BEWARE! We were given a recommendation for this company from a structural engineer who suggested we get a hydrostatic pressure test to make sure some of our drywall cracks were not being caused by a sewer leak beneath the slab of our home. We just bought our house about a month ago and we wanted to make sure everything was okay. American Leak Detection quoted us $295.00 for the first hour of a hydrostatic pressure test and potable water test, and $180.00 per hour for any additional hours should there be complications. The lady on the phone assured me that it typically didn't take longer than an hour, but that it depends on the job.
Little did we know that ALD would end up trying to charge us almost $1000 AND they didn't even do the test!
On Friday 11/19/2021, the first technician from ALD arrived to do the pressure test. He completed the first part of the test, which tests our incoming water supply in no time. No issues there. But, he wasn't able to find the sewer clean out to complete the pressure test. We didn't know where it was either since we just moved in. He said he would ask ALD to send another tech out who was a specialist and would definitely be able to find it. They charged us $295.00 for the full hour of that test which was not completed due to his incompetence.
A little while later, the next tech showed up. I thought he was very nice and seemed to be helpful, and it seemed things would go to plan, though he was a bit chatty and spent quite a bit of his time in my home talking to me about all kinds of things when he could have been more respectful of using his time wisely, being that its an hourly rate. Anyway, he discovered that our cleanout is shared with our next door neighbor's home, so ALD would not be able to test our system with complete accuracy. He got a camera out to check the cleanout and determine this. I was not told that this camera service would be an extra charge nor given the option to decline this service. He then took the camera to our bathroom to inspect the line. He had to uninstall one of our toilets, which he said would be no big deal. Upon uninstalling it, the flange broke (it was quite rusted out--we had no idea, again just moved in) and he said he could fix it no problem. He made it sound as if this was a courtesy service being that he broke it. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough concrete screws, and he said he had to go buy some at Ace Hardware. So he left, came back, reinstalled the toilet, and went on his merry way. He said someone would contact me with an estimate for installing a separate sewer cleanout and fixing a flat spot in our pipe.
No one contacted us about the cleanout or repair, but I received 2 invoices today. $295.00 for the first tech, who wasn't able to even locate the cleanout, and $617.75 for the second tech, including a $60 fee for using the camera and $62.75 for parts (a wax ring and a few concrete screws). $495.00 for 2 hours and 45 minutes, most of which were spent walking in circles around my property looking for an alternate cleanout, time spent at Ace Hardware buying concrete screws and fixing my toilet which wouldn't have broken if we would have simply been asked if we wanted a camera test and given the option since it was going to be an additional cost. We would have said no not now, being that its almost Christmas and that wasn't the service we requested.
Upon calling ALD this morning to discuss the issues I had with the amount we were being charged for a service NOT PERFORMED, I was informed that they just put that on the invoice since it was the reason for our calling them, regardless if the service was actually performed. What?? They were only able to refund $280.00. One hour of labor plus the camera test. Unbelievable. Never again. I hope this message helps someone avoid being in the mess we got ourselves into by choosing this company. Almost $700 down the drain literally.
