Sperry Drilling Inc

Review: Sperry Drilling dug and installed a 500 ft. well pump 3 years ago. During the last weekend in June, the home didn't have any water after a power outage. I called Sperrys and spoke with [redacted] trying to troubleshoot the issue. [redacted] explained that they had had 3 well casings collapse within the last week and that they believed it was due to the earthquake a couple years ago. They couldn't get anyone to come and check the well until Monday, July 1. That Monday, I got a call from the worker stating that he couldn't pull the well pump out due to him thinking dirt/debris collapsed on it. After another attempt at trying to pull it out, the line broke and the well pump couldn't be retrieved (it was under warranty, but since it broke off and per him, cant be pulled out, it can't be turned in for replacement). The next day, [redacted] called asking if we were ready for them to dig a new well that they had someone going out that could do it; I thought this was rather interesting as she didn't sound interested in finding out what went wrong with the first well that was only 3 years old. I called two other companies that day and neither one have had any wells/casings collapse (much less blaming it on the earthquake from several years ago). One company offered to put a camera down the hole to see what happened. The other company offered to drill down the same hole to see if they could dig out the pump to recover it. Sperry Drilling offered to do nothing except for dig a new well. I think Sperry Drilling is doing poor workmanship with young, inexperienced well drillers/workers and not standing behind their service/product so that in a few years they are called to dig a new well; therefore, making more money off of their customers. [redacted] has called me 3 times, all times asking if we are ready for a new well.Desired Settlement: Refund/Replacement;they should investigate what happened to the well and not assume it was an earthquake and not their poor workmanship; it may be something that can be fixed (or at least be able to recover the first well pump for warranty replacement;since they broke it.) and they may be able to learn from what happened so as not to have this continuing problem. I wonder why no other company has had wells collapse and they have had several within the last couple weeks (per their own admission).

Business

Response:

I am writing this in response to [redacted] complaint. We did drill [redacted] a 600' water well with 42' of casing in it on September 23,2009. We also did the pump installation on October 19, 2009.

On Saturday, June 29, 2013,1 received a call from a woman about the above mentioned property. We talked and tried to resolve the problem over the phone for them but were unable to. ! didn't have anyone available that afternoon or Sunday so I told them we would be out first thing on Monday morning. [redacted], who is 55 and has been working here for 13 years, and has been working full time doing pump installations and repairs, along with his helper Chris tried to pull the pump from the well with the pump hoist and the pipe eventually broke because they could not get it loose. The well had caved in at some point, not the casing as Jason suggested.

At this point you really only have one option and that is to drill a new well. First of all, you cannot drill out that pipe without getting small shavings left in the well that you cannot get out. Those shavings will clog up your new pump and the next pump. They are too fine and just cling to the pump screen, motor and impellers. We know because we have tried it before-

I had offered, the woman who originally called when she tailed back later, and 1 apologize for forgetting her name, to put a camera down the well but explained that atl they would see is the dirt on top of the pump and pipe, but we could do that. We both agreed that to do this would not be of any benefit.

In 45 years of drilling I have never seen someone drill down the hole and dig a pump out of a well 600' deep.

As far as me saying we had 3 well casings collapse, I never said that. What I said was we just worked on 3 wells that have collapsed. They were not all wells that we had drilled. Two of them were drilled by other drillers. I explained that all water carries dirt and sometimes that alone will fill the bottom of a well and come up over the pump and form a suction, just like a door stop works to keep a door from closing, so does this dirt. Regardless of whether they want to admit it or not, any type of earth tremor or movement can cause damage to the rock strata. Some examples are coal strip jobs where they dynamite for the coal, tampering for gas, fracking the earth, earthquakes... You can check with any local coal companies or DEP as to well damages that they have experienced. We have drilled many wells from that type of damage.

The pump had a 5 year warranty that would cover the cost of a new pump but not installation fora period of 5 years from the date of installation. The pump would have to be returned to cover the loss. This pump is down the well and there is no proof it failed and no pump to prove it,

I regret him accusing us of poor workmanship. The drillers who drilled the well have worked here drilling wells since 1979 each, ** is also licensed in both Maryland and West Virginia. Mike [redacted] was licensed in Maryland also at that time. [redacted] has been here for over 24 years and is also licensed in Maryland and West Virginia- I take pride in the work we do and have built our reputation on being professional and honest in all I do. We do stand behind our work and are proud of what we do. I have never taken advantage of a customer and guarantee that I will not do so in the future. When our work is done we hope that it will be years until the customer needs to call us back. 1 called him 3 times to show) was concerned and was trying to rearrange our drill schedule so that we could do whatever to help solve his no water problem.

Again, I don't know what you expect me to do to find the reason why the well collapsed- Did any of the other drill companies offer to prove to you how it happened or why, other than just guessing? Did any of them offer to dig down and retrieve your pump so that you can get the warranty? And as I said before, they can tell you what they want, we have been out to many calls on wells we never drilled or were at before because they fell shut or the dirt came up over the pump and it couldn't be pulled.

I am sorry for their loss but only so much can be controlled by any driller. We have been in business and are licensed in 3 states, PA, MD and WV. I am nationally certified by the NGWA. I am proud of the fine men that work here and their capabilities and their loyalty throughout the many years they have worked here. 1 am sorry that it had to go to the Revdex.com and we could not have solved this ourselves.

Sincerely yours,

Consumer

Response:

The response from Sperry Drilling did not resolve my complaint.

1. The [redacted] County Health Department sent me the Application for Permit to Drill Well and it states the well was completed on June 7, 2010 (not September 23, 2009 as [redacted] from Sperry states).

2. The same Application states the well is 500 feet (not 600 feet as seen in Sperry's response).

3. I realize that the pump warranty wouldn't cover the cost of the installation, but a new pump costs approximately $4500 dollars when the old pump could have been returned or placed into a new well hole if it was still functioning properly. Per Sperry's response, "[redacted] and [redacted] tried to pull the well pump out, but the pipe eventually broke." According to the Maryland State Board of Well Drillers, these two employees don't have a license to work on wells in Maryland.

4. During a prior phone conversation with Judith about whether a liner should have been required (which [redacted] stated would have definitely prevented this issue from happening), [redacted] mentioned that a liner was not mandatory and that the driller would have come back to her to require the owner to purchase the liner if he saw any instability or questioned anything while drilling; he did not make that recommendation, so the liner was not put in, so there were no issues with the surrounding rock/shale formation, and there is no blasting for coal or fracking in that area.

5. My wife did speak with [redacted] prior to me making this Revdex.com complaint to see what Sperry's could do to stand behind their product and/or service because this is an extremely premature failure for a well/well pump. After my wife asked about a video camera being placed down the well to see if it would show the cause of the problem, [redacted] stated that she didn't think the video would show anything except for dirt and that she would "check with him" to see if there was anything else they could do. (If the camera would be put down the well to capture pictures, it could reveal what the issue actually is, how far down, what the potential fixes could be, etc. and to know for sure what the cause was.) After several days, I received an email and estimate from [redacted] stating "I don’t think that will show anything except where the well caved in" and that she would "deduct $1 per foot off of the drilling and $1 per foot off of the casing and $100 off the pump price to help you out with the cost of a new well." She had sent the new estimate along with the old invoice, and from my viewpoint, she actually added $1 per foot (from $8 to $9 per foot), and added $1 per foot on the casing (from $14.42 to $15.48 per foot).

Regards,