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:02/06/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  This complaint is in reference to a homeowner's insurance Claim No. ********** in which water damage incurred at my property on October 4, 2023. Allstate sent ServiceMaster by Bailey as a water remediation service to my home. ServiceMaster performed the remediation work for water damage (Allstate paid them directly for these services). ServiceMaster also provided Allstate with an estimate of damages. On December 19, 2023, I paid Service Master $1000 as a deposit to perform services outlined in the estimate provided. I had informed ServiceMaster that partial work had already been completed prior to the Contract date 12/19/23 and the services needed to be removed. I spoke to *************************************** who stated a "change order" needed to be completed. I've had several communications with ***************** due to the lack of progress and completion of the project. ************ assured me the change order would be taken care of. To date, I have asked for my $1000 deposit returned. Ms. **** stated there's a 20% cancellation fee for the total amount of the estimate. I explained to her the contract is invalid due to the "change order" not completed. I tried working with ServiceMaster to come to an applicable agreement; however, to date I haven't received any communications. At this point, I have lost faith in their ability to perform the work necessary and would like my $1000 deposit returned.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/21/2024

  Mrs. ******* signed her contract with full scope attached of the work she was signing on. After we spent months fighting for her loss for her. She even requested the estimate (scope of work) be sent to her without the contract to review, and that was also sent to her. It was not until the project manager did his walk through did we discover the scope had changed. PM tried to work with her on a different scope, but had to find the materials she was requesting. She did not answer his calls or texts for weeks, and when she finally did she requested cancellation. So I sent her the terms of the contract, and she then wanted a change order. It was explained very much in detail what that process would look like.  That I would have to schedule time for the estimator to completely re-write her estimate. I have attached the contract that she signed, an email chain between the two of us, and the notes from the file. She is not eligible for any sort of refund per contract that she signed. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/21/2024

   
  Complaint: 21256328
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  ****** should be able to complete that this week for you. As soon as he completes it, he will email it over to you for approval, once you approve, then I can write up the change order. =) 

  I signed the contract on 12/19/23 and it included work previously completed. A change order needed to be completed before Service Master was to complete any further work. Please see communications from **** above to have the change order completed this week.

  I spoke with **** and agreed to move forward with the flooring portion However it's been several weeks since she has called me to confirm work will be completed. 

  The communications is improper and unacceptable. 

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

  Business Response

  Date: 03/01/2024

  **** :-

  ***************** did sign her contract on 12/19/2023, that docusign had the complete estimate of work attached to it. When the Project manager finally reached to schedule the initial walk through, which was done on 12/29/2023, that is when he discovered that she had already hired other contractors to perform the work that we were contracted with her to do. Even though she was in breach, he decided to try and help her anyway. She wanted some other things done, that would require different material selections. He tried reaching her for the next 2 weeks, and she would not answer or return his calls. She finally answers the phone mid January and tells ***** the *** that she wants to cancel her contract, and emails me. That is when I explain the cancellation policy. She is in breach. But we all really felt bad for her and wanted to help. She finally said that all she wanted us to do was the floors. Most of it is in this email chain I have attached here as a pdf. There were a couple of phone calls, where I explained to her in detail that I would have to schedule my estimator time to write the new estimate. That is not a quick thing to do, and we have to follow protocol to be in compliance with our insurance carriers that ask us to take care of their customers. 2 weeks later she emailed again stating that she wanted to cancel, that it had been a long time, and I responded with the chain of events and told her that it had only been 2 weeks. I sent the flooring selection that she chose to my estimator because I knew I could block off time for him in the upcoming week to get this taken care of. Then the owners learned about the BBB complaint, and said that she was in breach, and me trying to help her avoid additional costs were taking up valuable resources on someone who obviously did not want to use us. A termination of contract draft was written and sent to her via docusign, that we would not pursue the total 20% that we are *********** on her signature to just part ways.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/05/2024

   
  Complaint: 21256328
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It is on ServiceMaster's part to correct estimate/contract and submit "change order" which deems the initial contract invalid. Please see attached email communications with *********************. I was willing to cooperate to get the work completed. I've been without a fully functional kitchen since October 4, 2023. My intentions were to have ServiceMaster complete ALL work. Allstate issued me funds in November to repair "Subroom/Game/Theater Room" of my home. This area is currently occupied by my son who sleeps there and needed to be completed immediately (see pgs. 6,7,and 8 of the Contract. I communicated to ServiceMaster early on that this part of the estimate needed to be removed. *************************** agreed and stated "Insurance Fraud" if not removed and stated he needed to submit "change order" to ***********************. Text Message dated 1/9/24 ****************************************, won't purchase any flooring until we get change order done and signed off on". I tried communicating to ******************** that we could proceed with the "kitchen" portion of the Claim while he wait to submit flooring samples. ******************** never measured my kitchen nor showed me samples for kitchen cabinets. This was the most important part of the Claim because I was out of fully functional kitchen since October 4, 2023 and was washing dishes in my bathroom tub. This inconvenience was very costly because my family and I had to eat out most nights (Allstate wasn't reimbursing me for meal allowance) and we had an infant in the home as well. During the month of November Allstate paid ServiceMaster $1820.90 and $505.00 for water remediation work. I was never informed that I would be charged a fee for ServiceMaster's estimate for repairs. ServiceMaster bided and/or provided estimates to Allstate for the repair part of the Claim. I don't know if ServiceMaster charged Allstate for the estimates. While ServiceMaster has offered to not charge the 20% for termination of contract, they are refusing to return my $1000 deposit plus force me to sign a termination of contract agreement which will be an admission of breach of contract and retaliation for submitting a BBB complaint (see attached email) ServiceMaster has NOT COMPLETED ANY REPAIR WORK FOR THIS CLAIM AND IS NOT *********** ANY MONEY. Their actions are egregious and unlawful.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************