Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/06/26) */
When I arrived to blow out the system for the customer last fall I could not get the timer to function because there was a bundle of wires hanging out of the bottom of it so I explained to the customer I needed to manually open each zone valve...
in order to blow out the system.
As I started blowing out the system I noticed more things wrong with the system like that I had to cut the grass off of the top of a lot of heads because the system had not been used for quite some time.
A normal blow out takes about a half an hour but I spent one and a half hours there uncovering heads and manually opening each zone valve to blow out the system twice and explain to the customer the different problems they had with the system, first was the timer next was the bad diaphrams in each zone valve. I told them at that time that we should come out in the spring and start by replacing the timer and go from there to evaluate the system and find out what else is wrong. They agreed and thanked me for putting in the extra effort to blow out the system.
When I returned in the spring I put in the timer and attempted to start the system but as I suspected in the fall there were bad zone valves and the system would not operate. the customer explained to me that they could not afford any other repairs at this time.
Two weeks later the customer called and said that they had a plumber come out to repair a leak and wanted to know what we were going to do about. I scheduled and appointment to look at the problem.
When I arrived the customer showed me a piece of copper pipe about eighteen inches long with two couplings in it and one them had failed and the pipe pulled out of the coupling. The coupling did not have any solder around the edge that failed. I told the customer that the pipe was not leaking when I started the system and if the damage would have been caused by the system not being blown out properly it would have leaked as soon as I turned on the water and it did not. The customer showed me the invoice from Ben Franklin Plumbing that stated that the pipe had broke because the system was not blown out properly. I took down the information from the invoice and called the plumbing company promptly on the following Monday.
I explained my findings to the operations manager and asked them to call the customer and explain their mistake to the customer. He said he would check into it and I e mailed the pictures of the damaged pipe.
I called four times and e mailed the pictures twice in that week and got no response. The following week the customer called me and asked about what was going to happen next. I explained that the pipe failed due to a bad solder joint and not an improper blow out and that the plumbing company had no right to put that on the invoice because it was not true or accurate.
[redacted] said he would try to call them and spoke to the owner of our company to set up a meeting with both companies at the homeowners. When the plumber showed up he admitted to having no experience with sprinkler systems and stated that the pipe broke because it was back pitched. when I asked him why he did not fix the problem by properly supporting the pipe when he worked on it he asked why didn't I? I asked if he knew how often the pipe should be supported according to the plumbing code and he didn't know. I told him he was required to bring the system up to code any time he works on it and he stated it was not his job. When I asked about the new pipes and backflow valve the homeowner explained to me that the year before we blew it out that the system was not blown out and that it had frozen and broke the back flow valve and the surrounding pipes and that Ben Franklin Plumbing told the at that time that the rest of the system was fine.
I have had the good fortune to have been a plumber in the past so I know a lot about the plumbing code as well as sprinkler systems which I work on now. If anyone has misinformed the customer the customer in this situation it has been Ben Franklin plumbing by giving so called expert advise on a system that they are clearly not experts at. I find it very hard to believe that no damage was done to the sprinkler system after it froze but that it was damaged after being blown out properly.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/06/26) */
When I arrived to blow out the system for the customer last fall I could not get the timer to function because there was a bundle of wires hanging out of the bottom of it so I explained to the customer I needed to manually open each zone valve...
in order to blow out the system.
As I started blowing out the system I noticed more things wrong with the system like that I had to cut the grass off of the top of a lot of heads because the system had not been used for quite some time.
A normal blow out takes about a half an hour but I spent one and a half hours there uncovering heads and manually opening each zone valve to blow out the system twice and explain to the customer the different problems they had with the system, first was the timer next was the bad diaphrams in each zone valve. I told them at that time that we should come out in the spring and start by replacing the timer and go from there to evaluate the system and find out what else is wrong. They agreed and thanked me for putting in the extra effort to blow out the system.
When I returned in the spring I put in the timer and attempted to start the system but as I suspected in the fall there were bad zone valves and the system would not operate. the customer explained to me that they could not afford any other repairs at this time.
Two weeks later the customer called and said that they had a plumber come out to repair a leak and wanted to know what we were going to do about. I scheduled and appointment to look at the problem.
When I arrived the customer showed me a piece of copper pipe about eighteen inches long with two couplings in it and one them had failed and the pipe pulled out of the coupling. The coupling did not have any solder around the edge that failed. I told the customer that the pipe was not leaking when I started the system and if the damage would have been caused by the system not being blown out properly it would have leaked as soon as I turned on the water and it did not. The customer showed me the invoice from Ben Franklin Plumbing that stated that the pipe had broke because the system was not blown out properly. I took down the information from the invoice and called the plumbing company promptly on the following Monday.
I explained my findings to the operations manager and asked them to call the customer and explain their mistake to the customer. He said he would check into it and I e mailed the pictures of the damaged pipe.
I called four times and e mailed the pictures twice in that week and got no response. The following week the customer called me and asked about what was going to happen next. I explained that the pipe failed due to a bad solder joint and not an improper blow out and that the plumbing company had no right to put that on the invoice because it was not true or accurate.
[redacted] said he would try to call them and spoke to the owner of our company to set up a meeting with both companies at the homeowners. When the plumber showed up he admitted to having no experience with sprinkler systems and stated that the pipe broke because it was back pitched. when I asked him why he did not fix the problem by properly supporting the pipe when he worked on it he asked why didn't I? I asked if he knew how often the pipe should be supported according to the plumbing code and he didn't know. I told him he was required to bring the system up to code any time he works on it and he stated it was not his job. When I asked about the new pipes and backflow valve the homeowner explained to me that the year before we blew it out that the system was not blown out and that it had frozen and broke the back flow valve and the surrounding pipes and that Ben Franklin Plumbing told the at that time that the rest of the system was fine.
I have had the good fortune to have been a plumber in the past so I know a lot about the plumbing code as well as sprinkler systems which I work on now. If anyone has misinformed the customer the customer in this situation it has been Ben Franklin plumbing by giving so called expert advise on a system that they are clearly not experts at. I find it very hard to believe that no damage was done to the sprinkler system after it froze but that it was damaged after being blown out properly.