James River Irrigation, Inc.

Review: James River Irrigation inspected my backflow and I paid them a hefty fee. I didn't use the system for two months afterward due to heavy rains.When I did finally use it, it leaked terribly. I called JRI and couldn't get an appointment for several days. They finally came out and had the audacity to charge me $222 to repair the backflow that they had charged me to inspect (and they passed it).

They never said there would be a fee incurred, including a whopping $90 service call fee.

James River Irrigation should have told me on the phone that there would be not only a fee for someone to come out, but another fee for them to fix what they should have seen as the problem when they inspected it. When I set the appointment, I made it clear it was through the contract I had with them. At no time did the person I scheduled with or the employee who came out ever reference my having to pay for anything or that there would be any sort of fee incurred. I assumed this service was covered under my contract. I find their practice of non-disclosure deceptive and unprofessional.Desired Settlement: Tom, the manager, who was quite condescending to me on the phone, gave me a $45 labor discount. I still was required to pay $175 for a repair in which I was not told there would be a fee. I would like James River Irrigation to reimburse me the $175 I had to pay them, for a service in which I was not apprised of any fee at all.

Consumer

Response:

We have resolved this issue with James River Irrigation and would like to withdraw our complaint.Thanks,[redacted]

Review: I recently contracted with Mr. [redacted] of James River Irrigation to thoroughly check our irrigation system at home and get it repaired. He first sent a technician on May 2, 2013, to check our system out. Thereafter, after much follow-up, they provided me with an estimate for fixing our irrigation system. It seemed a bit high but I agreed because our system had not been working for a couple of years and we wanted to get it fixed. On a different day (May 16), another technician came and spend over four hours doing, what I thought, was fixing the system. Both days I took time off from work to be available for the technician. He left and soon thereafter I got a huge bill, which was way above the range that Mr. [redacted] had told me. I paid it thinking that anyway finally my irrigation system has been fixed. That Sunday, my wife and I wanted to check the system ourselves and we noticed that two sprinkler heads behind the shrubs on the East side of our front door (right side when looking at the door from the street) were not coming on. After much follow-up again, Mr. [redacted] agreed to send someone. I'm not sure what this person did at our house. He left abruptly without saying a word to my son who was home. Again, no news from James River Irrigation. This is a pattern. Neither Mr. [redacted] nor someone from his company called me. Finally, I got an email from Mr. [redacted], informing me that the last technician who went to our house found some other issues which he fixed and there was an additional charge. I asked him about the two sprinkler heads, the main reason for my call to him. He had nothing to say about them. I reminded him that the reason I called him the last time was due to the two heads not working which had not been fixed. I also refused to pay him anything additional for something which his people should have fixed in the first place.Thereafter, once again Mr. [redacted] has been totally unresponsive. Our irrigation system is not working. It is not coming on as it should and when I turn to Manual, the two heads don't work still. I feel cheated and ignored. James River Irrigation have been very unprofessional and unresponsive to customers needs. They have not done the work that they have been paid for, to my satisfaction.Desired Settlement: My system is not turning on automatically and the two sprinkler heads are not turning on. I need James River Irrigation to come and fix my irrigation system thoroughly, including all the sprinkler heads as per the original contract with them. If they can't do, I'd like them to refund my money.

Business

Response:

In May, 2013, James River Irrigation did make numerous repairs to the irrigation system at Mr. [redacted]'s home. The system had not been used in some years and there were multiple broken heads and pipes in need of repair /replacement. We made the repairs that we were aware of and Mr. [redacted] promptly paid for those repairs. He then notified us that there were two heads not working and we went back to repair those. Mr. [redacted] was not at home, our technician found one head not rotating and replaced it. We billed only 15 minutes labor plus the cost of the head (rather than the normal one hour minimum service call), which is exactly what the cost would have been if the repair was made during the previous visit. Mr. [redacted] then reported that the heads he was concerned about were still not working. Mr. [redacted] and I then played telephone tag for about a week trying to schedule a time that he could be present to show us the specific problem. When we found a time and day to accommodate Mr. [redacted]'s schedule we returned to find a broken pipe, clogged with dirt and debris so that no water was escaping, that fed two heads hidden behind shrubs. The area in questions was covered by heads in front of the shrubs so our technician had no reason to suspect that the two heads not working were even there. We repaired the pipe and, again as a courtesy to our client, charged for parts only, no charge for labor.

At James River Irrigation we continually strive for excellence in customer service. Misunderstandings do sometimes occur and we do everything in our power to treat our clients fairly and to rectify the problem as quickly as possible.

[redacted], President

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action 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.]

Regards,

It seems like James River Irrigation is still trying to say that it is my fault and trying to get even more money from me. When I spoke to Mr. [redacted] in April, 2013, I told him very clearly, that our irrigation system had not been used for a few years and I was looking for someone to troubleshoot the entire system and let me know what was wrong and then make all necessary repairs to have our system back up and running in good condition. Mr. [redacted] accepted this assignment but failed to deliver. The first time his technician came, he completely missed three sprinkler heads, two behind the bushes to the East of the front door and one to the East of the house. When I finally got hold of him, he sent a technician who fixed the one sprinkler to the East of the house but again, completely missed the two behind the bushes which was the reason I called him for. I again tried to call him and he was totally unresponsive. There was no phone tag as Mr. [redacted] is implying. It was only me trying repeatedly to reach him and he not responding. Only after I complained to Revdex.com did he call me back. He then sent his technician who came and fixed the heads or so I thought. Now I see that one of the heads seems broken. It should have been replaced and was not. Water is just flowing around the head and not from it.