Business ProfileforSerclean

Serclean utilized unethical business practices to take advantage of me. As an elderly widow, I have to rely on the honesty of companies I deal with in situations I know little about. I know very little about plumbing or water mitigation. When my water heater leaked, I called several plumbers and finally got one to come out that day. I was told the water heater was not repairable and that a new one was necessary, so I had a replacement installed that day. An employee of the plumbing company recommended Serclean to dry out my house to avoid mold growth. Now I suspect he got a kickback for the recommendation. The horror stories Ive heard about mold scared me; and trusting that the plumber would know the best company to call, I followed his advice and called Serclean. Serclean came right over while the plumbers were still at my residence working on the defective water heater that caused the leak. They informed me that they would work with the insurance company to resolve my water issues. I was assured by Serclean that my insurance would cover the expenses caused by the leaking water heater. No written estimate was provided by Serclean prior to starting the remediation work on my home. I wanted to trust the process since this company was recommended by the plumbers who performed the installation of my new water heater. In the midst of being distracted and upset about the situation, I was asked by the Serclean representative to sign for consent to commence with remediation on an iPad. Prior to signing, I was advised that it was simply a direction of payment so that Serclean could get paid by the insurance company. I was not given the opportunity to read it over prior to signing. The only part that was visible on the iPad was a highlighted statement about the direction of payment. I WAS NOT ADVISED, NOR DID I SEE THAT THIS DOCUMENT WAS A CONTRACT WITH PROVISIONS STATING THAT I WOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING THE PORTION OF THE **** NOT COVERED BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY. Serclean tricked me into signing a virtual blank check. They never provided a paper copy of what was signed until 22 days later when they ccd me on the email correspondences that were directed towards the insurance adjuster requesting payment. Even then, it was buried in a lot of paperwork that your average client would miss while reviewing the documents. When my claims adjuster called and said he would be sending me the check to pay Serclean I asked why, since I thought State Farm would pay Serclean directly. He just repeated he was sending the check to me. When the check arrived I called the Serclean office to ask if I could ************ over to them. *****, whom Im assuming is the office administrator told me yes, so I took the check in to their office where I was greeted by *****. Upon retrieval of the check, she immediately informed me that I had to pay a balance of $2,451.88 since the insurance check was for $4,414.95 and they were demanding $6,866.83. ***** was adamant about informing me that if I did not pay the balance, a lien would be placed against my property. I walked out of their office feeling as if I had been suckered punched in the gut. I informed ***** that I would email my claims adjuster prior to making the payment on the balance because I felt the need to seek further validation on what was happening, and I left. When I got home, I sent an angry email to my claims adjuster stating I had been blindsided by the demand that I had to pay Serclean $2,451.88, and why didnt State Farm pay the entire bill? He explained that Serclean was demanding an excessive amount of money for equipment, hours, etc. and that he had paid the claim according to State Farm guidelines. Based on that information, I asked the owner of a construction estimating company for help in determining if Serclean was overcharging me. After reviewing an itemized bill sent by Serclean several mistakes and unfair charges were brought to Sercleans attention, but they only agreed to a small reduction in the bill. They said the balance would now be $2,000.00 but with an ultimatum that it had to be paid in two days. That didnt allow enough time to get legal counsel and prevent Serclean from putting a lien on my house so I was forced to pay. So what work did Serclean do? They ripped out flooring in the laundry room and hall, ripped out the baseboards in the laundry room and bathroom (even though there was only a sub-floor in the bath), and also ripped out the vanity in my bathroom- the vanity counter (which was damaged when they took it out) is still sitting on my back porch, and they put a hole in the ceiling of the carport under the house as my house is on stilts. They placed fans and dehumidifiers in the two rooms, hall, and in the carport where they said the water had soaked in. The heat from the equipment was stifling and the constant noise deafening. The equipment ran for nearly a week, nonstop. My electric bill was almost double what was normal for that month. A few times someone came out and stuck some kind of probe into the floor to determine the moisture level. Each visit took only a few minutes. Oh, and once they lightly sprayed some stuff on the floor. They said it was to prevent mold. When they removed the equipment, I again had to sign on the iPad. I just wanted them and the equipment out of my house. I learned later it was a statement of satisfaction. Once again, as a customer I was blindsided. They made sure it was signed before I realized just how badly I had been scammed. Advice to everyone that is in panic mode due to a leak and does not have access to fair and reasonable subcontractors. Always be vigilant about reviewing documents prior to signing them, especially when it comes to Serclean and demand a paper copy. Every industry has standards and it should be the responsibility of the consumer to hold such businesses to those standards; which is why this formal complaint is being made. In my opinion, if an organization is consistent about placing a lien on their customers properties, that speaks volumes about their underhandedness and shows me that I am not alone in this matter. While in their presence at their office, ***** made a comment about another customers property that they were working to placing a lien on. Its apparent that at this level of consistency over filing liens, the underlying factor is not on the part of Sercleans clients. It is purely being utilized by this company to intentionally blindside, overcharge their clients, and force payments for those overcharged items. Overcharged items that the insurance companies refuse to pay because they work within their industry standards and are not an open checkbook. Sercleans consistent threats of placing a lien on a clients property for a balance on what the insurance companies see as an excessive charge is outright ridiculous and unethical! I learned an important ****** about MISPLACED TRUST as a result of this horrible experience, and I think others can learn from it too. So, I will relate this experience on every social media platform that I can access. In addition, this letter will be sent to local and state officials along with links to the complaints filed against Serclean with the Better Business Bureau. Should Serclean choose to contact me I will only communicate with them in writing.