When someone in business does a good job for you, asking them to share their experience in the form of a testimonial is a pretty standard practice. You want your friends to know what kind of experience you had and that you’re a satisfied customer. The same is true when the opposite happens as it did with me recently.
I’m representing the seller of a home. The buyer is a single, professional who has never owned a home. She is represented by an agent with a long, successful history in the real estate business. The buyer opted to have not one, but two home inspections on the home that she was going to buy. During the second home inspection, the home inspector saw staining on a basement wall that was inaccessible to get close enough to examine so he did his job and suggested that it require further evaluation. The owners had finished a room in the basement years earlier and didn’t carry the drywall all the way to the exterior wall due to the sewer pipe and access to the water shutoff. So that left about a 12-18 inch opening that the inspector could see into.
The buyer decided she wanted Mid-Atlantic Water Proofing to come in and examine and determine what needed to be done. This is where things went downhill fast. I should point out that this 20 year old home has NEVER had any water in the basement. The salesman from Mid Atlantic was in “hard sell” mode from the minute he hit the door. He told the buyer that there was “pressure on the outer walls” and “definitely some water problem that would only get worse if not treated.” He banged on the floor and indicated that the house could be moving on the foundation. It was a real dog and pony show. Bottom line, it would cost $16,000 to put in one of their systems. Both the buyer and seller were in shock.
Of course, the buyer asked for the repair to be done at the expense of the seller and the seller, amazingly, was willing to provide the service. Unfortunately, the buyer had a weekend to think about it and, with the help of a number of people who were telling her not to buy the house, decided that she couldn’t proceed with the purchase.
The seller had another “reputable” company come in and offer an opinion on the basement. They found all walls to be completely level and said it was not the first time they had heard of the hard sell tactics that Mid Atlantic employs. The problem with the staining? An outside faucet burst years ago and water did get into that corner and probably caused the problem. It won’t be a simple fix since the drywall will need to be removed, but it won’t be anywhere near $16,000!
I know Mid Atlantic has many positive comments about their services; I’ve read many of them. They have helped a number of people with legitimate basement water issues. The negatives seem to center around the same issue we had; an aggressive salesman using fear to try to make a sale. This time, it just cost everyone!!