Dealing with Bank of America - December 2006

Bank of America has the worst hold times I have ever experienced.

12/06/06 - I spoke with "Lee Jones" (audio upload pending) via 866-883-0591. "Lee" told me that:

- "Well it won’t be accruing interest, because it doesn’t accrue any interest, and you’re not financially liable for the charge."

- "They’re gonna go to bat for you, or it wouldn’t have been adjusted. It wouldn’t have, uh, shown up as a credit for, uh..."

I asked him straight out if it was being considered a valid dispute and he stated "Yes, ma'am".

12/11/06 – Held for five minutes and hung up, then later a CSR stated there was no information in the system for me at all.

12/19/06 – Got statement from MBNA/BoA showing the credit.

12/21/06 – Came home to find I just missed a call from "Nancy Brown" at MBNA/BoA regarding the dispute. Called her back at 5:00 (2:00min) at 866-522-3256 and she read off that she got a rebuttal from the merchant that he said they did what they said they would do but I was never satisfied. She already mailed a letter since they didn't reach me at 4:30, and I should fax in my response to them when I get it.

12/23/06 – Got the letter from "Carolyn Williams" (upload pending) which was the first time I got to see any of the test results from the contractor's samples, which I never saw him take (he could have taken them from his own house). They were mislabeled (pre-test was the 2nd sample and post-test was the 1st). He included a letter in pidgeon English and a signature page from some document (purported to be the Anabec, Inc. warranty but without the 1st page who knows(?), as I still never got my own copy).



(I was later told that these incomplete documents were more convincing evidence than mine, even though my test results completely contradicted the contractor's).

12/26/06 – Faxed a six-page rebuttal letter to "Carolyn Williams" at 302-457-8007.

12/28/06 - I spoke with "Nancy Brown" and she said they didn't get it and I should re-fax it. I did. Later I spoke with "Candace" who said I should give it 24 hours.

12/29/06 – I was told they got the rebuttal fax.

Dealing with Bank of America - November 2006

11/4/06 – Got home from work and found a pink registered mail slip with my last name spelled wrong on it. No name, just a zip code that I realized was Saugerties. I figured it was something legal and ignored it, because I don't sign for anything if I don't know the contents.

11/7/06 – I discovered substantial new staining and mold growth on the walls and mold on other surfaces in the basement. I took pictures and wrote a new letter to the merchant that stated both that I wasn't going to pay at all and that I was refusing to sign for the registered letter as I was under advisement not to.

11/13/06 - Got home from work and found a 2nd delivery with the wrong last name on it. This one had a partial name of the contractor on it. I waited for another contact.

11/20/06 – I got a statement from Bank Of America (frmr. MBNA) with a $6900 charge on it – transaction date 10/25, posting date 10/27. I just about flipped.

I called customer service. They transferred me to "Lucretia McGill" in approvals.

She stated that "Lisa" had noted in the account that she had told me on 10/24 that the charge would go through – because I gave the merchant the card, which implies approval.

This is a lie, as "Lisa" never said that at all.

I told her I'd have called back and cancelled my card right then if "Lisa" had said that.

I wondered aloud why (during the week the contractor was at my house) I needed to call card services to approve the charge (three times) if approval is implied from the start. "Lucretia McGill" didn't know (yet she works in the approvals department) and referred me to billing disputes, but they were already closed for the day.

I stated to her before hanging up that "maybe I should just cancel my card if this is the service I’ll be getting".

She replied, "Okay it is now cancelled. Cut up the card, and destroy any courtesy checks you might have received. Have a nice night, and goodbye".

I have since found out this is a big no-no according to the Fair Credit Billing Act.

11/21/06 – I called 866-883-0591, which is the BofA disputes department. I spoke with "Kara Jenkins" (audio upload pending). She advised me amongst other things that:

- It was definately a "quality of service" dispute (this would come back to bite me in the ass many times, and they must be trained to give this bad/wrong advice just to screw the consumer out of their rights because it is so hard to dispute on this basis).

- Once it is "placed into dispute I was no longer responsible for the charge" (she said that twice)

- That I'd "receive a letter asking for any other information that we may need". (This would prove to be the biggest mistake they made and the costliest for me).

At that point I still hadn't gotten my warranty from the contractor and he'd already been paid.

11/26/06 – I e-Faxed 33 pages to the attention of the BofA disputes department.

11/28/06 – I called BofA and spoke to "Laurie" via 866-883-0591 who said it was "too early" and she doesn't see the fax – they have an efax too. She would note the account that I called. I tried later and had to hang up because of a long hold time.

Later that day "Sharon" at 866-883-0591 stated they got the fax. She said that the contractor could request arbitration with Visa at any point. They would do everything on my behalf, and we were at the "mid-point" of the dispute process.

Dealing with MBNA - October 2006

10/22/06 – I checked my MBNA account via phone (yet again), and no charge had been placed from the contractor.

10/23/06 – I got the aforementioned message from the contractor that MBNA wanted me to call. (Audio pending upload)

I called MBNA and held for 15 minutes during my dinner break at work.

I spoke to a CSR named "Sheri" who saw the contractor's name in my file as he had indeed called. There were no notes that MBNA had told him to tell me to contact him.

I was transferred to the approval's department and advised "Lisa" that I did not authorize the charge, and why.

I advised her that the contractor damaged my home, and he could deal with me directly if he wanted to get paid.

"Lisa" stated she understood and that the charge wouldn't be authorized.

10/26/06 – I started to compose a letter to the contractor in expectation of a call or letter in regards to the continued refusal of the card. It took a few days to get it "right" and then I had printer issues.

10/30/06 – Mailed the following letter to the contractor (personal information removed and replaced with general terms) which included images of the new mold, the damage and the inspector's report and testing results:

On the dates of 9/18/06-9/23/06 your company did a ‘mold remediation’ at my residence.

You were supplied with a valid credit card but had trouble with your new card processing company. At your request I twice checked the validity of the card and credit line and determined that it was not the issue.

Prior to the 10/23/06 answering machine message in which you stated that you had contacted my card holder and they needed me to call, I had not, verbally or in writing, been contacted by you or your representatives, to state a continued problem with the card, its processing, and/or to seek other payment options for the mold remediation.

I contacted MBNA that same evening and was told by Lisa in Approvals that (contractor's name redacted) had stated he’d tried many times to contact me. I advised her this was untrue, and that I did not approve the charge.

It is for the following reasons that I will not be paying you the $6900 (tax inclusive):

- As we discussed on 9/23, the job was not completed to my personal satisfaction.
- Within forty-eight hours, a professional visual inspection found old, active mold growth in several obvious areas. Swab and air tests found significant active mold and moderate debris. (See enc).
- Three independent, highly skilled resources have advised me that the Dry-Lok you applied (and I had questioned your use of several times) will without a doubt, and sooner than later, cause serious perhaps even irreparable damage to the basement walls if it is not professionally removed.
- The above fact has reduced the property's market value, possibly to the extent of thousands of dollars.
- The Anabec warranty is already void due to broad water leakage through (and minor physical damage to) the Dry-Lok'd portion of the wall which abuts the driveway.
- I was left to remove the kitchen "containment" area alone. This released significant spores out into the living space, as evidenced by mold that began to grow on several refrigerator magnets within days.
- Your crew knocked out the water heater, blew a fuse, and caused a water leak at the main intake valve.
- Some of the wood beams left behind have significant damage from the removal of the wood screws.
- You and your crew were late every day, and left early. The job took three days longer than promised.

I could go on. The above items are more than enough reason for me to dispute the charges in total. However, as I am a reasonable person, I am willing to work with you directly on a settlement that will be fair to the both of us.

In accordance with the FDCPA, please consider this letter as official notice that I do not wish to have any future phone contact with or receive calls from your company, its legal representatives, or any third party vendors or collection agencies. Any communication or requests may be submitted in writing via US postal mail.

Please respond at your convenience in regards to discussing an adequate settlement.

The mold remediation - Days Three, Four, Five & Six

The job was supposed to be done in three days.

It took six, and I had to force the contractor to show up on the last day to finish.

The contractor threatened harm to my home if I didn't let him leave the job site (I have this on tape).

He knocked the water intake valve (40 years old, buried under the foundation and made of lead) loose and caused a leak.

I actually have much of our interaction taped (which I will upload once I find a free, non-malicious hosting site - any suggestions?) and continued to keep a daily diary.

Keep in mind here that before the job even began I was promised a 20-year transferrable warranty, underwritten by the company that created the product and process he used during the remediation.

They're known as Anabec, Inc. and they sign warranty paperwork without ever inspecting the jobs. They claim they honor all warranty claims, but they don't, and screwed me too. They will come into this story a bit later.

But that's not so much important here, at this juncture, or even to the blog as a whole.

What is important is that the contractor wasn't able to charge to my credit card.

I knew he might have problems, as I had purposely given him the wrong expiration date because I had planned on having the job inspected (and did just that, within 36 hours of the contractor's last visit) and if the basement didn't come back clean, I would refuse to pay until he made it right, based on the warranty.

As it turns out, the contractor, after a month (apparently) of trying/failing to charge to my card he called and lied to me that my bank (then still MBNA) wanted to talk to me about it.

And even though I knew he was lying, I called them. And that is what this blog is really about.

It is about what happened when I called MBNA/Bank of America to help me deal with this moron.

The mold remediation - Day Two

7:30am – I discovered that I had no hot water. I was unsure if I could go downstairs to check the water heater.

9:30am – Crew arrived one hour later than scheduled due to traffic on the local bridge. I was aware of this ahead of time having heard about it on the radio. The demolition was mostly completed, and the removal of debris began.

I know for a fact that with mold you are supposed to put all the debris in bags after removal to avoid cross contamination, but the contractor did not do this. Contractor brought moldy furniture, drywall and other items through the highly exposed "containment area" un-bagged and tossed it into the dumpster that was placed six inches from the side of my house (and in front of a basement window they opened for ventilation), which was also mere feet from my neighbor's house. The images below were taken from my living room window. The brick house belongs to my neighbor, (who happens to be an elderly widow, and prone to illness).





11:30am - I went down into the basement for the first time since they started work. I spoke at length to the contractor about what I wanted to see done as far as clean up, restoration, etc. The contractor advised that he had just been to another home in the area (on Cherry Street) for an estimate and gave my name and number as a reference. He did so without my permission.

11:45am – Crew left for lunch

12:20pm – Crew returned from lunch

1:30pm – I was outside in my garage. Contractor made a big deal about the fact that my garage was messy and why didn't I toss everything in the dumpster since I was paying for it. (Contractor would continue to pry into my personal business for two more days before I got really mad and put a stop to it).

2:30pm – I went back into the basement and hinted that contractor should re-light the water heater pilot since he knocked it out. Contractor acted like he didn't understand. I lit the pilot myself.

3:00pm – Crew left for the day.

The mold remediation - Day One

8:00am – I locked up my two cats in a bedroom as far away from the basement/kitchen area as possible, in expectation of the mold remediator's arrival (henceforth known simply as "contractor" and/or "crew") as promised at 8:30am. Contractor had advised me they wouldn't be affected by the work but I did it anyway.

9:30am – Contractor called to advise they were running late on another job and it would be another hour or so before they could arrive to start work.

1:20pm – Contractor and crew finally arrived - five hours later than scheduled. Demolition in the basement began. Contractor put up a "containment area" of plastic sheeting no thicker than my Dollar Store shower curtain (I have a sample) between the basement door and the door to the outside. A great amount of wall, floor and other space was left unprotected, yet this was the area that all the debris would be taken out of the home through. Although I questioned this, Contractor advised me he knows his business and I have nothing to worry about they would thoroughly clean up after themselves. I had to point out several openings in the containment where they’d forgotten to tape.

1:30pm – Contractor set up a "negative air" machine in my living room. It was loud and blew dust and papers all over the room. It ran all day in the same spot. Contractor advised that it would clean the air in the entire house five times over". My home is a Cape Cod converted into a two-story with many doors, a small hallway and a finished attic. The location it was placed was the living room, which is nowhere near the basement or kitchen where the work was taking place. In the image below you can see the entrance to the attic, and the hallway to its right. To the left (not pictured) is a door to the kitchen.



2:20pm – Contractor's crew left for lunch
2:30pm – I decided to take some pictures of what they'd done so far but didn't go into the basement because of all the heavy demolition and debris.

The "containment area" @ 2:30pm:





3:10pm – Crew returned from lunch
3:40pm – Crew left for day. The basement light was left on though I didn’t notice till it got dark.
9:10pm – Found that the "containment area" of plastic sheeting had fallen down, and the basement door was left ajar, potentially exposing the house to excessive amounts of disturbed/airborne mold spores. You can also see (in the second image) the leftover residue from the duct tape on the ceiling where it pulled away.





The kitchen reeked of mold.

9:15pm – I left a message for the contractor

9:40pm – Received a response from the contractor that they would arrive first thing in the morning to fix the containment and that I had nothing to worry about. basement.

The basement light remained on because I didn't want to go down there myself.

I left the cats locked up and ran for my bedroom upstairs.

It got worse from there.

Here is where the story begins

I bought my house in 1999. The previous owner had done a great job of hiding all the problems.

The big-time issue was the fact that the basement turns into an indoor swimming pool every time it rains for longer than five minutes a week.

So I had a flooding issue. And a mold issue.






I hired a contractor for $6900.00 (tax included) to clean up the mold.

He didn't.





He also caused a ton of damage in the process.




When the contractor showed me the following hole, he kicked it with his work boots till I told him to stop (as pieces of my wall fell to the floor).




Now he's laughing his way to the bank with my money.

Unfortunately I can't tell you his company name in public because their attorney has already threatened to sue me for tortious interference.

The next post(s) detail what happened, each day, as it happened (and the audio that proves it).