Dat Top Sprinkler Specialists, Inc.

We have spoken to the customer a few times regarding their complaint in an attempt to resolve this issue, and we have not been able to come to an agreement to date. We installed a lawn sprinkler system for them in year 2005. The initial cost was $2500 as they stated. We are a contractor that...

installs new systems, & does maintenance & repairs to existing system, both residential & commercial. We do not manufacture any of the products we install, we simply provide the service & purchase our products from our supplier (there are 3 major suppliers in RI, besides [redacted] & [redacted]). Unfortunately, as I told the customer, back in years 2005-2007, there was a pipe manufacturer down south, that was suppling polypipe to all 3 suppliers, that became defective after a few years of being in the ground (it would leak under constant pressure). The pipe manufacturer has since gone Chaper 7 bankruptcy & is no longer in existence. Many, many contractors, & many customers have been affected been this issue up & down the entire east coast. To my understanding, there are many lawsuits against this manufacturer that are pending, but again, they went Chapter 7 bankruptcy which makes it difficult for any suppliers &/or contractors to seek restitution. We became aware of the situation only after we would make multiple repair calls to the same customers for the same problems; which again, was not our direct fault. After multiple service calls, we started making repairs free of charge to our customers that were affected by this issue; which ultimately costs myself & our company money & resources to send a paid employee on the road for no income; it's costing us time, materials,  overhead cost & opportunity cost when we could send that employee to  a billable job. We did this for this particular complaint many times at no charge. My proposal to this customer, was that we would come out, replace the defective pipe (mainline only that is under constant pressure & spring leaks), at a time & materials COST to me only, which would be approximately $300-400.00.(depending upon how much pipe needs to be replaced, unknown exactly as it is buried in the ground presently) I would have to send out 2-3 men, with a machine, hand dig in some pipe, use machine for some pipe, make connections as necessary & repair any existing pipes we may hit & damage while installing the new pipe. When we installed the system, all the components of the system come with their own warranties; typical examples are as follows: Hunter rotor heads-3 yrs, Hunter sprayheads-2 years, Controllers & rain sensors-3-5 years depending upon model & manufacturer, valves-2 years, PIPE & PIPE CONNECTIONS WARRANTY IS 1 YEAR (we installed system in 2005), which is why we service the system free of any charges the first year from date of installation; 1st winterization service & 1st spring start up service is free of any charges; we do not warranty any pipes for more than 1 year. In conclusion, I have tried to resolve this issue by offering my time & resources to this customer at cost only on a time & materials basis,  which is very reasonable, as we have done with other customers that we installed systems for, & other customers that have come to us for assistance in doing their repairs as well. (for same issue) I feel this is a very fair & reasonable proposal & offer, that will remain on the table, should the customer want to proceed as proposed.