Water Fighters Restoration

Just met the guys from Water Fighters Restoration and they couldn't have been more pleasant to work with.  Ceasar and his father are certainly professionals.

We called Water Fighters out after a flood in our upstairs bathroom took place and they were out very quickly. Initially I was taken by their professionalism and Brandon and Nic made me feel very taken care of as far as what would happen with insurance claims and such. Prior to getting word from insurance they said they would need to remove all continuous flooring which was carpeting in halls, 3 bedrooms and down our stairs. I tried pumping the brakes on removing carpet that was not affected but they insisted so we trusted their word. It snowballed shortly after we got word that our insurance would only be paying 10k for the incident. Simultaneously to this news, their rebuild bid of 27k total arrived, 10k being for mediation alone (cutting drywall, fans, etc). I asked them to work with me on it since I'm all out of pocket and they came down 5k, but ONLY if I agreed to do the rebuild with them otherwise the mediation would need to be paid in full. Well there goes the insurance money. So in the interest of getting a deal and our moneys worth, we agreed. To start the job I paid the 10k in full and 7k to begin the rebuild.

Last week after they finished the drywall, I spoke with my project manager about putting hardwood instead of carpet and procuring it and all the bathroom items such as vanity and fixtures. Cool, got thumbs up- said we will look at it Tuesday. Come Tuesday it's suddenly a complete disaster, as they put it-  we are expecting upgrades and completely changed the scope.  First of all, we paid for the upgrades- so by all reasonable and intelligent logic those materials they had planned to procure on their itemized bid should be deducted and bid reworked with only the change in scope of labor. (The materials came out to 6500 of the bid). They refused to see eye to eye with me on this and kept throwing their discount in my face like I'm some charity case. I was a paying customer $17,000 in at that point and all that's been done is drywall repair and texture (using their own numbers the work they've done so far is worth $1500). I told them I'd be more than happy to pay difference in instal but rework the bid with no materials and adjust the labor to hardwood flooring installation. NOPE. They refused, wanted to add supplemental charges to install the flooring and the vanity. I had 4 other highly respected veteran contractors come through my house yesterday and told me flat out this is a straight hustle and to get them the heck out of my house asap. I called them this morning and fired them. We are losing 5500 in labor or whatever the hell else they SHOULD do for what I paid them but I'd rather walk away. I will not give them another dime. The funny part is I've already subbed out the work to a flooring guy, painters, electric and a contractor and am getting it all done this week for $5000. Water fighters told me they would have painted half our walls and left me with no floors for the full $12,000.... They'd set my upgraded vanity and mirrors for an extra $2400 and god knows how much they would've tacked on for the floors.

Companies like this tailor to clients that can collect large chunks from insurance companies for the rebuild. I'm disappointed as they sold themselves to be such great people but when it boils down it they've got complaints with ROC and an F with BBB. I have to question the overall intelligence of the owner as well. What's the point of an itemized invoice if it can't be adjusted?

Don't get involved with these people. They insist they tried to help us best they could. Photos are our house now not including downstairs where they only repaired the celing drywall and texture. After $17,000 in. What a fucking joke!

I'll also add that they sequestered me for reviews at least 4 times during our 2 weeks working together. I said I would at the end, absolutely! As a business owner myself I know how important it is. So here's the review as I promised :)

Driving on the 10 W when either the owner or an employee decided that they were above waiting to get off on Avondale BLVD. Cut right in front of me (when there was clearly no room) in his lifted tan Toyota Tacoma with my son, causing me to slam my brakes on. After giving him a well deserved honk he decided it would be smart to get aggressive with his brakes. Complete trash can of an employee. Riding people's rears and flooring it on streets in and out of traffic. Then we get stuck at a light and he gets cheeky creeping up next to me going to town on his horn while waiting for the light to turn green. You guys should be embarrassed to have someone like this driving around with your logos all over their truck. If you're the owner, then you should be embarrassed to call yourself one. I'll just go ahead and pass this around so that everyone knows how unprofessional you are.

I hired these guys to do dry out and drywall replacement for an air handler leak. They said they could not give me a complete estimate until they dried and tore out the drywall.  That was nearly two weeks ago.  They still haven't provided an estimate.  Their project manager, Brandon, is just plain rude when he answers the phone and constantly asks how I got his number (it was given to me by the company he works for!).  It's time to call in someone else to finish this job. Don't hire these guys.

THESE GUYS ARE A SCAM THAT SEND CONVICTED FELONS TO YOUR HOME.

I hired Water Fighters to handle my mold problem.  They told me that they would remove everything until the air quality test came back as livable.  Well the rest came back as unlivable and they did everything correct and the air quality tester messed up.  They then said, they can come back and renegotiate the price after I already paid them $2500!  

Up to this point I was dealing with their Project Manager Brandon Beckett.  I then, went to their owner Cesar Ontiveros and explained the situation.  He told me he would look into it and get back to me.  He has since ignored all my communications.

I did some research and found put their project manager they sent me, is a convicted felon for drugs, grand theft, and leaving the scene of a hit and run that resulted in a death.  See below for the link to his record and yes that mug shot is 100% him.

Bottom line, unless you want to throw away money, pick someone else.

bailbondshq.com/arizona/…

So we started with them, which we felt kinda pressured to start the whole tear down, since it was the bathroom that both me and my sister use. However it was a problem since my moms surgery was coming up. That was around 3 months ago now. It still hasn't been fixed, but not only that Water Fighters won't give us a quote on what the cost will be until they figure out how much USAA gives us. I find it unprofessional and very scary. We don't know if we're getting screwed and they seem to want to talk ALL the money, which is not what the money is all for. It's for getting back things we lost in the water damage also.

The MITIGATION IS $11,000! This whole company is complete bullshit and I CANNOT recommend not going to this company ENOUGH!
STAY FAR AWAY

I'm asking if anyone has had this problem before with this company.

Cesar and his crew at Water Fighters Restoration were professional, punctual and helped explain the whole process thoroughly. We were really nervous about what the end product would look like as our leak was pretty bad, but they made it seem like nothing ever happened and left it nice and clean when they were finished. We are very satisfied with this company and recommend Cesar and his crew at Water Fighters Restoration any day.

Before you sign anything with this company, be sure to get an itemized estimate and read ALL the fine print.