ComplaintsforServPro of Sevier, Jefferson & Cocke Counties

• Initial Complaint

  07/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Unconsciously excessive price gouging for water leak damage work. They have been ignoring contact attempts from my insurance agent, and are now charging me interest on the balance owed. Original amount owed was 39,266.17 They were paid the majority of that amount by my insurance company. They still want $6,112.45. This issue is from the estimator.

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  To Whom it may concern,
  Thank you for the opportunity for us to respond to the allegations of price gouging and non-communicative response from our franchise. Mrs H******** property suffered a water loss on approximately 04/04/2023. The exact date of loss is unknown due to the homeowner returning to her property and discovering a water loss that had resulted in heavy microbial contamination.
  As an IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) certified firm, we are required to follow the industry standards based off the requirements of said governing agency. Any deviation from industry standards could result in ejection and loss of licensure for both the firm and the certified technicians involved in the restoration process. We perform every water loss and/or mold remediation procedure based on the standards and guidelines supplied by the IICRC. The standard for water damage is the ANSI/IICRC S500 and the standard for mold remediation is the ANSI/IICRC S520.
  Addressing the first allegation of price gouging. Pricing is not developed internally at our franchise or at a Servpro corporate level. We use third-party software called Xactimate which was developed by Verisk/Xactanalysis. Xactimate is a requirement of most insurance companies for payment once services have been performed.  It is a program that supplies pricing, sketch, drying reports etc for construction, mitigation, cleaning, and other service-related industries. They supply pricing based off current market value and is regulated by the zip code where the work is performed and/or where franchise is located. Once we as a franchise perform services, these services are charged based off square foot, linear foot, cubic foot etc. for the services provided. These measurements are calculated in Xactimate based off creating an accurate sketch of the property. Services are charged on a line-item basis. Demolition (removal of drywall, baseboard, trim etc.), cleaning (HEPA vacuuming, cleaning agent application, wipe down etc) are all examples of line-item entry. The charges included in the final invoice reflect services that were performed by our franchise, based off the IICRC standards, and were billed to the insurance company based on a claim where coverage was confirmed to be in-place. At no time was there any variation in the pricing supplied by Xactimate for any of the services performed.  All services listed on the final invoice were performed at the Hemming property.
  Addressing the second allegation of non-communicative response. Mrs H******** adjuster, Jennifer ******, called our office the morning of 05/05/2023 to discuss our final estimate. We came to an agreement, and we revised our estimate from $39,266.17 to $36,489.45. The revised estimate was emailed to Ms ****** for payment. On 05/17/2023 a check was issued by Ms ****** from **** in the amount of $30,377.00. A shortage of $6112.46. There were no calls, emails, or any other form of communication from the adjuster to explain why she did not pay the negotiated price. In return, we emailed and/or called the adjuster on 06/05/2023, 06/07/2023, 06/08/2023, 06/15/2023, 06/16/2023 & 07/13/2023 for an explanation of deductions and a copy of her rough-draft Xactimate file with no response. We exhausted every avenue to communicate with Mrs ******** adjuster before we escalated the final payment due to Mrs Hemming herself. It wasn’t until we escalated the payment to Mrs Hemming that we had a response from her adjuster Ms ******. When Ms ****** responded, we set up an in-person meeting that was to take place on 07/20/2023 at 2PM and Ms ****** cancelled the day before the meeting was to take place.
  Prior to the work being commenced, a work authorization is signed by the homeowner of the property where are services are to be performed. Included in the work authorization is a statement that pertains to funds not covered by insurance; “If any amounts owing to provider for provider services not covered by insurance, Customer agrees to pay those amounts to provider within 15 days of customers receipt of invoice.”
  It is unfortunate that Ms ****** and **** have declined to pay for services performed at the Hemming residence that were completed according to IICRC industry standards, billed based on Xactimate national pricing guidelines, and supported by a covered loss as confirmed by ****. However, this dispute should be between Mrs Hemming and her adjuster Ms ******.
  In closing, Servpro of Sevier, Jefferson and Cocke counties will make every effort to satisfy and work above-and-beyond for customer service. We will not faulter from following the IICRC standards for mitigation and remediation & will not vary from Xactimate industrial pricing.
  In order to close this case, please advise if you require any documentation or further statement from our franchise.
  
  Thank you for your time.
  

  Customer response

  08/22/2023

  My insurance agent was finally able to get an in person meeting with Serv Pro higher ups.   Serv pro reduced the original amount they were demanding and my insurance company is going to cover the cost.  The check is pending.
   Even though it was technically resolved, this was a very unpleasant experience and I would absolutely not use or recommend Serv pro in the future to anyone.   

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