging someone to do construction work for you outlining the what, when, who, how much, Servpro gave me a one-page document entitled "Payment Schedule" and called it “The Contract”. They wanted half the insurance money before any work began, money for the code upgrades (it was not clear if I was expected to pay them out of my own bank account or where that money was to come from), the second half of the insurance money after the inspections and an unspecified amount for the replacement costs after the house was rebuilt. At this stage, I went to an attorney because it didn't seem right to me. Besides that, the insurance adjuster "strongly advised" me to make sure I put the money in escrow and that I had to keep track of receipts for everything Servpro spent towards the rebuild. But the franchise owner of Servpro of Joliet & Lockport / Lemont / Homer Glen, Bill Kent called up my lawyer and told him, "the standard in the industry is that everything s dealt with between the insurance company and Servpro". My lawyer and everyone that I know that has ever had construction work done told me that a contract listing the who, what, when, how much is the true standard and to not listen to them. My lawyer drew up a contract that included a list of the repairs to be carried out and the costs. The Servpro franchise owner eventually agreed to the contract and we signed it. The contract include a "Repair List" which included everything that was to be done as well as the costs and the companies that would do the repairs / reconstruction work.

Another disappointment and unbelievable thing was that the description of materials and labor from Servpro had a big mark up on everything and all materials were high-end costs. It is fair for a company to include on-costs and profit margin, however, the costs of items were highly inflated. For example, they listed the total cost of a toilet at $563.41 and the total cost of the toilet seat at $72.42. Servpro had stalled so long and since the insurance adjuster's list included costs that would cover extra high costs such as the one for the toilets, I agreed to the "Repair List" as written in the contract.

When the rebuild was nearly completed, the man overlooking the rebuild, who is actually an estimator (i.e. accountant) and not a builder, cut certain finishing touches from the contract. For example, he cut out the backsplash from the kitchen, put in fewer towel racks and did not replace a closet door even though they were listed in the signed and agreed to contract.

As the work drew to being finished, the estimator came up with a one page document entitled "Material Allowances" that included only what they actually put into the rebuild. This document was never shown to me or my lawyer before or during negotiations for a contract. This is not what was agreed to in the contract at all. The "Materials Allowances" list also includes items that I was tricked into purchasing when the estimator from Servpro told me that he would have a check cut for me to reimburse me up to a certain amount for the kitchen appliances. Since I purchased the items using one of my credit cards, I received some discounts on top of the Black Friday discounted deal and I paid for the appliances myself believing the Estimator (who is the person in charge of all the sub-contractors and builders from Servpro). After more than a month of making the purchase of the kitchen appliances, I asked the Estimator when I would receive the reimbursement for the kitchen appliances, but he ignored me. I continued to ask for reimbursement, but he never responded until one day he pointed out to me that if I sold the house, I could sell the refrigerator and it would amount to close to what I had paid for all the other kitchen appliances. That's when I knew that he had tricked me into trusting him and I had fallen for his easy to trust manner yet again. But this is only a façade, so don't be fooled by him. He is actually a con-artist.

I don't know if this is the final dealing that I will have to have with Servpro of Joliet & Lockport / Lemont / Homer Glen or not, but now there is a crack in the ceiling in the dining room and the paint has blistered from water coming from the attic. Their work is supposedly under warranty for 12 months after completion. The ceiling damage was caused by a vent pipe to what is either the furnace or hot water heater that was shabbily installed. Water from a heavy thunderstorm has now gotten into the attic and soaked through the thick insulation into the dining room ceiling causing a crack and blistering of the paint. They told me they would send a guy to assess my roof instead of sending the plumber or someone to fix the angle of the pipe (that is the culprit - and it a result of shoddy workmanship).

This is why I give Servpro of Joliet & Lockport / Lemont / Homer Glen such a low rating. They cheat the insurance companies as well as homeowners who have suffered from a disaster.






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