Originality and Ethics are lacking in this Industry

First let me start of by saying that competition is good. Its good for business and good for the economy. It regulates prices and I thought kept people honest. Competition has made me a lot of money because of the lack of ethics and integrity in this industry. I don't know if any other industry has such a lack of ethics as the bio recovery/meth lab cleanup industry. Just when I think I have seen it all, something else happens and I am once again amazed. What am I talking about you may ask.... Let me elaborate.

Sometime back in 2005 I was contacted by a bio recovery company from California. This individual smelled like a duck, walked like a duck, and talked like a duck. Being new to the industry I was vulnerable like many others when they first start out. This individual preyed on newbies and sold them "listings" on a his directory. Now I know his directory wasn't worth the domain that he paid for it, but then, we all are hungry for some business and willingly paid the $250 or whatever it was to be listed. After one year you quickly realized it was a complete waste of money and a scam by this guy.

That same person tried to start various alliances to compete against ABRA, or give an alternative as he claimed. Nevertheless they were squashed before they got off the ground. Now he poses on his Myspace page for what appears to be a playgirl photo shoot. Only in the bio industry!!

Then a meth training company came into the picture. They had their stuff together and put on a well informed class. Their business plan was good. Train everyone in the country, and sub out all the work making 40-60% profit from behind their desks. Well a lot of bridges were burned along the way, and a lot of shady stuff started to happen. For example, they would request bids for properties that were already done and completed just to get pricing information from other companies. This genius business plan will be short lived because his integrity is transparent. His ability to piss off the masses is plausible.

Then there are new companies that are coming into the mix on a daily basis. Some of these companies lack originality, and depth. Instead of making a name for themselves, they will go ahead and steal your name, or a couple of names and put them together. Better yet, they will cut and paste part of your website and apply it to theirs. One company right here in the Tampa area stole two companies names, put them together and made it one name. Then bought a toll free number that is identical to mine, off only by one number. Other companies will attend mutual trade shows, take marketing material and copy the entire thing changing only the company name to theirs. While this is extremely pathetic and annoying I have left it alone these past few years. Now I will make a point and an example out of trademark violations, and stealing material. You may be thinking, its expensive to challenge or enforce a trademark.... NOT ON A CONTINGENCY IT ISN'T.

Then there's other individuals who think if they buy 400 domain names they will monopolize the entire industry. That appears to be short lived because the websites are spam. Spamming is not tolerated by google or yahoo to my knowledge.

For those not in the industry you must be wondering exactly how bad is this industry. To put it in perspective bio recovery companies are approximately 1% of the amount of plumbers in a large city. That's not very many. One of us for every 100 plumbers. You would think that business is business and everyone would have a symbiotic relationship. Alas, plumbers are regulated, bio recovery in most states is not. So cowboys and Indians are running the show.

As I get certified in more industries (mold, water, carpet) I am starting to see the drastic differences among the industries. There is plenty of work for everyone, yet this industry appears more like vultures on a fresh kill.

My two cents: make a name for yourself, tell the truth, treat people like you would want to be treated, and stop copying, stealing, and lying to everyone. It will come back to you. Who am I to make these statements? I'm glad you asked.

I have been sitting idle watching this shit go on for 3 years. I happen to be highly educated with a bachelors degree in CJ, and a Masters degree in business. I think I know one or two things about business. Nothing against all the G.E.D./high schoolers out there trying to run a business. Email comments are always welcome, but don't call me b/c I probably will not care what you have to say.

Employment

The economy is in a bad place.  The market is horrible, and my house is not worth even close to what I paid for it in 2007.  A lot of people are out of jobs, and gas is ridiculously high.  I get more emails, calls, and requests for jobs than I can count.  It is very rare that a CSC company have full time employees.  Don't get me wrong, their are a lot of companies who are doing well enough to hire full time employees.  The saturated markets are less likely to have full time employees.  For this reason its difficult to get people who can work on a part-time or on call basis.  My heart goes out to the people looking for jobs.  I wish that I could give every honest person a job, however that's not possible.  We must stay afloat by doing much of the labor ourselves, and cutting costs where we can.  Inflation and rising costs are hurting small businesses as much as they are hurting the everyday worker.  So I apologize for not accepting applications, reviewing resumes, or answering all the questions that you may have regarding certification, licensing, insurance etc.  Do your research just as I did several years ago.  The economy will eventually bounce back and things will get better for everyone.  

Filthy Meth Labs

The state of Utah is now asking police officers and firefighters to participate in a study to measure the long term effects of exposure to methamphetamine.  Many officers have developed pulmonary problems, and even death.  

The state of Tennessee has done an excellent job at quarantining and shutting down meth labs.  Not only do they care about shutting the labs down, but they are acutely aware of the aftermath that these labs cause to people who move back into these houses.  They take it a step further and certify contractors and hygenist in the state to remediate these labs.  Kudos to Tennessee.  Only 13 states have some form of regulations on the books.  The state of Florida needs to get on the ball and protect the citizens from exposure to these dangerous toxins.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at these tweekers and see what meth usage does to the human body.  Their faces are caved in, their eyes are sunken, their skin has sores all over, they hallucinate, they are extremely paranoid and disgusting looking.  

The last meth lab my company decontaminated had wires from the rooftop into the second floor of the house that were hooked up to television monitors so they could see the police before they got to the door.  Needless to say the search warrant was served and the house was turned over.  As a former narcotics officer I am always aware of the presence of booby traps and other dangerous time bombs that the tweekers leave behind.  The decon business is very dangerous and should be treated as such.  

Contact your local state representative and light a fire under their ass.  There is no good reason why these contaminated properties should linger in our neighborhoods.

Disturbing information

I was contacted by a client yesterday regarding the clean up of a bad fight in an apartment.  The woman advised her renter had been smashed in the head several times with a barbell.  She also had some disturbing news about some distant competitors.  She googled on the Internet and found Aftermath Inc. (located in Illinois)  She contacted them for pricing, estimates and information.  They gave little information according to her and told her not to worry about paying for anything because, "we will bill your insurance".  She said they kept reiterating that her insurance would be billed and she would owe nothing.  She said she didn't feel comfortable talking to them at all.  So she continued on her search.

She then found Advanced Bio-Treatment.  I was shocked at what she told me about her conversation with the owner of the company.  The client was told that she possibly infected her whole family with AIDS because she went inside the apartment.  He could not provide an in person written estimate, and the client should make sure whoever does the job has $100 million in liability insurance.  Are you kidding me???? Who has $100 million in liability insurance.  Is this required?  No way. Does he realize that AIDS dies immediately when outside the body and exposed to air?  Any nurse or doctor can validate that.  Since the company is located in Georgia, of course they can't do a written estimate.  Because we are located in Florida,  I did an in person written estimate and was able to verify that there was less blood in that house than a cut from slicing a tomato would have caused.  

Now, because of these ridiculous comments, which the client was able to figure out immediately, every CSC company looks crooked and greedy.  The client wrote down all the information she was told, and who she spoke with.  She was completely pissed off that she got such different stories from the three companies that she spoke to.  

Needless to say the job is ours, and honesty and integrity will speak for itself.  This industry is filled with bad apples and I hope that honesty will prevail.  

Crime Scene Cleaning and Self Employment

My company is based in Florida, and FL is so saturated with CS companies that its more of a reputation killer than a business killer.  Because this industry is unregulated it is truly a bunch of cowboys out there with buckets of bleach claiming to be trained and equipped to do this.  I really wish the rest of the country would step up and start to regulate this more like California does.  Because the market is so saturated I have had to expand my services to include medical waste pickup, hoarder clean outs, gross filth clean ups, meth lab decon, and pretty much anything else that no one else will do.  It has been three yrs since I started my company and my reputation speaks for itself.  It is hard at the beginning for a good certified company to stay afloat b/c the lone rangers are making everyone leery.  

Police depts won't refer, medical examiners offices won't refer, and funeral homes are leery of all companies that show up at their door step. If this industry were more regulated it would weed out all the lone rangers and check all certifications, insurance docs and proper waste disposal.  

The sad thing is the fact that none of these agencies will refer victims to the right location, they are left to find them themselves.  Victims are not in the mood or right frame of mind to find a phone book or google a company in their area.  They have been doing this though b/c they have no other choice.  

Let's hope for proper regulations soon.

Cat Pee Houses

I think in every community you see breaking news at 5 pm where hundreds of cats and dogs are taken out of a house where a single woman or a family was living in filth. It amazes me every time, but Tampa, FL I think has more than our fair share. Most recently I received call from a family in a Tampa suburb. He asked me if I cleaned up "houses over run by cats". I said sure. I can come over and give you an estimate. He said the houses hasn't been lived in for a few months. I said no problem. That's all the information he gave me.

I met him at his house and I noticed a "condemned" sign on the door. No big deal right? I deal with blood, brains, and disgusting shit everyday. I made the mistake of not grilling him b/c I sensed he was a bit embarrassed. I motioned for him to come inside with me and he said, "You want me to go in with you?" That should have been my first clue this wasn't your average cat house. Well I went in with no respirator b/c I like to gauge the smell to see how much equipment and chemicals will be needed. I took approximately 10 steps inside the residence and I ran outside. The ammonia smell pierced my lungs, and burnt the hair in my nose. The guy stood in there with a dumbfounded look while I ran to the car to grab my respirator. I didn't want to cuss b/c I didn't want to embarrass him any further. I grab my trusty respirator and walk back inside. What I saw was absolutely amazing and I will never forget it. Layers and layers of animal feces covered the floors. I could not tell what type of flooring was in the house. The drywall was yellow about halfway up with the stains of cat urine. What people don't know is that cat urine smells worse than anything b/c cats don't drink a lot of water. So when they urinate its potent and it crystallizes after it dries. Its an intense smell that is near impossible to get out of soft goods.

I looked around the house and saw mounds of furniture that had been shit and pissed on. Garbage and electronics were strewn all over the place. He proceeded through the house showing me every room. Once we reached the master bedroom I observed a dead cat that still had fur on it. Must have been missed by animal control, he stated. The cat had maggots and roaches crawling in it, through it and all over it. To think this family lived her with their adult daughter.

I walked outside after seeing the entire residence. In amazement I began conversation to get my mind off of what I just saw. I felt itchy and looked down. My light colored blue jeans were now black. Completely black. I began patting my legs and millions and millions of fleas jumped like Mexican jumping beans. I looked at the man and fleas were all over him as well, but he wasn't swatting them at all. Then out of embarrassment I assume, he urinated in his pants. I pretended not to notice. I knew that I was infested with fleas and wouldn't be able to get rid of them with just a swat. Needless to say, a call to a good friend, and a call to her vet, I was told don't go in my house. The fleas were still alive despite the host being dead. Two bottles of OFF later and getting naked in my garage placing all my clothes in a plastic bag was the first step. The next day 80% of my body was chewed up. I was pissed he didn't tell me the truth and provide the real story before I went in there.

Eventually I got a call from him saying he wanted me to start the job. The city had put him on a deadline. They were going to demo the house if he didn't get moving. I said no problem. He ended up procrastinating too much and the city voted to demo the house. Sounds like a lose lose situation. I can't blame the neighbors though. The smell was atrocious and its been like that for 4 yrs.

The owners were carted off to a mental institution who was not able to keep them for very long. They were out 5 days later, and will probably start a new house in the same condition.

Gross Filth Houses

Just when I think that I have literally seen it all. Just when I think I have been in and cleaned the most disgusting home anyone could possibly imagine, I get called to another one.

I saw on t.v. a women in a suburb of Tampa get busted by the animal control and police having 43 dogs in her house. To make matters worse, her sister had died in the house, and the women put her body on the back yard porch so she could continue to collect her social security check. I guess she didn't realize the smell would be that bad and neighbors called the police. That wasn't the first time the police were called. There were several code violations for animal neglect, obnoxious smells coming from the house etc. The t.v. news report mentioned two deaths in the residence, but didn't elaborate on the second one. The women looked disheveled but spoke to reporters. She said that she had two dogs and took great care of them. She said she kept taking in homeless dogs and they kept breeding. She said it got out of control and they eventually took over her house. The police did not prosecute her for failing to take care of her animals or her property.

Then here I am 3 months later and I get the call. It was blatently obvious by speaking to the women on the phone that she has mental health issues. Its not surprise considering the issues that occurred with her. I agreed to meet her at the residence, which was condemned according to her. I was on time as usual to give her a bid.

The women showed up in an older mini van driven by a white male in his 30's. The guy appeared to have some issues of his own. A younger woman got out of the front passenger seat and she was......well not all there either. Then last but not least, the owner of the house, and the woman I had seen on t.v. I introduced myself and she immediately started ranting on different tangents. From the street I could see the bright orange condemned sign on the garage door. The trees were very over grown. The woman asked me if we were extreme makeover and if we were going to clean up her house for free. I have no idea where she got that from, but if she's not schizophrenic, then I am not writing this right now. My company has done countless free jobs for the elderly, the poor, and just people I have felt sorry for in the past. To do free jobs, I usually do them myself to avoid paying out labor. I can only do so many free jobs every year and still try to maintain a profit. This particular job would absolutely not be a free job. I'll explain why.

The woman, who I'll call Mary led me to the side door of the house. When she opened the side door leading to the garage I was immediately hit with a strong odor of urine, mold, and dampness. I saw roaches scurry among the clutter. The garage was completely full with appliances, furniture, clothing and other pack rat items that are worth absolutely ZERO. She started talking to herself out loud and I mumbled under my breath how disgusting this shit was. Then we walked in the main living area, and I was cussing myself out underneath my breath. Why you ask? Well mainly because I had given a bid a few weeks ago at a cat house that was also condemned and I wasn't given a warning before walking in. Needless to say when I got out of that house 15 minutes later I was eaten alive by fleas. This particular house was sitting vacant for so long that I figured the fleas had all died because their host was gone. NOT QUITE!!!!!

As I walked in I saw probably 50 red bags of O'l Roy dog food that was chewed up and strewn all over the house. The feces was so old and dried up it had turned into a grey dust. Some of the formation of dog feces was still present and it was evident of what it was. The furniture was eaten, wood on the arms of chairs exposed. The mattresses had huge holes in them, covered with feces. Parts of the ceiling was gone, and the beams were the only thing left. Some insulation was hanging out of the wall. The bathrooms had brown stains all over the tile. The kitchen was non functional, and appeared to not have been used in years. The back patio sliding door was slightly ajar which led me to believe someone or something had been coming and going as they pleased. I could see the large fruit trees in the back yard were over grown and had an abundance of fruit.

"Mary" started to get agitated and yelled that she thought someone had been in the house rifling through her stuff. Did she not realize that nothing in that house was even nice enough to be pissed on at a truck stop? Did she not realize that living that way is not Ok? Those are thoughts that go through my head, but I never ask. Most times they are embarrassed enough, other times, they have no idea what's going on and really don't care.

This woman has no money, and the house is being foreclosed on. The bank will eventually hire us to clean it up so they can get contractors in there to repair the structural damages and flip it in this crazy market. All in all I feel horrible for the animals. We get so many of these calls for cleanups after the animals have been removed. My heart breaks for these animals. They are held captive in these houses and very hungy. By looking at the furniture its evident they were very hungry.

That's how the other half lives!

Human Decompositions

Most people ask me what the worse thing I have ever seen is on a job. I must say its probably a human decomposition. There is no other smell like the smell of death. I remember when I was in the police academy and was required to do my ride alongs. I accompanied some detectives to an old folks independent living facility. When I got off the elevator to the 4th floor I immediately smelled something repulsive. I thought it smelled like rotten eggs. However, it didn't have that spoiled food smell, but it was the only thing I recognized that might have come close to the smell of death. When the detectives opened the door I saw a man, who appeared to be in his 60's lying on the floor. The smell was overwhelming. The man's stomach was enormous, bloated with gases. His legs and arms were blue. His face pasty. His bowels had released and there was a pool of feces and urine lying beneath him. The detectives immediately cupped their ties around their noses to get some type of barrier between their nose and the obnoxious smell. Being the first decomp that I had ever been on the smell for me was unbearable.

Once the funeral home arrived to pick up the body they rolled out the body bag and unzipped it. One guy picked up the old man's arms, while the other grabbed the ankles. The guy that picked up the arms got a surprise. The old mans skin immediately fell off and body fluids leaked out. The smell immediately worsened as if a can of old spoiled meat was just opened. The tried another method. Just roll the guy into the bag. The fluids remained along with the smell in that room. At that time I never wondered what happened to the remains after the body was removed. I was too wrapped up in police work to even consider it.

Fast forward 10 yrs later and I am cleaning these scenes up for a living. I have become accustomed to the smell and about half the time I don't need a respirator. Every once in awhile, about once a month, we will get a decomp where the person has been unattended for a month or so. I always wonder how a person can go unattended, never missed for such a long time. One particular job made me ponder these very questions. An elderly community in the Tampa metro area, a woman died and was left unattended for 3 to 4 wks. I received a call from the victim's son. He was very irritated that one of my competitors had read about the death either in the obituaries, or figured it out because he's a fire fighter. This individual called the deceased relatives in Michigan and TN to try to get this job. The guy was so put off by this he told my competitor to stop calling him, and that he would not get the job. Hence the reason he called Spaulding decon. We get a lot of work from our creative marketing, and we definitely don't ambulance chase, or result to other stupid tactics to get jobs.

We responded to the residence and met with the son. He was leaving town the next day and requested the house be cleaned up and completely cleaned out. We are able to provide this service as well. The woman was dead in the master bedroom on the floor. She leaked through the bedding, through the carpet and padding onto the wood sub flooring. The smell was horrific. Her entire body imprint was on the wood sub floor. It was amazing. A perfect human outline, as you would see written in concrete by the police with chalk. This outline, however was sketched in black. Needless to say it was a job that took many processes for odor control, and many stages.

Visit www.spauldingdecon.com for your unattended death clean up scenes.

Crime Scene Cleaning Companies

When the unthinkable happens in your life, a death of a loved one, what do you do? The only thing certain in the world are death and taxes, so everyone will be left with this question one day or another. As the owner of crime scene cleaning company we get calls daily from people who have no idea what to do. This is just one aspect of their grief. They must deal with the funeral arrangements, the cleanup, the property and possessions, and the lawyers. If I have learned anything its that probate attorney's are definitely in it for their fair share. Families have complained that the monies are stuck in probate and they are using credit cards to pay for large ticket items like caskets and funeral arrangements. When someone dies, the ones who survive don't really get to grieve until several months later after everything else has been taken care of. But I digress......

When grief stricken families find their loved ones have passed away whether naturally or by violent means they usually have no idea where to find help with the clean up. Most of them try to get friends and other family members to help them clean it up. Not only is that a bad idea, but you are setting yourself up for potential lawsuits if the friendly gesture turns out to give that person nightmares, psychological problems, or a blood borne pathogen disease.

If the friends and family thing isn't an option, the person turns to the police which in most cities will get you no where. The police are told to not recommend any particular company, but most of them don't even direct the family to the right place to get the help they need. As a former police officer this is most disturbing. First of all, police departments are a public service, paid by you and I in our taxes. If you are broken down on the side of the road, the police officers will come and sit with you and ask you which tow company you would like. Most people have no clue which tow company they prefer so they ask the officer to choose. The officer then orders a "non preference tow", which simply means, the citizen doesn't have a choice, please order the next in line of our certified tow companies. Yes, there are several tow companies on a rotation, who are called to help citizens. For some reason, crime scene cleaning companies are not treated equally. There are no regulations or requirements to clean up a crime scene. Even in public places blood and tissue are left on the side walks and streets. Amazing....

As I said, there are no regulations (except in California) regarding the cleanup, so there are many rogue companies. My company, Spaulding Decon, http://www.spauldingdecon.com/ is a certified company in Florida. There is a local company in Tampa, owned by a man who has no training whatsoever. Admittedly trained on the Internet, this person is allowed into unsuspecting homes and performs clean ups after homicides, suicides, decompositions, and other wonderful circumstances. There is no way the public can tell the difference between his company and my company.

Advise to the public: Ask for references, ask for certifications, ask for insurance documents, and do your research. Check the better business bureau for complaints on the company. This is hard to do when you are in crisis mode, but you won't regret it. References may be hard because most families want to remain anonymous, because they don't want to re-live the agony.

Anyone can always contact me for information or advice no matter where you live.

http://www.spauldingdecon.com/