Immediate Response Restoration

If you are looking to be robbed blind, this is the company for you.
When our water heater died, their job was to remove and replace the damaged drywall and then paint the new drywall. We were given a Proposal/​Work Order that stated the scope of work but conveniently omitted any estimated costs. Our mistake was not asking for a ballpark figure. We were charged $ 1638.00 for an area of approximately seven square feet. When we complained to Mike (our contact) about their fees, he explained that they base their costs on the assumption that the customer will be submitting a claim to their insurance company. So, what? They gouge insurance companies? We told Mike we were not submitting a claim through our insurance; this was an out-​of-​pocket expense for us. He generously (please note the sarcasm) gave us a discount of $ 188.28.
The after-​the-​fact invoice states that costs include «two man crew to mask, cover, remove & reset any necessary contents». News flash: One guy removed the drywall and although two guys showed up to re-​drywall and paint, one guy pretty much stood there and watched. Painting is $ 166.00 an hour… to paint a tiny section in a garage… hardly the Sistine Chapel.
I will say that the work done was done well but had we had any idea the cost would be so ridiculous, we would have used our own drywaller who probably would have done the work for about ¼ the cost. Absolute highway robbery.

IRR and ESR are owned and operated by same umbrella company, however, they separate out invoices for various services (flood clean up, demo, and water damage/​dry wall repair). Within the month of the work being completed from water damage caused by a sewage back up, we had already sent checks amounting up to $ 8,000, which were deposited by their billing department. While the workers were nice and pleasant, I think the company over charges tremendously for the work being done.
What really pissed me off was when Gina from Billing threatened to send one of the last remaining balances to a collections agency. It makes me mad because we had already paid $ 8,000 (which as I said was deposited by same billing dept) and while we still have a balance of $ 1600, I was waiting for the insurance company to send our final payout for these services. This outstanding bill wasn’t even 2 months after the work was completed when Gina called and threatened she would be sending to a collections agency, even after we had already paid so much. If you ask me, that is a poor and unfriendly way of doing business.

This is by far the worst contracting company in existence. I was kind of forced to deal with them in almost the exact same circumstances as reviewer Richard K: our water heater broke and started leaking, our plumber recommended Emergency Services Restoration (ERS) to address the water damage, and they in turn recommended me to Immediate Response Restoration (IRR) for the drywall repairs. Given the time crunch we were in to regain our access to hot water and the fact that ERS did a decent job, I didn’t bother doing my usual Unilocal research before hiring a contractor (to my own detriment).
First, there’s nothing «immediate» about the way these guys deal with their customers. I had to hound them for close to two days to get an estimate for the repairs… and this was after ERS had sent them pictures of the affected areas of my garage. The estimate when I did receive it was for $ 760, quite higher than what my insurance adjuster had given me as a ballpark. The next day, a contractor from IRR came over and gave another estimate for $ 1790! When I called IRR and mentioned this to the person I’d been dealing with, his reply was that the original estimate was just an «estimate» (what then was the purpose behind sending them pictures of the damage I wonder?). Seriously? If your actual price is almost 3 times your estimate, there’s no point in having said estimate.
I’m not sure what transpired behind the scenes after this but the contractor who came home called me again and said he’ll match the original estimate and was willing to start work the next day. I was fine with that, but when he came over he asked me to sign a contract that for was $ 780. I casually asked him about the discrepancy, but he got really mad and accused me of making a big deal about 20 extra bucks (to be honest, had he asked me nicely I was quite OK with paying the extra $ 20 given the delay these guys had caused in me getting back my hot water). I offered to show him the email quote for $ 760 and also call the person who provided it but he refused to listen and simply stormed out of my house.
I haven’t experienced such rude behavior with any other company. These guys are incompetent, way overpriced and simply don’t care about their customers. Stay far away and save yourself a nightmare.

Immediate Response Restoration was by far one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. After having a water pipe break attended to by Emergency Services Restoration, Inc. (ERS) who installed fans throughout the house, ERS referred me to Immediate Response Restoration (IRR) for removal of drywall to test for mold, then reinstall the drywall back to the way it was. Since time was of the essence, I went with their recommendation. Following was my experience:
(1) The main contact person, Tim, was fouled tempered to the point that my tenant was actually afraid of him. She insisted that I be the primary communicator with him.
(2) Tim lied to me and said that he was in communication with my insurance company regarding the work that needed to be done and the amounts he was going to charge. My insurance company told me weeks later that IRR had never contacted them.
(3) The amounts charged for the work performed were outrageous. It was about $ 2,500 to remove drywall two feet up from the ground for a distance of 30 linear feet. It would have been about $ 2,500 more to reinstall it. I fired them before they finished, so he only charged about $ 1,500 for the unfinished work.
(4) IRR provided inadequate paperwork for the drywall removal. My insurance company had to contact them directly to get the appropriate paperwork.
(5) After some of the initial work was done, one of the light switches caused painful electrical shocks. Tim denied that it had anything to do with IRR’s work. Tim didn’t even believe me until he nearly got electrocuted himself. It turns out that one of his workers hammered a nail through an electrical wire. They fixed the problem, but it never should have happened.
(6) Two wall heaters that were working fine before IRR removed them temporarily from the wall were not working after they were reinstalled. IRR denied responsibility and refused to pay for repairs, which came out of my own pocket.
(7) It took over a month to get the final invoice and paperwork after I fired IRR. Before I even received the invoice and paperwork in the mail, they were threatening me with late fees. (I said I wouldn’t pay the second invoice until they gave my insurance company everything they needed for the first invoice). Still, it was not appropriate to threaten me with late fees before I even received the invoice.
(8) Lastly, only two weeks after I received the invoice, IRR was calling me and threatening to send me to collections. I finally just sent their check to shut them up, which was probably their intent.
I do not recommend Immediate Response Restoration under any circumstances.

After having had a drain pipe backup attended to by Emergency Services Restoration, Inc. (ERS) who removed some contaminated drywall, baseboard, and a carpet, ERS referred me to Immediate Response Restoration (IRR) for removal of linoleum and to get an estimate of putting everything back together. I’m still not sure why ERS was not able to remove the small piece of linoleum in an adjacent laundry closet (ERS claims it is related to some union issue), but IRR charged me $ 100 to do just to take out the little piece of linoleum and to provide an estimate of what it would cost to restore the drywall and baseboards. It turns out that IRR’s estimate was another 80% higher than the bid I received from a general contractor, Keaveney Construction. Also, IRR said that they would not be begin the project for one week. The general contractor was able to start work on the project the very same day I called him so I went with Keaveney.