Victory Restoration

sIn June of 2013, after a big storm blew through our area, we had water damage in our house.  We had several water stains on our second floor ceilings, and part of our master bath ceiling had come down, with enough water to soak through and damage the first floor ceiling below.  We called our trusty handy man, who made an emergency call to repair our broken sewer stack and prevented further flooding.  A couple of days later, a pair of representatives from Victory Restoration (VR hereafter) knocked on our front door, and told us that they thought we had sufficient roof damage to qualify for our insurance replacing our roof.  They told us that they were well-versed in working with insurance companies and would do all the negotiation for us.  As we had recently begun the process of refinancing our home and were worried about what the effects of the storm damage would be on the assessment, we agreed to give them a try, rather than pay more out of pocket for the work of our handyman (a decision we regretted).  Soon after we got a call from a young man at Victory Restoration, telling us that he was the person who would be working with us and our insurance company.  A few days later, we got a call from an insurance adjuster telling us he would be in our area on a certain day.  He showed up that day before 8am, catching me by surprise.  I called my VR representative to tell him that the insurance adjuster had arrived early, and was pleased to hear my VR rep say he would be here asap.  He arrived 30 minutes later, before the adjuster had finished.  This was the high point of my experience with Victory Restoration.  The adjuster decided that our roof damage was minimal, and cut us a check for $1800 to cover the replacement of a few shingles and interior patching and painting.  A week or so later, the insurance company informed us they could match our shingles; VR disagreed.  When the insurance company did not respond to VR, our VR rep began to pressure me to argue with the insurance company.  This didn't sound to me like VR was doing all the work, but I complied.  The insurance company continued to refuse to change the adjuster's estimate. Our VR rep continued to pressure me to argue with the insurance company, and I spent quite a few hours as the go-between.  By August, I was both fed up with the amount of time I had spent and the refusal of VR to accept the insurance company's decision and just do the work.  I was also getting anxious, as we needed the work (especially the interior repairs) finished by September in order to continue with our refinance.  When I asked the owner of VR if the work would be done by September, he assured me that it would not be a problem.  September came and went, and nothing happened, except that my VR rep was no pressuring me to ask the insurance company for a different adjuster.  I got an extension on my refinance rate lock and told VR that I needed them to get the work done.  I got a call back from the owner, telling me that he had taken over the case.  He then told us that the insurance company was stalling and they needed me to intervene again.  With less than a month left before my refinance expired and we lost our $500 deposit on it, I refused and told them in no uncertain terms that they needed to do the work as the insurance company said, or reimburse us the deposit the insurance adjuster had given them in June.  VR agreed to do the work, but admitted that they could not schedule us until November, after our refinance expired.  This would have been bad enough, given our refinance had been explained as a clear timeline all along, and they cost us $500 by their inaction and unwillingness to do a job that was not as big as they expected.  They did show up in November, after having negotiated another $1200 from the insurance company.  However, they then discovered the shingles they had were the wrong size. They disappeared again, saying they would come back when they had the correct shingles.  Despite our repeated phone calls and demands, they gave us only promises to return as soon as the weather allowed roof work, because they couldn't do the interior work until the roof was repaired.  Finally, in mid-January, we got three days warning that a painter was arriving in the middle of the week to patch and paint. Despite their assurance in June that they would do all the work of prepping rooms for painting, we were told that we had to remove everything except large furniture: take down all pictures and curtains, empty bookcases, and move all plants and decorations out of the way.  My husband and I each had to take days off work on short notice to comply.  The painter arrived with the owner, who went through room by room, reiterating that the painter could only do one coat, and putting restrictions on what he could do.  The painter, kindly enough, did a bit more than he was told to by helping me take down heavy curtains and ceiling lamps; perhaps he felt bad that he didn't have the correct materials to patch the ceilings in such a way that they would match the existing ceiling -- he brought what he thought would be needed, but VR wouldn't pay him to preview the problem and get the correct materials.  So the result looks pretty amateurish -- I could probably have done better myself.  We then received a bill for the balance from VR.  I called and pointed out that they still hadn't repaired the roof shingles.  They showed up in March and finally fixed that (so much for not being able to do the interior work until the roof was done).  So the entire process, which would have taken a few days in the summer (when my husband and I don't teach) if we had hired our handyman, took eight months, cost us our refinance and our $500 deposit on it, was accomplished in a way to cause us the most inconvenience possible, and produced a result the quality of which is abysmal. The only reason I have not graded them "F" is that they did eventually show up and do the work. 

Excellent Service from the initial customer contact, all through the actual construction process and post-sale follow-up.  Their field agents were very professional and courteous.  They kept me informed throughout the process. They were quick to answer questions, and helped us select the right materials for our house.  They gave us a long list of roofing references to check with, and we saw the good work they did for many of them.  We talked with one of their customers, and they were also very satisfied.  The crew was excellent, and they did a good job cleaning up after the work was completed.  I would use Victory Restoration again, and I highly recomend them.