ComplaintsforPristine Plumbing

• Initial Complaint

  05/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On May 13, 2024 I hired Prestine Plumbing to clean out a main drain line. Online, they advertise this for $99 and have a guarantee that if the problem isn't fixed, then it's free. The problem was NOT fixed, but then I was still billed for $235. When the technician showed up, I even informed him of the $99 fee and he never informed me of any issues. After the fact, they informed me that the $99 coupon has several exclusions, but they aren't clearly advertised, you have to click on several different things to see any exclusions. Regardless, the technician shouldn't have continued if they weren't going to honor their advertised pricing. This is deceptive advertising at the least. The tech never even fixed the issue, then attempted to tell me that the line had collapsed and it would be $4400 to fix that. I had had the line inspected with a camera just a year ago and there was no signed of a collapse. I then had a competitor come out after they told me that. They cleaned the line in under 15 minutes with no issues at all. They again inspected the line and found NO signs of a collapse. This is simply fraud at this point. I spoke to the owner, *****, via email. She stated that she would issue me a refund, but that never happened. She is now simply ignoring my complaints. Not only did they never do the job they were paid to do, but then they attempted to charge me several thousands of dollars for work that didn't need to be done. I was told that the technician worked on the drain for an hour and a half, but that is also not true. They spend less than 20 minutes actually working on the drain...the rest of the time they spent talking to each other and messing around on their phones.

  

  Business response

  05/28/2024

  ****************** contacted us via text message on May 13, 2024 to schedule service for a main sewer line backup at his duplex.  At the time of scheduling, our representative informed him that we charge $69 to come out, however that fee is waived if he were to move forward with any options provided.  At no point during the scheduling of service did ****************** mention a special/coupon from our website.  We sent our technician out that same day to assess the issue with the sewer line.  Per our service process, prior to doing any work our technician provided ****************** with an estimate to attempt to clear the sewer line using a cable machine for $235, which he approved in-person with a signature.  Our technician proceeded to run the cable machine for close to an hour, pulling roots out of the line, which indicated that the sewer was compromised.  The cable was unsuccessful at clearing the blockage, so our technician contacted ******************, who was no longer on-site, to inform him of the findings.  He explained the situation to ******************, making it clear that the line was not draining at all, and provided an estimate to repair the sewer.  ****************** stated that he would need to think it over, and our technician told him he would follow up with him in a few days. Our technician then asked for verbal authorization to run the credit card we had on file (due to this being a rental property) for the agreed upon amount of $235.  At no point in this recorded conversation did ****************** mention a $99 drain cleaning special from our website.  Upon completion, a copy of the invoice and a copy of the sewer repair estimate was emailed to ******************.  The following afternoon, ****************** reached out via email stating that he had another company out who was able to clear the blockage and found no issues with the sewer line.  In that email, he also inquired as to why he was charged $235 when our website states that a main line clearing is $99.  After reviewing all the details of ********************** account and ********************** appointment, I explained that the $99 special must be mentioned when scheduling service, and that it does not apply to rental properties - I attached a copy of the website coupon for ********************** reference. I offered to return at no charge, to perform the sewer camera inspection again, this time with him present, to show him the issues in the line.  I also informed him that if he were able to provide a copy of the other company's invoice and findings that I would be happy to refund his $235.  He declined the additional sewer camera inspection, and never sent any documentation from the other company.  Despite all of this, a refund was processed this morning and refund receipt was emailed to ******************.  

  Customer response

  05/30/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

  Prestine has failed to answer any of the issues here.  They never explained why I even informed the tech that came out of the $83 fee, but they still charged me $250.  Or why their competitor could easily clean the drain line, but they could not.  Or why they attempted to charge me $4400 for a job that didn't even need done, and the problem they mentioned with the line didn't even exist.  One of the owners has responded to my complaint, but never actually provided me with any answers, just excuses.  They've wasted a lot of my time and money, and I consider what they tried to do to me as fraud, but the entire time, they attempted to blame me for the issues here.

  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  
  

  

  Business response

  05/31/2024

  ****************** has been fully refunded, despite approving and signing an estimate agreeing to the $235.  We have a recorded conversation between our technician and ****************** in which our technician explains everything in detail, provides recommendations and estimates for repair (which ****************** states he will have to think about and agrees for our technician to follow up with him later in the week), and then obtains verbal consent to process his credit card for the agreed upon $235. There was never a mention of our website special - which is $99, not $83 as stated in Mr. ******** second response. There was also never an attempt to charge him $4400, it was only an estimate for a sewer repair. He claims he has not been given answers, yet he was provided with a phone number to speak  directly to the owner for any further clarification. For someone that claims he doesnt like to waste time, it would seem most logical to call and speak to the owner directly for any unresolved concerns outside of the full refund that has already been processed. 

  Customer response

  06/05/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

  100% of Prestine's response is false.  I'm sure they should know that they had 2 techs there, not just one.  I 100% certainly did mention the $99 drain line cleaning.  They've also failed to respond as to why this is only available to certain people, and not to landlords.  And yes, the $4400 estimate was only an estimate, but this was an estimate for work THAT DID NOT EVEN NEED TO BE DONE.  They attempted to get me to agree to work that never needed done at all.  Had they dug up the line and replaced it, there would be little to know way of knowing until most of the work was done that the line wasn't collapsed as they told me.  They surely wouldn't have done all of this work for free.  And they've still been unable to explain why they couldn't do a simply job of cleaning roots out of a drain line...this should be one of the easiest jobs for them to do...but their competitor cleaned the line in less then 15 minutes.  They keep talking around the facts and refusing to give me answers to anything here.  They never did the job they were hired to do, but still attempted to charge me for that.  They fraudulently attempted to charge me over $200 to do a job they never did, then they fraudulently tried to get me to agree to a $4400 job that didn't need to be done.  I guess since ******** only wants to try to blame me for everything here, and since they cannot give me any straight answers, I'll just forward this matter to the Indiana Attorney General and let them handle it.

  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In February, Pristine plumbing was working on the house next door to my home. While working on the houses sewage they apparently (discovered in a recent inspection) cut the sewage line to my house without any investigating and without any notice. Now when selling my home the inspector finds this issue and Pristine Plumbing will take no responsibility for their actions and want to charge me ****** to fix the issue they created in the first place. Absolutely disgusting and unacceptable behavior by this company.

  

  Business response

  12/29/2023

  This particular situation was extremely rare, and very unfortunate. We did replace your neighbor's sewer, and at the time we had no way of knowing that your home's sewer had been illegally tied into the one we were replacing. After this was brought to our attention, we contacted the city sewer utility for guidance. As suspected, they informed us that due to the sewer crossing property lines, it would not be able to be tied back into the neighbor's sewer and would need to be ran with it's own lateral to the *********. We informed you of our findings with the city and provided an estimate to complete the required work. You then approved and signed that estimate. We understand how frustrating this must be, but it is out of our hands due to city requirements.

  Customer response

  12/29/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  

  Pristine Plumbing has said again and again that they screwed up. We were in contact with a gentleman named *** who represented himself as the General Manager and was only discovered today that he is in fact the owner of this company. Pristine Plumbing claims that Citizen inspected the work done the same day the line was severed. *** gives conflicting answers on whether they knew a line was severed that day. Claims have also been made that it is not Pristine Plumbings responsibility to inspect where the line led to that they severed. So they filled the whole back up and moved on without ever informing ANY property owner of the severed line. Now after closing on this home. We are being held responsible for a $9000-10000 service fee to remedy the situation with Pristine Plumbing informing us that it would be illegal for them to fix the original issue they caused. After speaking with *** about the issue we were stonewalled from a fair remedy and given ************** outside of litigation in civil courts. 

  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  
  

  

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  There are multiple false statements made here. As stated before, the line that was "severed" was illegally tied into the neighbors line, unbeknownst to anyone at the time of our work (with no record of the connection with the city) on the neighbor's property.  The line was unable to be reconnected as it had been previously, due to city requirements.  The new buyer of the home contracted us to do the work required to get the line reinstalled per city requirements, which has since been completed.  This was an unfortunate situation, however, we were not at fault and will not assume responsibility. 

  

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  We have been in communication with ********************** regarding this situation.  Both properties being referenced in this complaint were previously owned by an individual that performed the illegal sewer connections without obtaining permits, therefore there was no record of the tied in connection.  When replacing the sewer at the neighbor's home in February 2023, the lateral line for the home owned by the complainant was inadvertently disconnected due to there being no knowledge or record of this illegal connection.  When the complainant went to sell the home, it was discovered during an inspection.  We reached out to ********************** for clarification and they informed us that the lateral had been illegally tied in by a previous homeowner and needed to be installed to code.  We relayed that to the complainant and provided an estimate to perform the work.  The complainant approved and signed the estimate and requested that we perform the work prior to closing the sale of the home, however they wanted us to wait for payment until after closing which is against our policy.  They then proceeded to leave bad reviews on multiple platforms and filed a complaint here.  The buyer of the home then reached out to us to have the work performed, which has since been completed.  

  Customer response

  01/28/2024

  There was no successful end to this issue and the statements by the company are extremely misleading. However that has been the case since dealing with this company so its of no surprise. The company has tried in vain to cast blame at everyone else despite the line being cut by pristine plumbing and after the repair was signed by an uninformed customer the owner of ******************** then decided to disclose that the home actually had two sewer lines. Making this illegal line created by prior owner unneeded. We are not plumbers. We were told the house would not close in the next few weeks until this was fixed immediately. Forcing us to sign with Pristine despite being lied to and misled. We are currently looking into legal action against this company. 

  Customer response

  01/29/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

  There was no successful end to this issue and the statements by the company are extremely misleading. However that has been the case since dealing with this company so its of no surprise. The company has tried in vain to cast blame at everyone else despite the line being cut by pristine plumbing and after the repair was signed by an uninformed customer the owner of ******************** then decided to disclose that the home actually had two sewer lines. Making this illegal line created by prior owner unneeded. We are not plumbers. We were told the house would not close in the next few weeks until this was fixed immediately. Forcing us to sign with Pristine despite being lied to and misled. We are currently looking into legal action against this company. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Worst consultation and experience I have ever had as a home owner. I was referred to Pristine by a commercial company and told that they stand behind their customer **********************. They came out and there rep refused to offer me a check valve for my sewage drainage. I explained that my old one had one and I would like on on the new one. He told me I did not need it. Fast forward one year later. My basement floods twice in one month and they send out a rep. ***** rep comes told me he has a camera but doesn't meed to use it. Says "I have seen what I need to see" with in 5 minutes of being there. Says he is aware that back *** are common on my side of town and immediately noticed I had a line right next to the sewage and rain water drainage right next to the city's main lines. That being said I asked the owner why I was refused one and why his reps gave contradicting consultations. I told him I was willing to pay for a check valve but why should I have to pay for excavation and my fence to be torn down again when I should have been walked through this scenario the first time ESPECIALLY after asking SPECIFICALLY for a check valve. He refused. Told me to leave my review. Not happy at all.

  

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  We understand your frustration and appreciate your feedback. Because of our experience with these components, we do not recommend installing them. We have also backed this decision by the utility that provides your wastewater service. Both the utility and Pristine Plumbing agree that a backflow preventer does not work 100% of the time, which is exactly why they are not part of the construction standard and are not installed as a utility. In consideration of your level of concern, we did contact *********************, head of the wastewater and sewer division at said utility, regarding your situation. *** reached out to you in an attempt to come to some sort of resolution for this issue, but unfortunately you have been unable to come to any kind of agreement. Due to the dynamics of this particular situation and inaccurate statements made in your review, we strongly feel this is an unfair representation of the service we provided on March 15, 2022. We do, however, hope you are able to find a solution moving forward.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩