To paraphrase Dave Chapelle as Rick James, "If I had an extra set of hands, I would give this company 4 thumbs down." A service provider is only as good as their word and time and time again California Restoration proved they were not to be trusted. I could write several pages describing the terrible experience I had, but instead I will boil it down to a few bullet points: * I agreed to a maximum out of pocket expense with the tech on site before I allowed them to do any work in the case that my claim was denied (I knew there was a risk it would be denied having worked in an industry related to auto repair/insurance). * They did not honor this agreement, despite admitting to it verbally and repeatedly. This agreement was confirmed by that same tech in a deposition at a later point in time. * They refused to give me written confirmation of that agreement, assuring me it was not a problem. They later billed me an amount 8x the agreed upon amount. * When I confronted them about this duplicitous practice, they wanted me to embellish/fabricate things to try and get the insurance company to foot the bill. * They sued for the amount due and threatened a lien. The suit was settled, no lien was ever placed. * All of the other complaints listed sound very familiar. I can't attest to the quality of the work, I'm not an expert in that field. What they did and the amount billed seemed to be EXTREMELY excessive based on secondary quotes I got after the work was completed and discussing the invoice with other providers. What I can attest to is the fact that they lied to me repeatedly in the interest of their own financial gain. There are other providers out there for this service, I would encourage that you find another. There is a reason that there are SO many negative reviews. read more

These guys were very responsive to help us deal with water damage caused by a frozen pipe that ruptured in our home. Worked with us every step of the way with our insurance coverage. Highly recommended. read more

This is certainly a lifesaver when there is water damage from rain or otherwise!...they were there within 12 hours and completed the clean up of my problem in 3-5 days read more

did a great job for the second time. thanks. Freddee T read more

Reposting this review because Yelp took it down saying it "wasn't clear" that this was a first hand review. YES THIS IS A FIRST HAND REVIEW, TO MY INFINITE SORROW. I wish I'd known what an awful company this is so I could have steered clear. Here's my original review: This company (which also goes by the name of Cal Restoration) tried to charge us nearly $30,000 for a service that should have cost $3,000. They're being forced to pay restitution to past victims. Don't become a new one. http://www.sfvbj.com/news/2017/may/16/chatsworth-firm-pay-fraud-claims/ This company has filed hundreds of lawsuits against Los Angeles residents who refused to pay their outrageous bills. If you see one of their vehicles in your neighborhood, warn your neighbors, please. read more

California restoration is one of the best companies around today that does quality work. I have been using their services for about 8 years for my clients that have had floods, mold and sewage spills. Their work is efficient and they are reliable to make sure it all gets cleaned properly. They even work with adjusters through home owner insurance policies to make sure you get covered on claims. JIM, GARY AND CINDY are the most kindest, knowledgeable PROFESSIONALS IN This type of business that I have ever came across. Make sure to Contact California Restoration for any Water damages that you might come across, they won't let You Down! read more

California Restoration is a life saver. We had a pipe break below the house and California Restoration, Viliami and Paul came out the same day we discovered the issue. They immediately addressed the standing water, put in fans and dehumidifiers, eliminating the smell and preventing mold from setting in. It was a huge relief for our family that they addressed this issues allowing us to stay in our house and preventing a major issue from becoming worse. Viliami, Paul and a third technician were professional, technically knowledgeable and had great follow up. Thanks for fixing out our problem! read more

My plumber recommended I call these folks after a pipe broke and am I glad he did. They arrived quickly, took charge, set up their machinery to dry out the premises (basement and upstairs) and did a terrific job. Their office liaison was also readily available, sent updates quickly and handled everything in a polite, helpful manner. This service is not inexpensive but if you have homeowner's insurance it's a BARGAIN because it was a job well-done. read more

These guys were polite and professional. Although I never had the opportunity to meet anyone on their team, my tenant expressed nothing but positive things about the way they handled our water mitigation issues, My correspondence with Jim and Matt was always timely and polite, a good group of guys. read more

I called California Restoration after my house was flooded while i was at work due to broken pipe from upstairs bedroom. They came next morning and assessed the situation and started working. They had to open up my walls and had the dryers in my house, upstairs and downstairs for 6 days. Lipo was very nice and explained everything to me. I also worked with Matt and Jim in the office while we were trying to sort through all the insurance challenges and at the end, we were able to resolve everything. I appreciated their patients and diligence in working with me and the insurance company. I would recommend them to others. read more

We called calrestco when we suffered very significant water damage from a leaking water line to our refrigerator in our private residence. We were a little put off by the mixed reviews Calrestco had on the web but they appeared to be the best people to handle our repair. The guys that came out were very professional, well informed, and responsive to our needs. They had a full line of professional equipment to address our damage, did a thorough check for mold, and gave us some good advice on further remediation. Their services were not cheap however we didn't feel that we were overcharged given the time and labor involved and rental of the heavy equipment (dryers etc.). If we have any future water damage we would use them again. read more

I called Calrestco to handle a flooded apartment in one of my buildings. Overall, they did an efficient, problem-free and quality restoration of the damage. They coordinated with the asbestos and mold inspectors, and everything went very smoothly. The estimated time for work and completion was just as they stated, and the tenant whose apartment was damaged also remarked about how courteous and efficient their work was and the timely nature in which it was completed. I recommend them without reservation. read more

I was happy with CalRestco's service, they did good work and interfaced well with the insurance company (providing them photos and readings to update them on the progress.). The job took a little longer than originally predicted, and cost more but my deductible was the same either way. And I could have used more communication during the job as to how long it would take. But all in all, I would use them again and am happy with the work they did. Would recommend. read more

Untrustworthy company!!! They give verbal promises and verbal representations and have you sign a blank Statement of work and estimate sheets while they tell you all you have to pay is your deductible and then fill in the blank SOW after the fact making it look like you signed it filled out!! I trusted what they said and paid them my deductible only to get a bill 4 times larger. They charged me $16000 for 8 hours of work!!! They also operate under several different names which is shady to say the least!!! Ca Mold is one of their aliases. They are suing me and i am fighting them, my attorney says he has 12 other cases with this company!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! THIS COMPANY IS DISHONEST and seeks to take advantage of you and your insurance company. They told us not to call the insurance company to make a claim just so they can rack up the expenses and "tell us what to say in order to covered." They tried to charge us over $18K for 1 weeks worth of work just to dry up water from under the house. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!! read more

If I could give this company -stars I would. If you need a company to do any kind of clean up. Do yourself a favor and call serve pro. They are the ones who provided us excellent service at a fair price and worked with our insurance company. My guess is the couple of good reviews here are fraudulent like this company. Everything the negative reviews say happened to us as well, several years ago and it has not yet been resolved. These people pray on you, they lie, cheat and steal. They tell you,wait to call the insurance company until we are done. Don't worry they will pay for this. Them they try to pressure the insurance company to pay excessive prices. Which of course they won't do. Then They come after you. They use unfair and illegal business practices to scare you into paying. Don't let this happen to you. read more

This is the WORSE COMPANY IN THE WORLD. THEY BUM RUSH YOU WITHOUT GIVING YOU A REAL PRICE AND THEN AT THE END YOU GET A DEMAND FOR A $15,000 PAYMENT oh we'll give you a discount and only charge you $6,000 but we need it right now, after you have paid the Plumber that referred them to you in the first place $6,000 I don't know about you but $12,000 is a lot of money. I wouldn't call them if the sky was falling. They are LIARS AND CHEATERS. DO NOT USE THEM EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER. OH YEAH! THEY also threaten to sue you over the money. I'm telling you the BBB needs to look into these people for sure. Especially Jim, he talks a good game. read more

I didn't even want to give one star! This company is extremely unethical, and I wish I had read the other reviews here before hiring them! However, when you are faced with an emergency, you need to act quickly. I will dispense with the details, but just say this...they gave us a quote of $2,500 to do the work. When we decided to file a claim with the insurance company, they said not to worry, they would take care of all the paperwork required. Next thing we know, they submit a bill to the insurance company for $13,935. The insurance adjuster said that amount was way out of line for the work they did. They paid $5,200 to the company, which was more than twice the original estimate. Next thing we know, we are being billed for the balance...over $8,000! They are out of their minds! Someone needs to put their unethical asses out of business! Sajid needs to repost and let us know if he still feels he found a trustworthy company AFTER they did the work! read more

I give them one star because they bent over backwards to be at my house the day of a sewage backup. Quote -- $3,000 to $5,000 because we would need to have fans to dry out the flooring etc. Nope! I said how much to just clean up, disinfect, etc. -- $500. OK -- go. They were here for only 30 minutes wiping, disinfecting, etc. I did not review their work. After they left, I noticed that the toilet had not been cleaned, corners of the bathroom were riddled with pieces of toilet paper, the sink was dirty, and the area under the rug that was soiled had not been cleaned, etc. When I called to ask them to come back, the guy who cleaned said he left it spotless and that there was probably a second back-up. I took photos and sent them; the company agreed that it wasn't a second occurrence and sent the guy back two days later to "finish the job". So, if you have to use them, make sure that you survey the completed work before you give them a check. read more

I had a toilet seal break in the back bath (Laundry). They came out immediately and wrote a quote after checking. The guys were great and told me what to expect and when they would visit (minus once). The work was good. read more

I was referred to California Restoration by the plumbing company that repaired the sewage pipe leak under the house. I contacted the company and spoke with Jim to schedule a appointment for sewage clean up. Mone and Vi showed up on time and clean up the sewage spill as promised. The workers were very professional and get the job done. Although the home insurance did not cover the repair, the owner Jim was willing to work with us and gave us a reasonable price. read more

I've read all the reviews, good and bad, but I have to tell you that my experience with this company has been great! I had a raw sewage spill that was the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced in the evening when of course no one could come to help me out. The plumbers I called referred California Restoration to us and the next morning Gary called me about 8:15 am, telling me that his guys would be there in about an hour and a half. He updated me regularly until they showed up, about two hours later, but given LA traffic on a week day morning, I considered that very timely. The two men who showed up, Ofa and a gentleman whose name I didn't get, were polite and very professional. Ofa told me that they could handle the situation and clean it up for me quickly. I requested that he throw anything out that had been contaminated at all. The sewage had covered my patio and gone under the house. The look and smell was truly horrific and my fear was that the odor would not be gone, something I don't think I could have lived with. When I got home from work, I was amazed that the place was totally clean, totally smelled fresh and everything that had even come into contact with the sewage was gone. As I said, I don't know about other people's experiences, but my experience with them was that they were professional, on time, and the charge was what I would expect for the job they did. Thank you Gary and everyone at California Restoration for such a quick response and making such a miserable experience so short lived! read more

So today my 3rd floor neighbor and friends condo has a toilet explode right...all the water hits my first floor unit. Holy crap moment happens and I go into high gear getting as much support as possible. I call my friends over at Carpet Savers who rush out here and survey the area and recommend this company California Restoration...I dont know the company, never had to use it, but my trust lies in Carpet Savers. Being an avid supporter of local small businesses, Carpet Savers has been a dream carpet cleaning company for our household. Any how, I get connected with Gary -- he is the owner. From the get go, I get a calming voice talking to me, letting me know when his crew will be showing up here and how things will go. He totally got me to cool down. His crew show up on time as promised, wear their little booties even without asking. They analyze everything in detail before letting me know how things will happen, the fact they handle all my insurance paperwork and communication with my condo insurance guys. Pleased completely with these guys, the crew members are not arrogant snobs, they were down to earth, patient, answered some of my questions more than once -- non pushy type. Now i have another company i can trust out there, they will be back tomorrow to start demolition as water is in the walls, etc. I will update if any other negative findings, but from what i have seen thus far, that's highly unlikely! read more

Amazingly quick response to our emergency! They were at the location within an hour of our call. The technicians who came out were very knowledgeable and friendly. There was a bit of a misunderstanding with the billing, but they were quick to make changes that reflected my concerns. Though we got off on the wrong foot, Jim, the owner, and I ended up having a heart felt conversation over the phone. He is a good guy and I would recommend his company for your mold abatement needs. read more

Everyone at California Restoration were courteous, professional and more important timely. I would highly recommend them to anyone who might have an unfortunate incident like this happen read more

I totally and completely concur with Belinda's and Diana's reviews! Jim, the scheister salesman of the company assured me up and down the insurance company would pay before they had me sign a blank contract that was shoved under my nose after I was told it's standard practice and leaving a few fans for about a week, billing for over $10,000 of "work" which consisted of running a meter over the two rooms that sustained water damage and leaving the fans. When my ins. co. refused to pay the whole amount, they started coming after me for the balance, sending threatening letters every two or three months, necessitating me to go obtain a prescription for Valium and having to pressure my ins. co. to fast track the claim to get them off my back! They were sued successfully by the City Attorney's office resulting in a $500,000 judgment for fraudulent business practices. I wonder how much the positive reviewers were paid for their posted reviews? read more

My experience with this company was quite good. They came out at 11:30 PM when a water pipe burst and flooded our basement and the street. They followed up reliably. They were courteous and informative about what they were doing. They are quite pricey but they made a horrible experience much less painful. Lisi and Jay were good workers. read more

when you are in trouble with water damage they will come in a lie about the pricing, submit an inflated bill to insurance and when they pay only part then they put a Mechanic's lien on your property! BEWARE!!! do not use this company!!! read more

DO NOT USE THIS DEEPLY DISHONEST WATER DAMAGE AND MOLD REMEDIATION COMPANY! When we discovered a sewage pipe leak had flooded our crawl space they did not give us an estimate for the work, but told us "Don't call your insurance company because they'll deny the claim. We'll do the work and document it so they will cover everything. We have a perfect record of doing this." I was foolish enough to listen -- your brain doesn't work right when you've just discovered you're living above a pool of sewage. Well, the bill they submitted was TWICE what the insurer's own contractor's estimated was appropriate. The insurer would NOT pay the whole bill -- which was submitted with an estimate attached, fraudulently prepared long after the fact. We were on the hook for many thousands of dollars and were told a lien would be filed against our home if we didn't pay. After a lot of arguing they settled for less than they'd asked but we still had to cover thousands in extra costs. Their officer, Jim Monroe, complained about how national chains and greedy insurers were driving out family businesses like this one, and said from now one he'd make sure to give estimates before doing the work. GUESS WHAT -- I've read reports from people who had experiences EXACTLY like mine months after he said that. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. read more

Love! love! love! This company I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of water, I thought my son was taking a shower, until I walked in my kitchen the pipe under the sink burst, I couldn't find the shut off called my husband at work he direct me to the shut off at the same time he was freaking out! a co worker from his job recommended California Restoration I called them at 2:00 am in the morning Gary Freeman said a crew will be there in 30-40 minutes, My Dining, living room was flooded with water. they came out extract all the water remove all wet padding and wet dry wall they left fans, dehumidifiers for at least 5-7 days I called my claim adjuster he acted like an idiot Jim stepped in and took care off it. The crew and office staff was super friendly and polite work was clean and professional!! Thank you California Restoration for all your hard work. we truly appreciated!!! read more