ServiceMaster Restorations

Awful experience. Staff were scammers stating that the cost would be $2000 estimate then everything was more than double the amount. Their equipment kept popping the circuit breakers and some of them did not work. They ruined some of the home. Promised a guarantee and never provided one. Don't ever use this company!

We had already removed our kitchen flooring, 1/2 of the carpet in back room when we noticed the water leak had gone further than we thought. Called insurance agent and received 3 company names. Service Master was the 1st to call back. Explained what was going on to gentleman on the phone- he asked what our deductible was and told us we'd be over that just with the dry out process. Since it was mid September and still hot, mold was an issue. Called insuance company and got a claim number and was told to let them do what was needed. 

Service Master showed up quickly and immediately decided the stove needed to be moved. Since it was less than 6 months old and has a glass edge, my husband (69 years old) helped with moving it the 10 feet to the dining room. They cut the wall in back of the stove to air it out and started placing fans. On to the back room which was a computer/storage room. They removed the other half of the carpet and set up fans. Found out later THEY should have checked everything in the room to make certain nothing would be damaged by the heat. Needless to say I lost candles, about $50 worth of chocolate stored on shelves, misc items. DH, DIL & I moved as much as possible to other places (guest room, bathtub, living room).

It took 3-4 days for the actual drying out process. Service Master had a rep call every morning to let us know when they'd be by to check on the equipment.  Other than the house was over 90 degrees for the entire time (a/c could NOT keep up, and I was informed if the a/c unit broke due to running continuously because of the heat generated by the dehumidifiers it would not be covered under our policy) and the fact the noise was like being inside an airplane engine, this part went well.

When they removed the equipment, they removed the sink cabinet, left the counter & sink propped up with 2x4's. Prior to them removing this, DH asked them 3 times if they knew what they were doing with the removal of the dishwasher (it was attached to the cabinet). Kept being told not to worry, they did this all the time. The insurance adjuster came later that day and took photos. We were also told that Service Master would be by the next day to give us a bid to restore everything. The adjuster told us he worked with them all the time. (Should have been my 1st clue to a problem)

I had to do the cleaning of the dust and mess left by the fans, wet wood and drywall. I discovered a crack in the dishwasher that wasn't there before- you could even see the crack was perfectly clean and white, while the rest of the edges had dust and debris in them. The man that removed the dishwasher had done the damage. When the Service Master bid guy showed up, I pointed it out to him & said they'd broken it. His comment was a snide "Sure they did".  We never did receive a bid from them for restoration- but interesting enough, the insurance adjuster did.  We found several more issues with the dishwasher that they had done- even found a part stuck in the back room in a basket that had been under the sink.

When we had the cabinet replaced, the plumbing had to be taken out. DIL took a photo to show how everything went. Found out Service Master had also ripped the wall socket out and we had exposed wires. Spent $225 for electrician to repair that on a weekend (cabinet was going in on Monday morning).

Insurance paid for damage done by the water- will not pay for Service Master issues. The insurance company recommended we go ahead and pay Service Masters bill (made the check payable to us & them). They were paid 2 days after I got the check. After having another rep come out and see the damage, get copies of photos, we've gotten treated like &*^*^&^.  1st the "guy" was out sick, then excuse after excuse until it was too late to stop payment on that check.  Now they've offered a whole $90 to fix the dishwasher, they refuse to pay for the electrical work & nobody seems to give a hoot about the damage to my items that THEY should have taken care of. The owner's response to me was "take it or leave it".

Needless to say- I'll be reporting them to BBB, City of Cape Coral, FL Dept of Professional Regulation & any place else I can find. Oh, an did I mention they "charged" us $50+ to move the stove? Wonder what it would have cost if DH didn't help? Of course, odds are they would have broken that, too....

1/5/2014

I hadn't checked back to see Service Masters response. Interesting to say the least. Let's start with my dishwasher. They didn't "nick" it. They CRACKED the frame that holds the controls, broke off the bottom roller that allows you to move it in and out (which they stuck in the basket they put in the back room). As for the cabinets attached to the wall? HUH???? We'd remodeled the kitchen over 10 years earlier. The PROFESSIONAL CABINET INSTALLERS had cut out the back of the cabinet to provide access to the outlet. Had no issues in 10 years. The electrical outlet they pulled out? It was not attached in any way to those cabinets.

Let's see- the dishwasher (Miele for those interested, original price in 2001 was $1600) was purchased at Bill Smith. They were the ones I called for service costs. At that time the minimum was $149 for the 1st 15 minutes. Add in cost of parts, (over $50, by the way) and labor. We're at $200. Add in the cost of emergency electrician on a Sunday, $225 (showed Service Master the actual receipt for the work). And yes, I did have chocolate melt and candles. Anyone whose ever purchased either, knows they aren't cheap. $75 for 5 lbs of chocolate purchased from King Arthurs, and several Yankee candles. They were getting off cheap.

As for the insurance paying for the repair of the outet? Wrong. Trust me, I tried. According to them, they would only pay for damage done by the water issue, not damage from SERVICE MASTER. After the mess they made with mitigating the damage, no way would I allow them to "repair" anything.

I do want to warn others- if possible have your insurance company contact a restoration company. Then they will cover any damage done by who ever they call. We were trying to mitigate as much damage as possible. Ended up costing us. Lesson learned.

They were prompt. They showed up when we needed them. When we had issues they were willing to work on it.

The 2 repair mem, Paul and Eric, did excellent work and were professional, pleasant and tidy....We cannot tell where the work started and stopped.........The result is excellent.....

They were great. Excellent work at a cheap price. I couldn't have asked for more. They did more than they were contracted to do.