Axner Excavating, Inc.

Review: I called Axner's for an estimate to dig a trench. They said that the backhoe operator just comes out and works out the job with the owner. I showed the operation, who was a nice guy, where I though my septic line was. He witched and said it was six foot in another direction. When he dug he broke the line. He said that I could call someone out to do the repair or they could do it. Needing the job done, I told him to do the repair. At 7:15 the next morning the manager calls wanting payment. To avoid confrontation I offered to split the cost of repair. He refused saying it was my responsibility. Not wanting to argue, I paid via credit card and asked for a receipt, which never came. The next day I called around asking what was the industry practice and received a unanimous response: if you break it, you pay. I called back saying that I wanted Axner's to pay for the repair. Once again, the manager wanted to argue saying that I was the site supervisor. How can the owner/customer be the supervisor? Surely, this violates many OSHA laws. The manager said he would ask the owner about payment and would call me back. He did not call. When I called back, he wanted me to speak with the backhoe operator. I refused, and he gave the phone to another manager. That manager said that it was "clearly my responsibility to pay." If it is the customer's responsibility to pay for damage, then what prevents Axner's from doing more damage to get more work? My hope is that Revdex.com will be the answer to that question. To add insult to injury, the repair leaks, the worker left food wrappers in the trench, and the hand trenching they were supposed to do did not get done. I had to take a day off work in order to finish the job so the electrician could do his!

Product_Or_Service: trenching

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

I want Axner's to pay for the repair.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

RE: Case #XXXXXXXX

On 11/5/13 Mr. [redacted] hired us by the hour to dig a trench at his home. He explained that there was a septic line in the area but didn't know exactly where it was. Without him telling us where the line was, we had no way of knowing where it was. We explained this before we dug. We proceeded to dig cautiously and hit the line. We called Mr. [redacted] immediately and discussed how he would like to proceed. He agreed to our services and payment process and so we repaired the line that day for a quick service and fair price of $125. The job & the repair was done in the same day and Mr. [redacted] paid as agreed the following day.

On 11/8/13 Mr. [redacted] called and asked for a full reimbursement. We told him we would have to check into it and call him back. On 11/11/13 he called again angry and hung up on us.

On 11/25/13 I called Mr. [redacted] and asked him to meet with my foreman and operator so that we could resolve the situation and he refused to meet.

We would like the opportunity to resolve this situation very much.