On November 4, 2014 a Jennifer Foust from a company called Service Master came to me with a VERY BADLY FIRE/WATER DAMAGED grandfather clock. Service Master is a company that is hired by Insurance Companies to respond and contract to empty and clean out homes and reconstruct after fire/flooding damages. Ms. Foust brought the clock to me, I did not know what town or where the burned home was. Black Bear Clock Repair is a well respected company. We are the ones insurance companies and movers hire to repair damaged clocks for whatever reason or need. It is important for the reader to understand that I am employed by the INSURANCE COMPANY OR MOVER, NOT THE CLOCK OWNER. The clock owner is not paying for the services, the Insurance company is. When Ms. Foust came to my shop and brought this clock, I DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHO THE OWNER WAS. I was unaware of the customers name, address, phone number or anything. As far as I was concerned, Service Master was my customer and from that day on, all my contacts would be between Jennifer Foust and myself. I told Ms. Foust, as I always do, that I would go entirely through the clock, establish a written estimate of repair as well as provide her all the information about the clock itself...... i.[Member Information Removed]. maker, approx. value in current condition, approx. value in repaired condition. I did so in a timely fashion and emailed it to her per her request. A very long period of time had passed and I had not heard back from Ms. Foust, I emailed again and called many times but no response. A few months passed and I received a phone call from a [Member Name Removed] I had no idea who this was. Her name, nor her phone number were in my data base file and she kept talking about a grandfather clock. I thought maybe she had the wrong clock shop as this was not a customer of mine. Finally, after much confusion, I found out who she was. She had many questions about her clock, I explained to her that I was not allowed to speak to her. I tried to kindly and respectfully explain to her that she was not my client and that my communications were suppose to be between Jennifer Foust and I, that I had sent the estimates to her but she was not getting back to me. For information purposes, [Member Name Removed] is actually the daughter of the actual owner of the clock..... her mom, [Member Information Removed] is actually the clock owner on file with the insurance company. Ms. [Member Name Removed] stated that Jennifer Foust had been fired and this was why I was not hearing back from her and that now The Adjuster at State Farm was the direct contact. So on January 15, 2015 I emailed the same estimate that I had sent to Jennifer Foust at Service Master, I sent it to State Farm Insurance Co. Brittany, the adjuster and I communicated about the clocks needs and negotiated the pricing. She told me to move ahead with the repairs. I did so immediately. Upon completion of the clock work I contacted Brittany and informed her the clock was ready to be delivered. May I interject here that throughout the clocks progress, the clock owners daughter continued to call me direct asking for updates etc. I politely continued to explain that I could get in trouble speaking to her directly. I tried to tell her that all negotiations, approvals and communications had to be done through State Farm and her adjuster/agent. It was not acceptable in my contract with State Farm to negotiate and communicate direct with THEIR CLIENT. My client was State Farm, State Farms client was the clock owner, even though the clock owners daughter was obviously handling her mother's affairs for her. When I informed the insurance company of the clocks completion I was asked to hold onto it a while longer since the other repairs in the home were not completed yet. Eventually the home was restored and I was free to deliver the clock. The adjuster and I discussed delivery and she gave me permission to contact the customer directly and set up the delivery directly with them on an agreed upon schedule with them. Normally I deliver the clock, the customer signs for the delivery. I set the clock up and go through a full customer consultation of do's and don'ts in running the clock. This is something I like to do for if the customer does not know how to properly run their clock, that is not a help to me so I take the time to teach them. Once back at my shop, I send a billing to the Insurance Company and they pay the bill. When State Farm told me at this time to go ahead and call the customer's daughter to set up delivery. They gave me, at this time, the customers address and contact information and the PERMISSION to call them direct. I called the customer and finally was able to deliver the clock on September 24, 2015. I made the appointment for between 10 am and 12 noon. It took me a couple hours to get to the customers home, much further away than I have ever delivered before but that was fine. I went to the home and we PROFESSIONALLY delivered, set-up and did a customer consultation with the customer. The clock looked beautiful. The customer gave my company an "A" for Quality of work. A brand new movement, polished weights and pendulum, hinges, repaired the wood case and bottom base which was totally destroyed from sitting in water. The hand rubbing of the wood case was done in love of clocks. The customer was thrilled. The customer asked if I wanted her to write me a check or if I wanted the company to. I told her it didn't matter. So she wrote me a check. I promised to send a PAID IN FULL billing statement so she could get her payment back from the insurance company, obviously the customer misunderstood and thought I was sending it to her.... again, I re-iterate... my customer was the insurance company so once back at the shop, the same day I delivered the clock, I sent a paid in full billing statement to State Farm so they would then send a check to reimburse the customer...... exactly what I told the clock owner I would do and what I was suppose to do. Out of nowhere, in March of 2016, I received a notice from Angie's List that my rating had dropped from an "A" rating to a "B" due to an Overall "C" rating given to me by this customer. Readers, Please understand..... I have been doing clock repair for over 34 years. This is what I do, it is my passion, It is my bread and butter. I am professional, I care about my customers and I certainly care about their clocks. I put my heart and soul into my work. When I read the review that was given to me, I cried. I found it interesting that the customer gave me an "A" for my quality of workmanship - which she would know about since she has the clock in her home enjoying it. She gave me a "B" for Pricing which was interesting because I did not negotiate the pricing with the clock owner but instead with the Insurance Company. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, the customer destroyed my hard work efforts brought forth in my overall "A"; rating to a "B" based on a "D"; for Responsiveness, a "D"; for Punctuality and a "C" for Professionalism. All of these areas she graded my efforts on poorly were the areas that I WAS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE COMMUNICATING WITH THE CLOCK OWNER. I was not suppose to be responding to her, I was communicating regularly with State Farm Insurance who is the party I was suppose to be communicating with and I explained this several times in a kind fashion to the clock owners daughter. I showed up for my appointment on time. The clock was done in a timely fashion, I had to hold the clock completed waiting on the approval of State Farm that the house was done and ready for delivery. I handled this project in a totally responsible and professional fashion with a business attitude and grace and kindness to the customer. Upon reading the review by the clock owners daughter, I KINDLY called the customer asking her to change her rating and explained once again that I was not given permission until the clock was completed and ready to deliver, by State Farm, to speak direct to the clock owner and at that time I did call her direct and set up the delivery. I informed her that I emailed a copy of the PAID IN FULL billing letter, as I was suppose to do, to State farm so that the customer would be refunded the repair costs. It was the clock owners daughter who offered to pay me direct and get reimbursed by the insurance company..... this is not normal, I did send the Paid in Full statement to State Farm as promised. Shortly after I called the customer asking her to change her review grade, she called back and left me a message. I cried when I got it. She basically stated I lied and that State farm had given me permission to speak to her direct. THEY DID! At the end when the clock was completed so I could set up delivery direct with them but not until the end. I took my time in Responding to the customers review in writing because I was so upset by this rating as I care so much about my work and my reviews..... I take these reviews to heart ! I truly do care. I realize that it is IMPOSSIBLE to make everyone happy all the time. I repair thousands of clocks and most of the time a person only takes the time to put a review in when they are upset but many kind people put in a review when happy too. My friends and family tell me I take these reviews too personally, and maybe I do..... but I care. This review bothered me so much, I contacted State farm insurance and told them what happened. They said the only way they could help would be to send me a brief email that I can copy and paste into this response so the clock owner and daughter might better understand I did exactly what I was contracted to do and that I did not break the code of ethics amongst the Insurance company (who was my direct client and not the clock owner) and my employment by them. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE CLOCK OWNER DIRECTLY WHEN BEING EMPLOYED BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY TO REPAIR AN ITEM FOR THEM AND THEY ARE PAYING ME. So please see below the copy and pasted brief explanation by the Manager at State Farm Insurance which clears the poor rating reasons the clock owner gave me the poor grades for. If the clock owner can find it in her heart to change those grading's to what they truly should be knowing from the mouth of the Insurance that I did nothing wrong, it would mean the world to me for I do not deserve my overall drop in my rating due to this review. To Whom It May Concern: Normally when an insurance company hires a sub-contractor directly the professional services and all communication are between these two parties exclusively. Communication outside these two parties pertaining to the agreement is normally allowed only by permission of one or the other principal parties. This is normal professional behavior/practice. Sincerely, Lance Newsome Claim Representative [Member Information Removed] TN Fire Claims - CPNF (865) 740-0136 Please Ms. [Member Name Removed], find it in your heart to change the Responsiveness, Punctuality and Professionalism areas of my rating. I did not do anything wrong and you yourself stated my quality of work was an "A". I love what I do and I promise I did nothing wrong. From Jennifer Foust being fired to the case being turned over to State Farm.... I hung in there and was patient through the whole transaction being flexible with your situation. I communicated well with the insurance people as I was suppose to. Readers, if the clock owner refuses to change her rating..... please disregard this rating since I have proven with the insurance Company email that I did exactly what I was suppose to do. I really Care. Thank you. - Joanie LaTorre
