By e-mail we agreed to yard leveling and $ mR*** NEEDS TO REITERATE HIS ACCEPTANCE OF THAT OFFERi WILL ALSO IF HE CHOOSES ACCEPT THE $BACK AND DO THE CONCRETE MYSELF That is what the contract says
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
Regards,
*** ***
I have been in contact with the ***I did do the concrete outside in cold weather to try to make their home more accessible and should have waited for better weatherThe concrete was also adveresely affected by them pumping a pump discharge into my ditchRegardless the concrete turned out
poorly and I agreed to redo itThey declined and as a courtesy I agreed to give them $towards the replacement since that actually exceeds my cost to replace itThey also are by contract entitled to a leveling of their yard to construction gradeThis can only be accomplished with dry ground and we have had a lot of rain They have a preexisting ground water problem which appeared nowhere near our excxavation site and was due to our repairing the sewer so the ground water could not illegally infiltrate the sewerI quoted a price to alleviate this condition but the customer had another plumber make the repairThe customer sent a pictorial video which they claimed shoe=wed us damaging their perimeter system but actually showed the opposite and their other plumber can be heard stating their perimeter system was clogged.They wanted me to look at their damages and I didOnce their baseboard was removed you can clearly see the long term rot and water damage to their wall and panelingMr*** does not agree with my assessment and I questioned why he demanded his check many times by e-mail and I questioned why he did not process the checkWe agreed that once the check was received and the yard settled that the matter was concludedI just want a confirmation of that agreement and I will level the yard or if he chooses I will level it at my first opportunity regardless of ground conditions if he will accept the resultAll our needed and contracted pipe work was done properly and inspectedHis grounde water problem has nothing to do with me and his claims that it did are the reason I need verification of ouyr agreement
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
Hi Howard,It's nice hearing from you. We actually have been waiting to hear from you since we had the service done and noticed the double authorization from your company (you were on vacation that week). I'm not sure if you didn't want to take the time or never received the message, but regardless...You will find three pages attached. One being a transaction history showing where the two Courtesy Pay fees were incurred on Daniel's account. The second two pages show the authorizations you put on his account that caused the CP fees. Upon speaking to Brandi (who was really nice), she said she would have you get in touch with us because (according to her) our payment was processed the day the service was provided; however, the secretary or office manager didn't realize that the payment was processed so she authorized that again the next day. Although she backed the charges out, the authorization was already on Daniel's account tying up $of our funds until 11/9. After that date, the authorization dropped off and the funds were released back into the account. If you're not sure how this all works, I'd be happy to explain it in more detail to you as I'm a Branch Manager of the institution I work for; Dan (also a manager for the institution) tried explaining all of this to the Office Manager he spoke to but she "knows how banking works" and wouldn't listen to him. Also, I find it funny that in the last reply you stated that you wouldn't come put your equipment down our pipes again because it's so bad it could ruin your line because we were just told on Wednesday of this week that you would come redo our line if we paid you another $300. I'm really not a bad person and truly hate being a jerk, but I've never been treated by a business the way that I have been treated by Roto Rooter--it's a joke (trust me, I know customer service). I really would like to just resolve this issue and be done with it so let me know what you need from me to credit us back the $in fees
Regards,
*** ***
Even though there are blacked out charges between the two times we ran the card that could have been responsible for the overdraw we will refund $to the credit card that was charged originally and the matter is closedIt will be refunded today and it will appear on your statement
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.I understand that the dispatch fee was due since we didn't have the service performed at that time. However, it was never credited back to us, as we were promised, when we had the work done. And again, you're forgetting that we had $of fees CAUSED BY YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROCESS PAYMENTS. We aren't going to use you again to replace our sewer if you can't even provide the services to us that we were told you would do. We've already scheduled to have our sewer rooted out from a company that is capable of handling any sort of plumbing work. Just remember, a happy customer will tell three people whereas an unhappy customer will tell ten. I also don't understand how you are still in business with the ethics that you haveHave a great day
Regards,
*** ***
The dispatch fee was due since the full service was not performed at that timeThat is the whole purpose of a dispatch fee which was quoted in advanceThere is no warranty on a sewer full of rootsIt is absurd to think otherwiseI will be happy to credit the money paid to date to replace the sewerNo refund us dueWe performed the contract service and again the customer signed acknowledging their complete satisfactionI would not introduce the very expensive cable into a sewer again even for a full mpaid attempt since the condition is sopoor it could easily snag and break the cable
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I will be keeping my eyes open for this transaction to come through
Regards,
*** ***
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.
Once again Howard is holding the yard leveling hostage in exchange for me cashing a check for $1000.00, even though I already paid for that back in January. I shouldn't have to negotiate for for a service to be completed that I already paid for!Howard's request for simple clarification: I would like $2500.00 dollars refunded to me and I will go away. Until I receive that, I will NOT go away. That is MORE THAN FAIR considering I have well over $7500.00 dollars in costs to face since Roto-Rooter left my home and has not returned in what is now 7 months! That doesn't even include many costs I have yet to have quoted for repair. $2500.00 dollars will not even pay for the cement to be fixed and the yard to be landscaped. Howard sates "simply put we did nothing wrong at his home". So is he is saying that he did NOT disconnect my drain tile with no mention or explanation? THAT is what caused my house to flood. Is he now saying he poured the cement correctly back in the middle of winter, when he has already admitted himself that is it not good and needs to be redone?Howard says my own video and pictures prove I was wrong? HOW? As usual, Howard provides no detail and no specifics to back up his claims. Again, I am not asking for an unreasonable figure. $2500.00 and I will eat the rest just to be done with this. BUT... I will NOT go away for any less. Not a chance. I'm am already taking a huge loss because of Roto-Rooter. The fact that they never returned to finish the job, the fact that they will not bend in any way what-so-ever to admit any wrong-doing, and the fact that they are unwilling to fairly compensate me, a paying customer for damages they caused is completely ridiculous.Howard can stop trying to get me to bargain for the yard leveling. I paid for that 7 months ago. He had 7 months to come and do it and I've heard nothing but excuses. I had the yard bid and it will be fixed by a competent landscaper. $2500.00 will help pay for the cement that Howard messed up and will help pay to fix the yard he never finished... and it won't even cover those costs completely. Regards,
[redacted]
Our ethics are fine. I am sorry you are not a happy customer since that is always important. You can spend money removing roots on a regular basis but that actually worsens the pipe condition so you will be replacing your pipe. Do not shoot the messenger. Send to my fax [redacted] verifiable proof that you have $70 in charges which I doubt since that would mean that neither payment was good to be processed and I will review the date and times of your overdraft charges and if they are our fault will revisit the refund issue. You are mistaken about the dispatch fee. It covers (not Quite) the expense of sending a bonded technician in an insured truck with time and gas to your home to diagnose your problem and quote a repair. Those costs do not disappear because you at a later date have the money or desire to do the task. It is waived on the same day of original service if you proceed since there is no duplication of tasks. I believe you are being very unpleasant and misstating FACTS and at this point I wish you well and will review documents which I firmly believe do not exist if you present them for review to myself and the Revdex.com but an quite glad you will not be using our services. I guess your signature indicating your understanding of the terms and your complete satisfaction and your current change of tactics and denial of your signature are a good indication of your ethics. Howard S[redacted]
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.
Looking forward to it. See you in court.
Regards,
[redacted]
I will review your documents and get back to you. I am not willing to cable for $300 but another misunderstanding:L I am willing to excavate as needed.
The 47.95 is a dispatch fee we charge if they reject our estimate. They proceeded with the estimate to cable the line and paid the standard 298.90 quoted price. We performed the work and they were never charged the dispatch fee. They have and nevrr had and were never told they had a warranty because...
their sewer is infested with roots and needs replaced. They were not interested ina replacement. We did get the line flowing and they signed our invoice indicating their zero warranty and complete satisfaction with our work.noone can warranty a root infested sewer. No refund is due .
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.Their response that they completed a substantial amount of "required work" is incorrect. They completed digging trenches in my basement for work that was NOT required. We brought in a second plumber who ran a camera through the sewer lines under our house and the line out to the street, that plumber said there was NOTHING WRONG with any of the pipes. We have that in writing from the plumber as well as video recordings made by that plumber. If Roto-Rooter chooses to go to court we are have also retained attorneys and will present evidence to dispute their claim of "required work". In regards to settling this matter, we made them an offer of keeping the $1000 down payment, picking up their materials and not coming back. Should they decide to accept that offer we will not pursue this any further. Should they decide to take this to court we will file a counter suit for the cost of repairing the basement, our $1000 down payment and the cost of replacing the basement carpeting.
Mr [redacted] yard will be fixed as soon as he acknowledges his earlier e-mail that yard leveling completes our business since he acknowledged receipt of the check. He has sent so many e-mails with different info I request simple clarification. We broke nothing in his home. His water issues are longstanding and I would not enter a claim to any insurance company taking blame for wall rot and groundwater . I am not responding to his incorrect allegations since I have done so. To summarize I will level the yard once he reconfirms that settles his complaint. He did state that once but has sent many contradictory messages since then. Simply put we did nothing wrong at his home. His own video and pictures with arrows prove he was wrong. Did we bring a lake to his home or is his home like 90% od erie homes that have groundwater issues. He certainly never told me before excavation began that he was illegally dumping his french drain into the sewer. I am sure he did not know but how is that my problem.
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.
Good Evening,My responses to Howard's comments are below.Howard claims that we discharged a pump into his ditch. In fact, the sump pump discharge was placed in the middle of the yard by the house, 25 or so feet from where the cement was being poured. Even if it was discharged near the cement area, we are talking about the cement being poured by Roto-Rooter in the middle of winter (February 24th, 2017). Roto-Rooter came and poured the cement on an oddly nice day, the first nice day in many months. All the snow had melted and the entire front lawn was heavily saturated. The sump discharge, even if it was directly in the cement area, which it wasn't, would have had very little added effect. The ground was already soaked everywhere. There was literally a small pond in the area that received the concrete. This was the lowest part of the yard. Howard states that water was the core issue. Why then did he move forward and pour the concrete anyway, right into the water? Howard's crew did NOT remove any water from the area at all and they did NO prep work at all. Roto-Rooter dumped the concrete into the standing water without properly preparing the area to receive the cement. No water was drained, no reinforcement mesh was used, no pins were used to keep it from sinking, no proper sub-base was used, it was poured very shortly after the ground was dug with no time for the soil to settle, and with a single piece of rebar holding the 2x4 frame which of course proved to be very inadequate Absolutely horrible workmanship. As I stated in my complaint, I have security video showing this and proving this. I have asked Howard several times why he neglected to properly prepare the area to receive the concrete. His reply has always been the same, just as he replied to you, that it was too wet with no explanation as to why the proper preparations were not performed.Yes, Howard did indeed offer to re-do the cement. At that point I asked yet again why the proper preparations were not made. He neglected to answer, yet again. He would eventually reply to my repeated questions with only this: "we do many each year". I then stated that since he is choosing not to comment on, or address any of my questions or statements regarding his lack of proper preparations for the cement, I can then only assume, that he intends to lay the cement again, in the exact same manner, which both he and I agreed is unacceptable. Obviously there is no point in letting him do the same thing again only to have the concrete look terrible and sink again months later just as it has the first time. I then received quotes from several cement contractors with an average price of $1985.00, and told Howard I expected him to pay for that since he is obviously not a professional cement finisher and is incapable of getting my cement back to the same or comparable condition to what is was before he removed it. It was then that he offered the $1000.00 dollars and said he would come and level the yard AFTER I cashed the check. Agreeing to this and cashing the check, according to Howard, means he would be exonerated from all wrong doing, and everything would be satisfied. I argued that I should not have to bargain for a service (yard leveling) that I paid for back in January, over 7 months ago. Now, Howard states that I am entitled to the yard leveling, yet here we are almost 7 months later, still waiting! We were verbally told by a member of his staff back in January, that they would be back in spring to finish the yard to make it look nice again. Now we are being told by Howard that it will be leveled to "construction grade". That means it will be sort of flat, no grass seeding, not finished. As soon as Howard started using the "construction grade" verbiage in the last week or two, I knew then it would not be finished and I will have to hire a landscaper to come and fix it properly to get me back to the same or comparable conditions to what it was before Roto-Rooter. This construction grade term is new and solidifies to me that there is no point in having Roto-Rooter come and do the job halfway. Frankly, based on all that I have seen, I have no confidence they were ever coming back anyway since it has been 7 months. Howard blames all "the rain" as to the reason they haven't come back. Perhaps in Butler County where he is at, it rains daily, but here in Erie, 100+ miles to the north, it has been dry with VERY little rain. There has been so little rain, the ground is dry and cracked almost everywhere. Even if it has been raining, it hasn't been raining for 7 months! I don't know what Howard feels is an acceptable time to wait but 7 months is ridiculous and I think we have been more than patient and more than fair before opening this dispute. After 7 months and a summer with a front yard that looks like a bomb went off, I have been waiting, emailing, waiting, emailing and waiting.... and wasting my time. I have not been able to get my life back and my house in order because I have been waiting and waiting, very fairly and generously I might add. Well, no more. My family and I have suffered enough and we are finished with Howard's lack of cooperation and lack of communication. Howard will no doubt argue that he HAS been communicating with us. However, sending emails that repeat the same non-specifics with no answers is not communicating. It is an attempt at pacifying. I explained to Howard in my last and final email to him on July 23rd at 2:59pm, that I apparently need to take control of this and fix it myself, even if it severely burdens me financially. I went on to say that Howard and his crew were NOT welcome on my property. Howard states that we had a pre-existing water condition. We have never had "flooding" in our home in the 17+ years we have lived there. In the process of replacing our sewer line, Roto-Rooter disconnected our drain tile from the sewer line with no explanation and the house subsequently flooded. Contractually, Roto-Rooter may not have been obligated to explain this in detail, but ethically and morally they certainly are, or should have been. I had no idea what a drain tile even was when this process began. I hired Roto-Rooter because of name recognition assuming I was getting a competent professional who I could trust, because I knew nothing of plumbing. Clearly I didn't get what I expected. Howard has stated that the water was entering into the broken pipe and that is why the house flooded because that pipe was replaced. Howard, the 2nd plumbers I hired ([redacted]'s plumbing) and I, all agree that some ground water was likely going into the broken pipe. However during the sump pump installation by [redacted]'s plumping, we found, tested and proved that the house has a perfectly good and working drain tile system. The house flooded because the drain tile system no longer had any outlet because it had been disconnected from the sewer line, where it was connected when the house was built. Again with no explanation. Today, understanding the situation to its fullest extent, I do not dispute that the drain tile system could not be connected to the sewer line for legal reasons. However, as previously stated, this was never explained to us at all. [redacted]'s plumbing and several other plumbers I have consulted with, all told me that there are several ways to alleviate this drain tile connection issue while the area was already torn up, all very inexpensively. Instead we are now forced to have a sump pump. We can't afford to dig up the floor and yard again to do it "right".Howard states he "quoted a price to alleviate the condition but we chose another plumber to make the repair" Howard offered a sump pump AFTER the fact, after he disabled our drain tile, and after the flooding, and after the area in the basement in which they worked was already filled in and re-cemented by Roto-Rooter. At this point, we had absolutely no reason to believe that they were either competent or honest. Yes, we chose another plumber for another opinion and moved forward with them. I emailed Howard a link to a very short excerpt of a video of our drain tile working perfectly. Howard commented that he hears someone in the video asking if the drain tile is plugged. Yes in the video, the question is posed about the drain tile being plugged and the plumber clearly and immediately answers that yes, it is working. Further, the drain tile being discussed in the video was broken earlier by the jack hammer when they opened the floor. The [redacted] plumber freely admitted that. When it was broken, gravel fell in and filled in the single 12" long drain tile. Even in this condition, it worked fine as water works through gravel easily. The jack-hammered 12" broken tile was the only tile that had any debris in it and was replaced by [redacted] plumbing before they left. That video excerpt was a very small portion of the entire day in which everything was discussed and tested. Obviously Howard does not understand what took place that day, but perhaps he does now.Howard states that since our Sump pump was installed in the opposite corner of our home, as compared to where Roto-Rooter dug previously, that somehow proves the flooding wasn't his fault. It is sad that I had to explain it to a plumber, but I explained to Howard that water will always find the lowest point in any system. We know now that the drain tile exists around the entire perimeter of our home and lies about a foot or so below our foundation. When the drain tile starts to fill up, it reaches a certain level and exits the drain tile system into the sump pit which is far below, several feet in fact, below the tile. On any rainy day, I have and still can witness the water flowing from the drain tile in to the sump pit, because the sump pit area is now the lowest point in the system and has yet to have been cemented closed so it can be viewed freely. Further, the plumber ([redacted]s) and I chose this area of the house because it was our preference to have it drain out the rear of the house draining into the side yard. Howard's recommendation was to re-dig the basement are that had just been dug up and drain it into our driveway which was not at all preferred. I agreed with Howard that some of the basement walls show longer term damage because of some improper waterproofing on the basement block wall. That area is not in dispute and is not part of my claim. However, if it makes it easier, we can eliminate all basement walls from my complaint so there are no gray areas. I am not unreasonable at all, and I don't see us ever agreeing that certain walls were damaged by the flooding and other walls were damaged by longer term block seepage. So I will eat that part of the claim in the spirit of trying to reach a conclusion. But I certainly wanted it mentioned in my claim because the wall damage due to flooding is very real and in the end will cost me even more money. Surely these costs are of the many that could have and should have been avoided had Roto-Rooter operated in a moral, ethical and thorough manner. Howard states that we agreed that once the check was received and the yard leveled the matter was concluded. After asking and receiving NO answers to any of my questions, I told Howard he was being uncooperative. I clearly stated in an email that there was absolutely no point in continuing a conversation with him because he refused to answer any questions or give any specific details on anything. He refused to answer questions about the concrete and refused to commit to a day when he would come and rock hound the yard. As a last ditch effort to try and get any results at all, to get him here to fix the yard, I said that if he sent me a check AND came and leveled the yard IMMEDIATELY, I agreed I would not reach out to HIM anymore. I have no doubt that reaching out to him for anything at this point, would get the same lack of response and cooperation was pointless. Once again, Howard would not commit to a day to come and rock hound. Even after pressing him for a specific day so that I could coordinate with the cement finisher, he would not answer, but instead comment with: "if it doesn't rain", or "soon" or "weather permitting". Not only has the entire summer been dry here, but every day for the last several weeks during that part of our email conversation has been dry as well. Howard also pressured me to cash a $1000.00 check and/or send an email stating that all matters between us were closed. In one of the many discussions where I asked him when he would come and level the yard... Howard's exact words were: " The weather seems favorable so I can accomplish it as soon as the check is deposited." He wanted me to cash the check so he could claim that all matters were resolved. I explained that I refused to bargain to have something done (yard leveling) that I already paid for back in January, and frankly I felt bullied, with him holding the yard leveling over my head until I exonerated him from all other liabilities. I can and will share the entire email conversation with you at any time if that is desired. Yes I agree he replaced the sewer line, and the sewer line trap, as he was hired to do. That part is not in dispute. It is in nearly every result of him doing so, where I have an issue. Howard states my claims are false. I am stating nothing but facts. If any of my claims are false I would love to hear a detailed explanation as to WHY he thinks they are false. He has yet to offer any answers or any details at all to back up his claims. As stated, Roto-Rooter disconnected my drain tile with no explanation and no options given. My house flooded as a result. Absolute horrible cement work was performed, and when questioned, Howard refuses to comment on it other than to say "it was too wet" and "we do many each year". No one should be surprised why I won't allow him to try the cement again. All this while hearing false weather related excuses and waiting 7 months for the yard leveling I paid for 7+ months ago. I will be more than happy to provide photos, emails, and video links at any time if needed.Thank you,[redacted]
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.
As can be seen on the initial estimate, the line was scoped and we were quoted with a one year warranty. Since the line was scoped at the estimate it was known that there were roots in the sewer line and we were still quoted the one year warranty with it. The initial $47.95 was paid in cash to the technician who provided the estimate; this was never returned when the work was performed. For the second invoice where the work was actually completed, we felt as though we had no choice in signing the receipt since it was work that we paid for. However, you can see on the left hand side of the page that the changes to the estimate were not actually initialed off on. The sewer line was initially working, but it wasn't until approximately two weeks later that we started having problems again. Upon speaking to the technician, Jason, he told me that there were too many roots in the line and that he wasn't able to complete the job. Since we were never directly told that the warranty was voided, we thought that we would be able to call and have Roto Rooter come fix the problem. It was only then that we found out there was no warranty. We were also never told that we would need a full line replacement (we wouldn't have moved forward with this regardless if we had known that).Also, don't forget that the debit card used to pay for the work was authorized for payment twice causing $70 in fees that had to be paid out of pocket by us despite the fact that it wasn't our fault that the card was authorized twice.We have been quoted by other plumbers and went with Roto Rooter as we believed they could fix the problem based off of what we were told at the estimate. Had we known that they have terrible business practices and clearly do not care about their customers we would have never chose Roto Rooter.
Regards,
[redacted]
We jetted the line as stated and got it opened. The line has scale and debris and we jetted and pushed debris to the main and line was opened and flowing and the customer signed the invoice acknowledging their complete satisfaction. Camera work was performed at no charge and as a courtesy. The...
rejetting under warranty was also no charge. The line is cast and has mechanical issues and we stand behind our recommendation of a replacement to offer a permanent solution. This line has a verifiable history of clogging dating to 2013 with Roto-Rooter. [redacted]. may have rejetted and removed more scale and debris and that condition will continue to reoccur at some point. We did the job we contracted to do,honored the warranty with an additiuonal service,and performed a free camera. No rebate is due.Customer also signed the no charge warranty invoice indicating the line was opened again and indicating their complete satisfaction. Howard S[redacted] Owner
By e-mail we agreed to yard leveling and $ mR*** NEEDS TO REITERATE HIS ACCEPTANCE OF THAT OFFERi WILL ALSO IF HE CHOOSES ACCEPT THE $BACK AND DO THE CONCRETE MYSELF That is what the contract says
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
Regards,
*** ***
We completed a substantial amount of needed work and have retained an attorney to resolve the matter in civil court
I have been in contact with the ***I did do the concrete outside in cold weather to try to make their home more accessible and should have waited for better weatherThe concrete was also adveresely affected by them pumping a pump discharge into my ditchRegardless the concrete turned out
poorly and I agreed to redo itThey declined and as a courtesy I agreed to give them $towards the replacement since that actually exceeds my cost to replace itThey also are by contract entitled to a leveling of their yard to construction gradeThis can only be accomplished with dry ground and we have had a lot of rain They have a preexisting ground water problem which appeared nowhere near our excxavation site and was due to our repairing the sewer so the ground water could not illegally infiltrate the sewerI quoted a price to alleviate this condition but the customer had another plumber make the repairThe customer sent a pictorial video which they claimed shoe=wed us damaging their perimeter system but actually showed the opposite and their other plumber can be heard stating their perimeter system was clogged.They wanted me to look at their damages and I didOnce their baseboard was removed you can clearly see the long term rot and water damage to their wall and panelingMr*** does not agree with my assessment and I questioned why he demanded his check many times by e-mail and I questioned why he did not process the checkWe agreed that once the check was received and the yard settled that the matter was concludedI just want a confirmation of that agreement and I will level the yard or if he chooses I will level it at my first opportunity regardless of ground conditions if he will accept the resultAll our needed and contracted pipe work was done properly and inspectedHis grounde water problem has nothing to do with me and his claims that it did are the reason I need verification of ouyr agreement
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
Hi Howard,It's nice hearing from you. We actually have been waiting to hear from you since we had the service done and noticed the double authorization from your company (you were on vacation that week). I'm not sure if you didn't want to take the time or never received the message, but regardless...You will find three pages attached. One being a transaction history showing where the two Courtesy Pay fees were incurred on Daniel's account. The second two pages show the authorizations you put on his account that caused the CP fees. Upon speaking to Brandi (who was really nice), she said she would have you get in touch with us because (according to her) our payment was processed the day the service was provided; however, the secretary or office manager didn't realize that the payment was processed so she authorized that again the next day. Although she backed the charges out, the authorization was already on Daniel's account tying up $of our funds until 11/9. After that date, the authorization dropped off and the funds were released back into the account. If you're not sure how this all works, I'd be happy to explain it in more detail to you as I'm a Branch Manager of the institution I work for; Dan (also a manager for the institution) tried explaining all of this to the Office Manager he spoke to but she "knows how banking works" and wouldn't listen to him. Also, I find it funny that in the last reply you stated that you wouldn't come put your equipment down our pipes again because it's so bad it could ruin your line because we were just told on Wednesday of this week that you would come redo our line if we paid you another $300. I'm really not a bad person and truly hate being a jerk, but I've never been treated by a business the way that I have been treated by Roto Rooter--it's a joke (trust me, I know customer service). I really would like to just resolve this issue and be done with it so let me know what you need from me to credit us back the $in fees
Regards,
*** ***
Even though there are blacked out charges between the two times we ran the card that could have been responsible for the overdraw we will refund $to the credit card that was charged originally and the matter is closedIt will be refunded today and it will appear on your statement
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.I understand that the dispatch fee was due since we didn't have the service performed at that time. However, it was never credited back to us, as we were promised, when we had the work done. And again, you're forgetting that we had $of fees CAUSED BY YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROCESS PAYMENTS. We aren't going to use you again to replace our sewer if you can't even provide the services to us that we were told you would do. We've already scheduled to have our sewer rooted out from a company that is capable of handling any sort of plumbing work. Just remember, a happy customer will tell three people whereas an unhappy customer will tell ten. I also don't understand how you are still in business with the ethics that you haveHave a great day
Regards,
*** ***
The dispatch fee was due since the full service was not performed at that timeThat is the whole purpose of a dispatch fee which was quoted in advanceThere is no warranty on a sewer full of rootsIt is absurd to think otherwiseI will be happy to credit the money paid to date to replace the sewerNo refund us dueWe performed the contract service and again the customer signed acknowledging their complete satisfactionI would not introduce the very expensive cable into a sewer again even for a full mpaid attempt since the condition is sopoor it could easily snag and break the cable
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I will be keeping my eyes open for this transaction to come through
Regards,
*** ***
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.
Once again Howard is holding the yard leveling hostage in exchange for me cashing a check for $1000.00, even though I already paid for that back in January. I shouldn't have to negotiate for for a service to be completed that I already paid for!Howard's request for simple clarification: I would like $2500.00 dollars refunded to me and I will go away. Until I receive that, I will NOT go away. That is MORE THAN FAIR considering I have well over $7500.00 dollars in costs to face since Roto-Rooter left my home and has not returned in what is now 7 months! That doesn't even include many costs I have yet to have quoted for repair. $2500.00 dollars will not even pay for the cement to be fixed and the yard to be landscaped. Howard sates "simply put we did nothing wrong at his home". So is he is saying that he did NOT disconnect my drain tile with no mention or explanation? THAT is what caused my house to flood. Is he now saying he poured the cement correctly back in the middle of winter, when he has already admitted himself that is it not good and needs to be redone?Howard says my own video and pictures prove I was wrong? HOW? As usual, Howard provides no detail and no specifics to back up his claims. Again, I am not asking for an unreasonable figure. $2500.00 and I will eat the rest just to be done with this. BUT... I will NOT go away for any less. Not a chance. I'm am already taking a huge loss because of Roto-Rooter. The fact that they never returned to finish the job, the fact that they will not bend in any way what-so-ever to admit any wrong-doing, and the fact that they are unwilling to fairly compensate me, a paying customer for damages they caused is completely ridiculous.Howard can stop trying to get me to bargain for the yard leveling. I paid for that 7 months ago. He had 7 months to come and do it and I've heard nothing but excuses. I had the yard bid and it will be fixed by a competent landscaper. $2500.00 will help pay for the cement that Howard messed up and will help pay to fix the yard he never finished... and it won't even cover those costs completely. Regards,
[redacted]
Our ethics are fine. I am sorry you are not a happy customer since that is always important. You can spend money removing roots on a regular basis but that actually worsens the pipe condition so you will be replacing your pipe. Do not shoot the messenger. Send to my fax [redacted] verifiable proof that you have $70 in charges which I doubt since that would mean that neither payment was good to be processed and I will review the date and times of your overdraft charges and if they are our fault will revisit the refund issue. You are mistaken about the dispatch fee. It covers (not Quite) the expense of sending a bonded technician in an insured truck with time and gas to your home to diagnose your problem and quote a repair. Those costs do not disappear because you at a later date have the money or desire to do the task. It is waived on the same day of original service if you proceed since there is no duplication of tasks. I believe you are being very unpleasant and misstating FACTS and at this point I wish you well and will review documents which I firmly believe do not exist if you present them for review to myself and the Revdex.com but an quite glad you will not be using our services. I guess your signature indicating your understanding of the terms and your complete satisfaction and your current change of tactics and denial of your signature are a good indication of your ethics. Howard S[redacted]
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.
Looking forward to it. See you in court.
Regards,
[redacted]
I will review your documents and get back to you. I am not willing to cable for $300 but another misunderstanding:L I am willing to excavate as needed.
The 47.95 is a dispatch fee we charge if they reject our estimate. They proceeded with the estimate to cable the line and paid the standard 298.90 quoted price. We performed the work and they were never charged the dispatch fee. They have and nevrr had and were never told they had a warranty because...
their sewer is infested with roots and needs replaced. They were not interested ina replacement. We did get the line flowing and they signed our invoice indicating their zero warranty and complete satisfaction with our work.noone can warranty a root infested sewer. No refund is due .
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.Their response that they completed a substantial amount of "required work" is incorrect. They completed digging trenches in my basement for work that was NOT required. We brought in a second plumber who ran a camera through the sewer lines under our house and the line out to the street, that plumber said there was NOTHING WRONG with any of the pipes. We have that in writing from the plumber as well as video recordings made by that plumber. If Roto-Rooter chooses to go to court we are have also retained attorneys and will present evidence to dispute their claim of "required work". In regards to settling this matter, we made them an offer of keeping the $1000 down payment, picking up their materials and not coming back. Should they decide to accept that offer we will not pursue this any further. Should they decide to take this to court we will file a counter suit for the cost of repairing the basement, our $1000 down payment and the cost of replacing the basement carpeting.
Regards,
[redacted]
Mr [redacted] yard will be fixed as soon as he acknowledges his earlier e-mail that yard leveling completes our business since he acknowledged receipt of the check. He has sent so many e-mails with different info I request simple clarification. We broke nothing in his home. His water issues are longstanding and I would not enter a claim to any insurance company taking blame for wall rot and groundwater . I am not responding to his incorrect allegations since I have done so. To summarize I will level the yard once he reconfirms that settles his complaint. He did state that once but has sent many contradictory messages since then. Simply put we did nothing wrong at his home. His own video and pictures with arrows prove he was wrong. Did we bring a lake to his home or is his home like 90% od erie homes that have groundwater issues. He certainly never told me before excavation began that he was illegally dumping his french drain into the sewer. I am sure he did not know but how is that my problem.
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.
Good Evening,My responses to Howard's comments are below.Howard claims that we discharged a pump into his ditch. In fact, the sump pump discharge was placed in the middle of the yard by the house, 25 or so feet from where the cement was being poured. Even if it was discharged near the cement area, we are talking about the cement being poured by Roto-Rooter in the middle of winter (February 24th, 2017). Roto-Rooter came and poured the cement on an oddly nice day, the first nice day in many months. All the snow had melted and the entire front lawn was heavily saturated. The sump discharge, even if it was directly in the cement area, which it wasn't, would have had very little added effect. The ground was already soaked everywhere. There was literally a small pond in the area that received the concrete. This was the lowest part of the yard. Howard states that water was the core issue. Why then did he move forward and pour the concrete anyway, right into the water? Howard's crew did NOT remove any water from the area at all and they did NO prep work at all. Roto-Rooter dumped the concrete into the standing water without properly preparing the area to receive the cement. No water was drained, no reinforcement mesh was used, no pins were used to keep it from sinking, no proper sub-base was used, it was poured very shortly after the ground was dug with no time for the soil to settle, and with a single piece of rebar holding the 2x4 frame which of course proved to be very inadequate Absolutely horrible workmanship. As I stated in my complaint, I have security video showing this and proving this. I have asked Howard several times why he neglected to properly prepare the area to receive the concrete. His reply has always been the same, just as he replied to you, that it was too wet with no explanation as to why the proper preparations were not performed.Yes, Howard did indeed offer to re-do the cement. At that point I asked yet again why the proper preparations were not made. He neglected to answer, yet again. He would eventually reply to my repeated questions with only this: "we do many each year". I then stated that since he is choosing not to comment on, or address any of my questions or statements regarding his lack of proper preparations for the cement, I can then only assume, that he intends to lay the cement again, in the exact same manner, which both he and I agreed is unacceptable. Obviously there is no point in letting him do the same thing again only to have the concrete look terrible and sink again months later just as it has the first time. I then received quotes from several cement contractors with an average price of $1985.00, and told Howard I expected him to pay for that since he is obviously not a professional cement finisher and is incapable of getting my cement back to the same or comparable condition to what is was before he removed it. It was then that he offered the $1000.00 dollars and said he would come and level the yard AFTER I cashed the check. Agreeing to this and cashing the check, according to Howard, means he would be exonerated from all wrong doing, and everything would be satisfied. I argued that I should not have to bargain for a service (yard leveling) that I paid for back in January, over 7 months ago. Now, Howard states that I am entitled to the yard leveling, yet here we are almost 7 months later, still waiting! We were verbally told by a member of his staff back in January, that they would be back in spring to finish the yard to make it look nice again. Now we are being told by Howard that it will be leveled to "construction grade". That means it will be sort of flat, no grass seeding, not finished. As soon as Howard started using the "construction grade" verbiage in the last week or two, I knew then it would not be finished and I will have to hire a landscaper to come and fix it properly to get me back to the same or comparable conditions to what it was before Roto-Rooter. This construction grade term is new and solidifies to me that there is no point in having Roto-Rooter come and do the job halfway. Frankly, based on all that I have seen, I have no confidence they were ever coming back anyway since it has been 7 months. Howard blames all "the rain" as to the reason they haven't come back. Perhaps in Butler County where he is at, it rains daily, but here in Erie, 100+ miles to the north, it has been dry with VERY little rain. There has been so little rain, the ground is dry and cracked almost everywhere. Even if it has been raining, it hasn't been raining for 7 months! I don't know what Howard feels is an acceptable time to wait but 7 months is ridiculous and I think we have been more than patient and more than fair before opening this dispute. After 7 months and a summer with a front yard that looks like a bomb went off, I have been waiting, emailing, waiting, emailing and waiting.... and wasting my time. I have not been able to get my life back and my house in order because I have been waiting and waiting, very fairly and generously I might add. Well, no more. My family and I have suffered enough and we are finished with Howard's lack of cooperation and lack of communication. Howard will no doubt argue that he HAS been communicating with us. However, sending emails that repeat the same non-specifics with no answers is not communicating. It is an attempt at pacifying. I explained to Howard in my last and final email to him on July 23rd at 2:59pm, that I apparently need to take control of this and fix it myself, even if it severely burdens me financially. I went on to say that Howard and his crew were NOT welcome on my property. Howard states that we had a pre-existing water condition. We have never had "flooding" in our home in the 17+ years we have lived there. In the process of replacing our sewer line, Roto-Rooter disconnected our drain tile from the sewer line with no explanation and the house subsequently flooded. Contractually, Roto-Rooter may not have been obligated to explain this in detail, but ethically and morally they certainly are, or should have been. I had no idea what a drain tile even was when this process began. I hired Roto-Rooter because of name recognition assuming I was getting a competent professional who I could trust, because I knew nothing of plumbing. Clearly I didn't get what I expected. Howard has stated that the water was entering into the broken pipe and that is why the house flooded because that pipe was replaced. Howard, the 2nd plumbers I hired ([redacted]'s plumbing) and I, all agree that some ground water was likely going into the broken pipe. However during the sump pump installation by [redacted]'s plumping, we found, tested and proved that the house has a perfectly good and working drain tile system. The house flooded because the drain tile system no longer had any outlet because it had been disconnected from the sewer line, where it was connected when the house was built. Again with no explanation. Today, understanding the situation to its fullest extent, I do not dispute that the drain tile system could not be connected to the sewer line for legal reasons. However, as previously stated, this was never explained to us at all. [redacted]'s plumbing and several other plumbers I have consulted with, all told me that there are several ways to alleviate this drain tile connection issue while the area was already torn up, all very inexpensively. Instead we are now forced to have a sump pump. We can't afford to dig up the floor and yard again to do it "right".Howard states he "quoted a price to alleviate the condition but we chose another plumber to make the repair" Howard offered a sump pump AFTER the fact, after he disabled our drain tile, and after the flooding, and after the area in the basement in which they worked was already filled in and re-cemented by Roto-Rooter. At this point, we had absolutely no reason to believe that they were either competent or honest. Yes, we chose another plumber for another opinion and moved forward with them. I emailed Howard a link to a very short excerpt of a video of our drain tile working perfectly. Howard commented that he hears someone in the video asking if the drain tile is plugged. Yes in the video, the question is posed about the drain tile being plugged and the plumber clearly and immediately answers that yes, it is working. Further, the drain tile being discussed in the video was broken earlier by the jack hammer when they opened the floor. The [redacted] plumber freely admitted that. When it was broken, gravel fell in and filled in the single 12" long drain tile. Even in this condition, it worked fine as water works through gravel easily. The jack-hammered 12" broken tile was the only tile that had any debris in it and was replaced by [redacted] plumbing before they left. That video excerpt was a very small portion of the entire day in which everything was discussed and tested. Obviously Howard does not understand what took place that day, but perhaps he does now.Howard states that since our Sump pump was installed in the opposite corner of our home, as compared to where Roto-Rooter dug previously, that somehow proves the flooding wasn't his fault. It is sad that I had to explain it to a plumber, but I explained to Howard that water will always find the lowest point in any system. We know now that the drain tile exists around the entire perimeter of our home and lies about a foot or so below our foundation. When the drain tile starts to fill up, it reaches a certain level and exits the drain tile system into the sump pit which is far below, several feet in fact, below the tile. On any rainy day, I have and still can witness the water flowing from the drain tile in to the sump pit, because the sump pit area is now the lowest point in the system and has yet to have been cemented closed so it can be viewed freely. Further, the plumber ([redacted]s) and I chose this area of the house because it was our preference to have it drain out the rear of the house draining into the side yard. Howard's recommendation was to re-dig the basement are that had just been dug up and drain it into our driveway which was not at all preferred. I agreed with Howard that some of the basement walls show longer term damage because of some improper waterproofing on the basement block wall. That area is not in dispute and is not part of my claim. However, if it makes it easier, we can eliminate all basement walls from my complaint so there are no gray areas. I am not unreasonable at all, and I don't see us ever agreeing that certain walls were damaged by the flooding and other walls were damaged by longer term block seepage. So I will eat that part of the claim in the spirit of trying to reach a conclusion. But I certainly wanted it mentioned in my claim because the wall damage due to flooding is very real and in the end will cost me even more money. Surely these costs are of the many that could have and should have been avoided had Roto-Rooter operated in a moral, ethical and thorough manner. Howard states that we agreed that once the check was received and the yard leveled the matter was concluded. After asking and receiving NO answers to any of my questions, I told Howard he was being uncooperative. I clearly stated in an email that there was absolutely no point in continuing a conversation with him because he refused to answer any questions or give any specific details on anything. He refused to answer questions about the concrete and refused to commit to a day when he would come and rock hound the yard. As a last ditch effort to try and get any results at all, to get him here to fix the yard, I said that if he sent me a check AND came and leveled the yard IMMEDIATELY, I agreed I would not reach out to HIM anymore. I have no doubt that reaching out to him for anything at this point, would get the same lack of response and cooperation was pointless. Once again, Howard would not commit to a day to come and rock hound. Even after pressing him for a specific day so that I could coordinate with the cement finisher, he would not answer, but instead comment with: "if it doesn't rain", or "soon" or "weather permitting". Not only has the entire summer been dry here, but every day for the last several weeks during that part of our email conversation has been dry as well. Howard also pressured me to cash a $1000.00 check and/or send an email stating that all matters between us were closed. In one of the many discussions where I asked him when he would come and level the yard... Howard's exact words were: " The weather seems favorable so I can accomplish it as soon as the check is deposited." He wanted me to cash the check so he could claim that all matters were resolved. I explained that I refused to bargain to have something done (yard leveling) that I already paid for back in January, and frankly I felt bullied, with him holding the yard leveling over my head until I exonerated him from all other liabilities. I can and will share the entire email conversation with you at any time if that is desired. Yes I agree he replaced the sewer line, and the sewer line trap, as he was hired to do. That part is not in dispute. It is in nearly every result of him doing so, where I have an issue. Howard states my claims are false. I am stating nothing but facts. If any of my claims are false I would love to hear a detailed explanation as to WHY he thinks they are false. He has yet to offer any answers or any details at all to back up his claims. As stated, Roto-Rooter disconnected my drain tile with no explanation and no options given. My house flooded as a result. Absolute horrible cement work was performed, and when questioned, Howard refuses to comment on it other than to say "it was too wet" and "we do many each year". No one should be surprised why I won't allow him to try the cement again. All this while hearing false weather related excuses and waiting 7 months for the yard leveling I paid for 7+ months ago. I will be more than happy to provide photos, emails, and video links at any time if needed.Thank you,[redacted]
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.
As can be seen on the initial estimate, the line was scoped and we were quoted with a one year warranty. Since the line was scoped at the estimate it was known that there were roots in the sewer line and we were still quoted the one year warranty with it. The initial $47.95 was paid in cash to the technician who provided the estimate; this was never returned when the work was performed. For the second invoice where the work was actually completed, we felt as though we had no choice in signing the receipt since it was work that we paid for. However, you can see on the left hand side of the page that the changes to the estimate were not actually initialed off on. The sewer line was initially working, but it wasn't until approximately two weeks later that we started having problems again. Upon speaking to the technician, Jason, he told me that there were too many roots in the line and that he wasn't able to complete the job. Since we were never directly told that the warranty was voided, we thought that we would be able to call and have Roto Rooter come fix the problem. It was only then that we found out there was no warranty. We were also never told that we would need a full line replacement (we wouldn't have moved forward with this regardless if we had known that).Also, don't forget that the debit card used to pay for the work was authorized for payment twice causing $70 in fees that had to be paid out of pocket by us despite the fact that it wasn't our fault that the card was authorized twice.We have been quoted by other plumbers and went with Roto Rooter as we believed they could fix the problem based off of what we were told at the estimate. Had we known that they have terrible business practices and clearly do not care about their customers we would have never chose Roto Rooter.
Regards,
[redacted]
We jetted the line as stated and got it opened. The line has scale and debris and we jetted and pushed debris to the main and line was opened and flowing and the customer signed the invoice acknowledging their complete satisfaction. Camera work was performed at no charge and as a courtesy. The...
rejetting under warranty was also no charge. The line is cast and has mechanical issues and we stand behind our recommendation of a replacement to offer a permanent solution. This line has a verifiable history of clogging dating to 2013 with Roto-Rooter. [redacted]. may have rejetted and removed more scale and debris and that condition will continue to reoccur at some point. We did the job we contracted to do,honored the warranty with an additiuonal service,and performed a free camera. No rebate is due.Customer also signed the no charge warranty invoice indicating the line was opened again and indicating their complete satisfaction. Howard S[redacted] Owner
This will be resolved in court