I did an inspection April 4th. The client is now emailing me telling me I did a poor job of inspecting. He had someone com look about the floor being unlevel and the contractor told him the home has a poor foundation. I found no issues with the foundation. The contractor also said that the crawl space had electrical wires loose, this isn’t true. I went back through my pictures of the report. Also, the home has some 8x8 columns from the old lumber cut in the 60’s. This home was built 1953. I am not sure how to handle this. This will be my first complaint. I am supposed to meet him today.
Thanks,
Chrisian Wright
Did the contractor look at the floor because of the recommendations in your report?
It was noted in the report that I recommend a foundation specialist inspect further. The seller and buyer were both there during the discussion of the unlevel floor.
This is always difficult. My suggestion is, listen and be respectful. I would explain the inspection is an opinion and opinions can differ. At most I would offer to refund their inspection fee AT MOST. I always try to set expeditions before the inspection. I wish you luck. I am sure you will get lots of people telling you their thoughts
Thanks! I appreciate your comment!
Then why this…
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I’m confused. If you found nothing wrong with the foundation, why did you recommend a foundation specialist inspect further? You only spoke about the unlevel floors or was it noted in the report?
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Perhaps he has a photo or can pinpoint where they were located. Maybe you didn’t see them, or maybe they’re not “electrical wires” that are actually “loose”.
I noticed some very important remarks made about the foundation has been removed from the original post. 
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Hard to help without accurate information. I fear we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Truthfully, I would have to see the report and the complaint.
That being said, it is not uncommon for a contractor to disagree with us. They have money to be made and throwing an inspector under the bus is a way for the contractor to try to obtain credibility.
The question is, did the contractor find additional problems which could be deemed as material defects outside of what was reported on?
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If you refund the inspection fee, make sure you get the client to sign a release of all future claims. These are available here.
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People are crazy and the problems come in groups. We’ve been on a great run lately and hadn’t had a callback for around a year until this week when I got two. First was on a 5 year old inspection the guy was complaining about rot in the wall. My inspector did a great job and called out for further evaluation of the siding and building envelope and that there may be concealed damage. I honestly don’t think the buyer read the report before calling. His silence was priceless as I was reading him his report.
The other issue came in yesterday as an email titled “insurance question”. Two year old inspection the buyer asks where to file a claim with my E/O carrier since something “huge” was overlooked in her inspection. Turns out after two years a tile came loose on her shower curb and the shower was leaking to the room below. We got onsite right away and assured her it’s a simple fix and she’s fine. People are just nuts.
OP, I can’t imagine what their complaint is if you had it in the report. This business is just thankless at times. Most of the people are great folks but the occasional illogical nut ruins it for everyone.
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There is a process for this:
- Have them list the issue in writing. Ask them what they expect you to do about it. Do not try and negotiate anything at this time. No excuses, no explanations…
- Have them set a time for you to come back and see what they allege.
- Go back and take pictures of everything. Then leave. Tell them you will review everything they pointed out and get back with them.
- Go home and review your report in the areas of concern. Did you say anything in the report they did not read?
- Read (AGAIN) your SOP pertaining to the complaint. Does the SOP cover the subject of the complaint?
- At this point you will know if you messed up. You have several choices on how to proceed.
a.Contact your insurance provider.
b. Get a lawyer. Provide the inspection and the return to the property.
c. Prepare a reply yourself.
If it’s in the report. tell them to read the report again.
If it is not a subject covered in the SOP, copy and paste the SOP. Apologize that you didn’t make that clear to them, but that is not something we do. Pay attention to the : The inspector is not required to do part…
The main thing, keep your mouth shut till your lawyer tell you to speak.
If you screwed up, hope your covered by insurance.
If the client fixed the problem, they are screwed if you have all this covered in your Pre-Inspection Agreement, which I would hope you do.
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