I called Service Magic (referral company that works with a number of contractors) when my bathroom ceiling collapsed due to a leak that had not been fixed by my landlord. Joseph Dinapoli from Indoor Environmental Cleaning Systems (IECS) contacted me and set and appointment to come my apt the next day. He showed up with another person, looked at the ceiling and confirmed what I suspected, that I had mold in the ceiling. He asked me if I would like a mold sample to be tested at the lab from a piece of mold that he scraped off of the ceiling. I said yes, definitely. He said that it would cost a little over $100. I asked him if he like a credit card number then and he said that I would be billed for it. He said that he was friends with the people who worked at the lab so it wouldn\'t take long. He gave me a rough estimate of $1000-1500 to do the mold remediation in the bathroom. I told him that the super and landlord would make the final decision on who they want to hi
re for that part of the job, but I would definitely pay for the mold test from the sample he took.
I waited a week and never heard back from Joseph, so I decided to call him because I thought about also doing an air sample as well. He told me that the mold sample had been given to the lab and they found nine different types of mold, three of which are toxic. I asked him when I would receive the written lab findings and he tried to talk me out of getting it because the air sample would be proof enough so I shouldn\'t waste the money for the mold scraping sample. I told he that I wanted it anyway for my evidence to document the mold. He agreed. We then set an appointment for between 10 am- 11 am the next day (Friday) for him to come to my apt. to do one indoor sample and one outdoor sample for comparison. At 12 pm I decided to call him to find out his status. He apologized and said that he was running late and had left my file at his office so he couldn\'t call me.I told him it was okay, that we could reschedule the appt. for Monday same time. I never heard back from him.
I left several messages for him every day since and even called Service Magic to see if he would respond to them, still not even a courtesy call back. Since this has all happened my ceiling has been repaired, so now I cannot hire another company to do a mold test. I needed this for evidence in a court case. This may end up costing me thousands of dollars because I do not have any proof other than photos that I took myself.
When I called Service Magic the second time and spoke with Karen Stevenson, she told me that she had spoken with him and he told her that he hadn\'t taken the mold sample to the lab yet. So he lied to me about it already being at the lab. My guess is that when he figured that the landlord would hire his own mold remediation company, Joseph just threw the mold sample away and moved on the find a bigger job that he could make more money on. I believe that Joseph is unethical and unprofessional and I do not recommend his company for service. Save your time and money and find a reputable company to hire.
Cons: lied about a service performed and a no show for two appts
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