Ajax Mechanical Services

Again, Mrs [redacted] has discrepancies throughoutShe stated in her initial message that she did KNOW we did the workThen she states, she didn'tThen she states that our customer service skills were nonexistentMy initial call to Mr [redacted] (never did I speak to Mrs [redacted] ) explained the billing and what we didHe proceeded to give me his billing information and told me to send it to him, which I didOnly after his initial email requesting what our company thought would be a fair price for the services we provided, did Mrs [redacted] decide to file a complaint with the Revdex.com because his request was denied We did in fact provide a lower price as my tech's were there from 7:00pm-8:00pm-after hours which is at a higher rate than what we charged Mr [redacted] .He also indicated that he didn't know he was going to be charged and that he "didn't have a choice to choose who did the work because his renter had called us"As an owner of the property it is his responsibility and his alone to deal with situations such as thisHe most certainly has a say and in fact if he had a company (as he stated previously) that he used for his rentals, then as an owner it was his call to makeNot the renters Regarding the need for a second call, drain cleaning is not always an easy fixNo company that does drain cleaning would EVER provide a guarantee that a back up would never happen againThis because of the unknown or availability to "see" the problemOnce a line drains freely and we are no longer pulling anything out of the line, we advise the party that the line is clearWe do not typically run a camera or do further diagnostic work unless the problem has reoccurred and we have been advised of thatLastly the only way the excavator had the ability to dig up the problem pipe was because OUR company used the camera & locator upon our second trip out which was 1/months laterThere would be no other way to know where the pipe was without these tools we providedMr& Mrs [redacted] are upset that they have to pay for services provided for a property they own and consider an investmentI have exhausted all explanation on this subject and will expect full payment or the [redacted] 's will be turned over to collections as a last ditch effort It is never our intention to go that route but we may have no choice in this matter

I know the customer in question The initial call in October was an after hours call which we were advised was approved by the ownerWe proceed to clear the line which required two technicians and a large main drain machineThe line was cleared and stayed clear for over monthsThis
customer happens to work for a local company and tried to compare their flat rate charge to our hourly rateWhen I tried to explain this to him, he continued to try to educate me on how to bill out on our servicesI explained to this customer that not only did we go after hours which is generally a much higher rate, but we were able to fix the problemWe charged him at the regular hourly rate for only the work performed. Colorado State Employment law requires our company to pay our employees not just over time for work performed, but drive time to & from the job. He was charged far less than what that would have costOn the second call approximately 1/months later again we were authorized to return and clear the line againDue to heavy roots, we needed to camera this line which again I was told was approved, and locate the actual problem area Again we were able to clear the line sufficientlyHis billing was sent to the rental house and we did not have his accurate information to send the bill initiallyOnly after this customer received his bills did he have any problem with our servicesIn fact he is using our information we provided as to the location to dig up and make the necessary corrections neededHe claimed to not know anything about our services, yet in the same sentence admitted to having to have the carpets cleaned due to the back upWhen called out on that, he back tracked saying he was told it was a friend of the renters that did the workThat tells me this customer not only never intended to pay this bill, but he expected the renter to handle issues that are his responsibilityI confirmed with his renter as to what his knowledge was about our visits and what they discussedHis renter was adamant that he spoke to him directly on both occasionsClearly in the complaint listed above-the customer admits they knew we were coming both times. Before writing to Revdex.com, this customer wanted a break on his bills which I advised him he already had because of the after hours we did not charge and the second call where his renter actually gave a hand so we did not have to send a second technicianI was neither rude nor unprofessionalI was simply concise as to how and why the bills stand as isAll this was done via email and this customer never spoke to me after he received the invoices

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I thought you received my response but maybe not so here it is again. At this point I believe this business is not willing to extend customer service I can relate to. As noted in the beginning they were unwilling to even read my concerns. They did not inform me of any charges to begin with. After the first visit, it took over 2 months for them to contact me with a bill. They did only when they realized they did not give good customer service on the first visit and diagnose the issue. They did leave the dead roots in the pipe to cause the back up again. Then on the second visit they left the dead roots in the pipe again so that even the tenant saw this and commented that we were going to have a third backup. If the issue was diagnosed the first trip it would of saved me another carpet cleaning and a return trip by Ajax. I don't understand why Ajax has a problem understanding how they mismanaged this situation. I also do not understand why Ajax did not contact me as to how they charge if they were going to bill me. And after I would of been advised as to how they charge, I would not have hired them. In no way did I ever know that the company named Ajax was working on my pipes at my home and in no way did they know who the owner of the home was. This is a office managers mistakes. Put your self in my shoes, you receive a bill 3 month after work was done that you didn't authorize them to do, and then have extra cost because of how this company handled the situation. I would like to amend my claim and request that they pay for the cleaning of the carpet because of the second back up.
Regards,
[redacted]

Again, Mrs. [redacted] has discrepancies throughout. She stated in her initial message that she did KNOW we did the work. Then she states, she didn't. Then she states that our customer service skills were nonexistent. My initial call to Mr. [redacted] (never did I speak to Mrs. [redacted]) explained the billing and what we did. He proceeded to give me his billing information and told me to send it to him, which I did. Only after his initial email requesting what our company thought would be a fair price for the services we provided, did Mrs. [redacted] decide to file a complaint with the Revdex.com because his request was denied.  We did in fact provide a lower price as my tech's were there from 7:00pm-8:00pm-after hours which is at a higher rate than what we charged Mr. [redacted].He also indicated that he didn't know he was going to be charged and that he "didn't have a choice to choose who did the work because his renter had called us". As an owner of the property it is his responsibility and his alone to deal with situations such as this. He most certainly has a say and in fact if he had a company (as he stated previously) that he used for his rentals, then as an owner it was his call to make. Not the renters.   Regarding the need for a second call, drain cleaning is not always an easy fix. No company that does drain cleaning would EVER provide a guarantee that a back up would never happen again. This because of the unknown or availability to "see" the problem. Once a line drains freely and we are no longer pulling anything out of the line, we advise the party that the line is clear. We do not typically run a camera or do further diagnostic work unless the problem has reoccurred and we have been advised of that. Lastly the only way the excavator had the ability to dig up the problem pipe was because OUR company used the camera & locator upon our second trip out which was 2 1/2 months later. There would be no other way to know where the pipe was without these tools we provided. Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] are upset that they have to pay for services provided for a property they own and consider an investment. I have exhausted all explanation on this subject and will expect full payment or the [redacted]'s will be turned over to collections as a last ditch effort.   It is never our intention to go that route but we may have no choice in this matter.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: At the point t I believe this business is not willing to extend customer service I can relate to. As noted in the beginning they were unwilling to even read my concerns. They did not inform me of any charges to begin with. After the first visit, it took over 2 months for them to contact me that I owed a bill. Then only when they realized they did not give good customer service on the first visit and diagnose the issue. I can assure you that after seeing how they charge, I would of never re hired them, and I didn't hire them the first time. I was told that it was a friend helping out, that my renter asked to come over, and also before notifying me. The renter had this handled his way before I came into the picture. A friend was helping him and he would handle the back up. He also called the carpet cleaning company and I don't believe there is a law against doing this. Then Ajax left the dead roots in the pipe to cause the back up again. Then on the second visit they left the dead roots in the pipe again so that even the tenant saw this and commented that we were going to have a back up again. Also the contractor who did the excavation saw the roots left behind. If the issue was diagnosed the first trip it would of saved me another carpet cleaning and a return trip by Ajax. I don't understand why Ajax has a problem understanding how they mismanaged this situation. I would like to amend my claim and request that they pay for the cleaning of the carpet because of the second back up. I amend this because we have dug up the line at my expense and have seen how Ajax left the situation. That is with the problem still existing. If I hadn't dug this pipe up, I would have never known that I was sure to have a third back up. I say this not knowing all there is about servicing a sewer system, but because I have witnessed the roots laying in the pipe. And yes I feel like I have been called a lair because I stated that I didn't know who Ajax was. All I knew is that there was a friend there to help. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Attach the E mails since there are conformations as to the communication. I have never known who Ajax was until I received a bill from them almost 3 months after the work was done. Ajax said they received a call after hours, which was from my renter. I was never informed that he had called a company. It was after my renter talked to a friend, that my renter informed me of the problem. He stated that he had a friend coming over to help him since the sewer had backed up and flooded the carpet. I informed him that I had a snake and could take care of the initial part of the process to fix the immediate problem and get the sewer flowing. My renter is a plumber and he said that he and his friend had the equipment and could solve the problem. Next day my renter said that they knocked the blockage out and all was good. At this point I suppose I thought that something big had been flushed down the sewer. As it turns out we had a second flood because the problem was much more than a simple blockage. In fact it was roots growing in the line. Two things here: If Ajax was a professional company, they would have let me know I had roots and the problem would return. But since I thought it was a friend helping and they didn’t know the source of the problem, we surmised that it was corrected. Ajax states that I knew that they were there because I had the carpet cleaned twice. No, I didn’t know Ajax was there, I knew that my renter and a friend had done some work. It was only the second time that I had a flood did we determine with the friends camera that we had roots. Which by the way I have repaired the line as of 2/14/15. This was as fast as I could line up an excavator. Making my point that if Ajax would have informed me on the initial visit that I had a root problem, I would not have had a second sewer flood on my carpet, which at this time I am not asking Ajax to pay for. I think my point here is that Ajax and how they handled their first visit and there billing issues, has been a source of continuing issues and problems. I would have never hired them in the first place! In Ajax’s response to my complaint, there is proof that I wasn’t informed of them coming to the home to do any work. They state “His billing was sent to the rental house and we did not have his accurate information.” I have questioned Roto Rooter on 2/15/15 about their process in doing work for a renter and land lord situation. [redacted], the owner informed me that they ask the renter if he is paying the bill. If the renter says no, they contact the land lord and give him a price and get approval to do the work. I would have never approved of the work as I have stated above. I have my own snake and also I have a company I have frequently used that charges $75 an hour and no equipment charge. I feel that is a slam on me that Ajax stated that I was trying to educate her on billing and costs. It was information only. And not trying to tell them how to run their business. Also it is a major dig on my integrity that she would say that it was not until after I got a bill that I looked elsewhere for pricing to try to talk them down on price. Was I lying here?  I have several invoice form another company I use that states their price at $75 an hour and no equipment charge. Also in my first e mail I state that I am using examples so that Ajax can see where I am coming from. 1st I never would of used them had they given me an estimate, and second I would of requested to know what the problem was if I did authorize them to do some work. To get a bill for almost $300 and then another flood and carpet cleaning and then get a second bill for about $600 was way out of line. Again first I thought it was a friend working with a friend. And I didn’t receive a bill for about 2 ½ month which led me to believe that it was a friend since nothing was said the day after the first flood. I thanked the renter who is also a plumber,  for he took care of the blockage. The next unprofessional statement was very offensive and the language was disturbing. In her email she states, “ I didn’t read your entire email. It is too long and starts to go into a lot of done this or that, which I looked at my e mail and I didn’t say anything like that. I can’t imagine a company not wanting to read an email from a customer that first wants to pay a bill, and second wants to have the complaint herd. Then she says I don’t really want to get into a [redacted] MATCH, I’m afraid the bill stands. I really feel at this point that because I have some issues as to how this job went, and I have some concerns, that first Ajax will not listen to any of them and second that as a customer, they want to school me as to my thoughts and complaints, and to top it off make accusations as to my integrity and intention. At this point, I am very offended and would not want to be one of their customers. I am very offended that Ajax made the statement that, “That tells me this customer not only never intended to pay his bill, but.” If you look at my first e mail it states, I see you have not had my billing information. I stated that “This process could have gone a lot smoother and I probably wouldn’t have had a second flood if I would have been notified and approved of the work. Then I state “please consider this and let me know what you think is fair and I will pay you for your work.” Now to me, as a customer, am I trying never intending to pay his bill. It is a customer that is very much trying to pay is bill but has a complaint, and now he is very disturbed at the treatment by Ajax and their employees.        There is a statement in Ajax’s response that says,” Again we were able to clear the line sufficiently.” The line was not cleared sufficiently. On 2/14/15 when we dug the lineup and made the repairs, the excavator cut out a 3’ section of 4’ pipe and when he turned it upside down a 3” rope or root about 2’ long fell out. That means that Ajax did not push the blockage down the line. It remained in the same place where they found it. I suppose that after the camera was used and they found the root problem that they never went back in to remove the blockage. If not discovered I would again have a flood on my carpet. I have a picture of rope of root and also pictures. As well as the excavator who discovered the blockage that Ajax just stated in their response that the line was cleared sufficiently.  Back to my initial statement that I thought that my renter had a friend that was helping him, I need to comment on Ajax’s response to the complaint. She States in her response, “I got a break on the second bill because his renter actually gave a hand. I would submit here that Ajax new the friend ship relationship all along. I can’t imagine the liability issues having a renter help with the equipment that I have been charged for the use of.Regards,
[redacted]

In response to Mr. [redacted]'s wife's email. It again is wordy and most of it does not pertain or explain what the bottom line is. Mr. [redacted] allowed his tenant to make arrangements to handle a problem at a house he owns. By law it is not the tenants responsibility however if he felt comfortable with this arrangement, then he is responsible for our bills. He had the option to call others or ask about cost. He did not. As for "how it should work or what we should have done" again Mr. [redacted] allowed his tenant to make these calls on his behalf. If Mr. [redacted] had a drain machine and was willing to go clear the line, then he should have made this known at the time the issues arouse. He did not. Again, Mr. [redacted] seems to know everything about drains and how to clear them or how many times it "should have" taken. That said he should have handled this himself rather than expect or allow his tenant to handle. I too have spoken to the tenant and was advised Mr. [redacted] was aware of who was doing the work as did Mr. [redacted]'s wife indicate in the first email she wrote to the Revdex.com. Once again the bills stand and must be paid before the end of February.[redacted].