Cee T.
09/05/2022 12:00:00 SA
BUYER BEWARE!
QUALIZONA = SHADY, LIARS & THIEVES!
CONS - TOO MANY TO FULLY CAPTURE!
Mike (one of the front men / co-owners @ Qualizona) came out to 'help' with a significant water damage claim.
He is a smooth talker, he is the reason why contractors, in general, have a negative connotation associated with the contractor community, and unfortunately, I fell for it.
He quickly provided all sorts of details and stories about the high quality work which his company is known for & quick turnarounds he promised to complete to get my home back to its pre-damage state. He also spun a tale which firmly created a 'fear' environment, stating work must begin ASAP or insurance would not pay for the damages, and how he would be the only person to trust in this process. He claimed this was because insurance companies ALWAYS cheat policy holders. He also claimed the goal of your insurance company is to NOT help you, and only pay for as little as possible. ALL lies!!
Mike capitalized on my lack of experience with insurance claims, the full scope involved with the repair, and what he fabricated as he described of how things really work with insurance claims to his advantage.
Mike created an 'us' (Qualizona & me) vs the evil insurance industry scenario leveraging the fabricated tale he told. He used this to have me sign a 'standard' & very 'contractor-friendly' contract immediately. The contract actually served to limit my rights, granted me no ability to cancel, nor get my deductible returned, put no responsibility on Qualizona to perform work within any time period, and no time line which work must be completed by.
He stated I was in the best hands possible, that he was a former insurance claim adjuster & new all their tricks, and that Qualizona would be there any needed to help to ensure that all work would be completed within a two weeks maximum after signing the contract & paying him the deductible immediately via a personal check. As described below this could not be further from the truth.
He also claimed I needed to sign his contract immediately to allow work to begin, and that Qualizona could begin working right then and there, while also managing the whole claim for me.
Sounded great! ... but then reality hit.
The next thing that happened was Mike received that signature on his contract, and a check from me to him (not Qualizona) for $1k to cover my deductible required by home insurance.
Then Mike was kind enough to 'get right go work' completing about $150 worth of work towards the ~$20k total damage associated with the insurance claim. He then left my home in a VERY messy state, debris was EVERYWHERE. He deposited my check, and then he completed ghosted me for about 3 weeks. ZERO communication at all - I tried calling, emailing, contacting Hassan, leaving voicemails & emails daily - no replies from any one at Qualizona was received for weeks!!
When Mike finally was able to briefly communicate, he often hung up mid conversation, and NOT ONCE did he, nor anyone from Qualizona show up as promised. He had all types of excuses ready (phone service issues, his phone breaking, his phone got lost, issues with his cell phone carrier resulting in it not working, flooding had taken down his internet connection, his truck had broken etc... the list goes on & on)...
Mike has many other fabricated tales, often ones that contradicted his previous stories - he lied SO much he became unable to recall which tales he had told me.
My insurance company reviewed Qualizona's quote and helped me understand what the scope of work that Qualizona had included in their quote to get my home back to pre-damage condition.
Only through the support of my insurance company, and working to align work activities actually started, did we noticed Mike / his crew had only PARTIALLY completed one very minor item from the contract we both signed. The value of the work which was only partially completed was really only worth $150 total, when compared to the contract we signed.
Mike then continued to dodge any work he had promised to complete for months. Eventually I had to just accept that he stole my $1k deductible, and I interviewed a few other contractors, picked the best contractor company from the ones which I interviewed (they proved to be reputable, honest & quick workers, who completed the full repair in 3.5 days) .
I also found out many more lies that Mike had told as time passed. Some highlights include: Mike stated he was heavily recruited by contractor firms since he was well known & respected in the industry (in reality he really he had recently been fired by his previous employer). He did not have ANY insurance claims adjuster experience at all (as he claimed). He also told me he worked in Italy for years & knew the language, but when I asked him a very basic question in Italian, he had absolutely ZERO Italian language skills.
