Lets tell the complete story...... Customer called in early January asking about pumping a tank. I told her that its difficult to pump in winter as a regular maintenance. If its an emergency, we will make all efforts to get it cleaned. She did not indicate that it was an emergency, so I told her to call back a little later in the season when the weather was better and we could clean it for her. She called back in February and asked if we could get to it as her tenant was complaining of raw sewage on the ground and an odor. She indicated that her tenant would be home that day and could show us where the tank was located. I sent the pump truck there and my service tech called me and indicated that there in fact was raw sewage on the ground and proceeded to pump the tank. He then called me back and told me it was the pump chamber not the septic tank. Since there was at least 2 feet of frozen snow and ice on the ground, he could not easily find the septic tank. I then called [redacted] and asked told her that the leakage was from the pump chamber and not the septic tank. She told me she did not know where the septic tank was located...also the tenant was not home. I told her I would find the septic tank and clean it. We could have left the job at that point as we had done what she asked us to do. We however chose to do the right thing for the customer. My tech then drove the pump truck all the way to the New Fairfield town hall and got a copy of the map. Returned to the job and he spent the next two hours in sub freezing weather, thawing the ground and digging up the lids to the tank. He pumped tank and left. Her card was charged $575... $275 ea tank and $25 to thaw and dig lids....That was a incredibly fair price considering time on the job. [redacted] then called back a few days later to complain of the pricing. I discussed in detail all that we had done and told her she needed to have the pump serviced or replaced. She told me that the pump was only a few years old. I advised her to call the person who did the first pump replacement, and she told me that she was very unhappy with their service and would not use them again. I gave her an estimated price for the work and she told me she would get back to me. A month later she called our office to schedule a service call to fix the pump. I told her it would be an additional $175 for the service call and that if we did any repair work, I would apply the $175 to the balance. I then spoke to her tenant, told him the same info. He indicated the alarm for the pump was going off for so long (several months at least), that they were sick of hearing it and shut it off. He also asked me if the raw sewage that had been leaking on the ground for months was a health hazard. I told him to call the Health Dept if he had concerns. The tenant told me he would speak with [redacted] regarding the situation and get back to me. I have not heard from [redacted] since the last conversation. If she was so unhappy with our first service and felt that I ripped her off, why did she call us back, agree to the $175 and ask us to go out and service the pump ? I am not going to refund her any money for the pumping. I should have charged her $75 per hour, per man (there were two techs on the job that day digging through frozen ground) for the digging. I believe that I treated her very fair that day. I'm sorry she was unhappy with our service.
Complaint Information:
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Lets tell the complete story...... Customer called in early January asking about pumping a tank. I told her that its difficult to pump in winter as a regular maintenance. If its an emergency, we will make all efforts to get it cleaned. She did not indicate that it was an emergency, so I told her to call back a little later in the season when the weather was better and we could clean it for her. She called back in February and asked if we could get to it as her tenant was complaining of raw sewage on the ground and an odor. She indicated that her tenant would be home that day and could show us where the tank was located. I sent the pump truck there and my service tech called me and indicated that there in fact was raw sewage on the ground and proceeded to pump the tank. He then called me back and told me it was the pump chamber not the septic tank. Since there was at least 2 feet of frozen snow and ice on the ground, he could not easily find the septic tank. I then called [redacted] and asked told her that the leakage was from the pump chamber and not the septic tank. She told me she did not know where the septic tank was located...also the tenant was not home. I told her I would find the septic tank and clean it. We could have left the job at that point as we had done what she asked us to do. We however chose to do the right thing for the customer. My tech then drove the pump truck all the way to the New Fairfield town hall and got a copy of the map. Returned to the job and he spent the next two hours in sub freezing weather, thawing the ground and digging up the lids to the tank. He pumped tank and left. Her card was charged $575... $275 ea tank and $25 to thaw and dig lids....That was a incredibly fair price considering time on the job. [redacted] then called back a few days later to complain of the pricing. I discussed in detail all that we had done and told her she needed to have the pump serviced or replaced. She told me that the pump was only a few years old. I advised her to call the person who did the first pump replacement, and she told me that she was very unhappy with their service and would not use them again. I gave her an estimated price for the work and she told me she would get back to me. A month later she called our office to schedule a service call to fix the pump. I told her it would be an additional $175 for the service call and that if we did any repair work, I would apply the $175 to the balance. I then spoke to her tenant, told him the same info. He indicated the alarm for the pump was going off for so long (several months at least), that they were sick of hearing it and shut it off. He also asked me if the raw sewage that had been leaking on the ground for months was a health hazard. I told him to call the Health Dept if he had concerns. The tenant told me he would speak with [redacted] regarding the situation and get back to me. I have not heard from [redacted] since the last conversation. If she was so unhappy with our first service and felt that I ripped her off, why did she call us back, agree to the $175 and ask us to go out and service the pump ? I am not going to refund her any money for the pumping. I should have charged her $75 per hour, per man (there were two techs on the job that day digging through frozen ground) for the digging. I believe that I treated her very fair that day. I'm sorry she was unhappy with our service.
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4/12/2014 2:15:12 PM