ComplaintsforAhern-Gross, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  11/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We hired Ahern Gross to *************** our water heater, check on our kitchen sink drainage, and scope our home's waste line to see if there were tree roots impeding the flow of waste water. On 10/20/23, the plumber arrived and stated he couldn't scope the pipe due to not having the equipment, and that we could either pay for the service regardless of the presence of roots or skip it and pay for a service call in the future if need be. I chose to have them provide the snaking service. The plumber called me a couple hours later to inform me he had gotten the snake cable stuck in the pipe and could not get it out. He stated it was "a freak thing" and the only way to get the cable out was to excavate our front yard to expose the pipe. I asked at that time who would be responsible for the bill. He stated his boss said they were going to contact the city since it was stuck at the residential/************* of pipes. On 2 occasions on 10/20/23 I asked the plumber to have his boss call me to discuss billing. No one did so. I called Ahern Gross' office on 10/23/23 and was told they were still waiting for a response from the city. I requested a phone call when they heard back. I never received any communication from Ahern Gross until 11/1 when I received a bill for $1879 in the mail describing my responsibility to pay for 6+ labor hours and a $1092 excavation charge.I went to Ahern Gross' office the morning of 11/2 and spoke to an employee. He said they will not cover any portion of the cost, and confirmed if we do not pay the full bill they will send it to Collections. He did not: offer to split the cost, apologize for the inconvenience, acknowledge his company's lack of communication or follow through, and didn't have anything to say when I questioned why the snaking service we've had done 3 times in the last 6 years never resulted in any issues until their company performed it. Additionally, the other 2 services we originally requested be performed were not completed.

  

  Business response

  11/30/2023

  The original call was for sewer flies in the kitchen sink, rod the sewer out, and issues with a 15 yr old water heater making crackling / popping noises.

  We started by attempting to clean out the sewer. Where her sewer connects to the city sewer there is rubber fernco coupling with a thick rubber concentric fitting to make the connection between clay **** and pvc ****. Our root cutter cut between the two rubber couplings and left the **** and was stuck underground. We were unable to pull the cable back. We then proceeded to get our camera to find out the problem and it was verified that the what I stated above is what happened.  At this point the homeowner was contacted and we explained to her what had happened and the only way to get the cable out was going to be to dig it up at this connection. At this point there was no other choice - we could not leave 70' of cable in her sewer lateral. I told her that we would contact the city and the city's inspector would make a final decision on if the City would be liable. The city denied any claim saying that when the new sewer lateral was installed the homeowner's had the option to replace their lateral and chose not to. (Not the current homeowner's). When ***************** came in to see me she asked how much this service would have cost had it gone smoothly. I told her about $300.00. I assumed that this is what she would pay. This invoice was not sent to collection. If she would pay $300.00 I will consider this case closed. Also you can see on the invoice that the charge for the sewer camera of $225.00 was not charged.

  Customer response

  12/02/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  However, I feel it is worth addressing their statement, "Also you can see on the invoice that the charge for the sewer camera of $225.00 was not charged."  I would certainly hope this wouldn't be charged considering Ahern Gross' service plumber told me he didn't HAVE a sewer camera to use to determine if tree roots needed to be cut out in the first place. The plumber stated my options were to either skip the service altogether and be charged another fee for a separate visit if the tree roots became an issue in the future, OR to go ahead with the service to remove whatever tree roots were in the sewer line regardless of if they were present or not. It's interesting that now the business owner states they do, in fact, have the equipment to complete our original request (to check our sewer line to see if tree roots needed to be cut out at all.)
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

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