Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/12/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi, this is *********************. I hired RestoPros of northeast Georgia for water mitigation on a rental property that I own (**********************************************************************). The property was flooded by a broken water line. I filed a claim with my insurance company - ******************** RestoPros did the work of drying out the building but I ended up being overcharged by them. Travelers gave them a budget of $13,982.47, and I was billed by RestoPros for $23,609.59.I was not aware of the budget as Travelers was in communication with RestroPros and informed them as to the budget.In good faith, I paid the $23609.59, to come to find out later that the budgeted amount from Travelers was $13,982.47.I have reached out to RestoPros trying to get this resolved. They owe me $9,627.12 and have not made any effort to get this resolved.I would much appreciate the help on the part of the BBB ************ Georgia.Thank you,********************* ************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/02/2024

  To whom it may concern:
  This is in response to BBB Complaint #********. RestoPros of Northeast Georgia is being accused of overcharging a customer, **** ******, for *********************** services provided from 11/8/2023 completing on 11/27/2023.
  RestoPros of Northeast Georgia values our reputation with our customers above all else. We strive to be excellent customer advocates when customers run into water damage in their property that ultimately becomes a covered loss and involves the customers insurance carriers.
  We fully understand these become complex issues involving many different parties including but not limited to the property owners, insurance carriers, often independent or 3rd party adjusters hired by the carriers, plumbers, environmental specialists, water mitigation, and general contractors and all the contractors subs. We also are acutely aware that the water mitigation industry, unfortunately, has a bad reputation as a whole, as there are many bad actors in the industry. Our track record, online reviews and customer feedback and rating system indicates we are not party to those bad actors.  We are an ***** Certified Firm, which requires us to follow a strict set of industry standards and code of ethics. The code of ethics can be found here ************************************* by clicking on the link about 2/3rds of the way down the page.
  To ensure this, we utilize a 3rd party company that takes our job documentation and details of the services we provided to audit our work and generate an invoice. The company we use is staffed with former and current adjusters, insurance lawyers and other insurance experts. This independent 3rd party generates the invoice, independent of RestoPros of Northeast Georgia,  using Xactimate. Insurance carriers want water mitigation companies to submit invoices using Xactimate because it's the industry standard for estimating property insurance claims. Xactimate is a computer software program that insurance companies, adjusters, contractors, and restoration professionals use to estimate the cost of emergency services, property damage repairs and replacements. Insurance companies and adjusters trust Xactimate estimates for pricing accuracy and a common way to itemize the work performed. You can review how Xactimate determines their standard pricing for any given trade, and or region in the country here. *********************************************************************************************************. More information on Xactimate pricing can be found here, ********************************************************************* . 
  We use this 3rd party billing company for several reasons, the first of which is to audit the job and the services we provide to ensure that we are meeting or exceeding the ***** standards and federal, state and local regulations with regards to the services provided. This company also helps us to make sure we are creating the most complete, fair and accurate estimate/invoice possible. And finally we use them because of their expertise in negotiating, defending, and when needed their legal expertise to fight for our customer so they receive the best possible settlement with the customers carrier for our services.
  As part of our standard practice, RestoPros of Northeast Georgia offers services for our customers, at our own expense, to invoke and manage an insurance appraisal process to force carriers who wrongfully deny or short pay a claim. To date we have a 100% success rate in defending our invoices through this process. Often recovering 80% or more of any disputed amounts between our invoice and what the appraisal process ultimately deems fair for all parties.
  Now in Mr ******* specific case,  Mr ****** had 3 units, with renters in them, affected by the loss on 11/08/2023. We provided a detailed loss inspection report to him and his carrier on November 13th, 2023. 
  We then proceeded to refer Mr ****** to ***** Environmental to perform an Asbestos Inspection as the State of Georgia Asbestos Program and the industry overall is subject to five regulations, and the most stringent regulation takes precedent in any given situation.  The five regulatory references must include:  
  GA Asbestos Removal & Encapsulation; 391-3-14;  
  GA Solid Waste Rules - Asbestos; Chapter 391-3-4;  
  AHERA 40 CFR Part 763 Subpart E;   
  NESHAP 40 CFR Chapter 1 Subpart M ******; and 
  OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101. 
  These regulations require the property owner as well as any contractor doing demolition or restoration work on a property to identify if Asbestos is present before doing any work. That referral was sent to ***** Environmental on 11/08/2023 14:35:09. 
  On 11/09/2023 we set up stabilization per ***** Standards to protect the property from potential increase in secondary damage .
  Unit A:
  1 Dehu
  1 Air Scrubber
  Unit B:
  1 Dehu
  1 Air Scrubber
  Unit C:
  2 Dehus
  2 Air Scrubbers
  
  On 11/10/2023, we attempted to contact Mr ************ about a meeting with the adjuster he had the day before on Thursday 11/9. He did not answer and his mailbox was full.
  On 11/13/2023  we were able to get in touch with Mr ****** and let him know we were still waiting on the results of the asbestos test from the environmental company, ***** Environmental.
  
  On 11/13/2023 we uploaded the initial inspection report and photo documentation to the Travelers Portal, along with copies of our contract, notice of intent and details about the ***** standards that we follow. 
  On 11/14/2023 we received notice from ***** Environmental that Unit A & B results were negative but unit C was positive for asbestos.
  On 11/15/2023 We spoke with Mr ************ in regards to sharing information with the tenants. Mr ****** told us to go ahead and share what is needed, as he wants to follow the law and keep them informed. This goes for sharing the asbestos report as well. Once we received the official asbestos report from ***** Environmental we forwarded the report and mitigation photos to the tenant.
  On 11/20/2023 we performed the demolition of affected materials in Units A&B and set up additional equipment to perform the active drying phase. And maintained the original equipment in Unit C, while waiting on the environmental company to get approval from the carrier on their abatement plan and pricing.
  Equipment:
  Unit A:
  1 Air Scrubber
  1 Dehu
  4 Air Movers
  Unit B:
  1 Air Scrubber
  1 Dehu
  2 Fans
  Unit C (waiting on abatement):
  2 Air Scrubbers
  2 Dehus
  On 11/27/2023, Units A&B finally met the Drying goals, Unit C was still waiting on the process to start abatement,
  On 11/30/2023 the customer and the ********************* finally got approval from the carrier to commence with the abatement, This approval came from **** D. ***** | Claim Professional | Property, Travelers, *********************. At which point we removed the remaining equipment we had on site for Unit C and we submitted our job documentation to the 3rd party billing company to review the details of our work and to generate the estimate/invoice to send to Mr ****** and to Travelers.
  The final invoice was sent to the Carrier and Mr ****** on 12/07/2023.
  On 12/11/2023 the billing company attempted to contact the assigned insurance adjuster to review all the documentation and invoice, yet was unable to reach them and left a voicemail.
  Followed up on 12/13/2023 but was unable to reach the adjuster.
  Followed up on 12/15/2023, could not get in touch with the adjuster and learned a new adjuster had been assigned.
  Followed up on 12/19/2023, could not get in touch with the new adjuster. His voicemail says he is out doing inspections during the day but comes back to the office later.
  On, 12/21/2023 left the adjuster another voicemail.
  On 12/22/2023, finally got in touch with the adjuster, and he was pushing back on the number of days the dehu was on site. His only rationale is he can not pay for it with no explanation or defense as to why. Having the dehu there to stabilize and protect against secondary damage is a recommended standard from the *****. You can review the need for this here ******************************************************************* The adjuster said he also needed to get a comparable estimate before reaching a settlement.
  Followed up on 12/28/2023, adjuster did not have the comparable estimate yet.
  On 12/29/2023, we received payment of ********* from Mr ************* 02/27/2024 Mr ****** contacted us and said that the monies he received from travelers was $33,000 and that was to cover repairs and mitigation, Repairs which were not performed by RestoPros of Northeast Georgia.
  On 03/19/2024 Mr ****** informed us that Travelers gave a "budget" on the water mitigation invoice. We informed Mr ****** that there is no budget and we don't feel it's right that Travelers is leaving him with a balance on his overall claim. We pointed out that what Travelers is doing is not right. He said this process is new to him as he's never been through anything as such. He stated that he just wants to ensure that his rebuild estimate is paid for so he can obtain the repairs on his home. We discussed the appraisal process with Mr ****** & how it would benefit him. We walked him through the process of the appraisal and informed him that we would need him to sign the Notice of Representation so that the public adjuster and attorneys could represent him on this matter. We also informed him that if he had any additional questions to please give us or **** (****** *********************** a call. He said to send him the NOR and he would consider the Appraisal process.
  On 03/26/2024 we followed up with Mr ****** as he had not signed the NOR document or contacted us back..
  On 03/27/2024, Mr ****** reached back out indicating he did not want to pursue the NOR/appraisal process.
  On 05/15/2024, we were still reaching out to Mr ****** to offer our assistance and to allow us to pursue the appraisal process with Travelers. We have had no further communication with Mr ****** since this time,
  We have detailed evidence that the services we billed for were warranted and required to meet the ***** standards and state regulations. We further have evidence that our pricing was in line with industry standards for the services performed and equipment used. It is our contention that the adjuster/carrier in this case was not acting in good faith in presenting Mr ****** with a reasonable settlement for his loss. 
  We have enclosed all our job documentation, contracts invoices and reports as part of this evidence.
  We stand behind the quality of the work performed and the reasonableness of the fees for each and every item. It appears to us that the real issue is between Mr ****** and his insurance carrier. 60 minutes recently did an expose on how many insurance carriers are taking advantage of their insured by lowballing settlements. 
  **************************************************************************************************
  We feel for Mr. ****** and are still perplexed as to why he never took us up on the offer to assist him by invoking the appraisal process.