Given my good recent experiences finding contractors on homestars, I decided to call Drainworks to get a quote on a lead water service pipe removal for my home.
Part of the appeal of calling this company was the "100% commission free" advertising that led me to believe this would be a no pressure type of experience.
We worked out a time, and I was told I would be charged $69 for a quote. I found this a little peculiar since most contractors don't charge for a quote for your business, but I agreed, since the phone rep assured me that i could use the quote fee as credit against the work done, if i chose to proceed with Drainworks. Sounded fair enough.
The drainworks rep came and proceeded to do the work and talked us through everything. However, the costs were approximately 50% more than what my home inspection report had estimated, so i figured i should get a second or third opinion. The rep explained to me the rationale for the quote, which was fine. I was not arguing the cost. However, I would be doing a disservice to myself to not get at least another quote when the difference was $1500. I asked if i could have a day or two to review the quote and get some other opinions. I was then told if that were the case, i wouldnt be able to apply the quote fee of $69 to the service. That's $69 on a $3100 quote. This seemed a little nickel and dimish on the company's part, and in a way, going against their principle of "no pressure tactics". Certainly seems like one to me if a discount is only available in the next 5 minutes.
At any rate, given my situation, i owed it to myself to get another few quotes, which i did. I decided to go with another contractor on Homestars for the work. It was a bit cheaper with some other contractors, but ultimately, my decision on who go with came down to who I felt like i could trust. Nickel and diming a customer when your top line advertising implies the opposite does not illicit trust.
EDITS POST-COMPANY RESPONSE: I'm not here to argue with the company's tactics. People can read and take from it what they want. With that said, I edited this response to correct the pricing typo in one portion of the review. (in 3 other spots, it had the correct price before the company response was posted).
I was told by the rep that work would begin on another visit, so they would have had to come again regardless.
All in all, I think I'm a pretty reasonable person, and as i said, it came down to tactics that made me feel like i could not trust the service provider. To each their own.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $69.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- practice what they preach.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Get multiple quotes. If you are thinking of going with this vendor on a major project, get other quotes FIRST.
- Company Response
**Lawrence** Firstly, let us clarify that the assessment fee is $69 and not $79. Let us also clarify that it was disclosed to you over the phone before scheduling the appointment that the $69 would only be applied if proceeding on the spot. The reason being is that when proceeding on the spot, an additional visit is not required. As it does cost to send a non-commission based, salaried technician to your home, an additional visit would garner additional costs. Also, the fact is that you initially did not book the appointment with us after being informed of our process, but then called back to book after thinking it over. How can it be a pressure tactic when you were informed up front before you made the decision to book the appointment? DrainWorks followed through exactly as we said we would. In addition, we always encourage our customers to obtain multiple quotes should they choose to, and as such, we offer a 10% price beat on comparable quotes, which in essence means we do offer the lowest price.