Midwest Restoration

Midwest Restoration Services (MRS) of Batavia, Illinois was engaged to clean and remediate damages caused by category 3 (sewer) water flow in my Chicago historic landmark house. The invoice arrived for payment in full, but the job had not been completed. The owner, by my request, visited the site. At that point, he could not explain why the work had not been completed or why the project manager had reported the job as completed and ready for billing. Thereafter, no attempts were made to reach me to finish the job until I sent pictures of the unfinished work and refused to pay the invoice.

Following numerous conversations with representatives of MRS, they offered to finish the work but not as described in their contract. The contract called for mold retardant paint to be applied. Instead of applying by brush, they insisted on using aerosol spray paint in a small room where there is inadequate ventilation. I refused to allow toxic hydrocarbon exposure to family members. I suggested that they allow me a credit to cover the cost I would incur to hire a contractor to clean and traditionally paint the unfinished area. MRS offered $ 5. I withheld $ 150 to cover paint and labor and paid $ 1,660 of the $ 1,810 original invoice. MRS then filed a charge against my credit report for the outstanding amount of $ 150.
In sum, I do not recommend working with Midwest Restoration Services of Batavia for the following reasons: (1) there was no quality control follow-​up by the project manager to discover incomplete work and to determine adequacy of the job; (2) until I refused to pay the invoice, there was no follow-​up by the owner after an on-​site visit demonstrated that the job had not been completed; and, (3) MRS did not provide services in a non-​health threatening way to complete the job according to the contract terms. This is a «caveat emptor» report for any individual or business in need of these services. Consumers should know that companies which provide mold/​mildew/​water damage services are not required to be licensed and that there is no regulatory agency to which one can turn to report less than adequate work.

Calling Midwest Services at 5:3 0 am to an answer after having my basement being flooded was a surprise! They were at my home by 7am with a fully ready team, equipment and professionally assessed the situation. After helping us contact our Insurance agent and carefully doing what was approved — my basement and home was carefully cleaned, being dried and treated by 11am. I would highly recommend them.