My insurance agent contacted Service Master by Cantu (Mike Kyle) about a odor remediation at my residence. Mike Kyle came to my property and told me he was a contractor with my insurance company.
Mike Kyle Tactics: He passes himself off to you as being a direct representative for your homeowners or business insurance company which is part of his scheme to get access to your property. He also insists that he is a good remodeling contractor. He does not offer to give you an estimate of the total cost in advance.
This took me off my guard and I did not use good common sense. Here is his basic strategy for gaining your confidence and getting your money:
1. As I said he tells you he is contracted to the insurance company (not true).
2. He then does some work for you (in my case it was very substandard and incomplete—he took over 2 months to paint a very small area inside my residence—about 900 square feet which any painter could have done easily in 3 DAYS). If I had gotten estimates, I would have only had to pay about $6,000 for what he did. He sent me a bill for over $7,000 several months after I had already paid him $10,000.
3. He then bills you for a huge amount which is way over what other contractors would charge. Since I did not use good judgement and require a full estimate in advance, I could not argue that his charge was not competitive with other rates for the same work. I was stuck. His lawyer claimed I was in breach of contract (I had never gotten a contract or estimate from Mike Kyle but in Texas, I nonetheless had to pay his invoice).
4. If you disagree with him which I did and refuse to pay him the hugely inflated amount, he turns you over to his attorney in San Antonio, Texas who will then sue you for Breach of Contract. I suspect that he is very good at this strategy—its cost me thousands of dollars more that I ever thought possible.
So, I would say to be very careful in dealing with Service Master by Cantu and with Mr. Kyle.
Here are my recommendations:
1. Require Servicemaster or any other contractor you use to show you any "contract" they say they have with your insurance company—in my case that was a total lie—my view is that Mr. Kyle used the tactic to get me to allow him to start work on the house without getting a cost estimate first. Then he can take you to court and claim you had a contract because you let him do some work no matter how substandard.
2. Require him (the contractor) to provide you with a very highly itemized list of work to be performed and the cost of each line item. Do not accept his assertion that your insurance company will pay for these inflated prices-they will not pay any more than what their adjuster says the insurance you have will cover. Get an estimate in writing.
3. Do not accept his bid until you have other bids from other contractors and UNTIL you discuss his charges / Estimates with your insurance claims adjuster.
4. If Mr. Kyle or any other contractor you use does any work — require that he bills you each week for the work done that week. Require him to note on his invoice that your payment is complete and that no more money is due to for the work done to that point.
5.insist that Mr. Kyle, Service Master, etc. Sign a document with you which says that you do NOT have an enforceable contract with them. That you are entitled to fire them from the job at any time you feel that they are not performing as they have said they would (pay them for work done to that point to be safe). The document should state that they will not file a lawsuit on you or file a lein on your property at any later date.
Please use great caution when allowing workers to do work at your property or your home. ALWAYS require a written estimate and do not accept or sign any "contract" that they try to give you.
Pay as you go and insist that their invoice each week is "paid in full"
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