ComplaintsforThe St. Lucie Appraisal Co

• Initial Complaint

  07/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The St Lucie Appraisal company was hired to negotiate and recover a $30,000 price difference on a totaled car. They were only able to secure $10,000 and then asked for a review. Since leaving public reviews of our true experiences with the company they have threated to sue us for defimation and Libel

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  The customer has declared his intention to smear our company "all over the internet" but his allegations are false. As appraisers, we are hired to place a value on a vehicle and then to assist the customer in obtaining a fair settlement from the insurance company. The customer apparently feels that his car was worth the amount he paid for it when he wrecked it 7.000 miles later. That is also a false assumption. No insurance company would pay that amount and I certainly never led the customer to believe that they would.

  In any event, I never promised, either verbally or in writing, that I would be able to obtain any set amount for his totaled car. I did promise, as I do with all customers, to fight on their behalf for a fair settlement. He also had the option of having an umpire assigned but he declined to take advantage of that. Below is what I wrote to him after I discovered that he lad left a negative review under a false name at BBB. I **** forward a copy of my email to both you and Guy.. 

  Hi ******* and ****,
  I hope that I can shed some light on what took place during our assisting with your claim.
  You hired us to prepare a valuation appraisal for your wrecked Tesla for which you paid $94,386.01.
  Your insurance company did a valuation report that showed your car had a retail value of $63,020.00.
  Our valuation appraisal showed that your car had a retail value of $85,127.15 at the time of the loss.
  Your insurance company hired their own independent appraiser who placed a retail value of $$66,462.01 on your car.
  We negotiated a settlement with their appraiser for $76,000.00.
  You also had the option of moving forward with either an umpire or a lawsuit, both of which you decided against doing.
  I **** be happy to send you the email chain between me and their appraiser which totaled 44 correspondences, offers, counter-offers, etc. 
  I spent more time trying to settle this claim than any other in recent memory.
  As far as your comment saying I was rude, I apologize if anything I said or my tone led you to feel that I was being rude to you. 
  You were my clients and I held the responsibility to protect your interests very dear. 
  I hope that you **** come to realize that the settlement amount was hard-fought. Perhaps your negative review should be directed toward your insurance company. It was their efforts to lowball you that led you to hire us.
  I know that we did a great job for you.
  Please consider deleting your negative review.
  Best wishes,
  ******** ********

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  I read what the consumer had to say.

  Once again, the consumer can not provide any evidence that we promised to place any specific value on his car. You have my letter to the consumer and all of the numbers. We obtained a $76,000.00 settlement for him vs. the $63,020.00 that the insurance company offered him.

  I can provide all documentation and copies of numerous emails to which the customer did not respond. Also, you can request copies of the numerous emails between myself and the insurance appraiser trying to negotiate a better settlement for the consumer.

  The customer also had the option to have an umpire make a decision but he rejected that.

  The customer has made allegations that he lost $20,000.00 and also $30,000.00. Everyone knows that cars depreciate after they are purchased and driven but this customer feels that his compensation should be twenty or thirty thousand dollars more than his settlement. Keep in mind that he only paid $94,386.01 for the car new.

  Let me know what documentation you need from me. I have been in contact with an attorney in Chicago and **** move forward with a lawsuit if the complaint is not rescinded. The consumer is the only one who can mitigate his damages from here. He has harmed my business by making false allegations and continues to do so. 

  You can also answer his question about any prior negative reviews or complaints about my company. 

   

  Customer response

  07/07/2023

  
  Complaint: 20283172
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  He keeps threatening to sue me over our truthful reviews and now for filing a complaint about his conduct. I **** not be communicating to him further through here and **** not rescind my complaint. I don’t see this being resolved here. I’m starting to feel this is how he bullies people into only having positive reviews online. 

  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

*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. ↩