Dale Investigates: Septic Situation

Have you ever hired a company to do what should be a simple job, only to end up with months of trouble? No one ever expects to be scammed or to run into other, but that’s just what happened to one local resident. He dealt with not one, but two companies that didn’t treat him right. It looked like a pretty tough situation. That’s when he got in touch with TrustDALE!

The First Scam

Richard Ray needed some work done to reroute his home septic leach field. So he hired Rooterexpress Plumbing. When the plumber came to his home, he told Richard that he would need $1,000 to pull a permit for the work. They shook hands and the plumber left. Then Richard waited. He waited for six months with no word from the man he’d given $1,000 to. Finally, Richard found out the truth. No permit had been pulled. He had just been conned out of $1,000. Needless to say, Richard was upset about the money. But he also felt bad for having been fooled. He expected to be treated fairly, as on should, and was dismayed when Rooterexpress took his money and abandoned the project.

The Second Attempt

Although he was upset to have been scammed, Richard still needed the work done on his septic system. So he called a second company. This time, they did the job he paid them to do. Not only that, they gave him a five-year money-back warranty. It looked like things were finally getting better.

But two weeks later, he had the same above-ground water problem he had been trying to fix. Naturally, Richard thought of his five-year warranty and called the company to come fix the problem. Unfortunately, Richard’s troubles were far from over. After repeated calls, no one would come out to inspect the problem with his septic system. They said they would deal with it, but after weeks of phone calls, there was no resolution.

That’s when he called us.

We started our investigation with the first company, Rooterexpress. It turns out that the owner-operator of Rooterexpress has had a few run-ins with the law. That’s why we weren’t surprised when we visited his business address and found an empty office. So we helped Richard file a report with the local authorities. We hope he can get the legal resolution he deserves in that case.

Then we turned to the second company Richard dealt with. Their guarantee said that their work had a five-year guarantee or half your money back. They had been giving Richard the runaround. But when we called, they “saw the light” and made good on their guarantee. Richard was refunded nearly $1,000.

Of course, it shouldn’t take a run-in with TrustDALE to get a company to honor their work and their warranty. 

That’s why we recommend that before you have any work done to your home, or hire any kind of service, you ask for references. We suggest asking for 10 references. You only have to call a couple of them, but it’s important to see that the company has at least 10 references it is comfortable with you contacting. If a company can’t or won’t provide references, that should be a red flag.

Also, check online reviews. Often, online review sites can tip you off to a company you don’t want to work with. For example, the first company Richard dealt with, Rooterexpress, has a 1-star rating on Google reviews. As of July 2018, it has only two reviews, both of which are stories of how Rooterexpress took their money and did a terrible job.

Finally, if you need a home service, professional services, and many other local services, try TrustDALE.com first. Our certified businesses have gone through Dale’s intensive 7-point investigative review. Checking references is just one of the seven steps a company has to go through to be certified. And you bet Dale calls more than one or two references. After a 7-point investigative review, each certified business agrees in writing to Dale’s Make-it-Right Guarantee™. You can be sure you won’t get yanked around like Richard did.

So in the end, do your research, check references, and use TrustDALE.com!