Business ProfileforTruStar Restoration, LLC

On February 07, 2023, we had a problem with a busted pipe. As per recommendation of our next-door neighbor, we contacted ********* Company to assess the damage. The next day, February 08, 2023, ****** ****** from ********* came to assess the damage and gave us the extent of the damage and the plan estimate. That same evening of February 08, 2023 at approximately 7:30 pm, someone came to our house and identified himself as *******, and told us that ********* had sent him to us to do the restoration work. He talked to us at length up to 10:30 pm. He was very aggressively pushing my wife and I to sign the contract. We were both hesitant to sign since there were several pages to read and did not have enough time to review what the contract content entails. ******* rushed and misled us stating that signing the contract would only allow them to start the work with us as soon as possible. My wife had concerns and asked *******, “what if the insurance will not pay”, he assured us that signing the contract is just for formality and that he was sure that the insurance will pay for everything. We were under duress of the water leak and it was late at night, we felt that ******* took advantage of the situation and mislead us by assuring that our insurance will cover for everything and in fact assured us that they will be responsible to deal with our insurance. The next day, February 09, 2023, ******* and a technician came back to our house and brought an instrument that measured the water damaged in the affected rooms which were the master bedroom and the adjacent room including one closet. We were informed that the damaged carpets and wood flooring need to be removed, dried, and emptied and packed all clothing and furnitures in the affected rooms. All boxed items were stored in the living room and study room, and 2 mattresses to the den for about 2 days without compromising our mobility in the house. We have enough spaces not affected by leak where those items were stored yet we were told by TruStar that all those items need to be moved to their warehouse. When our insurance adjustor came to our house, we notified him of what work TruStar had already done. Our insurance adjustor is not in agreement of what TruStar did and stated that TruStar should have waited for the insurance estimate and approval before they started the work. TrueStar failed to follow protocol guidelines of submitting an estimate, content of what they boxed the time frame of the work and the approval of the insurance. We also notified our insurance that TruStar gave us a work order with a picture of kitchen renovation which was not ours. Our kitchen was not affected by the leak yet it was included in the proposed TruStar claim. This is another fraudulent concern. My insurance refused to pay TruStar, the amount they were asking for because they sensed that the charges were over inflated and possibly fraudulent. My insurance also tried to reach a fair agreement with them, but TruStar constantly changed their pricing whenever the insurance spoke with them,TruStar did not offer clarity and was never able to reach an agreement since every time my insurance call them, there was no consistencies because each time, a different person answered the call. Since the fans and dehumidifiers were running 24/7, per insurance adjuster, standard of practice should have been a daily verification check of the damaged areas, TruStar failed to do these daily checks. Per my wife, TruStar only checked twice per week during the 2 weeks dying process. Due to multiple inconcistencies and disagreement, our insurance refused to pay TrueStar the amount they were asking for. As a result TruStar put the restoration work on hold and refused to give us a definite date of completion. Due to those inconveniences and continued delay of the restoration my wife called our insurance and asked for advice. Our insurance suggested another company that can do the work with us to complete the restoration. Prior to contracting the other company, my wife notified TruStar and spoke with ***** to inform him that since they cannot give us a definite date of completion, we will utilize the other company suggested by our insurance to do the work. ***** told my wife that it is OK, and it is our choice. The other company suggested by my insurance which is *** finally completed the restoration very timely and was paid $10,432.15 including our deductable of $4,222.00. We were very satisfied with their service and the outcome and the pricing was a lot lower than TruStar. Upon final completion by ***, my wife called and requested TruStar to return all boxed items and clothing from their warehouse. There were five people from TruStar that delivered and carried all the items into our house, which took approximately 2 hours. Since there was an issue with the insurance, my wife did not let them unpacked the boxes. The next day, TruStar sent us a Doc Sign for us to sign. We refused to sign because the documents stated there were 8 people with eight hours worked, contrary to the actual 5 people and only 2 hours worked, as observed by my wife and a friend who was present helping my wife. This is another fraudulent concern. Later TruStar acknowledged the mistakes and sent corrected documents but per our insurance advise, we did not to sign any TruStar documents because of so many inconsistencies, as advised if TruStar contact us again to refer them to our insurance. Since then, we constantly received frequent voice messages by phone from TruStar, but we did not answer any calls per our insurance advise, since they were already in contact with them to resolve the issues. Because of the multiple inconsistencies, we were very disappointed with TruStar. My wife then asked *********, why they sent and recommended TruStar for the restoration. ********* responded that they never recommended or contacted TruStar for the restoration of our home. We were informed that one of the ********* technicians gave our contact information to TruStar without their knowledge and a result ********* informed us that particular technician was no longer with them due to this incident. Since TruStar did not fully complete the restoration our insurance paid TruStar $4,768 for removing the damaged carpet and wood floor dehumidification of the affected areas, packing and storage of some our personal belongings. Our insurance told us that it was a fair payment for the work rendered by TruStar, since they did not fully complete the restoration work. In January 29, 2024, we received a letter from collecting agency (***** ********* and Associates Legal Firm), the letter was addressed to our insurance ***** ****/****** ****** asking for unpaid Bills of $ 38, 923.46 . We sent a copy of the letter to our insurance. We were later informed that our insurance has done everything possible to pay the warranted cost of what TruStar did . The problem they have had with TruStar is that their charges is overinflated and possibly freudulent. Everytime they have had an agreement, they constantly changed their pricing and who they talked to does not offer clarity and never able to reach an agreement. My insurance has paid what was owed as well as the fact that they are using pictures of other home to charge for the work that not was performed. As per our insurance, every experience that he had with TruStar was a nightmare as they seem to have very unprofessional business practices. We also checked consumer complaints with BBB website regarding TrueStar and we found a couple of complaints almost similar to our complaints. My wife and I felt the amount requested by the collecting agency is too much inflated and besides our insurance had already paid TruStar for the work rendered. We are both Senior citizen and do not have that kind of money that TruStar is trying to extort from us.