Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  04/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A plumbing technician from Reddi service (plumbing company) came to my house at **** ** **** ** **** ***** and tried to unplug my basement drain and discovered a few hand wipes that were clogging the drain. He pulled a few out and thought there was more but didn’t know because he didn’t use a camera to see exactly what he was doing and used about a 4 inch knife that I thought was too aggressive of a tool to pull hand wipes out and he saw mud and said my pipes broke after about 20 minutes of drilling into my basement pipes.Invoice number ********* March 18th 2022. I feel Reddi service is negligent and liable for the damages. The technician said his supervisor *** *********** was going to come out and *** said since the house was so old that it wasn’t Reddi’s fault because the pipes were old then I said if that was so obvious then why didn’t you use a smaller tool and what is the proper procedure before working on a clogged drain. He told me to repair the pipe that Reddi broke it would cost about $8,000.00.

  Business response

  04/07/2022

  I know Mr. ****** was upset, we deal with house traps a lot.  In the older home's they have house traps they are old.  What happens is over time they are galvanized and they corrode and start to decay.  When they decay like the pictures I have attached then when waste goes down the line it get's caught in the house trap and start's to build up causing line to back up.  Invoice 1 which I have attached is from 11.1.21 where we informed Mr. ****** of the decaying house trap.  Invoice 2 is the recent invoice where we went out because the house trap was backed up again.  Mr. ****** is trying to say we broke his line by using wrong blade.  i have attached a pic of the blade we used covered in mud showing line is broke.  My tech should have charged Mr. ****** for the cleaning but he did not due to Mr. ****** being upset.  We sent a Repair tech out to give a free onsite estimate to remove house trap and repair line.  Mr. ****** feels we should fix it for free.  

   

  we have plenty of pictures and Reddi Services has done their due diligence.  I apologize Mr. ****** has this issue but the only way to fix it is to remove house trap.  

   

  A house trap is a plumbing device commonly found in many homes that date before 1989. House traps were originally designed to prevent sewer odors from escaping your drains and re-entering your home. A typical house trap (also known as a “p-trap”) looks like a “U” in your plumbing line. Essentially, water gets caught in the curved pipe and blocks gasses from drifting back through the system. In other words, the “trap” part of the term is literal: sewer odors become “trapped” in your plumbing system and can’t invade your living spaces.
  Nowadays, house traps are 100% obsolete. With the more modern plumbing advancements of recent years, the materials used to make house traps (typically cast iron) are no longer used. That’s because older plumbing materials degrade and cause issues over time. Old house traps commonly dry out and cause obstructions. However, these drain components are still functioning in thousands of homes all across the country. Today, plumbers use more effective measures to prevent sewer gases from entering the home from the main drain.

  Customer response

  04/08/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:Reddi service said they have pictures but this statement is misleading because they never identify that the pictures are from my drain. The negligence is in the procedure, by not understanding and disclosing by the professional tech  that the pipes were old and a potential risk and that the pipes would brake during drain clean out. There was no release of liability signed by me or the technician. Therefore leading me the customer to believe there was no risk involved with the work performed.   Concluding that the technician doesn’t have proof of proper diagnostic of the pipe before going into it, no camera scoping of the pipe line was offered. If it was wipes that were clogging up the pipes the technician stated, surely a 4 in knife blade was a little aggressive for old pipes and wipes. 
  When investigation  is done, proper plumbing procedures should be considered otherwise you may be biased in the decision.

  Thank you 

  
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******

   

  Business response

  04/08/2022

  Tell us why here...Mr. ****** I am truly sorry you are going through this.  Reddi Services did nothing wrong. We cannot take responsibility and as your ticket stated in 2021 no warranty due to house trap and galvanized pipe.  I have added a few more pictures from your basement that might show you that yes this is your basement.  

  Customer response

  04/10/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:My pipe was not broken until Reddi service came to my house. I am embarrassed that I have to complain to the better business bureau to try to resolve the issue regarding Reddi service broke my pipes and refuse to answer the question what is the proper procedure for a technician when he or she comes out to a house to resolve a problem. Otherwise technician should come out to help the customer not harm the customer with out any reasonable remedies. This is an example of bait and switch. We say we’re going to help but if we did something wrong we will try to cover it up and refuse liability for negligence. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******

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