I was very dissatisfied with my home inspection service from Carson Dunlop. They failed to use a moisture meter, which was said in a follow-up with the regional manager to be a required component of their inspection. I then had severe water damage in my basement which cost me 10K in a complete gut-job - this wasn't due to flooding or anything - it was just rainfall and pure long-term degradation of the foundation through the walls which they failed to detect. When I followed up for a review with them, they informed me that (of course) there would be no legal recourse given the airtight disclosure they make me sign, but that even if it were proven, I would not even receive my $450 inspection fee back! Their recourse was that they would "inform the inspector of their shortfall". Everything they pointed out was obvious and they were wrong on the age of every major appliance (ie, 4 year old furnace turns out to be 11 years old!).
- Approximate cost of services:
- $450.00
- Company Response
Thank you for taking the time to tell your story. I'm sorry you've had problems with your home. While anything is possible, it would be very unusual for one of our inspectors to not use a moisture meter. It's like not using a flashlight or a ladder for a home inspector. We don't have regional managers, so I'm not sure whom you would have spoken with. I gather the water damage was not visible at the time the inspection. Even a moisture meter will not detect concealed water damage if it is dry at the time of the inspection, or if the surfaces that are inspected and probed are dry.
I'm having trouble understanding how you were not offered your $450 inspection fee back. If you contact us, we will gladly refund your fee. By the way, I'm also surprised that the furnace was not the age we reported it to be. We would like to get more detail on that. I thought we had very good systems in place for that. If we need to change them, I'd love to know about it.
Thanks very much.
Sincerely,
Alan Carson
President