C W.
08/04/2022 12:00:00 SA
Response: Inspection (camera) of sewer line was never offered on the first visit, as I mentioned, and I'll leave it at that. Original service call did clear one blockage, but appears to have missed the blockage from the clean-out on the parkway to the city sewer line. We've had our sewer line cleared many times, in many homes, before and after inspection camera were an option, and every other time we ended up with a clear sewer line that lasted more than a month. I was disappointed in the original response I received from Gino because he has the potential to run an outstanding plumbing company, but clearly needs to work on the customer service side of the business. I am always willing to pay for quality workmanship, and if an issue arises after the job is completed, that the company work with me on a solution that doesn't require an investment that is more than the original cost of the job.
Original Review: Excellent Plumbing (Gino)
Does not guarantee work and very expensive. Our main sewer line backed up in early June. Called Excellent Plumbing was quoted $500 to rod main line and $250 for responding on a Sunday. Gino responded Sunday morning to clear the main sewer line. He started the process with an exterior clean-out on the parkway but mentioned there would be an additional charge of $150 if he needed to enter the premises to use a clean-out in the basement. The blockage couldn't be cleared from the exterior, so the job required use of the clean-out in basement. Since sewage backed up into the utility sink, when he opened the clean-out located at floor level, sewage spouted all over the place and he made no effort to contain it or clean it up afterwards, only offering to have another company come out to clean it up and work with my insurance company. He was able to clear the blockage and demonstrated there was good flow by turning all the water on in the house and seeing it flow through the exterior clean-out. Total cost $900.
About a month later, sewer line backs up again. I called Excellent Plumbing back and was quoted $650 to return and clear the blockage in the sewer line again, and if I wanted the line inspected it would be an additional $300, to which he offered to discount the inspection job by $150. He also mentioned it would be a few days before he could come back. Since he couldn't attend to the job for a couple days and would require us to pay full price ($650) for a second time, as well as only having limited use of our plumbing, we decided to rent an auger and a camera. Turns out the blockage was between the parkway clean-out and the street which, I believe, was not rodded during the original service call. After the sewage cleared, we were able to inspect the line and found 3 different root bundles at the joints (clay tile) with holes the size of an auger in them, so when the system was tested the line appeared to be clear. He never offered to inspect the line on the initial call but the additional $300 charge certainly would have given me pause on a job already costing $900 that only took 2 1/2 hours to accomplish.
For a sewer line back-up service call and the price that was charged, I would expect, at a minimum, the line be cleared of all debris from the clean-out to the city sewer line. Additional, if another blockage were to occur in short order, I would expect some type of consideration for the first call. In this case, the original job wasn't completed to industry standards and the call back should have been covered by warranty. He never even mention that as a possibility during our second discussion.