HOLL-TEC

After remodeling several homes and owning 5 rental properties, I can't stress enough how terrible and deceptive this company is. They installed a dishwasher (through Sears) in my home 11/1/16. While there, the installer commented the job was taking longer than normal due to the gaps underneath our sink being sealed by foam (including around pipes). He appeared to be chipping away at areas of foam and handling the pipes aggressively (home built in 1970). After he reactivated the water, a burst occurred underneath our sink and water flooded our kitchen and traveled into our basement mechanical room. It seemed to take an extraordinary amount of time for them to shut the water off (even though 2 people were on site and 1 of them could have been in place while the water was turned back on). I luckily had a shop vac nearby to deal with the standing water on our floor. After this incident, the installer initially apologized and stated a master plumber would come out to fix the break. He also requested I sign paperwork stating the job was complete. I told him I was not comfortable signing anything until water mitigation was completed and the problem fixed. The installer provided the number for Service Master (through his office) and I spoke with them, apprising them of the situation. Service Master then spoke with the Holl-Tec representative directly and gathered their billing information. It was made clear in my conversations with Service Master and the installation tech. that Holl-Tec was the responsible party. This was confirmed by Service Master after they spoke with the rep. from Holl-Tec also. Later that day, the master plumber from Holl-Tec showed up along with the Service Master Technician. The master plumber used a "gator bite" fitting to fix the pipe and was able to reactivate our water. After he was done, he requested I sign paperwork stating the job was complete. I told him my concerns about the water damage and necessary mitigation. He stated in no uncertain terms that the paperwork pertained to the install of the dishwasher itself and did not exclude his company's responsibility for the water damage. His words to me were "I need you to sign this." Like a fool, I trusted his soft-spoken "grandpa-like" friendly demeanor and signed the form. Prior to doing so, I had him add approximately 3 sentences on the form stating that a pipe break had occurred with standing water on our kitchen floor and water traveling into our mechanical room. I also referenced that the extent of this damage was unknown. After the plumber departed, Service Master arrived and found elevated moisture readings on our kitchen floor and the area surrounding our mechanical room. The placed commercial fans and dehumidifiers in our home for 3 days and stopped back to take moisture readings. After they finished, it was the opinion of the Service Master tech. that our Maple kitchen floor needed to be sanded and re-stained. This was supported by a local flooring company we trusted who also evaluated the floor ($1545 estimate). After receiving the repair estimate, I called Holl-Tec and spoke with a female representative to get our floor fixed. She stated she would have to run it by her boss and asked that I email it to her. I sent her the estimate on 11/8/16 and did not receive a response. I sent her a follow-up email on 11/11/16 and once again, did not receive a response. Along with the 2 emails and 2 phone calls, I finally received a response on 11/16/16 (over 2 weeks after the damage occurred). It was a blunt, unapologetic response from the owner (Keith Holl) stating this was a pre-existing issue and they denied any and all claims related to the issue. The only further communication I received from Holl-Tec was a certified letter from them with an edited (zoomed-in) picture of the document I signed in which they omitted the sentences describing the damage to my home. I emailed a response asking for the document in its entirety (since they had conveniently taken my customer copy) and they never responded. After further investigation, I found that Holl-Tec has an "F rating" on BBB's website. As of 1/16/17, the certificate of liability insurance they post on their website (John Herman Insurance Agency) is not in place. I reached out to the insurance agent and discovered they have not insured Holl-Tec (for their business interest) for over 2 years and others have called to discover the same thing. I also discovered they have not paid Service Master for the $1600 in water mitigation services that were provided. Currently, I'm trying to have this resolved through my Am-Ex card, Sears and the BBB. It has been nothing but a headache. The previous dishwasher was in place for over 10 years and no leaks were present.

Still waiting for call back from company- cost not accurate as was included in purchase from Sears

The two installers were on time. Their appearance was
unprofessional and they smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. They brought in
the dishwasher and unpacked it. I identified it as the wrong dishwasher. As per directions from Sears, it was installed. The installers rolled the dishwasher on its wheels over our hard wood floors creating a 9' indentation
into the flooring. The installers did not instruct us on use of the dishwasher as per the checklist from Sears.
Two different installers from the same company came out a second time
November 25th, 2014 to install a second wrong dishwasher. We told them about
the damage the first installers did and they responded that the first installers should have
carried the dishwasher to the opening in the cabinet. The second dishwasher
tilted forward every time the racks were full, rolling out of the dishwasher
all at once when we opened it.
After we learned of the 9' damage to our wood floors we called Keith, the owner,
to report the damage. He came out to look at it and first tried to say he was
the installer November 3, which he wasn't, and the damage was not caused by him.
He eventually agreed that someone other than him from his company, installed
the dishwasher and damaged the floor. He said he would "look into
it," in regard to how he would handle repairing the damage. Since that
visit he has not returned multiple phone calls to find out how he will handle
it.
Sears exclusively uses HOLL-TEC to install their appliances in our area. Sears
says they require installers to carry liability insurance. After receiving no
return phone calls following up on what HOLL-TEC will do to handle repairing
the damage, we called John Herman Insurance Agency, which was and still is,
listed on HOLL-TEC's website under "Certificate of Liability
Insurance" to file a claim. The insurance agent said that they are not
insured for Liability. The certificate says they were covered May 17, 2010-May
17, 2013. Our first date of installation was November 3, 2014.
My understanding is that HOLL-TEC is not insured for liability
and Keith has not returned multiple phone calls inquiring how he will handle
repairing the damage they caused to our wood flooring.