Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/15/2024

  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.

  On 5/13/2024, after we hired Appraisal Engine Inc for $225, to give us an appraisal of our car that had been deemed a total loss in an accident. For that price they agreed to give us an appraisal report, and editable demand letter and rebuttal letters and answers. We did receive an appraisal report that was done virtually and a Time Limit Demand Form letter for a Total Loss Claim. The Appraisal was $8,873 and the Demand form letter asked for an extra $1,500 to cover expenses which was submitted to Progressive on 5/16/23. Progressive claims the appraiser was unresponsive. Progressives appraisers report gave the value of the jeep as $4,706 but that they came up to $5,206 without any haggling. On 6/10 ****** of Appraisal told us not to take less than $6,800. On 6/11 Progressive told us they couldnt agree on a price and wed have to hire an umpire. They said they sent AE a list and were waiting for AEs list. ** responded that they would escalate the issue to a supervisor and told us not to communicate with Progressive. On 6/17 Progressive stated they were still waiting to hear from AE. After emailing AE they told us on 6/18 to allow them more time. On 6/24 we asked for an update, and were told to wait for a supervisor. On 6/26 and 6/27 we asked for an update and were told by ****** he was still waiting for his supervisor to work on the case. On 6/28 ****** said his supervisor said , He has tons of things to do from other clients so he can't work on this case at the moment. ****** told us to take $5,500 but they would charge us an extra $100 to take that deal that they had no time to work on. Then he sent an agreement to settle the deal that states we cant challenge any payments we have made to him, and we cant leave AE any negative reviews online. Now I know why there werent negative reviews when I first looked. We were never informed of this until just now. Now they are holding our negotiations hostage unless we sign this agreement.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2024

  ***********************, your insurance settlement increased from $4,100 to $5,500; in return you owe us $225 + $300 an hour for negotiating your claim. 

  We charged you a flat $100 instead of $300 an hour eventhough we spend more than 3 hours on your case.

  We dont think working on your case for free is fair. 

  You should be upset with the insurance company appraiser not us. He's the one who's difficult to work with.

  Making this complaint against us does not help settle your case any faster. 

  Since you are not agreeing to this settlement, then an umpire is the next step. 

  We will proceed with umpire selection, the file is now closed on our end, the umpire will be in touch. Thank you and take care. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/15/2024

   
  Complaint: 21992318
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Its not surprising that Appraisal Engine doesnt know whats going on but I will present the facts and use email evidence to support it. 
  On 5/31 (emails attached), Progressive reached out without having had negotiations with AE to say they were offering $5,100 as a settlement.  AE never even told us this but did tell us not to settle for less than $6,800.  ****** (AE) told me I was not to speak to Progressive after this which was odd.  On 6/7 Progressive reached out again to say they couldnt get in touch with AE yet again, asking us to try and reach you.  Progressive also said that according to our appraisal clause we had 15 days to agree on an umpire.  On 6/11 I brought this up to AE and ** said they would reach out to their supervisor to get the ball rolling.  On 6/12 AE finally told me that Progressives best offer was $5,100.  On 6/17, ** told me they were escalating the issue and would reach out to the Progressive appraiser. I asked for an update on 6/24, and ****** (AE) said he would check. I emailed on 6/25 6/26, 6/27 for an update.  On 6/27 ****** (AE) said his supervisor said  he'll be working on it as soon as possible. On 6/28, I asked when his supervisor might have time to work on it, and I was only told I guess you don't want to wait on that. I have no idea what that meant.
  AE says I should be upset with my insurance company because they were difficult.  I am upset with my insurance company but I am more upset with Appraisal Engine because I paid them for help and they didnt help. 
  And then they taunt us saying, Making this complaint against us does not help settle your case any faster, which means they will try to make the process even more difficult. 
  In case they didnt read our desired resolution, we didnt want to move forward with the umpire process with a company that has already demonstrated disdain for us.  We did want to settle the claim for the low amount they were able to get with us but we DID NOT want to pay $100 for an extra $400 that we got on this claim with their admittedly not having worked on it.   We do think had they worked on this we could have gotten more money especially since their initial assessment was for $8,800 and they told us not to settle for a ***** below $6,500. We dont think we should pay a fraction of their hourly rate for a fraction of help because they were too busy. 
  We have unfortunately lost all faith in this company and we no longer want their representation.  They said in their response that the file is closed on their end but they are choosing umpires for us. This is still very much them interacting in our case which we no longer want.
  
  What is most egregious about this is that at the end they presented us with a contract we needed to sign in order to collect anything from this process which stated WE CANNOT GIVE THEM A NEGATIVE REVIEW ON ANY PLATFORM NOR DISPUTE ANY FEES THEY CHARGE US BEFORE OR AFTER SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT. 
  
  THIS IS HOLDING US HOSTAGE WITH TERMS THEY NEVER TOLD US BEFORE. NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY I DIDNT SEE NEGATIVE YELP REVIEWS FOR THEM.  HAD I SEEN THEM, I WOULD NEVER HAD HIRED THEM. 
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2024

  We believe a $1,400 increase in your settlement for a $325 investment (our total cost) is a fair deal. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/16/2024

   
  Complaint: 21992318

  FIRST I WANT EVERYONE READING THIS TO KNOW THAT MY ARGUMENT WITH THIS COMPANY IS THAT THEY ARE MAKING ME SIGN SOMETHING THAT SAYS WE CAN'T REVIEW THEM NEGATIVELY ON ANY PLATFORM.   IF I DON'T SIGN THIS, THEY WILL NOT LET ME COLLECT MONEY FROM MY INSURANCE COMPANY BASED ON THE APPRAISAL I ALREADY PAID THEM FOR. 

  I don't mind having paid you $225 for the appraisal, but I do mind paying you $100 to get the price raised from $5,100 to $5,500.  Especially given you could have gotten more but YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO WORK ON THIS CASE.  

  In the interest of not arguing a company that doesn't have time to work on my case, I will pay the $100 BUT YOU CANNOT MAKE UP TERMS THAT YOU NEVER MENTIONED BEFORE. 

  YOU NEVER MENTIONED IN ALL OF OUR DEALINGS THAT YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE ME SIGN SOMETHING THAT SAYS I CAN'T GIVE YOU A NEGATIVE REVIEW ON ANY PLATFORM.  THAT IS RIDICULOUS.  IT IS MY RIGHT TO TELL PEOPLE YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED.  

  I WILL PAY YOU TO MOVE ON BUT YOU MUST REMOVE CLAUSE 6 AND 9 FROM YOUR CONTRACT.  THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS IN THAT CONTRACT.  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2023

  Type:Order 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.

  in August 2023, I contacted Appraisal engine and spoke with ***********************, I explained to him that I needed an appraisal of the salvage value for my total loss. I sent him the information from the insurance company, he called me back and agreed that the pre loss market value was good. but the salvage value was 12k less than the insurance company, they were retained to do an appraisal and was asked if this would satisfy the appraisal clause and his response was yer. I paid for the appraisal and I though it was complete. My insurance company disagreed and we have both tried to discuss this with ******, He is now rude and disrespectful hanging up on me and the insurance agency and refusing to do a three way call with us. the appraisal I was given is vague and uses comparables from ********** and alabama, the loss occurred in Georgia. I can not reach anyone else in this company and after leaving several voice mails with no results even to the appraiser we have gotten no response.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/05/2023

  The client will be retracting this complaint, we provided him with the report he wanted but he didn't see the email. Thanks. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/05/2022

  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.

  I purchased an appraisal report for a total loss of my vehicle. The appraisal report provided to me had major issues including the following: - Report was designated to the wrong person (At fault party's name). Report should have been addressed to the person who requested it (me).- Report zip code used was incorrect (At fault party's zip code). I specifically requested and noted for the appraiser that the vehicle was purchased, used, and totaled in *********, ****** and that using the other party's zip code was inappropriate. This request was ignored or negligently forgotten.- Report was based on CURRENT listings which are not appropriate for finding comparables for a vehicle that totaled in AUGUST (3 months before). The at fault party's insurance report used listings from April, June, and August which is more fair than the report from Appraisal Engine. I specifically mentioned this to members of the company to ensure that this was understood and yet it seems as though it was ignored.- Report used a vehicle with a different trim than the loss vehicle which makes the vehicle not reasonable for use in making a comparison.- Report is very unclear in how the actual cash value was determined. Comparing the Appraisal Engine report to the report from ********, it is clear that the report from ******** is much more detailed, clear, and understandable in the process used. Additionally, the communication has been very slow or non-existent. I was told that the report would be corrected and have yet to receive any response or update from the company. The quality of service has been awful and I did not receive the product I paid for.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2022

  1- The appraisal from ******** had the name of *******************************, we used the same name.

  2- The report from ******** showed a $37,438 ACV, our appraisal $40,602 

  It's interesting that the client prefers ******** yet disagrees with their findings. 

  We have yet to be contacted by the insurance company, we will wait for this to occur before making any changes to our report. 

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/06/2022

   
  Complaint: 18527464
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. The unprofessional nature of the businesss response speaks volumes.

  2. The insurance report using the at fault partys name does NOT mean that your company should use that name despite the requesting information using MY name. Your employees agreed that this was incorrect, see the attached email.

  3. I never mentioned that I disagreed with ********* report. I ordered an appraisal to have the peace of mind that I was getting a fair value for the vehicle. The lack of quality in Appraisal Engines report is no longer a surprise after this experience.

  4. The appraisal from Appraisal Engine did state a higher ACV than ******** but again, Appraisal Engines report was very poor in quality when comparing the two. Appraisal Engines report did not clearly support their determination, used a incomparable vehicle with a different trim package, and provided the report with the incorrect name and location.

  5. The business states that they will not be correcting the report until the insurance responds but see in the attached picture an email response from Appraisal Engine on December 1st apologizing and saying they were going to correct the report. Not only does this provide clear and direct evidence in clear contrast of what the business has claimed here, but it shows the lack of consistency in service, and professionalism of the company. Also, Appraisal Engine has not contacted me since that last email.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2022

  Final appraisal attached. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/15/2022

  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.

  July 28, 2022 date I received the report. I made it perfectly clear that this was a post repair state inspection. I was told they can provide that certificate so I could get my salvage title and plates. The representative [I would not refer to him as a inspector because I had to point out everything that he shouldve been looking for and have noticed.]. All he did was take some pictures and then depart. At no time did he get underneath the vehicle to look at the damage I was referring to that had not been repaired as it was supposed to be by the body shop I had retained to do the work. When I received the report I contacted their office to get an explanation line by line exactly what it said. I was chastised by the owner of the company to take it to a repair shop and they would be able to read it. I said I paid for this you owe me an explanation as to what I paid for. The owner said go away hes not gonna do anything hes not going to explain it, hes not going to do anything and then instructed me stop calling his office. I paid $225. This is a deceptive company that once They have your money service pretty well disappears. I do not recommend this company under any circumstance to anybody.The report they gave to me did not provide the needed information to the state of Georgia that I needed and what I paid for. They deceptively lied to me and said they could do a service that they were not qualified or certified for just to get money. I would tell anybody and everybody do not use this company.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/15/2022

  We provided this client with an industry standard report. 

  He's trying to rebuild a junk vehicle and is frustrated we don't share his opinions as he wanted to improperly put us in the middle of a lawsuit against a third party. 
  

  Nothing would ever make this client happy.