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:05/27/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 late March a burst pipe which caused water damage to a vacant property I own, used for storage. A plumber was called to fix the pipe, which he did. Then I contracted with Excel Restoration to repair the damage to the property. The work involved removing destroyed carpet, other flooring, some ceiling, and the lower sections of wall board. Items which had been on the floor were moved. In particular, a cloth bag was moved from a bedroom closet to the kitchen (per a statement by an Excel ***** That bag, which contained personal documents and jewelry is missing. was never recovered by me. I filed a police report with the Lake County Sheriff and I filed a complaint with Excel. It is 2 months later and there has been no activity on the complaint. The jewelry, of considerable sentimental value, and of at least $30,000 replacement value, is gone.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/24/2024

  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.

  Excel Restoration. I wanted to share that I have had two recent jobs with this company 1) October 2023 in my basement completed after 4 months 2) February 2024 bedroom and garage - still not complete They are currently holding all of our personal belongings, including confidential documents from my employment as a school social worker, hostage and refuse to complete the job and bring them back until we pay for storage of our contents that we never asked them to do and give up my first amendment right to take down my ****** review of them: This is the 2nd job Excel has done for me; both taking over FOUR months to complete. They come in and demolition stuff (aka mitigation) but then leave the job sit for months. They have asked me multiple times to take down my negative review with the promise of completing a part of the job; but still not finish. They still owe me my garage door opener and have held all my garage contents and tools ****** for over 4 months that I NEED to do my job. They sit in some mysterious Excel Vault Im not told where they are or given access to my things. I would not trust this over promise underdeliver company with a garage; much less anything in your home! I wanted you to be aware of the disservice this company is doing to our community and the only reason you don't see more negative reviews is because they threaten customers to take them down.I want this job completed and my contents brought back.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/08/2024

  ****************** hired excel to perform emergency water mitigation on two separate occasion. We promptly responded and mitigated both situations. 
  

  The client is insured by *******, this carrier was extremely slow in responding to our reconstruction requests. The process to get reconstruction approval took months. When they finally responded, they released inadequate funds to complete the project. In both cases, Excel opted to move forward with reconstruction because we wanted to help the insured get back in her home. The cost of reconstruction exceeded what the carrier paid on both occasions. We absorbed the difference. 

  The Second loss involved a large amount of contents, the contents were packed out of the home and cleaned at Mrs ******** request. After this was done she was issued a denial letter from her carrier stating that she opted not to purchase contents coverage and they will not pay the costs billed by Excel. We let **************** know that she would be responsible for these costs. She is unwilling to pay any portion of these costs. We are unable to return contents without being paid. We would be happy to reduce the balance but it will still require a payment from her as company policy dictates that we can not commence contents return/moving until the final balance is paid. 
  

  ****************** has called our office and verbally abused office staff on multiple occasions. In order to resolve this matter we request that she communicate via email as this will ensure clear consise communication moving forward.

  Regards, ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21893568
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  There is nothing that gives Excel Restoration the right to steal my property.

  I gave permission for Excel Restoration to do work on my house. I did NOT give permission to blackmail me for $33,000 or whatever made up number or keep my contents. Who has $33,000 laying around? That's not even reasonable. I have no access to get my things. 
  
  A mechanic's lien does not affect personal property. The lien attaches to the property and not to the person, so if the homeowner moves, the lien does not follow them to their next home1. The lien does not implicate personal assets or the home2. They do not have a legal right to keep my personal property. 
    (720 ILCS 5/16-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 16-1)
      Sec. 16-1. Theft.
      (a) A person commits theft when he or she knowingly:
          (1) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over
      property of the owner;
  
  There is nothing authorized for them to withhold or keep my property. That is nowhere in the contract. They are in violation of the law and have stolen my personal property. There is nothing in their agreement that gives them or that I agreed they could keep my property for any reason. 
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

  Business Response

  Date: 07/09/2024

  ****************** authorized the packout, which occurred over multiple days. At any time she had the right to cancel our services, she did not. 
  

  She became upset when she realized she opted not to purchase a homeowners policy that covers contents. By this time, we had already done all the contents work. We have made many offers to her to reduce the bill substantially. She has rejected all and wishes to pay $0. I am not able to ***** this request. We will be moving forward with collections against her. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21893568
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  There is nothing that specifically authorizes a pack out They packed out my things February 19th. I had not signed anything at that time. I was in a crisis due to my house flooding. They never gave me a price of $33,000. Please check dates and signatures. My ex husband (attached) told them to stop and that they MUST get pre approval from insurance which was never obtained. My husband and I could have packed out ourselves and rent a storage unit. Excel Restoration took advantage of a family in crisis; even the insurance company said this is highway robbery. They just made up a number. Regardless; it is illegal to hold out contents hostage like this. Nothing gives them the authority to steal our personal property. 
  

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/08/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 3/9/2023 Excel Restoration Services performed a flood remediation job on my house at ********************. Their online advertising and in person sales representative sold me on the fact that 1 they do not provide estimates on work upfront and 2 they work directly with my insurance once confirming my coverage. Once the work was completed I was told by my insurance that they would work with Excel to arrange payment pending Excel contacting my insurance to reconcile the bill. Fast forward to 9/26/23 and their billing department calls me to inform me no payment was made and immediately threatened to place a lien on my house despite making no prior attempt to contact me. I asked them to hold on that while i contact my insurance who informed me Excel never reached out to reconcile and the claim was closed. My Desk adjuster re-opened the claim and told me to have excel call or email to reconcile the bill so it can be paid out. I contacted Excel the same day to inform them of the same which they agreed to do. 3 months go by again with no contact from Excel, they sent an email offering a 20% discount to pay the bill and also filed a Lien on my house. I agreed to pay the 20% and also contacted my insurance to inform them i'm paying out of pocket and would like to be reimbursed which they agreed. State Farm sent the check and at the same time Excel retracted the discount offer. After speaking with the company president he agreed instead to a 10% discount however the payment term was shorter than the time it takes for me to get the check returned back endorsed from insurance, so now the 10% discount is retracted and i'm currently under threat from Excel to impose late fees and foreclosure on my home. I would like to settle this debt with the original agreed price of $30,925.37 which is close to the $30,507.05 which will be released by my mortgage company next week 12/13.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/18/2024

  ********************* received full payment from his insurance for the amount we billed. Under Illinois state law it is illegal for us to accept less than the carriers settlement amount. We can not reduce his bill as it would be against the law as the homeowner would be profiting from an insurance claim. 

   

   

   

  ***********************

  Operations 

  Excel Restoration Service Inc.

  O- ************ 

  C- ************

  *********************************************