Comments on: Who Worse? Chinese Drywall Manufacturers or American Insurance Companies

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:01:25 +0000

Stu.

Very true…. Someone made money off the defective drywall

By: Stu

Stu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:08:32 +0000

Nice story. The drywall should have never been eligible to come in to our country. The people who let this happen should be held accountable for this. They let a product come into our country that cost us. As for the insurance company… They should not be allowed to drop due to that reason. If they don’t want to pay then that is fine. If the insurance company was to pay, the insured would get increased premiums because reserves would be exhausted due to a problem that someone else caused. Insurance is not a warranty on your home. Someone made money off the defective drywall, so they should pay for the damages.

By: Terry & Donna

Terry & Donna — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:27:22 +0000

We built our dream home in 2006 – completed in April 2007. In August 2008 our A/C evaporator leaked and had to be replaced, as we were past the one year parts and labor warranty we had to pay $800.00 for a new evaporator coil. In April 2009 the A/C evaporator on our second A/C unit leaked, that is when the A/C technician informed us that they have getting a lot of business form new home buyers who had Chinese drywall and charged us another $800.00. We contacted our builder and he admitted that he had other customers whom he verified had Chinese drywall installed by his subcontractor who was declaring bankruptcy to get out of the lawsuits he saw coming. The builder told me if I sue him he will have to do the same. Meanwhile in July 2009, the A/C evaporator installed in August last year started leaking again and we were charges another $800.00 and then in Sept. the A/C evaporator installed in April began to leak another $800.00 to repair brand new A/C systems purchased with our new home. We are stuggling to pay for these repairs and our other bills. If we take a home equity loan we will have lost all the equity we earned over 25 years to repair this home and will be saddeld with doubling mortgage payments.
The problem is real all of our silver jewlery is tarnished beyond repair. Like everyone else our home owners insurance company denied our claim based on pollurted materials used in our construction. Funny that denials come so fast but no one has actually offered any help. We are desparate to get help fixing our home as our thousands of other people in our position.
Believe me the problem is real and it’s destroied our happiness of building our dream home and shaken our financial future.

By: Business Culture China

Business Culture China — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:14:17 +0000

The dry-wall story in another sticky issue that will make Chinese business ventures only more complicated.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:42:40 +0000

@ Alex.

Sounds like Michael Moore should be called in. I have no idea whether or not these people have a legitimate claim, or if there is a problem with the drywall, but for the insurance companies to just drop people because they may hav a problem is horribly irresponsible.

I remember when the insurance companies tried to pull themselves out of Katrina and the state of Louisiana banned them from selling into the region ever again… that perked up their ears.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:40:45 +0000

@ Nan Gongyuan.

I am with you on that, but I would also press that the brand who is contracting out in China should also be in the hook if the importer is different from the brand.

Honestly – insurance firms… arg. how can they be allowed to legally drop clients who have paid the monthly payments exactly for this day. It is like putting money down through a layaway program, and when you have your payments finished you are told that the TV is gone and you cannot have your money back.

.. and that is “F”ed up.

By: Yann

Yann — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:47:28 +0000

Very good article.
I have myself a small sourcing company here in China that exports to France and USA, and even at my own humble level of business I’ll never send something to my export countries without having tested them. Always throwing the stone on China is far too easy! In China they say “yifenqian,yifenhuo” which is exactly the “you get what you paid for” means. China know how to produce almost everything, from the small bonus keychain you’ll find in your detergent packaging to satellites and Iphones. They can make high quality products and shitty quality products, it depends on what you’re looking for. The bad quality “made in China” motto was ok for the 80’s and 90’s, now it’s over.

And I just can’t believe that american insurance companies just unilaterally won’t renew their policy… Those people have no face, how can they sleep at night? Can’t a class action be successful ? (I’m not american so I’m not that familiar with this type of action).

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:30:25 +0000

“James and Maria Ivory’s dreams of a relaxing retirement on Florida’s Gulf Coast were put on hold when they discovered their new home had been built with Chinese drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. It got worse when they asked their insurer for help — not only was their claim denied, but they’ve been told their entire policy won’t be renewed.”

I’m sorry if I’m being very slow here. How does an insurance company arbitrarily decide to not support protection their policy holders seemed to pay for? Is this a test case where insurers end up having to never pay for anything?

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:54:42 +0000

American Insurance Companies

By: Nan Gongyuan

Nan Gongyuan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:37:11 +0000

Sounds like a simple case of buyer beware. The American importers who bought the stuff should carry the can. As for the insurers, thats a disgrace. America needs to get over the “cheap is good” mentality. Its not good. Cheap is often crap. So if Americans want better quality, they’re going to have to drop their purchase expectations, buy less, and receive more.