Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/11/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 6th, Sewer Pros inspected our home at XXXX ***** and recommended hydrojetting the sewer line to clean out roots (causing flooding in the basement). On June 30th, they arrived to do the hydrojetting. They charged us $769 for the service. The tech did work for several hours but told us that he could not make any progress and we'd simply have to replace the line. As part of that replacement process, we've been talking to other companies. One company was very sure that they could clean out the line. They arrived on July 26th and pulled out a lot of roots! The line does still need replacing but it is several months before anyone can do that and, in the meantime, we can now do laundry without flooding the basement! They charged us $700 for the service. Note that Sewer Pros have 3 videos at this point, the initial inspection, the work after their tech came out and the work after the second company came out. Everyone is in agreement that the second company made significant progress that Sewer Pros did not. When I spoke to Sewer Pros, they told me 1) they had already started the job and anybody could have done more w/ more work. I told them ok, they charge $99 for each additional hour so if we just needed an additional 3 hours to get it to the point of not flooding the basement, I should have been offered the option to make that happen rather than being told it was impossible. Then I would have saved $400 over what I actually paid. I asked for the $400 to be reimbursed. At that point the woman told me she had to talk to someone else and would call me back. When she did the argument had changed to 2) it didn't matter if the work was effective or not, they charged for their time and they had been out here for 3 hours so they would not offer me any money back. I strongly disagree - I pay for results, not just time. I told her if I had to escalate, I would ask for a full refund and she told me she understood. I welcome help here. Thank you Susan

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/15/2023

  We did an initial inspection on this property and found multiple blockages and debris in the line. We recommended hydro jetting and a re-inspection. On June 30th our technician went to the property to do the service. We informed the customer in our email confirmation that the service was for 3 hours and any additional time that may be needed is charged at $99 for each additional 30 minutes. Our technician cabled and hydro jetted the line for over 4 hours and removed a significant amount of roots and mud from the line. Unfortunately, he was unable to clear the worst part of the blockage between the house and the yard vent. He used a camera to see if he could identify what the issue was and he found significant damage throughout the entire sewer line. Our technician made the determination that it was not a good idea to continue hydro jetting as he could cause additional damage to the line that would limit repair options and may put our equipment at risk of being stuck in the damaged line. It is generally our policy that we do not hydro jet a sewer line that already has damage because we assume these risks. He did not charge the client for the additional time he already had as he felt bad for delivering the news that the sewer line would have to be replaced. We are happy that the client was able to get the line functional without completely destroying it, but that is not how these situations usually turn out in our experience. Our technician went above and beyond during our service and didn't even charge her the nearly $200 of overtime he spent on the line. The other company apparently had at least 3 additional hours on the line with 2 guys to finally get it open and charged her roughly what we would have for the same amount of additional time. We deny the refund and stand behind our report that the line is significantly damaged and in need of repair.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/15/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I stand by my point that I should have been able to make the decision as to if the work would proceed or not. We'll never know what the total amount would have been because the company told me it was impossible to fix when clearly it wasn't.

  I also want to be very clear by "fixed", I don't mean an intact pipe.  We obviously need to replace it but contractors are so far behind at this point, that will be a 2-4 month wait time from when Sewer Pros came out.  By "fixed", I mean a house that I can live in until the until  the pipe can be replaced.  That was what I was looking for and it sounds like from even this response, that is something that they could have provided but chose not to, without any input from me.

  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2023

  I am sorry that she has rejected our explanation of why additional time was not offered by our technician. We do not service any lines that we know to be damaged and this line has multiple areas of severe damage. Our technician made the determination after realizing the damage that the risk of further damage to the line as well as the risk of damage to our equipment was too great to continue aggressively cleaning the sewer line for more than 4 hours. Again, we are happy that she was able to get the line cleared without a worst case scenario happening but that is rare with this amount of damage in the line.