Complaint Review: Allen Contracting Or Grove Contracting Richard Grove - Buford Georgia

I am a fellow roofing contractor of Richard Grove with Grove Roofing, actually I guess you could say we are competitors. After reading the complaint filed against Mr. Grove I had to weigh in. Having personal knowledge of the roofing industry and how insurance claims work in detail, I want to add a bit of reality to the complaint I just read.

First of all, insurance companies are not stupid! A contractor cannot charge an insurance company $4000 to $5000 more than any other contractor. The insurance adjuster does the assesment of the damaged roof, then the adjuster gives the price they are willing to pay. Insurance companies go to great lengths and great expense to make sure they are always paying what the industry standard prices are. If the contractor has a disagreement with their estimate, the contractor can request supplements. However, the insurance company will not pay anything excessive like this complaint says Grove Roofing does.

Just to clarify how other roofing contractors price a roof job done through an insurance claim. We ALL work from the insurance Scope of Work (estimate), so Grove Roofing is doing EXACTLY what every other reputable roofing contractor does. Yes we do take all the insurance money. However, all reputable roofing companies will also require the homeowner to pay their deductible as well.

This complaint is just not accurate!

My neighbor got a roof from Grove Roofing last spring and I just had a roof installed with Grove Roofing.  I delt with Rich Grove.  I saw this, "rip off report" and I will admitt, it freaked me out.  The words, "rip off" in red really got my attention.

We have many roofing contractors leaving flyers on our door and even knocking on our door.  I guess nobody can read the "no soliciting" sign at the entrance of our sub, or the one on my front door!

The deal that Rich offered me was the same one that the others offer.  I think the person posting this report did not understand the proposal.  Everyone offers a free roof inspection.  Some do not even get on the roof, Rich did.  My roof is steep, I would get on it, but I am not a roofer.  This man stated that Rich will get you a new roof" if you use him exclusively". Every company says the same thing, what company in their right mind would want to do the roof with another company or get a person approved for a roof so he can buy it from another company?  Rich did not "make me sign a contract" and nobody is making me sign contract.  I told Rich if he got our roof approved, I would hire him.  He kept his word and I kept my word.  

He said that Rich will take "100% of the insurance money".  That is what the money is for, the roof!  He takes 100% of the insurance money and also $1000 of my money, (my insurance deductible).  I buy my insurance from my brother-in-law who is a State Farm agent.  I had Rich give me a quote for the roof.  His quote was about $8600.  Two weeks later, State Farm gave me an estiimate of about $8300.  Rich agreed in advance to match State Farm's estimate.  They gave me $7300, I had to pay $1000 deductibe and Rich wrote a contract with me for $8300.  My brother-in-law confirmed that there is no way any insurance company is going to pay, "$4000 to $5000" more for a roof.  This story does not add up.  My agent told me that every insurance company measures every roof and they all use a standard price book.

This person said that Rich charged more than "any other builder".  Who are the "builders" selling roofs?  I would not buy a roof from a builder.  That is why I had to replace my roof to begin with.  These builders throw these houses together.  I had repaint my home 2 years after I bought it, they used interior trim on the outside of my home and it rotted.  My shingles had  2 or 3 nails in them and they kept blowing off.  Builders hire cheap, low skilled, unlicensed, illegal alliens to build these houses.

Grove is A+ rated with the BBB, always have trusted BBB.  They saved me from hiring the wrong painter and flooring contractor, they also encouraged me to hire Grove.  I am the first guy to complain about poor work but I am also willing to defend someone when they are mistreated.  John in Buford, you obvioulsy read your estimte wrong and if you were hoping to pocket money that the insurance gave you for a roof, that is called insurance fraud.  If you were ripped off, file a report with the BBB and let them investigate your allegations.  It is curious that you are the only person, anywere, who has had a bad thing to say about Richard Grove.

My family lives in Buford, GA and we have known Richard Grove since 1986.  In 1986 we both donated many hours of our time working with Habitat for Humanity.  He is a well known contractor and has an excellent reputation.  I do not know this customer but his review does not state that he was unhappy with the work or that he was, "ripped off".  The internet has become a dangerous place when anyone can say anything about a man's reputation without any proof of who they are or what they are stating.  I would not rely on a site like this.  I would check court records and the Better Business Bureau.  

Grove Roofing replaced our roof in 2009 and my son's roof in 2011.  We both are very happy witih the work that Richard and his crew did.  I paid for my roof, it was old.  Richard did assist my son in getting his roof paid for through State Farm Insurance.  The whole process worked out great, my son had received estimates for a new roof and the estimates were all within a few hundred dollars of the insurance estimate.  State Farm was about $200 below all of the estimates and Richard agreed in advance to match the estimate.  I do not think Richard has a "tricky" bone in his body.  He is an honest guy.   If you check the Better Business Bureau, you will find Grove Roofing to have an A+ rating which is difficult to achieve and maintain with all of the unreasonable customers out there.  I have had a printing business for 32 years and as most of us know, some people are never satisfied.  I highly recommend Richard for any construction project, his father was also a contractor, he knows the business and treats people right.

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I live right around the corner from the so called "John" in Buford. His name is really Lon Pogue He is the odd ball neighbor who sets up an above ground swimming pool in his driveway in violation of the HOA, he is not that bright, odd guy. His ex and him did drugs and she ran off with the neighbor across the street. Nobody likes the family. They bring the sub down. I used Richard Grove to replace my roof and he is extremely good. He has worked successfully with 5 homeowners besides me. Richard offers to do all the work on an insurance estimate for the estimate price, totally honest. Lon got an insurance estimate to replace his roof and replace many other things on the house. Lon wanted Richard to do his roof for thousands less than the insurance estimate roof price and also give him a receipt showing a price that Lon did not pay and work that Richard did not do. Lon wanted all the insurance money, then only replace the roof for the lowest possible price. That is insurance fraud and I do not blame Richard for refusing to issue false information to the insurance company. I had an estimate from my insurance company. I did not show it to Richard, I had him give me a quote. Richard's estimate was within $80 of my insurance estimate. I hired him and he did a fantastic job. Roof is 18 months old with no problems. My buddy in Lon's sub used Richard several years ago, no problems. Lon is just trying to hurt Richard's business because Richard refused to do something dishonest for Lon. As it turned out, Lon got a great roof and he paid Richard a lot less than market price for his roof. I do now if Lon made up a fake receipt to get all of his insurance money. Richard is a solid guy in the area, well liked, well known. This Lon character looks and acts like Andy d**k.

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Hi folks, my name is Richard Allen Grove. I just happened to see this posting and would like to say that this is silly, here is why. To start with, this person calling themselves John, do not know a John, but think we know who this is. I "appear up front" because I am. My name and picture is on my website, address, phone. Call us, come to our office. How "up front" is John? We give FREE roof inspections, FREE estimates. If you have an insurance estimate (settlement) that is less money than our estimate, we will lower our price to match the estimate. We do not have any contract other than a classic sales contract. You may obtain a copy, just call us. The craziest thing this person has stated is that insurance companies are paying "$4000 to $5000 more than any roofer would dare charge". The average roof costs between $7,000 and $10,000, that would mean that folks are receiving checks from their insurance company from $11K/$12K up to $14K/$15K. Does anyone really believe that insurance companies are stupid and would over pay for a roof? I am an insurance adjuster too and insurance companies pay just below the mid point, they know all there is to know about measuring a roof, the number of man hours to replace it, the materials and labor rates for every area of the USA. Insurance companies do not over pay for roofs. If you look at other companies in Atlanta, you will find it very common for people to ask you to sign a contract to hire, we do not. The reason we do not ask you to sign a contract is because this creates mistrust, it is like a marriage pre-nup. From the roofer's stand point, they do a free inspection, come back and meet with the insurance adjuster, each visit taking time and risking their life to crawl around on the roof. After all that, if the homeowner gets a check and hires another roofer, the roofer got nothing for all of his work. We do ask in advance for the homeowner to give us their word that they will hire us. Granted, a homeowner can find an uninsured, illegal alien to roof their house for $1000 less than a company but most people like a good job and warranty. Home builders do charge less, they are out of work right now, so they will broker a deal between you and a sub, will he be roofing next year? He said, we take advantage of insurance companies, again, insurance companies are not stupid they know every trick in the book, they set the price, they do not allow us to charge them, they tell us what they will pay. We have over 2000 EXCELLENT references with REAL names (first and last), no complaints with the BBB. I guess when you get up there high enough, some people will take cheap shots at you from the shadows. By the way, the reason this guy is upset is because we would not write a fraudulent receipt for him to send to his insurance company. If we are "ripping off" people surely we would have just one BBB report on file. We do not because we are one of the reputable companies in town. Please visit us @ www.AllenContracting.com you will love our work!