stein Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 gg: when trying to advise somebody sometimes it is counter productive and can cause more problems than it solves, so i am thinking about this as clearly as i can. i am a construction super for a gc and i am responsible for fullfilling contracts to costomers as well as seeing contracts fullfilled by subcontracters. i run into this kind of problem often. i highly suggest you send emails to both servicemaster and your insurance company. keep it very direct and simply. example: on {date} {roofing company} started work on my repairing my roof. a man {name} from {roofing company} approached me as requested more money stating the repair cost was in excess of the claim, and requested more money. i asked him to give this to me in writing and have not seen them since. they have completed the removal of the old roof and my house is unprotected. i am concerned this will cause additional damage to my house. then send this same email to both servicemaster and your insurance company, and the roofing company if you have it, with a paste so that both parties can see it was sent to both. this will make both responsible parties aware that more money was requested and that your house is sitting in a vulnerable state as a result. they will know what it means. it should serve to make them aware that it is inaction on thier part putting your house at risk, and having it in writing with a date should prompt them into action as well as serving to help keep the roofing contracter honest, as their actions are now in writing. it also eliminates the excuse of them saying it is your inaction because you have stated you are aware of the problem and have attempted to resolve it. overcharging is very common in contracting, and it happens at all levels. contractors will often use ways to make just a little more and fraud poeple in ways both bold a subtle, usually it is by exagerating the repair and the cost and doing only some of the work, and also by finding excuses to aviod doing an honest schedule by making excuses to attempt to eliminate liability while trying to fit things into thier own schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thank you for the detailed response Stein. I emailed the insurance company and they are on holidays til march 14. I called ServiceMaster and, well, freaked out on the manager. He said NIA had come in this morning about the issue and said they can't put good shingles on bad wood. Fair enough. I still think there should have been some stipulation from either SM or insurance that this could occur. I told the SM manager I was going to let the media know about this because I didn't want other citizens to find themsleves in this mess. I'm still going to do that. He said he knows the insurance company will not cover it but he doesn't want to see me without a roof so he is paying for it now and I have to pay him back *sometime*. I kid you not...... less than 5 minutes after I hung up the phone, the roofers were back and they're up there right now banging away on the roof. The truck with the new shingles just showed up. I have a headache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 pay for it "SOMETIME"? and pay what amount? that does not sound right at all. did you agree to the amount? did you see anything or sign anything? they might be trying to cover up something..perhaps there is no "extra" work needed or they want to cover up everything and be able to charge what they want with no proof. could be also that they are just being completely honest and want to see you get your roof on and are ok if you cant pay. i would keep an eye on them, count how many panels they replace, if any. if you are at work or away and can't do this, then look at the demo pile and check how much wood is there. and before they leave, be sure to ask how many they replaced. i wouldn't stop them working though. overall, it looks like things are going your way. just keep an eye out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanbeastie Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 The guy that came to your house sounds like a completely sleazy tool. I would put a complaint in writing to his boss or head office. In fact I would write letters of complaint to all involved, sticking to facts but reiterating your displeasure with the whole situation. Its a pity you couldnt have had several different quotes from various companies before the work was done, have the details of what needed done in writing by each company and see how it differs. good luck with it and dont let them rip you off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Stein, I have not yet seen any invoice. The NIA guy said it would be about $450.00 and I rounded it up to $500.00 when I freaked out on the manager. So I really don't know what the amount is but I'll be sure to let my insurance company know that this is how these guys do business. I have not signed anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 This is sounding pretty shady on both SM and NIA's parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 OK, but didja get laid? The only people I met was an elderly couple. I never thought about it, but in the dark, everybody's hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 8 yrs ago my Mrs. & I saved over $1k roofing our own home. nobody but "rent-a-drunks" do roofing around here, & I can say that because most of them are old friends of mine. when it needs replacing again we'll go with metal, and pay an installer........not as "spry" as we used to be....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 my 1st ever double post.........forum meltdown eminent !!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I think the local news story and letting the insurance company know they will be responsible for any addition damage to the property for being left exposed will get some action. It's not your fault someone is on vacation. Someone should be handling her work load while she is gone, that's BS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Sounds Like it worked out in the end, your roof is being repaired and if you didn't sign anything his statement is just an empty threat unless he decides to show you the damage in a professional way then you'll have to decide what is right in this case. but most importantly it sounds like the work needed is legit and your roof is being done. Just as a example of how bad these companies can be - We had a horrible hail storm in AZ last year also in December ( surprised? we were too) with golf ball and larger hail with some hail as large as 6 inches across, it damaged a lot of property including roofs and cars and now the roofing companies are really working it, doing free inspections (from their cars on the road I guess) and trying to get people to make claims, it almost hilarious if we weren't talking millions of dollars, now the A/C companies have jumped on the bandwagon saying that A/C's need to be replaced because of the damage so call now! I'm getting 3-4 calls a week between the three companies Roof, A/C and Car body repair companies mostly from small companies that were started or expanded greatly just after the storm. I had a very persistent salesman that was adamant he had inspected my A/C unit's on the ground and they were heavily damaged and I would lose out on 12,500.00 (his estimate) when they failed this summer if I didn't act now they were so bold they sent me photographs of the front of my house and the side yard that they said were my air conditioners even highlighting the damage. The pictures were interesting but they were not my units since I replaced mine two years ago with a different brand and model also they have a small copper roof built for shade that covers them so I guess they got photos from one of the houses in the neighborhood photoshopped a photo of the front of my house and sent them out to me. I called the registrar and they said the guy was being investigated and they sent someone out to get my photo's. He had scared four neighbors into agreeing to pay 1000 for him to handle the claims which there out now since turns out the hail path didn't even hit my neighborhood but was almost two miles away. In the same vein a car body repair shop wanted to repair my Jeep which he said had been inspected at my home and that it had visible damage to a trained inspector and he felt there was at least 3k or 4k of damage to my black jeep. I asked him when he had seen the Jeep and he said last week why. and i said just curious because that Jeep was taken to Chicago last June and is parked underground at the loft complex. he said oh I must have made a mistake but you should have us check your cars that you do have here the storm was really bad in your neighborhood. I laughed and said actually the hail missed this neighborhood completely go two miles north and you might find some real damage. haven't heard from him again but I'm sure they'll be more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 retro, when i hear (and see) stuff like that, it makes me wonder how we can even call our politicians corrupt. we always want to blame the ones in power, but the truth is, it is everyone causing this mess that we call a tough economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Taking a picture of the state your roof currently is in to send with those emails would probably drive the point home. If you can get a dark cloud behind the house, that would be all the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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