The road less traveled...

This is a story about customer service, or that lack thereof. Recently, and I say recently only in terms of millenia it seems, we started some light remodeling on our upstairs bathroom. We noticed that the tiles around the toilet were a bit loose. After pulling them up and removing the toilet completely we noticed a much bigger issue. Not only were the tiles loose and coming up but the subfloor was wet and had been for quite some time. To the point that it was dangerous to stand in that area. Unless you wanted to end up in the downstairs bathroom, that is. So I called my homeowners insurance company and asked for them to come out and take a look. After a few days (it was late winter\early spring and in the midwest that means WET so I was not the only one with water issues) she arrived and proclaimed that this was a valid claim and that I should get a few quotes and get them to her. I went to the local Better Business Bureau website and got a couple of names plus a reference from a very dependable co-worker and friend. We jumped through the hoops of getting each of the contractors to be onsite as soon as we possibly could. This type of repair: subfloor, tile surround of the tub and shower, some minor plumbing and a whole lot of drywall is out of my league and timeline. It would be months before I got all of that done and at my own expense. If a toilet leak caused the damage then I feel like my insurance should pay for it to be done professionaly. Anyway, we decided to go with the contractor that was referred to us and scheduled him out for a Monday morning. My wife and I decided to head up and take out some of the fixtures to help speed things along. As we were removing the medicine cabinet we noticed what appeared to be a spot of mold in the corner. That is the start of the downward spiral that has now become the bathroom repairs from HELL. The mold stopped my contractor from starting the demo on the bathroom, for good reason. I wouldn't mess with the mold either if I didn't absolutely have too. Anyway, I called my insurance agent again and told her of our discovery. She said she would be out in a day or two to check it out but that I should start looking for some companies to come out and get rid of the mold. Now, if you remember earlier I mentioned that it was WET and that she was busy. Mold remediation companies also do water damage work and with the subsequent flooding everywhere we couldnt get anyone to show up for days. Finally one company, who I thought was a godsend since they could come out quickly, told me they would be out in 2 days. They came out, assessed the mold and I thought that was that. Uh....no. This mold is not a result of the original claim. Now I have TWO claims. That means TWO deductibles. That means twice the headache of paperwork and all that comes with it. So now I have to schedule the mold remediators to come out and push out my contractor until they are done. We are now 2 weeks since we found the original water damage.

Now a tragedy of miscommunication, poor professionalism, and even worse customer service has begun. Not only do I get the run around from my insurance company, the decide NOT to renew my policy when its up in 2 months!!!! The mold remediator company has a technician that shows up on average 1 and a half hours late each day...that is on the days he bothers to show up. And my contractor is still out there waiting. The whole time all I can see is him getting into this 6 week job where I am stuck waiting. The more I called the insurance agent, the more frustrated I became. It went from her being busy to her not calling back or when she did she would tell me one thing and my contractor another. More than once I was told that things were ready to go only to have her tell him that she needed a document or a revised estimate. And the whole time I am fighting to get the Mold company to finish their work and get this huge HEPA filter out of the middle of my living room. The Mold company, whose name rhymes with TervPro, kept making appointment after appointment with me only to either cancel or show up late. This lasted for over 2 more weeks. Broken appointments, no returned phone calls, miscommunications, day in and day out. All building to the point of me sitting outside of a hospital room while my brother in law was getting surgery telling my insurance agent that I am fed up with the delays and that she needs to get her boss involved because I know I will.

This is about the time I would say...Long story short, but I know that is WAY past so here is a summary of where we are now.

My contractor is supposed to start in 2 days. My insurance agent is telling me that she will authorize him to go ahead and get started now and the mold company has gone and not come back, called, or anything. The Better Business Bureau will definitely hear from me when this is all said and done.