ComplaintsforCable Pipe & Leak Detection Inc

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contacted Cable Pipe & Leak Detection (CPL) about water leakage at my location, *************************************************************************. ****** arrived on May 24, 2023, and I issued a check of $325 after the service. ******'s actions:1. Marked a leaking manifold pipe with blue tape.2. Advised capping upper end, assuming top-to-bottom water flow.3. Marked the floor for suspected underground leak.CPL doesnt repair. Thus, I engaged a plumber to address the issue. Regrettably, upon examination, it was revealed that the pipe ****** had marked was not the problematic one. Contrary to his initial assumption, water flowed from bottom to top within this pipe.I promptly contacted CPL on 5/26, forwarding images of the situation to ******. Unfortunately, I received no response from ******, and when I communicated with the operator, I encountered an uncooperative attitude from an operator, later identified as an individual whose name begins with the letter "M."(I forgot her exact name) The operator declined another free detection or prompt service while my leakage problem was getting more server. Consequently, I took the step of stopping my check payment.I subsequently contacted another leak detection company, Home Leak and Drain, and their owner, ****, effectively identified and resolved the leakage problem. Notably, ****'s pinpointed location of the leak differed significantly from the spot that ****** had labeled.All 3 of ******'s advice were incorrect! His errors cost $300 for wrong pipe cut and $500 worth for the fix. CPL demands $450 ($325 service, $100 collection, $25 bounce fee) despite their mistakes. I am summiting this request to stop CPL's pursue of the $450 and seek an official apology from the company in recognition of the subpar service and customer service experience I have endured.For more details, please reach out to **** from Home **** and Drain at ************.Thank you very much for your time to review my case!

  

  Business response

  08/09/2023

  Good Morning **********, My name is ****** and I manage CPL. Understand that leak detection is a service that is at the mercy of underground variables. While our success rate is extremely high and our technicians highly trained, there are occasions when leak detection can prove difficult. We are very familiar with **** and Family Plumbing and they are a fine operation, but the fact that it took him 4 hours to complete a leak detection that we already began work on only shows that this is indeed a very difficult leak to locate, and not a typical plumbing scenario. The line indicated to be cut and capped is taped because it is the one making the loudest noise. It does not indicate the direction of the water. Further, the cutting and capping of the line is the responsibility of the plumber in order to verify the leaking line.The technician indicated in his notes that:Located and marked hot water slab leak in laundry room with blue tape. Located and exposed manifolds for re-route. Leak appears to be on 1/2 line. Not sure what that line is feeding. Plumber is to cut and cap the line marked with blue tape to verify leaking loop. Also, we dont fix anything or perform any plumbing, we are strictly leak detectors, and we have a policy of always getting a technician back out right away if there is a problem locating the leak. This is not for free. Leak detection is a process of elimination. Cutting and capping a line for verification should not cost $500. But thats the plumbers business, not mine. Any and all charges from the plumber are not our responsibility. We understand very well that leak detection can be costly and stressful, and our services are priced accordingly. We make every effort to make sure every leak is located to the best of our abilities. The technician that performed the work at your home has over 15 years of experience in leak detection and is among the best in the world at what he does.

• Initial Complaint

  06/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A summary of the issues:
  On 4/27/2023 from 12p-12:45p CPL Cable Pipe & Leak Detection came out to my property (********************************************************************) looked for a leak under the carpet for a leak because the carpet was soaked. They determined that there was no leak and charged me $325. My tenant at that residence is still complaining that there is a leak and CPL Cable Pipe & Leak Detection company refuses to come back out to look for a leak. I called them 3 times and *** & ***** refused to come back out to look at my issue. So, now I am stuck with a leak and my tenant is still complaining to me to fix it and I am out $325 for this issue that was not resolved by CPL Cable Pipe & Leak Detection.

  

  Business response

  06/19/2023

  We have had several conversations with ************************ regarding this work.

  On Thursday, April 27 CPL's technician performed a leak detection to the best of his abilities.

  It is noted: "Checked for leaks on pressurized water lines in unit with equipment 
  ran all drains, drains run as they should, with carpet pulled up area drying 
  no plumbing leaks detected, customer to monitor area ,call ******************** if needed."

  On or about May 5th at 9:30 am ************************ called CPL to say that she would like CPL to return for further leak detection. In that conversation she stated that she was dealing with a difficult tenant and believes there may be an issue with them reporting false water issues in order to get out of the lease with her. She said that the tenant would soon be out of the unit, and would like CPL to return for further leak detection. We advised *** that we can return at a future date if needed, offering no charge for the first 30 minutes of service.

  A week or so later, ************************ called to say that she wanted CPL to return to perform another leak detection, free of charge. It was made clear to her that CPL would gladly come out to continue service, but there may be charges if the leak detection goes beyond 30 minutes to an hour. She found this unacceptable.

  It is worth noting that CPL's technician had limited access to the areas of the home and neighboring unit due to an over accumulation of stuff and difficult tenants. This was acknowledged and confirmed with Mei. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We planned to have part of my property demolished, and we wanted to have the water lines located so that we could terminate them without having water pipes leaking during the demolition. Therefore, we called Cable Pipe & Leak Detection (CPI) to come and locate the water lines on our property. On April 11, 2022 two CPI employees came out and worked with their instruments and charged us $530.00. They told us there was a copper waterline running from the house to an outbuilding that was going to be demolished. Additionally, they located the main PVC water line to the house correctly and told us that a secondary PVC waterline providing water to the portion of our property which was going to be demolished was located a few feet from the water meter. We then hired a laborer to come out and dig for the copper water line identified by CPI to be running from the house to the outbuilding and also for a PVC secondary waterline identified by CPI to be within a few feet of the water meter. The laborer dug large holes, both deep and wide looking for these pipes. There was no copper water line running from the house to the outbuilding. A single PVC water line that was providing water to the area being demolished was located about 100 feet from where CPI said it was. All the extra digging by our laborer cost us a lot of money and time. We tried to resolve this issue with CPI and spoke to a supervisor. He said he'd get back to us. He didn't and we called him back and left him a message a couple of times. He still never got back to us.

  

  Business response

  09/20/2022

  On April 11, 2022, two CPL technicians arrived to locate copper and PVC water lines for customer **** & ********************************

   Customer advised ******************** when calling in for the service that there were multiple hose ****** and a backflow to serve as location points for technician's equipment to connect to, however as stated in the notes, there was an apparent issue with water pressure/signal and all location marks were approximate. 

  It was also made very clear to the customer that one of the lines had no water flow and the location of that line could not be identified. Having spoken with the technicians regarding the service, the technicians are of the opinion that the best effort was made to locate the lines with properly working equipment. Keep in mind, any and all underground utility locating is not an exact science and is subject to subsurface variables, water pressure, and ground conditions. Further, it is always CPL policy to return to a job when a leak or line is not where originally detected, at little to no additional cost. Our customer's satisfaction is of utmost importance. However, in this case, the Huffmans never called CPL to let us know that lines were not found upon excavation. Calls were only made on April 25th, two weeks after the original markout and after the ********* made the decision to have labor dig unnecessarily. CPL's terms and conditions was signed by customer.

  Customer response

  09/20/2022

  CPL said there was a copper water running from the house to the outbuilding.  There was NO copper line running from the house to the outbuilding.  Our laborers dug for a non existent line.  We called CPL THREE times to complain.  The last two times we left a message for the supervisor to call us back and he never did.  The water line serving the area to be demoed was found 100 feet from where it really was.  100 feet is NOT an approximation.  The laborers were out there digging because we had to cut the water lines that were serving the area to be demoed. They were not digging unnecessarily.  They were digging because it was a necessity and the digging was much more extensive due to CPL's gross error of not locating the water line in the proper area.  The area was 100 feet away!

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