Hood Dreams Online

To Whom it May Concern,  Thank you for your letter regarding complaint ID #[redacted]. We appreciate the opportunity to provide our perspective on this situation.      On November 12, 2014 Mr. [redacted] entered into a contract with our company to install a new outside house trap...

with a vent riser as Mr. [redacted] had been having sewer issues. Soon ater the initial work had commenced additional issues were found in Mr. [redacted]'s sewer line that would also need repair in order have his sewer line working properly. Mr. [redacted] signed a second contract with our company on November 13,2014 which included Musso Plumbing and Heating  excavating towards the main sewer 20 ft further from the origianl proposed work, in order to make necessary repairs. This work had been completed on November 14, 2014.  Musso Plumbing and Heating was called back to the [redacted] Residence on November 26, 2014. At this time the sewer line was cameraed and additional problems were found. After discussing the problems at hand, as well as price, and how the work would be completed Mr. [redacted] signed a contract with Musso Plumbing and Heating to excavate from the outside forward sweep cleanout and replace the latteral sewer from CO to the main lowering the sewer line at the tap to establish the proper pitch on the latteral sewer in accordance with local/state code. It was discussed at this time , if the proper pitch can not be established due to the sewer line exiting the house being too deep Musso would quote a price to install an ejector pit with a new hung sewer that would exit the house and connect to the sewer line.      The sewer at the [redacted] residence was found have numerous problems which would need repair. The major problem is that the sewer line from the house to the town main sewer has an incorrect pitch and is pitched in the opposite direction , running toward the house. The latteral sewer is set lower than the town sewer. There are also issues that exist with the type of soil underground as well as the ground water elevation. Mr. [redacted] has experienced these problems due to a previous repair that wa not made by Musso Plumbing and Heating.     On Monday December 8,2014 at 12:00 P.M. a meeting was held between Mr. Musso of Musso Plumbing and Heating, Mr. [redacted] (Homeowner), and Mr. [redacted] Virkler  the assistant sewer repair supervisor from Erie County, in order to plan the next steps in the sewer repair at the [redacted] residence. At this time plans were outlined to dig a trench and install a new sewer line from the main to the house at 4' elevation. The sewer will need to be pitched at 1/8” per foot by code to the main. It was also discussed that a new hung sewer line would be installed in the basement in order to connect to the main stack, as well as installation of an ejector system in the basement that would connect underground drainage and the pump to the new hung sewer. A price for the above described work was given to the homeowner (Mr. [redacted]) at 3:00 P.M. on this day. At this time Mr. [redacted] stated that he would be looking into financing options and would inform  Musso Plumbing and Heating how to proceed.   On December 9, 2014 at 10:00 A.M. Mr. Musso called Mr. [redacted] to follow up with plans that have been discussed Mr. Musso left a message. On the same day at 3:45 P.M. Mr. Musso again called Mr. [redacted] leaving another message.   On December 10,2014 Mr. Musso Called Mr. [redacted] at 10:00 A.M. to discuss Mr. [redacted]'s decision regarding how to proceed. Mr. Musso left another message.     On Thursday December 11,2014 at 11:55 A.M. Mr. Musso called Mr. [redacted] from Erie county to discuss the job. At this time Mr. Musso was instructed to connect the latteral sewer  from the house to the main sewer pitching in the direction it was found when work had commenced and to back fill for safety before removing Musso Plumbing and Heating owned equipment from the job site, as he had not yet received a response from Mr. [redacted] whether or not to proceed with the proposed work. Mr. [redacted] did inspect the work completed as Mr. Musso was instructed.  At no time was any work done while waiting for a response from Mr. [redacted]. No additional work was completed on this job site. However, for safety reasons the trench was backfilled before equipment was removed from [redacted]. On this day at 3:00 P.M. Mr. Musso received a call from Mr. [redacted] who stated that he no longer wished to continue working with Musso Plumbing and Heating. No additional work was continued and none of the Musso Plumbing and Heating staff members were sent to do work after Mr. [redacted] had stated he no longer wished to work with our company.    Musso Plumbing and Heating has lost a considerable amount of work time in o rder to accommodate Mr. [redacted], which in turn has resulted in lost revenue at no fault of our own, due  the conditions that were found at the [redacted] residence. Sincerely,  [redacted] Office Manager

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
The first repair job Musso completed failed (completed 11/14). The reason the line backed-up again (11/26) was that the trap replaced by Musso (11/14) did not have the correct pitch. Due to the way Musso installed the trap, the middle of the sewer line was "bellying" and causing water to pool and drain slowly because the trap was laid lower than the middle of the line. After reviewing the situation, Musso stated that they needed to replace the middle of the line in order to get the proper pitch. At no time was it mentioned that the pitch would be an issue. Note the sewer line had been in the ground for over 50 years. After replacing the middle of the line, Musso can back again and stated they had to replace the rest of the line! Musso then informed me after tearing up my entire backyard - a 6 foot wide, by 10 foot deep, by 100 foot long hole - that they could not make the pitch to the sewer. Musso then stated that it would be another $20K to complete the job.  Hearing this, I knew I was being scammed. I called the town and village, who both told me that there should be no issue and that I should stop working with Musso. I then called Erie County, who also informed me that there should be no issue. I then called three other contractors, all three of which reviewed the job site AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED.With all said and done, Musso missed pitch by 9". This means they ran the sewer line almost a foot underneath the connection to the county!!!  This is why the meeting was called. Mr. Musso was standoffish. Questions about why Musso did not restart the job from the house (where you are supposed to start) in order to gain enough run to properly lay the pipe were not answered. Mr. Musso failed to answer questions and provide any resolve besides pledging another, "quote."When Mr. Musso called with his quote - $17,200 - to fix the problem, I was floored. Hearing this I suspended work and told him I would need a few days to A) call the bank and get financing and B) speak with others. Musso then had the audacity to send workers to my house - unauthorized - and then begin working again! This only added to the mess and expense!  After research, I found four contractors who all stated that Musso was incorrect. Each stated that the pipe could be run correctly without the excessive system proposed. In fact, each contractor stated that even if that was the case, that this aggressive system was needed, it would not cost more than $5,500; a third of what Musso was attempting to extort from me. Given this, I made the decision to kick Musso off the job and file this complaint.As an FYI, the new contractor was able to lay the pipe and hit the proper grade. In one day too...not the month Musso spent.  Regards,  [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Regards,  [redacted]

I am writing in response to complaint ID [redacted] , which was submitted by Mr. W. [redacted]. I have enclosed a copy of the invoice from I 0/5/20 14, which the customer signed giving approval for Musso Plumbing and Heating to complete the work outlined on the invoice. I have also enclosed a copy of our...

straight forward pricing for the outline jobs. On 10/5/2014 we replaced the circulator pump for the customers [redacted] Boiler . As the straight forward pricing reflects the cost to replace a circulator pump is
$636.00. We also had to "purge" or bleed the boiler system which is typically a charge of $636.00 however Mr. [redacted] was charged $383.00. The technician did also adjust the auto fill on the system at no additional charge, this is typically a cost of $ 132.00.
We communicate all of the job specifications and pricing to our customers and we do not begin any work until a customer has given signed consent for us to proceed. I have highlighted on the invoice our work authorization clause as well as where Mr. [redacted] signed approving our company to proceed with the work at the above quoted price. Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions or concerns.  Sincerely,[redacted]  Office Manager

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
"See attached"
Regards,
 
[redacted]

I would like to address how our company does business. Our technicians/plumbers (referred to as “technicians” for the rest of the letter) are required to go out and evaluate the problem the customer describes when they call in. The technician evaluates the situation based on the information that is provided to them by the customer, After they have evaluated the problem they are to quote our “Straightforward Price” to the customer for their approval. We do this so the customer knows the price  and does not feel surprised or taken advantage of once the work is complete.We also ask they sign the Work Authorization so they are aware of our company's procedures. Our procedures clearly states we base our prices off the task at hand . We can not guarantee this will completely solve the issue without incurring additional costs (See invoices provided by customer).  The “Work Authorization” states “I agree to pay for all goods and services regardless of whether or not  they are successful and regardless of whoever provides further services to achieve success.” Then the technician proceeds to perform the work quoted. If additional problems then arise the technician then quotes the additional costs to the customer, such as flushing, jetting or replacing the drain Thus, to address Ms. [redacted]' complaint that our technician was “bold” for telling her she would have to pay $500 before doing any work relates to the information discussed above. Our charge for a drain cleaning of a 3-4” pipe is $441 and Ms. [redacted] was quoted a travel charge of $59. Therefore the  total due when he completed a sewer cleaning would be $500 plus tax. Our technician started by snaking the sewer line from the house to the street to address Ms.[redacted] concern that the error was due to our previous work. The technician would have been informed of this information when he was dispatched the work order. The work performed in 2012 was to perform a 6 foot repair of the sewer out by the road. There may have been additional problems, but we do not have any further information documented in our system. Our work (unless specified otherwise in writing) is gauranteed for 1 year. That was the only work agreed to by the customer at that date. Ms. [redacted] did not contact us from the completion of the work in December 2012 until the date of the initial complaint August 8, 2017. She states in one of her responses to you that she contacted [redacted], but they never contacted us (and I further believe that is not their responsibility). The technician did not find any problems between the trap and the street. Thus, eliminating Ms. [redacted]'  complaint that it had to do with our previous work.  The technician then snaked towards the house. He did this because he knew that with sewage present in the basement the problem would most likely be between the house and trap. Upon performing work he determined that this solution would not work and he would need to go inside the house to eradicate the sewage problem. He did not start with this because of the possible mess that itcould possibly cause in the basement.  Once inside the technician cleared the sewer from an inside clean out. During this cleaning he was able to pull back roots and toilet paper. Toilet paper gets clogged in a drain when the pipe has roots in it, is not pitched properly or is broken. Therefore, the comment about the toilet paper would have been related to our technician's previous experience about sewer problems. The water in the basement must have receded for the technician to feel he cleared the blockage and to recommend having the line camera'd. A drain can not be successfully camera'd unless the majority of the water has been removed from the pipe and it is open enough to have the camera inserted into the line. Having believed the line was cleared he felt that the job was complete and requested  payment for snaking the sewer. In addition, our technician was onsite at the customer's location for 2.5 hours. Ms. [redacted] then commenced to file a complaint to the Revdex.com on August 9, 2017. Stating “They sent a guy to the house who charged me $500.00 to snake the pipes, did not do any clean up and offered ton advice. As to the residual suage or odor. He was glib and ignorant. After he left, both of the kitchen sinks stopped draining and After repeated plunging they remained clogged.” She did not call our company to address any problems or concerns other than the letter above, which we did not Ms [redacted] called our office on Sunday August 13, 2017 to complain the drain was still not clearing. She refused to pay to have a technician come out so the call got escalated to the owner of the company and he agreed to send a technician out at no charge on Sunday. The technician went out toher home. He evaluated the situtation as described by the customer and recommeded replacement of the sewer under the floor (Which would have eliminated roots and any damaged pipe and solved the customer's problem 100%), but she declined writing on the invoice that she wanted no further work from our company (again please see attached customer's invoices).I received the letter from the Revdex.com on Monday, August 14th and personally spoke with Ms. [redacted] at which time she explained that we had left a snake (the cable from the sewermachine) on her lawn, the initial technician had cussed at her and scared her and had left dirty fingerprints on the door handle of her home. She also explained to me that another individual who was working on her porch had borrowed a sewer machine “from a freind” and had proceeded to do further snaking of her drain, attached a hose to her hot water tank and had run the entire contents of the hot water tank through her drain and that had solved her problem. He had also washed the floor for her. I told her I would look into the situtation and follow up with her.I spoke with both techincian's whom had been on the job site. The first technician stated that yes he had sworn in her home due to the fact that the basement had a lot of spiderwebs in it and that he walked into them and it spooked him. He also stated that he had potentially gotten mud on the door handle. He stated that when he left the home the sewer was flowing. The second technician did state that he did pick up the sewer cable from the lawn. That he evaluated the situtation and made recommendations to the customer, but she declined any work from us. I then spoke with Ms. [redacted] to see if we could do anything further and she declined. We apologize for the snake left on Ms. [redacted]' lawn, the cussing of our technician and the dirt left on her front door handle. Our company is not a cleaning company so we do not remove existing sewage from a customers home. We did not offer any additional solutions to the customer due to the fact that we do not like to perform work that we can not gaurantee. The only work we could guarantee would be to replace the drain. The work that the handyman performed, is only a temporary solution,and with time the roots will grow back and the drain will fill with more toilet paper and Ms. [redacted] will be faced with greater expenses and the same solution as we recommended. It is very frusterating to try to resolve a customer's problem when the customer does not directly communciate with the company. Had Ms. [redacted] contacted our company on August 9th we would havesent a manager out immediately to evaluate the situation and to address her concerns. The customer did not allow us to perform any remediation of the problems later described and clearly declined work from our company when we were notified. Thus, we feel we have fully addressed Ms [redacted] concerns as per our clearly stated business policies. We extended further “free” assistance to her by sending a second technician out at no charge and she declined further work from our company. Thus we feel we have done our best to reolve her issues. Regards, Renee M[redacted]

Thank you for the additional correspondance in regards to  complaint ID [redacted]. As the customer has stated in his response the sewer line that was in need of repair had been in place for over 50 years. Without looking at the sewer line itself we are unable to know what part of the line needs to be repaired or replaced in any situation where sewer repairs need to be made. In the specific instance of complaint [redacted] numerous meetings were held with [redacted] the assisitant sewer and repair supervisor of Erie County in order to discuss the proper way to make the needed repairs. Being a licsensed plumber all work mist be done in accordance with state and county code. Reccomendations were made to the customer based on work being done per county and state code. Erie County  assistant sewer and repair supervisor [redacted] can be contacted at [redacted] Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss this situation. [redacted]

Thank you for taking the timeout of your day to discuss complaint ID [redacted] with Mr. [redacted]. In regards to this complaint and as Mr. [redacted] did outline earlier today all pricing information was provided to the customer prior to any work beginning at the customers  residence. The customer did give approval for our company to work on the frozen water lines at a price of $616.00 per 2 hours. This price of $616.00 includes labor and the use of the thaw machine. After two and a half hours of our technician working at the customers home the customer was asked how she would like to proceed. At that time the customer informed the technician to stop work as it was too expensive to keep going and that she would call our office when she would be able to proceed with any additional work. The customer provided a credit card for payment for the services rendered on 2/21/2015. The customer did call in the following days looking to speak with someone in regards to the services she had received during oue comapnys visit. The customer did have a telephone conversation with Mr. [redacted] in which the customer requested a refund of $50.00. Mr. [redacted] did agree to refund the customer the requested amount. At the time of the customers request the provided credit card had yet to be processed and therefore was processed for the amount of the visit les $50.00 for a total of 616.09. At the time of their phone conversation the customer did state that she was satisfied with the refund of $50.00. Per your request we have looked into the credit card charges that coincide with this complaint id. The credit card charges did go through and our office has not been informed of any chargebacks or credit card disputes at this time.  Thank you again  [redacted]

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss complaint ID # [redacted]. [redacted] Plumbing and Heating strives to provide exceptional service to each and every customer we encounter. On February 21,2015 we were called to this customers homes as she had stated that she had frozen pipes which needed to be...

thawed. our technician went to the customers home to work on thawing the pipes. The customer and the technician discussed pricing prior to the technician beginning any work on the frozen pipes. The technician did provide the customer a copy of our straight forward pricing guide which outlines the price for our technician to thaw pipes. Every customer is shown the straight forward price guide prior to our technicians beginning any work. I have enclosed a copy of our straight forward price guide and have circled the cost to thaw pipes. Every customer is also asked to sign the work authorization portion of the invoice prior to the start of any work in their home. I have enclosed a copy of this invoice and have circled this area which shows the customer did approve for our technician to proceed with the work requested. At the time of service the customer did stop our technician  after having the thaw machine hooked up for 1 hour and 45 minutes stating that it would be too expensive to continue with the work. The invoice I have enclosed does show an amount of $99 which was waived for the customer. This is the cost of the travel charge to any customer who secures services on nights and weekends. The customer was charged $612.50 plus tax of $53.59 for a total amount of 666.09.  On the days following the work we provided the customer did call the office numerous times as she was upset about the cost of the work. Mr. [redacted] spoke with the customer personally at this time the customer requested a refund of $50.00. As it is noted on invoice Mr. [redacted] agreed to take $50.00 off of the price of the bill. At the time of this agreement the customers credit card had not yet been charged, an adjustment was made to the customers bill and her credit card was charged in the amount of $616.09. At the time of the discussion with Mr. [redacted] the customer stated that this satisfied her complaints and she was happy with the resolution. Sincerely  [redacted]