From R S.
ServiceMaster Restoration by SMP2
We had a water leak in our utility room. The insurance adjuster was at our house on a Friday night and suggested we call someone to get the floors dried out. First thing Saturday, I phoned ServiceMaster and they were at our house around noon. Over the phone the manager from ServiceMaster stated they would get started taking up floors, setup drying equipment, and so on. He did state if they found a large area of mold they would have to stop and call the insurance company. I told him the adjuster had been here and we did have some mold on the wall behind the hot water heater, an area about 4 foot by 4 foot, but the adjuster said it was okay and to be expected in this situation.
The worker went in the laundry room and saw the wall behind the water heater and said, "That looks suspicious." I repeated myself about the adjuster and how he explained the mold was normal since it was a hot water leak, in a small room, and dark nearly all the time. The ServiceMaster worker then stated he had to go to his truck to "...get a form." After several minutes, between 20 and 30, he returned with a form. He then spent the next couple of hours looking around our house and doing NOTHING to remove the damaged floors.
To cut a very long and frustrating story short, when he went to get the form he was really calling his boss. In turn, the boss called the insurance company and did NOT mention the adjuster had been to our home and already cut us a check for damages. The insurance company rep didn't realize the adjuster had approved everything AND saw/knew about the mold. NOBODY told us about these secretive phone calls...this whole mess could have been avoided IF they had just been honest and upfront. Instead, the ServiceMaster guy said he couldn't pull anything up because there might be asbestos. The insurance adjuster had already told us asbestos wasn't an issue.
Later that Saturday afternoon the ServiceMaster worker left our home after doing nothing but put loud machines to dry things out...but the floor was still down and there was no way anything was going to dry because there was a layer of particle board. His boss would return Monday and check for asbestos. I phoned the boss after the worker left and he was rude and hateful on the phone. Asbestos wasn't the issue, it was mold. Nobody had any intentions of testing anything in our home for asbestos.
Again, I explained the insurance adjuster had been at my house the night before and had already approved everything. This guy wasn't listening to anything. I waited until Monday to tell them they were done working in my home because I needed to get the pictures (and failed to email me that weekend as they stated they would) they had taken of the areas under our house that were wet. Then, I asked them to come get their machines and that was the end of the first chapter of this nightmare. We then phoned ServPro with no clue that the next chapter wasn't going to be any better. ServPro turned out to be a complete nightmare too!
It turned out our entire laundry room floor was soaked and it ended up being more than 10 days before the floors were taken up because of the dealings with ServiceMaster and then the incompetent worker at ServPro. We did luck into finding a GREAT plumber who told us about a company, North Alabama Restoration, he deals with frequently. Sadly we didn't know about that company until it was too late.
If you're reading this you likely are having your own tragedy. I wish you luck and hope whatever company you end up dealing with isn't sneaky or incompetent. It's very sad that the people who are supposed to help others in a time of need end up causing more frustration and monetary damages that only compound the problems.
