Dear Karen,
I am responding in order to clarify any misunderstandings. I hope you will accept my comments in the spirit they are intended. You are always welcome to call me if there are any remaining items you wish to discuss.
.We at HOME INSPECTORS strive to constantly provide the best service possible, from the web site information that we offer to all of our visitors, to our personal telephone and email services for both pre and post inspections. I am pleased to hear that you appreciated this service. We were sorry to hear that you felt that we have let you down on the level of service that we provided to you, we always welcome constructive suggestions for improvement.
When I was made aware of this posting Karen in early February I immediately called and spoke with you directly as this was the first we heard your allegations. No prior telephone calls were ever made to us, nor follow up emails from 5 months ago,so we called wanting to assist in any way we could.
I called you Karen to discuss your posting, you welcomed my call and clarifications that followed:
Correction on the fees charged, our services were charges at our minimum rate $425.00 plus HST and not $480.00.
You confirmed that our Terms and Conditions for the inspection were sent to you prior to the inspection along with our fees. You replied and agreed to the Terms and Conditions, and fees. They were accepted by both you and your husband prior to the inspection. Our standard fee was charged as contracted to do, no surprises there.
Hopefully our reply clarifies your reference about “getting down and dirty”. Our photos show exactly where in the utility room the water supply line was located. This was shown to your husband Robert at the time of the inspection. We reminded you that we did in fact point out to your husband Robert the location of the main water valve shut off, but could not access it due the excessive amount of storage stuffed into the storage room as per our photos taken at the time of the inspection. He was not concerned at the time as he knew where it was located and understood that.
We photographed and recorded the several deficiencies with the property as we completed each component of the inspection process in a systematic fashion, before moving onto the next, in order to provide you with an account of the deficiencies. As an example our Roofing Section and photos indicate that both the main and lower roofs had cupped, curled and deteriorated roof shingles. We recommended roof shingle replacements ASAP and an upgrade to the roof vents with a Maxi type roof vents. We reported that the eaves roughing was damaged and to extend the downspouts 6 ft away from the foundation.
This is normal procedure to document and report in detail the findings of each component before moving onto the next, in order to capture the details so that the client can make an informed decision based on the content of the report. We followed National Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics in doing so.
In our copies of the original report it clearly states “As Noted and Discussed” Our report refers to the details on each defect highlighted above which are identified and offering the correct course of remediation required. Other examples in the report are also specific where the electrical wires were damaged, loose, abandoned, junction boxes covers were missing etc... we recommended a thorough ESA ( Electrical Safety Authority) inspection of the entire electrical system prior to purchase by an ESA accredited Electrical Contractor in order to determine the costs for these repairs, replacements or upgrades.
So please let’s be fair here Karen.
Under the plumbing section we recommended replacement of the damaged and leaking tub faucets, slow draining tub, and replacement of the tub surround followed by the statement under comments “ As Noted and discussed, refers to the above” where the details were listed in detail with appropriate remediation required. Our report indicates clearly “As noted and discussed” All defects were clearly described along with the recommendations. In 24,000 reports we have never encountered this confusion before.
As for the technical terms as you put it, they are pretty generic and for an experienced homeowner as your clearly stated yourself, the above terms are quite common and of general knowledge for the average home buyer. Having reread the report we respectfully fail to follow your logic on these allegations. If you recall you had excused yourself on several occasions from the inspection to text messages and use your cell telephone, while I continued on with your husband..
Upon your return from texting and using your cell phone, we did answer your questions out of courtesy to you although we had already explained them previously to your husband. It is unfortunate that you found these basic terms too technical.
We believe the excerpts as outlined in points above will speak for themselves as far as the level of technical complexity required to comprehend the required remediation.
If after reading the report you required further details, you were welcome to call or email me anytime for clarification, and that would have been my pleasure.
Interesting, the photos we take are of the deficiencies present at the time of the inspection. After over 24,000 home inspections in past 33 years, you are the first to complain. These photos are for your benefit in identifying the deficiencies and there were several with this property. Should you call us later after owning the home we can refer to them as well. They are also useful in clarifying any misunderstandings like this one.
We have absolutely no record of your email or calls to our business whatsoever which is very unusual. We are available via telephone or email 24/7 and would have been pleased to reply to your inquiry had there been a message.
As we have been doing for over 33 years we always expeditiously reply to all inquiries and in your case none were ever received.
We wish you all the best in your next move.
Respectfully,
Paul Wilson, PHPI, NHI, ACI, RHI
President
Home Inspectors and The Home Inspectors Institute
