My basement (mechanical room, not livable) got flooded days ago due to sump pump malfunctioning. I called couple of the restoration companies (they all have many good reviews on Homestars) including 5 Star Cleaning and Water Damage Restoration. The owner Bob explained very nicely over the phone that his company offers the best rate for dehimifiers and air flowers renting - $25 for one air flower per day and $30 for one dehimifier per day. I was impressed by the price and the fact that they charge $80 per hour for two people, which seems to me pretty transparent. Because of that, I turned down the other companies and decided to go with Bob as I think his price would be better based on the above facts, even though he is the only person who's telling me he would charge me $199 if i decide not to go with them after the fee quote. I should have been suspicious if I was calm enough - but the fact that my insurance won't cover the cost and I need to pay every penny myself just made me more eager to find a cost effective way to fix the problem. For the same scope of work (i.e., water extraction, put the equipment down to dry the space for 3-4 days, and removing the insulation), all the other restoration companies quote between $1200 - 1400. He came from a place very close to where my house is (based on what he told me) after his last job and quoted me approximately $2600, among which 1200 is just the label to remove the water and insulation. I was shocked as I could not figure out how this would require two people to spend 15 hours to finish it (on top of that, he charges separately for dumping the insulation too). I asked him why the label was so high since they charge $80 per hour (i am fine with his quote for the equipment as it ends up to be very close to what other companies quoted me, not $30/day for the dehumifier though - the actual cost is $135/day), he just kept trying to find all other excuses (the other companies will not do work properly, I have an extremely narrow path down to the basement, etc etc)without actually explaining to me why the label is so costly. Of course I'm not going to go with him as his price is almost doubled what the other good review restoration companies quoted me. So i paid the $199 plus tax as pushed by him even though he came from his last job which is very close to my house. Totally unreasonable and dishonest and I felt ripped.
Unless you are sure he delivers excellent work beyond and above expectation, which I doubt as the company I ended up using is great with reasonable price and has good reviews on Homestars too, otherwise get ready to pay that $199 plus tax unreasonable fee.
