SERVPRO of Bath in Washington, NC

Let me start by saying, don't expect ServPro corporate to help out if you have trouble with one of their franchises. We have had major issues with ServPro of Bath and called corporate for help. They said they could do nothing. The franchise have to decide everything for themselves. Corporate also repeatedly promised someone would call to discuss the problems with us. We never received a call.

First, we chose ServPro because of its reputation. We foolishly believed we could leave our home open to the people they  hired with no worry that anything bad would happen. That did not happen. We left the door to our apartment open so the employees could clean out the landing area after hiring them on September 14th.

When we returned to the house on September 21st, our neighbor informed us that work on the house had started on Friday, September 20th, not Tuesday, September 17th, as we were told it would. We also discovered someone had gone through every drawer, closet and cabinet. They drank the remainder of two bottles of rum and took an unopened bottle of wine. They stole a stainless steel beer koozy and a stainless steel wine cup that held sentimental value as they were gifts.

We informed the site managers of the thefts. Within an hour, one of the  employees got out of his vehicle with the beer koozy in his hand and returned it to us.

We told the sight managers  we wanted the landing in the apartment area cleaned out before we left for our Virginia home on Sunday. They sent people in, who took up the floor and part of one wall. At that point they told us the job in that area was complete. We locked the door and left for Virginia at that point, believing no one would be allowed in that part of the house again, as we informed the people in charge of the site what had occurred.

The next Saturday, September 28th, we returned to Ocracoke to find the door had been unlocked and someone had been in the apartment again. This time a pair of speakers were missing along with some canned goods. The restroom had been used as well and, as the water had been shut off, a mess was left behind. There was also a cap with "Florida" left in the middle of the room. At that point we filed a burglary report with the Ocracoke sheriff's department.

We then asked for a meeting with the franchise owner, which we had on October 3rd. At that meeting he told us he took full responsibility for what happened in our home. He shared with us he hired this work crew over the phone, sight unseen and sent them to our home with no ServPro employee supervising them, which is what should have happened, according to him. At the end of the meeting he stated," obviously, we will do whatever you want."

We took a week to think this over, during which time, we did not hear from him.

On October 12th, we met with a contractor that was willing to restore our home. He informed us he would not start the rebuilding as there was more cleaning up to do. 80% of the  underpinning and insulation under the house  was not removed by Servpro, and was holding moisture and mold. There were  five more walls to tear out, one of which has visible mold. There was another sub floor that needs to be removed that was holding moisture. Also, there were doors that were not removed, as well as two baseboard heaters and a central vac not remove, even though the baseboard heaters and doors were removed from the rest of the house. If we had been unable to return to the house for a month or two for whatever reason, and it was left in this condition, with us believing it was dry and mold free, what would its condition have been then?

At our first meeting ServPro, the franchise owner  quoted us a price of between $18,000.00 and $23,000.00 to complete the work. Although we never received a written estimate, we took this as a verbal agreement. On October 13th he told us the total invoice came to $46,000.00. How did the price double?

After the experience, we will never consider hiring any ServPro for any reason nor would we recommend them to anyone. From the thefts and burglary to the poorly done and unfinished job, I can say this is the worst experience with a nationally known company we have ever had.

SERVPRO of Bath has fantastic service! They have friendly workers that are very helpful. Would highly recommend!