- Report: #215681
Complaint Review: Everdry Of Michiana - South Bend Indiana
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Everdry Of Michiana
4647 West Cleveland Road South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A.
Phone:
219-272-3788
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Everdry Of Michiana Overpriced Pushy Scam Artists ripoff South Bend Indiana
My husband and I bought an older home earlier this year and when springtime came, we found out that our basement had some moisture problems. The first problem occurred when our sump pump broke and the basement flooded. After we replaced the sump pump and got the water out, water was still getting in whenever it rained...not to the point of flooding by any means, but wet enough to cause concern.
We called Everdry for an estimate. They came at night because I work days and they insisted that my husband and I both be there when the rep came. The salesman was extremely unprofessional. He was loud, rude, pushy, and used scare tactics to rope us into a contract.
I was in tears because he convinced me that my house could collapse at any time. He said that the three metal poles helping hold up the floor were a sign of a falling house (which I later found out that metal poles are pretty standard in unfinished basements). He shone his flashlight into the crawlspace and told me there was black mold everywhere. He then proceeded to tell us that we could sue the previous homeowner for the mold/moisture problems even though moisture was disclosed to us.
So now I had a sales rep in my house giving legal advice without a license and basically bullying us into hiring them. They wanted $20,000 to fix our basement and my basement is 450 square feet. I told him that was way too much money but he continued his high pressure sales tactics to convince us to do it. He kept saying it was an investment and he guaranteed we would get our money back after suing the previous homeowner. We gave him a $500 deposit. It almost felt like I was paying him to leave my house. I could no longer take him using profanity in front of my children. I just wanted him to go away.
I couldn't sleep that night. I was confused and angry. I thought our home inspector had messed up big time and that we'd bought a money pit. After speaking to friends and family I started to realize that we'd been taken advantage of. I had 3 independent contractors come out and give an opinion. Not one of them said that our basement was in such horrid condition and they said it was very solid and not in danger of collapsing. The most expensive estimate I got was $4,000 and two of those contractors provided hundreds of names of satisfied customers with addresses and phone numbers.
And the so-called black mold turned out to just be moisture on the walls. There isn't any mold in my basement.
I had missed the 3 day deadline to cancel my contract so I contacted an attorney. My attorney wrote them a letter outlining the many areas of fraud that they could be sued for. Within a week we had our money back. They just sent a check with no letter of explanation.
I ended up hiring Nova Basement Systems who did an awesome job at a fraction of the cost and I haven't had any more water problems.
I don't know how many areas that Everdry covers, but homeowners in at least northeast indiana should steer clear.
Shelly
Mishawaka, Indiana
U.S.A.
We called Everdry for an estimate. They came at night because I work days and they insisted that my husband and I both be there when the rep came. The salesman was extremely unprofessional. He was loud, rude, pushy, and used scare tactics to rope us into a contract.
I was in tears because he convinced me that my house could collapse at any time. He said that the three metal poles helping hold up the floor were a sign of a falling house (which I later found out that metal poles are pretty standard in unfinished basements). He shone his flashlight into the crawlspace and told me there was black mold everywhere. He then proceeded to tell us that we could sue the previous homeowner for the mold/moisture problems even though moisture was disclosed to us.
So now I had a sales rep in my house giving legal advice without a license and basically bullying us into hiring them. They wanted $20,000 to fix our basement and my basement is 450 square feet. I told him that was way too much money but he continued his high pressure sales tactics to convince us to do it. He kept saying it was an investment and he guaranteed we would get our money back after suing the previous homeowner. We gave him a $500 deposit. It almost felt like I was paying him to leave my house. I could no longer take him using profanity in front of my children. I just wanted him to go away.
I couldn't sleep that night. I was confused and angry. I thought our home inspector had messed up big time and that we'd bought a money pit. After speaking to friends and family I started to realize that we'd been taken advantage of. I had 3 independent contractors come out and give an opinion. Not one of them said that our basement was in such horrid condition and they said it was very solid and not in danger of collapsing. The most expensive estimate I got was $4,000 and two of those contractors provided hundreds of names of satisfied customers with addresses and phone numbers.
And the so-called black mold turned out to just be moisture on the walls. There isn't any mold in my basement.
I had missed the 3 day deadline to cancel my contract so I contacted an attorney. My attorney wrote them a letter outlining the many areas of fraud that they could be sued for. Within a week we had our money back. They just sent a check with no letter of explanation.
I ended up hiring Nova Basement Systems who did an awesome job at a fraction of the cost and I haven't had any more water problems.
I don't know how many areas that Everdry covers, but homeowners in at least northeast indiana should steer clear.
Shelly
Mishawaka, Indiana
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Ramjet
Somewhere,Michigan,
U.S.A.
A different experience
#2Consumer Comment
Wed, June 17, 2009
I will, of course, be accused of working for the company but we have had a completely different experience. About 15 years ago our basement was almost constantly wet and often had as much as 6 or 8 inches of water in it. It was unusable and unhealthy. We tried MANY different solutions and finally got a quote from the very professional and friendly people at EverDry. They spent a week putting in their solution (I won't go over the details here) and it has NEVER leaked again. I actually have a woodshop in the basement now and am responding to this post in the basement in my office. We have a $45.00 per year guarantee and a few times they came out and replaced a noisy sump pump very quickly and with no argument. This does not say no one has had any issues, the OP obviously has, but our experience has been awesome. Now here come the accusations of being a company shill. I am actually a Director of Technology and a small school system.
Grim7
Chesterton,Indiana,
U.S.A.
Question about Everdry Tactics
#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Wed, June 17, 2009
I have questions for the Everdry Ex-employee. Our salesman claimed if Everdry ever damaged anything (i.e., broke a window...) they'd replace/repair it, and if the house collapsed/was damaged as a result of their work, Everdry would build us a new house/or make the necessary repairs. The contact curiously doesn't mention this. Was that all a bunch of bullsh@t? If they can do a good job, that's fine. What I don't care for is being lied to in order to secure a sale.
John
Mishawka,Indiana,
U.S.A.
Ex-Employee Backs you up!
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, December 14, 2006
I worked for Everdry of Michiana for about 5 months. What happened to you is exactly what ALL of their salespeople are trained to do, however I can almost guarantee the person from "scheduling" that came to your house was Brian (short, with tatoos and probably driving a Dodge Magnum). This is exactly what he says/does and is PROUD of it. I'll bet you were probably told an "inspector" would come out, then when he showed up he said the regular guy wasn't available and he was from "scheduling" but had done this in the past, etc. etc. Remember all the "hmmmm.." noises, "uh huh"... "ohhhhhhh", etc. that he made during the "inspection"? Yep - TRAINED to do it! Were you asked if you or your family had allergies? Yep. Trained to do it. As for the price, he was authorized to sell your basement for probably as low as $5800 or so but the salespeople are trained to overprice (they get as much as 50% of the money "overages" over the base price). Don't let them fool you, they are COMPLETELY COMMISSION BASED SALES and they only make a couple hundred dollars on a "base" price sale. Commission on an $8000 job that they sell for $15000 will result in a commission of around $500 for the base, plus about $2200 of the "overage". If you said "no" a couple times, he probably acted like he was leaving but then had an idea.. the magic "on call" pitch where you can save $XXXX by agreeing to do some of the work ahead of time, and by being flexible with starting times. Guess what... if you said "yes" on the first price, you'd still be asked to do these things WITH NO DISCOUNT. Everdry never moves stuff in the basement and they never have a set date (set way in advance) to start a job. The salespitch of Everdry (Nationally, even) is NOT based on "water" but on "safety" and "health". They fill your mind with the dangers of mold, structural problems, etc. and then work off your fears. Talking about suing the previous homeowner or inspector is normal, they even usually tell you that they'll go to court on your behalf. See, the people that tell you they aren't on commission and that they are just "helping you out" or "scheduling" are actually called "one-call closers" meaning they get ONE chance to sell to you. If they don't sell it, another rep (posing as a project manager) will come and undercut the price. I will say that the system of Everdry IS far superior to other companies, including the one you used. They ARE more expensive, but they DO good work. The PROBLEM is the sales process and the greed of the salespeople, along with the lies and misinformation given to you. I left because of these lies I was being forced to tell. I made several sales telling the truth but I wasn't making the high expectations of closing or the "extra" money by overpricing. If you wanted to take this further you could also use the fact that their salespeople are supposed to be licensed for in-home sales but NONE are. I am also pretty sure they use "undocumented aliens" on their install crews. I'd like to apoligize for what happened to you, this job is the only thing I've ever regretted in my entire life. I am a very honest person but as a salesperson of course I am money-motivated. In training, Everdry just slowly moves you from truth to lies, and you don't realize after a while that you are actually lying. I actually found out later that some of the things that were presented to me as "facts" were NOT truthful, so many times I was lying without even knowing it! Glad you got your money back and I hope your basement stays dry!
