Jennifer Hutchins couldn’t believe what she was seeing when she walked downstairs and saw what looked like a waterfall in her kitchen.
A First Coast News viewer emailed the Ask Anthony team a picture of what looked like rain inside of her home.
Jennifer Hutchins said she had a plumbing issue in her upstairs bathroom and a company was supposed to fix the problem. But, in her words, they just made it worse.
“I’m upstairs laying in my bed and I just hear like rain pouring down my through my ceiling,” Hutchins said.
Hutchins couldn’t believe what she was seeing when she walked downstairs and saw what looked like a waterfall in her kitchen.
The Oakleaf homeowner had a leak in her upstairs bathroom in August. She contacted her home warranty company. A representative sent out a plumber. On that same day, a water damage restoration company called DriMaxx arrived at her house.
According to Hutchins, about two weeks later, DriMaxx workers returned to her home. When those workers left to take a lunch break, Hutchins said the water lines in her bathroom had not been properly capped or turned off and water began to shoot onto the bathroom floor at full force.
“So, I called them and I’m like ‘Hey … you guys turned the water on.’ Must have left something running up in the bathroom possibly. They come back and they see this big mess,” Hutchins explained.
Hutchins said DriMaxx charged her more than $26,000. Her insurance company sent a check for close to $20,000, but she hasn’t paid the company because of the damage to her home.
The company has now placed a lien on her house until they get the money.
“I’m not sure how we got this $12,000 bill and then another $14,000 bill for that. I still figure they need to cover something,” Hutchins added.
According to the Better Business Bureau, DriMaxx has an A+ rating. However, the company has 2 out of 5 stars when it comes to customer reviews.
Hutchins said she later discovered DriMaxx was not affiliated with her home warranty company. The plumber, who Hutchins says is affiliated with the warranty company, is the one who called them.
“He was like … this is our sister company and we sent them out,” Hutchins said.
Anthony Austin made phone calls to DriMaxx. A person, who said they were affiliated with DriMaxx, wouldn’t answer questions nor give their name. They told Austin he could speak with their attorney. However, they wouldn’t provide the attorney’s contact information.
As for Hutchins, she still can’t relax in her own home because there’s damage around every corner.
“Very frustrating because now I’m missing days of work figuring out how I’m going to get this fixed due to this lien being on my house,” Hutchins said.
Anthony’s Advice:
If you’ve had damage to your home from a contractor and they won’t cover the repairs, I think the best thing to do in this situation is to seek legal counsel. I suggest having an attorney send a letter to the company with your requests and give a deadline for a resolution. If that doesn’t work, you can take the company’s owner to court. But, keep in mind, you’ll need to establish that the damage was caused by the contractor’s negligence or breach of contract.
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