I had used Drainworks before and work performed was satisfactory. This time will be the last time i use them!
We had found a leak in the house and a Drainwork's plumber was sent to investigate. Things started out okay and walls were being opened to investigate. Problems started when it became apparent the plumber had no methodical approach to finding the leak and was just going from theory to theory to theory with no logical flow. I basically started spending all my time with him trying to guide his logic and i am not a plumber but often I had the better ideas. After 4 hours and 3 holes in the walls on two floors of the house the plumber still hadn't figured it out and frankly was now completely confused as to what to do next. I suggested he just leave it and i would monitor. I should also mention that one of his theories was just plan illogical and as he explained it to me and i stated it made no sense he agreed with me that it didn't. So i decide to call Drainworks and complain about the person sent. They just stood by him and explained that since i signed off on the work they would absolutely do nothing for me. Any company can offer a credit and they absolutely would not. They stood by this plumber no matter how silly his theories were. They didn't care. Bottom line is if you use these guys - refuse to sign anything. They do not stand by their people or work. Will never use them again.
UPDATE BASED ON DRAINWORKS RESPONSE:
Your plumber was at my house for 4.5 hours not 5. He offered to charge for only 4 as he did not find the issue. In fact he was a very nice man and i have no issue with him personally. I do have issue with his ability to troubleshoot a leak. So yes, I did have him continue as anyone would with a leak...you want it found and fixed! I tried helping him find it since he seemed to have no good plan to find it. I wanted it found and fixed and spent a lot of my time helping him figure out what to do next. I was just hoping to get to the source of the issue. I gave up when it become apparent that he had no idea what further to do. I assumed he was skilled enough that if he found it, he could fix it.
Here is the real test of the skill of the people you send. And i explained this to you on the phone and you found it acceptable. He shows me that the water is on the pipe where it is actually a vent and no water flows through. His theory is that the water is getting blocked from flowing down so is backing up into what should be the dry part of the pipe and then leaking out of some cracked part. Only problem is that if this were true then the sinks would also backup or drain slowly. Which they definitely weren't doing. This was brought to his attention BY ME. I am not a licensed plumber but could easily understand this theory of his made no sense. He agreed when i challenged him. As we discussed on the phone i understand that you feel this is acceptable and you stand by your plumber. If this is the quality of troubleshooting you stand by then fine, as i said, i will NEVER use your company again. If you offered to properly discount the work realizing the plumber wasted time with silly theories and was not capable of a proper methodical approach to finding the leak that anyone would expect then that is how you want to represent your company. Fine. Your choice. People considering you should know.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $700.00
- Company Response
Stephen. Feedback is always appreciated, and we welcome this opportunity to respond. When you called our office you indicated that there was a mysterious leak, which you had not been able to locate the source of, even after opening some drywall yourself. Our offer was to send a plumber to your home to continue investigating, hour by hour, with no guarantee that the source of the mysterious leak would be located, nor how much time would be required to complete said investigation; you agreed to book this appointment. The plumber was at your home for 5 hours (as evidenced by our G.P.S tracking system and records), and before beginning each hour, looked to you for authorization, to be transparent about the charges you were incurring, and repeatedly you voiced your authorization for him to continue. You made no claims to the plumber, while he was onsite, that you were unhappy with his services; in fact your actions point in the opposite direction. Logically, it doesn’t make sense that someone who is unhappy with services being rendered would continue to proceed with them. You had the power to end the investigation at any time, and at multiple times throughout the service, but you did not. Your request for a credit is puzzling because we followed through exactly as we said we would when the call was booked, with no guarantees, and we proceeded, with your approval, for only as long as you requested. You made the choice to purchase 5 hours of service, only 4 of which you were charged for, and those services cannot be returned. We find it baffling, that if you were so unimpressed with our plumber and what you deemed to be his lack of skill and direction, why you would keep him working at your home. If that was how you felt, why not end the assessment after 15 minutes? After 1 hour? After 2 hours? We keep our customer fully informed, every step of the way, because DrainWorks strives to provide top notch customer that is transparent with no surprises