2024-12-03

Today was an eventful and emotionally draining day. The mitigation team returned to continue their work, and early in the morning, I received a call in response to the email I sent to Costco’s CEO. Someone came out to view the damage and agreed that responsibility would need to be taken. Initially, he was skeptical of my estimate of $200,000 in damages, but after seeing the extent of the destruction, he acknowledged that the number was in the right range.

Later, I learned that this individual actually worked for RXO — the logistics company that Costco contracts with for installations — not for Costco directly. While his visit was helpful, it was disheartening that no one from Costco itself came to the home, even as a goodwill gesture given the seriousness of the situation.

An environmental group also visited and confirmed mold growth and contamination, classifying the water as unsafe. They developed a remediation protocol that must be followed before the home can be considered habitable. Meanwhile, contractors worked throughout the day to salvage what they could.

I also received a call from Aaron at Gallagher-Bassett, the firm Costco uses for claims management. He described himself as an adjuster, though not one who makes final decisions, and said his role was to help ensure I received answers if RXO did not provide them. He followed up by email identifying himself as a Resolution Manager and noted that Costco is self-insured. At first, I found this reassuring — I believed it meant Costco would stand behind their customer service reputation and resolve the matter fairly and quickly.

Unfortunately, that optimism was short-lived. Paul from RXO soon emailed me, copying the subcontractor they had hired for the installation, and indicated that I would need to work with the subcontractor’s insurance carrier to resolve the claim. This shift raised serious concerns: instead of Costco addressing the damages directly, responsibility was being pushed down to a subcontractor’s insurer — which may not have the resources or motivation to resolve such a large and complex claim in a timely manner.

By the end of the day, despite progress on mitigation, I felt more discouraged. What started with hope of accountability now feels like the beginning of a long, difficult process.