We contracted this company to do 3 things for us. 1. Replace 2 new sump pumps in the basement. 2. Repair 2 cracks in the wall in the basement. 3. Attempt to raise cracked sidewalk and driveway pavement to reduce the noticeable cracks through a process commonly known as mud jacking although the business wasn't using traditional materials. They were using a version of expanding foam similar to the spray cans you can buy at a home improvement store.
1. If we had only contracted them for the sump pumps this would have been a glowing review. They did an excellent job on this part of the work but keep reading. 2. For the cracks, we have a large home with a finished basement. One of the cracks is in the "entertainment area" where the TV and pool table are. The salesman said they would "make it pretty" since it was a finished basement. They did not. Their strategy for fixing the crack and stopping the leak was to jackhammer a hole in the concrete floor, cover the crack with a rough hand cut piece of vinyl plastic about the thickness of vinyl siding and basically allow the water to run down in between the wall and the plastic until it drained into the newly made hole. The work was ugly. I called a manager in he visited and said they would make it right and that was 2 years ago and they never returned. 3. Regarding the "mudjacking" They first messed up the scheduling of the work. We had an appointment but the worker missed the appointment with no calls to explain. We then had to reschedule a month out due to existing appointments. When he came a month later (October) they sent him 1 hour away from their offices only for him to say " your yard is big enough and I have to stretch the hoses across the yard and it is too cold today". So in essence he drove close to 3 hours round trip plus wasted my time because someone in the office didn't have enough info to tell him what to expect. Since temperature affected the material they were using we had to wait until spring to finally complete the work. In hindsight I wish I hadn't paid to do this because the results were less than spectacular but in their defense they did attempt to perform the work that was requested, the concrete was simply too heavy and attached with too much rebar for the slabs to move back in place where I wanted them. 4. In the meantime the story gets even better. I had a written copy of the quote from the salesman that showed the work to be completed. To be fair the mud jacking was written in small handwriting in the corner of the paper because he was short on space but it was on there! The office then apparently decides that they had some extra expense in sending their mud jacking guy out twice so they tried to tell me that my original quote did not include the mud jacking and that I would have to pay a significant amount extra. I had more than one conversation with their office proving that it was on the paper and part of the original quote. Each time they backed down and said "oh I see what you mean, we're sorry" but then they would call again. Finally they tried to send me to collections. When I threatened to get a lawyer involved because I had the paperwork to prove I was right they finally stopped. Final thoughts: The sump pump work was exactly what I wanted. The mud jacking was a disappointment but I feel the results were due to variables that couldn't have been known until we tried. The crack repair was such a disaster that I still feel my blood pressure raise every time I think about it and it has been 2 years. And through it all I feel the office staff showed a mix of incompetence, lack of information and downright shady dealings. Because of that impression of the office staff, I will never do business with them again. P.S. I received a call from one of their salespeople recently saying they would like to come by and charge me $120 to "do maintenance" on the sump pumps. So if you work with them you can expect to stay on their list. That call is actually what reminded me that I had been wanting to write this review in the hopes that someone else could avoid similar headaches.
Service Provider Response
Hello [Member Name Removed], We are sorry for the experience you have had with IFS. We want our customers to be provided with the best solutions and service. We don't take your concerns lightly, and I updated my Executive team on the experience you have had. A team member will be reaching out to help provide you and your home a solution. -Brianna, Team IFS
