Belfor Property Restoration

In the storms this past Monday evening, 30 June, 2014, my basement flooded due to sump pump failure. My insurer recommended I call their approved service provider, however, suggested that were able to have a different company come out sooner, to do so.
I called Belfor of Northbrook. The receptionist was pleasant, explained that someone would call me back. Later in the afternoon, Matt called, asked a lot of questions, took my information and assured me that his crew would be out on Thursday to handle the cleanup and then said yet another person would call back to set up my appointment for an assessment. I received a call around 6:20 in the evening from Joe, who set up an appointment for Wednesday, 2 July at 10:30 a.m. Joe called me at 9:55 a.m. to tell me he was running late and would not arrive until 11:00 a.m. At 11:15 a.m. Joe showed up,
He walked around my basement, where I showed him the filthy floor, where the water was still puddled, and the furniture and household goods that needed to be moved and cleaned. I showed him the laundry room, which he didn’t even bother to look at. He began talking about upholstered furniture, cushions, and carpeting, none of which I have. I asked him about the antique bookcases and furnishings I have and he mentioned that these items would require stripping, sanding and refinishing. Then he gave me the HARD SELL on having his «team» remove the antiques to «their warehouse» for assessment and refinishing. I explained that I was not interested in having my things refinished, but cleaned. More HARD SELL «well, you know, wood is cellulose, cellulose is porous, and will need more than cleaning with Murphy’s Oil Soap.» I suggested perhaps they might clean one room and the furniture and move the furniture to the clean room, allowing the empty rooms to be cleaned.
Joe didn’t seem to like this suggestion and took NO measurements, just made an effort to high-​tail it out of my home.
He just called to let me know that because I don’t want my furniture refinished, they won’t be taking on the cleaning of my home. I have to laugh … the online brochure for Belfor states «We take every disaster personally … because it matters.» Apparently, they only take it personally and it matters ONLY if you are going to spend a fortune and allow Belfor to bill your insurance company for unnecessary work. I wanted my furniture cleaned and dried, not stripped, sanded, and refinished. If you are the average consumer who has just a few thousand dollars worth of cleanup and rental of fans and dehumidifiers, you can drown for all they care. I’ll be calling the other provider, whom my insurer recommended originally.