In connection with work to remediate a failing garage wall in my single-family house, I was required by my city to hire a special inspector and, based on the recommendation of Dalinghaus, my contractor, chose Geocon. Total payment to the contractor, including change orders, was just under $20,000.
I wasn't around when most of the work/inspections occurred and really had no idea what Geocon was doing on the project. Work was completed in early June, 2019, and Geocon sent me an invoice for $1,200 on June 17, 2019. I asked the contractor's liaison if that amount was reasonable, and he advised that $1,200 wasn't out of line. The City's final inspection was on July 8, 2019, and I then paid the final balance to the contractor. Geocon had never advised me that it had to expend any time due to the contractor's supposed failure to communicate/coordinate.
On July 22, 2019, I received another invoice from Geocon for $3,547.50 above the $1,200. The contractor's liaison told me that the invoice was outrageous, and that he'd never seen that high an amount--almost 25 % of the cost of the actual work itself--just for special inspection services. He said that special inspectors don't generally bill "a la carte" (my characterization, not his) the way that Geocon had--i.e., instead of a flat rate for inspection services, billing for inspector's time, equipment (truck, etc.), lab charges--separately. He also said that he'd tried to call Geocon representative Neal Berliner to discuss, but that Berliner hadn't returned the call. (Berliner later denied receiving that call.)
Based on information regarding other inspectors provided by the contractor, my conclusion is that Geocon's prices for that work are substantially higher than most other providers'. The contractor provided me with a list of about 10 inspectors and their rates, which were generally in the neighborhood of $220-250. Geocon billed out its inspector at $80/hour with a minimum of 4 hours, so the minimum charge for inspections was $320. Geocon, however, also charged me additional "material pick up and delivery" charges, the Senior Engineer's "project management" time, the time for a "Non-Technical Assistant" "scheduling/dispatch/field suppo [sic]", AND additional equipment charges for each of the 10 inspections. The two or three inspectors that I contracted from the list confirmed that they charged only the flat rate of around $240 per hour, plus charges for lab work. So Geocon's base rate for the inspectors is significantly higher, and then they add the "a la carte" charges on top of thatt. (To be clear, though, Geocon did send a rate sheet showing the rates for its Engineers, etc with the initial contract that I signed; based on the contractor's recommendation, I just didn't think about it or compare them with other inspectors' billing practices when I signed that contract.)
When I disputed the bill, Berliner of Geocon claimed that about 8 hours of their inspectors' time was due to the contractor's failure to communicate re the need to cancel inspections due to weather conditions, etc. Geocon never told me of any supposed problem with the contractor until after I'd made the final payment to the contractor.
Given all of the above, I refused to pay the additional $3547.50, and instead offered to pay an additional $1,500. Geocon refused to budge on the $3547.50 and sued me in small claims court. The contractor's principal reached out to Geocon to try to work out a compromise, and they again refused to budge. The liaison told me that Geocon will lose far more in future business from the contractor than the additional $1,000-1,500 that it held out for, so they're extremely stubborn in addition to being expensive.
Most egregiously, after filing the small claims action, Geocon sent me new invoices in August and October, 2019 for an additional $760 for work supposedly done on August 9, 2019. Again, the city's final inspection was July 8, 2019, and as far as I know, all work was completed in early June.
The contractor, who just wanted to get this whole mess out of its hair, eventually gave me $1,000 in exchange for my releasing it, and I settled Geocon's claims for an additional payment of $3,547.50, net $2,547.50 to me. In accepting that amount, Geocon never raised the issue of the additional $760 supposedly due. Based on information available to me, I see no way that that $760 was legitimate.
I would recommend to anybody who asks that they not do business with Geocon. read more
