United Environmental Safety

We first contacted United Environmental Safety, run by Mark Katz, back in November 2011. We hired United Environmental Safety to remove asbestos from our basement prior to move in, we stressed the need to have the work completed before our move in, particularly as we had a 4-month old baby. The experience has been a nightmare since. United Environmental Safety cancelled last minute twice to committed dates, they advised of new requirements just 3 days prior to a date they finally indicated they would make, and then did a 'bait and switch', redefining the contract terms upon arrival to do the job. Some specifics:1. We signed a contract with United Environmental Safety / Mark Katz based on UES/Mark's promise that he would have the work completed in December. UES/ Mark Katz failed to meet that commitment, cancelling the December 15th date he indicated work would be performed and not providing an alternate date. Mark chose not to have anyone from his firm come to the property or he never talked to us directly (outside of a couple of emails early on).2. We waited and UES/ Mark Katz finally provided a new date of January 4th. I arranged for the day off from work. Again, last minute UES / Mark Katz cancelled with little notice - I absorbed the cost of time taken off. Again UES/ Mark Katz refused to provide a new date for work, this time now with our move in date around the corder.3. Finally UES / Mark Katz scheduled a new date of January 21st. This time, just 3-days prior to contract he indicated he would need an inspector there - it may be that regulations require it, however he should have provided earlier notice that he had such a need. He provided an inspector's contact and told us (via his office administrator) to call - we did, and were shocked to find out how much this person wanted - and with less than 3-days to the job it seemed we were being 'encouraged' to use their selected inspector. We did some personal research and found that the inspector should be independent - we called other firms, independent from Mark, and found charges to be much less. We called UES / Mark Katz to indicate we would be using another and it took some time before they acquiesced to using an independent inspector.4. On the day of the appointment, we waited for over an hour (we received no call they were coming late) and were about to give up. Finally two people came. We explained we wanted the asbestos in two pipes removed, per a previous contractor - the asbestos to be removed was only in the corner sections - I explained that to the people who came. Instead they discussed charging per linear foot of pipe and that they could not do just the two pipes. They called Mark on the phone. Then they offered to do part of it using a soaking method but advised that I "could not show the inspector" that part of the job. I asked them to leave. I sent a letter to United Environmental Safety requesting full refund of my monies given they failed to deliver on commitments on multiple occasions, redefined what is in the contract, and ultimately failed to deliver on their contractual obligation by providing zero service. Mark Katz refused the request, offering a paltry insulting token sum of money, claiming that he had met his obligation despite doing no work. Mark Katz ducked my calls, never returned any requests to speak, and never reached out to me. It would have been certainly better to hire someone who is has the decency to try to work out an issue fairly. I have been reminded of two very important realities: 1. Do not hire a contractor until you check recommendations for that contracting firm. I do not recommend United Environment Safety. It was months of aggravation, rescheduling, and ultimately a fail in delivery service. 2. Always consider the person you will be working with as well as the firm.