DryX

Had an air con leak upstairs. FES was fast and friendly. Definitely recommend them when in an emergency.

We recently engaged Flood Emergency Services for water damage restoration at our property, and we were very impressed with the entire experience. From the initial call-out, the team was prompt, professional, and clearly knowledgeable. They quickly identified the cause of the issue and explained the restoration process in a clear and reassuring… Read more

manner. The technicians carried out thorough moisture testing and installed the necessary drying equipment efficiently, attending multiple follow-up visits to monitor progress and ensure everything was drying properly. Their attention to detail and commitment to completing the job to a high standard really stood out.

We also appreciated how respectful and helpful they communicating with insurer throughout the claiming process, leave you peace of mind which is the last thing you want to deal with after the flood incident.

Overall, we are very satisfied with their service and would not hesitate to recommend Flood Emergency Services to others needing reliable and professional flood restoration support.

I would like to start by saying that when a house pipe bursts, it’s crucial to invest in proper drying services to prevent mould growth. Without this step, you risk having to replace large parts of your home, which can end up costing far more than professional drying. Choosing Dryx Services was the best decision we made, they did an outstanding… Read more

job from start to finish.

In our case, a sink pipe burst in the upstairs bathroom overnight and leaked for over five hours. By the time we discovered it, the water had reached knee level. Ben, the owner of Dryx, was incredibly kind and understanding over the phone while I was panicking about what to do. He calmly offered advice and helpful recommendations throughout the process. I’d also like to thank his team members, Josiah and Caleb, who were both very professional, friendly, and efficient.

Additionally, Adam, who came to install the fans and dehumidifiers, was wonderful to deal with. He worked quickly, explained the drying process clearly, and was happy to answer all our questions. Within just four days, our home was completely dry and back to safe moisture levels.

Thanks to Dryx, our family now has dry, safe floors without the risk of mould. I can’t recommend their services highly enough — they truly care about their clients and deliver excellent results.

To be avoided – My experience largely matches those of the other Flood Emergency Group or DryX reviews already posted here. The main exception being that my situation was for an investment property and involved the services of a real estate agent who contracted the wrong company (by mistake) for the drying job following a burst flexihose in the bathroom of a… Read more

two-storey house. Unfortunately the mistake was a costly one for me. The original quote of $25,710 which did not include GST or indication it was without GST, was ultimately an invoice of $28,281. I disputed multiple aspects of this through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to settle at an amount which still left me paying most of the invoice. I wish to clarify that FES group at no point has claimed liability or responsibility for damages caused, but was settling in the interest of not proceeding further to a hearing which may incur more legal costs. To cut a long story short, on top of the reduced FES bill, I have paid additionally around $30k extra to repair the damages due to removal of floors, walls, ceilings, electrical wiring and fixtures, which I claimed to be excessive and unnecessary given that much of the removals took place in part of the house on the other side to the leak. Again I wish to clarify that FES group vehemently denied that this was the case. The original quote was given in response to a video of the extent of the leak sent by my agent to FES group, they never came to assess the property. Only much later through research did I realise that the quote was done from Queensland, and the FES witness and project manager attended the NCAT via phone call from Brisbane as, according to the documents sent to me by their lawyer, the witness resides and works in Brisbane. I would certainly not recommend to anyone, definitely not interstate, to use the services of this particular company.

Shockingly Costly And Misleading – Here's our story and the lessons we learnt from it. On Good Friday 2023, we suffered a very heavy downpour of hail and rain, which caused serious flooding in the large extension of our house. The next morning, our insurer (NRMA) told us to organise our own emergency carpet drying. That very poor advice came back to bite us hard. (NRMA's handling… Read more

of our case is a story in itself. Lesson #1: always insist the insurer organise it.)

I found a website for DryX. They claimed to be a local Canberra company, so I called the phone number and spoke to [Name Removed] from Flood Emergency Services (FES). (I later discovered that [Name Removed] operates from Queensland.) [Name Removed] asked if we were insured and I said yes. I asked him about the cost, and he replied that it could be more than our excess of $1500, but that they would properly assess it when they came out. He also promised me a $300 'COVID bonus' to reduce our insurance excess. (UPDATE: We finally received this bonus on 16 April 2024. Less than two weeks later, we received another bonus—a letter from FES's lawyers threatening a defamation lawsuit if we do not (a) remove this review, (b) issue an 'unqualified retraction of and apology', (c) 'Provide a written undertaking not to make any further statements on ProductReview or elsewhere, whether written or oral, about FES or [Name removed]' and (d) 'provide a written undertaking to pay such damages as may be agreed or assessed by a court of competent jurisdiction'.)

[Name Removed] emailed me their terms of trade and requested that I reply, 'YES - FES trading terms have been read and accepted so please proceed.' The terms were long and convoluted and I only skimmed them. (Lesson #2: Always read and understand the terms fully.)

Two contractors came out at about 10 pm Saturday night, quickly assessed that the carpet wasn’t worth saving, ripped it up and then quickly set up all the driers and dehumidifiers. They said they would come back to reassess the moisture after three days. There was no quote given. (Lesson #3: Don't allow them to start work before you receive a quote for the work.)

The following evening I wrote to [Name Removed] and asked for costings. He referred me to their terms. By this time I was getting worried. I had found reviews for FES on ProductReview.com.au, and they were bad. I wrote back to [Name Removed], told him my concerns, and pressed him for actual numbers. He wrote 'equipped hire excluding other general costs is $7600 for 5 days. If we removed carpets there is a good chance the structure will dry in 5 days.’ He added, 'Kal, you’re in good hands. … I give you my personal assurance that we will continue to do our very best to support you through the entire process. This includes negotiations with insurer and assessor should this be necessary to ensure you get the best outcome of the policy you have in place.’ I had serious doubts, but I felt like we were already stuck, so I wrote back, 'At this stage, I don’t feel I have any choice but to trust you and trust that NRMA will cover the costs.' (Incidentally, ProductReview.com.au removed all the reviews for FES a few weeks after I drew [Name Removed] attention to them. I sent several messages to ProductReview about this, but they never replied.)

After three days, someone came out to take moisture readings. The floor had looked and felt completely dry by day two, but they showed my wife some readings on their device and advised that they would need to leave the equipment in place for a total of 7 days. (I found out later from someone in the industry that proper moisture readings require you to drill into the floor. These guys were not doing that—they were just pressing the device onto the surface. I do not know how they were coming up with those moisture readings.) I was skeptical and worried about what the final bill was going to be, but [Name Removed] and his contractors do a convincing job of making the consequences of leaving any untreated dampness sound catastrophic. My wife and I decided that we were too far into this now and had to just trust that NRMA would cover the costs. (Lesson #4: Don't fall for the sunk cost fallacy. I should have trusted my gut and told them to pack up their things on the third day.)

On 16 May, FES emailed us an invoice for $21,042.23 with payment due on 15 June. We were shocked by the amount. We could have completely replaced all the chipboard flooring for a fraction of that. When I had a closer look at the invoice, I found they had invoiced us for equipment they did not supply, work they did not perform, and items they overcharged for. I calculated that they had overcharged us by more than $7000 (even by their own outrageous terms). I advised them of these things in writing and requested that they correct the invoice accordingly. They simply ignored me.

NRMA consulted their preferred supplier, Steamatic Canberra, who advised that 'If the drying chamber was set up according to IICRC S500 guidelines, 7 days of drying would be seen as excessive.' They estimated that 'Using our contracted IAG cost rate we believe the total cost for the works undertaken by FES would come to $3279.65 inc GST.'

On June 1, we received a call from NRMA informing us that the FES invoice failed NRMA’s verification process because a specialist determined that it was not a 'just and reasonable amount'.

What followed over the next weeks were countless hours communicating with NRMA and FES. Despite all [Name Removed] promises to support us 'through the entire process' including 'negotiations with insurer and assessor', [Name Removed] refused to even talk with NRMA. And he never lowered the invoice by a cent. When I spoke with [Name Removed] on the phone around this time, he made it very clear that he had nothing to say to NRMA and that his contract was with us.

The story has both a sad and happy ending. The happy part is, NRMA eventually did pay up and we were spared going to court against FES. The sad part is, FES walked away with the full $21,042.23. Even sadder is the news that FES is still operating and doing this to other people.

I cannot tell you how stressful and traumatic this whole saga was. And it pains me to know that other people would be going through the same thing right now. I am sorry it has taken me so long to write and share this review. Honestly, I just haven't wanted to even think about FES since we were set free from them. But Nick's question, addressed to me below, has triggered me to finally write it. To Nick, and any others who may be reading this, I'm sorry for what you're going through and I sincerely hope you get justice.

UPDATE, 29 April 2024: FES's lawyers (KHQ Lawyers) are now threatening a defamation lawsuit if I do not remove this review. I refuse to be intimidated or silenced by their legal threats. This is a factual account of our experience with FES and I stand by it.

UPDATE, 20 June 2024: On 11 June, we received an unexplained deposit of $2310 in our bank account, description ‘FES4931refund'. I emailed FES and left several phone messages asking them about this. Yesterday, I received a call back from FES's manager ('[Name Removed]' in the review). He said that the partial refund represents a discrepancy between cost estimates he had emailed me (standard rates) and what we were charged (higher rates as per FES terms). We then had a lengthy conversation. In summary, he defended FES's business practices and said that the flood report and invoice were based on the information provided to FES by the subcontractors that did our job. He said he was now looking into my claims that these documents contain many errors and false statements. After the phone call I emailed him a very detailed breakdown of these errors. Regarding their request that I remove this review, I reiterated that I would not remove it, but said that if he can identify any false statement in my review, that I would be willing to amend the review accordingly. The tone of the conversation was polite and pleasant, but he wouldn't offer any assurance that they were not proceeding with the defamation lawsuit, so all we can do now is wait and see what happens next.