Country Plumber, Inc.

The account has been adjusted to a zero balance

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
As I said....they can say what they want! I clearly stated I needed the roots cleared out! They never said anything about having to pump they septic before they could clear the roots! They are lying and that's why I got irate...I don't do well with that! And yes...I sent their payment of $and I do believe hey have it by now! I mailed on Monday of this week!To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
Regards,
*** ***

Ms. [redacted]'s check was received in the mail today, I can either mail it back to her or shred it.  Please advise on what you would like done.  I'm sorry there was a miscommunication in what you needed done. I have down exactly what you stated was wrong, but if you feel I'm lying about what was written on the original ticket then so be it.  Your request of a refund is accepted.  Please state clearly you have roots  that need to be cleaned out if there is a next time, not that you have water coming out of your pipes and we will now know how to properly address your issue.

[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.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

When Ms. [redacted] initially called in she stated she had water coming out of her drainfield pipes.  Not one word was spoken of a root issue at the time, just that there was water coming out of the pipes. We write down all calls in a log as we answer them, if need be I can provide a copy of the log,...

but it does have other of our customers information on it that will need to be blacked out. To diagnose what was happening we would have had to pump the septic and I stated that to her and we would be able to get it the next day. Ms. [redacted] was not there when our driver was and he could not find anything out of the ordinary.   The next time we heard from Ms. [redacted] she called our office and stated this is not what she ordered, she then called again on 6/26/17 and swore at and berated my office staff and myself when we tried to explain to her what was called in and how it was handled.  Ms. [redacted] was extremely rude to both myself and my receptionist when we explained to her with the way she called it in, a pumper was the first step in fixing the problem. She has not paid the bill so I don't know why she is claiming she has, but attached you will find a copy of the original work order that I had written up and it clearly has highlighted water coming out of drainfield pipes and that is what she stated when she called in. We can come out and fix the rest of the problem that remains.  Usually [redacted] Plumbing calls us and explains to us what kind of problem their customers are having not the homeowners, so we went out there thinking there was water coming out the drainfield pipes.

Review: On September 16, 2013 called for an estimate to have septic tank pumped. They quoted a price of $130 and the next available date for our area was October 9, 2013. An appointment was made for them to pump our septic tank. October 9 came and passed and Country Plumber was a no show-no call for cancellation. I called and left a message with no response. I kept calling and reached an office person who put me on hold and eventually came back on the phone and said the boss said we were on the edge of their area but they would come on October 16th. I wasn't home on the 16th but the documents attached to septic were signed and taped do our door so I assume they pumped the septic. On October 22, 2013 I received an invoice stating date of service was October 9 (which is the date they didn't show up) for and amount of $240, which is $110 more then the quoted price. I have called and left messages or called with no answer from the company. The invoice number is [redacted] and order number is [redacted].Desired Settlement: Pay the quoted price of $130.

Business

Response:

In regards to this claim, we get more then a $130 for pumping in our area of [redacted], so I don't know where he was quoted this amount. He also left a message on our voicemail on 10/25/13 saying he was quoted $120, which is a different amount then the $130 in this claim. The amount for us to come to [redacted] is $175 if billed, $165 if paid on or before the pumping. I will be happy to settle for the $165 to close this claim.

Sincerely,

Review: Background:

On May 6, 2014 I met with [redacted] of Country Plumber) at our house and we agreed they would replace our aging well pump. We were to be out of town for the next 3 weeks so we left them a key so they could do the work while we were gone. They were to start their work the next week since as he said the sooner they get their work done the sooner our landscaping around the well could start recovering.

May 21st I had received no update so I called for [redacted]. He was not available but they said they would have him call.

On May 23rd no return call yet so I called again - again [redacted] not available - they will have him call me.

May 27 still no return call so I called for [redacted] once more - again I told they will have him call me.

On May 29 [redacted] finally returns my call. He says they replaced the pump but there was some problem - he will check with guys & get back to me on what it was.

May 30 [redacted] calls. Says the problem was the pressure tank, it will need to be replaced but they can't do it until next week.

May 31 [redacted] calls to say he ran water to flush the well on Friday the 30th - the well test results are not back yet so best not to drink the water until they come back.

June 1 we return home to find the well pump fast cycling on-off and making a loud bang noise about once per second. The pressure tank is totally waterlogged. I shut off pump & remove pressure tank.

June 2 [redacted] calls @ 8:20 am and left the message "give him a call - he will be in all day" - I was on my way to buy a replacement pressure tank.

June 2 @ 9:45 ** from Country Plumber shows up unannounced tells my wife he is there to replace the pressure tank. ** says they called us several times that morning but we didn't answer or return calls. (This is not true - our phone log shows the only call incoming call was [redacted]'s message @ 8:20) I tell ** I will replace the pressure tank, he can leave. I replace the tank later that day and take a water sample to the lab for testing.

June 3 - Lab reports our water from the sample I took tested unsafe

June 4 - [redacted] calls to report that our water sample he took tested safe - I tell him that is strange because the sample I took tested unsafe. [redacted] mails a copy of his test results to us. Those test results show the water sample was collected on 6/2 and submitted to the lab the same day - That is not possible since I shut the water system down & removed the pressure tank on 6/1. No one from Country Plumber was there after the system was reassembled and turned back on. There is no way the test on the sample submitted by Country Plumber on 6/2 is valid. It was either not water from our well or it was taken before the 6/2 sample date on the report which would invalidate the results because the sample is required to be submitted to the lab promptly after drawing or the test is not valid.

June 4 and later - I consult with a water consultant and disinfect our well per their instructions and retest. Test again comes back unsafe. I hire them to do more extensive treatment and retesting and we finally get a safe test back after incurring almost $600 in treatment and testing expenses.

Current Problem:

-The well is now safe, but the new pump is damaged because it short cycled after being left on by Country Plumber when they knew the pressure tank either was failing or had totally failed. (A resistance test on the pump indicates that it is definitely damaged.)

- Country Plumber offered to replace the damaged pump. That would be acceptable except we have now spent almost $600 in fees to a water consultant to get the water safe to drink. I am told that if they open the well up again to replace the pump we are starting over with a contaminated well. And Country Plumber has shown they can not be trusted to do the sterilization and testing of the well.

- A further complication is that without our knowledge or consent Country Plumber replaced our previous 3 wire pump with a 2 wire pump. Had they replaced it with the same type 3 wire pump that we previously had it is possible it could have been repaired by changing out electrical components above ground without disturbing the well. Since they took it upon themselves to install a 2-wire pump without our knowledge now the only way to repair the pump is to again open the well and pull and replace the entire pump.Desired Settlement: The new pump has been damaged due solely to Country Plumber's negligence. We have incurred almost $600 in expenses getting the water safe to drink. Replacing the pump again will mean we can't use the water until it tests safe again and no one knows how easy or difficult that will be and how much more it will cost. We no longer trust Country Plumber and prefer not to deal with them further. And under no circumstance would we accept their testing of our well. I propose the following so we never have to deal with them again and vice versa:

The expected useful life of a submersible pump is 10 years. We would owe $1,093 for the pump replacement if it hadn't been damaged ($1,168- $75 for the water test, we are not going to pay for a fraudulent water test that risked our health). Since no one knows how long the pump will last we will pay 1/10 of the total bill or $109.30 per year for up to ten years. If we get the full 10 years of expected life out of the pump then Country Plumber gets paid in full. If it fails before that they get paid for however many years it worked.

Business

Response:

This in regards to the [redacted] claim. [redacted] called me because he had a black tint to his water and wanted to put a new pump and pipe into his well to see if that would clean is water up. He said he was in a big hurry. We replaced the pump and flushed the well. We checked the pressure tank in the basement and found it to not have enough pressure we add the right amount of air to the tank. The water still had the black tint to it. We flushed it for about one hour. We charged the system and left it over night. The next morning Friday we went back and started the water flushing out of the hose. We left it run until 6:00 pm I came to take the water sample and turn the water off. The hose was already off the pump was not running. I turned it back on and let run for 15 min. took the water sample. I shut the hose and notice the pump shut off I turned it back on and the pump went on The pressure tank is bad. No one was home and wouldn't be there until late on sunday. I called [redacted] and told him the pressure tank would have to be replaced and we could do it Monday morning. I left this on his voice mail. I don't believe the pump got hurt by it running the small amount it did sunday night it would only run when the faucet was opened. I offered to take $100 off the pump $ he said no than I said I'll put a new pump in and replace it. He agree to than and said he will call when he was up again. Then I get this. I really would like to be done with this and not drag it out for 10 years. Take $ 368 off the bill and pay it. and lets be done He owes $800. The pump will still be under warranty for 3 year through a different installer.

Consumer

Response:

My colleagues and I have reached out to this company for their services multiple times only to have our phone calls ignored without a response back. I personally called and asked to speak with our representative but the office staff stated that they had to deliver him the message and he would call back. Nothing. That is very poor Business Practice and we will look elsewhere for services.

Review: We had a new ac system installed because of failure to properly fix old one. New system is still not not installed properly or functioning correct. Manufacturers guidelines were not followed as well as building codes. Contractor resfuses to repair and install properly. Also have still not recieved a paid receipt which we were promised numerous times with model and serial number and warranty info. Contractor has said they will not properly fix it and would like our money back and have a dif contractor install a new systemDesired Settlement: Money returned and system removed.

Business

Response:

We have worked for [redacted] for 25 year. We put the first AC in for him. We had a problem with the old unit leaking. We changed the unit out. Our supplier shipped a smaller unit out. We didn't catch it we hooked it up it ran for 2 month. We came back and found the to small unit. We changed the whole system out bigger w/410 codant. We take care of our customer [redacted] did not file the complaint.

Consumer

Response:

I would like to share my experience with Country Plumber Inc as a warning to others.

This company was called to repair a frozen water and septic line problem this year (2014) and after some time did arrive and replace the water line that had frozen and attempted to also repair or thaw the septic line. The first attempt at this was to heat the pipe (plastic) with a torch and this only melted parts of the pipe. The second resolution was to cut away the 6 inch pipe the was frozen and replace it with a 4 inch new line. This allowed for one day of use before it backed up into the home again because the tank and or drain field was not addressed.The company came back to inspect the problem after some time and again a repair was made to fix the problem and correct the drainage back up.This was yet a second bill to repair the problem that was to have been fixed the first time around. Again it seemed to have been repaired for a short time when water started to appear from under the foundation of the home in large amounts.Upon inspection of the problem was was found was to say the least extremely poor work if not illegal to have been done. the 4 inch pipe from the main septic system had been ran into a 6 inch drain with no seal whatsoever and had been left to drain the water under the home. The 6 inch pipe had been warped from the (heating) process used prior and left with burn marks and the main 4 inch drain that had been installed was held in place with a copper wire ,a cinder block, and a used section of PVC piping as a prop to hold it up. When the company was again called to come and repair this they were asked why the pipe had not been sealed and the job was done in this manner and the reply was very indignant. The explanation was that they must not have had the part needed to finish the job when it was done before (for the second time) and it did not matter because it was fixed now ( that is a quote )

When asked about all of the water under the home the service person stated that it did not have any solid waste laying around under the home so it was fine. He would not answer as to why the job had been billed twice and signed off on as repaired when if fact the repair crew apparently did not have (the correct part to seal the system) and had if fact left the sewage to drain under the home. No explanation was offered as to clean up in anyway and he refused to even speak with me at most times acting as though I was a nuisance walking past me with no reply to my inquiry. The end result was a bill of almost $1500.00 for the two service calls and well over 4 weeks of problems and a septic left to drain under the home with a flipped answer of disregard and a disrespectful and condescending attitude when asked about this so called repair. If this company would like to respond in any form I do have photos and video of the (repair) they billed for and did not actually complete leaving raw sewage to run under this home for weeks while grabbing the money and stating the repair was done to standard. Please be forewarned as I am sure I am not the one and only person to whom this has happened to with this company .