Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called Dr. Flush to come look at our septic tank because our pipes were gurgling in the house. On November 21, 2022, when they got to my home I told them we had just had our septic tank pumped out by them (Dr Flush) in March 2022. I needed to find out why our pipes were gurgling when we were trying to flush the toilets or take showers. They opened the septic up, and the guy said it was full. I was standing there, looking at it along him. I told him “yes, it does look full, but that looks like a lot of water in there. It shouldn’t be full of water, so we need to find out where the water is coming from.” He said “ yes, that is a lot of water in there, but it still needs to be pumped. out.” They continued to ignore me and just began to pump it. I got on the phone with the gentleman who built our home, and told him what was going on. He asked me to hand the phone over to one of the guys from Dr Flush and told him they should not need to pump it out. We just had it pumped out in March. There was some sewage floating on top of the water which is normal, but underneath it was all rain water. It had been raining a lot. I got back on the phone with the builder and he told me told me that he was going to get the gentleman who installed our septic to take a look at it. He then told me to tell Dr. flush to leave everything unburied so we wouldn’t have to re-dig down to the septic. Dr. Flush would not pause with starting the pumping of the septic. They just started right up and would not give us a chance to do anything even after I asked them to. I also explained this to the people at Dr. Flush over the phone and the lady that handles their payments told me they would charge me no matter what. I told her I didn’t mind paying for the people coming out and looking at things, but I did not agree with having to pay for something being pumped when I asked them to not pump. They left it unburied, which was fine because we did ask them to do that, but we did not ask them to leave the lids off the septic. I did not realize they had left the lids off until after they had left. Our bill is due December 6 which is tomorrow of $475. Invoice # 3052281. We found out that there is a spring on our property and that was why our system kept filling with water. The builder and the septic guy were able to get an excavator over here to dig out where the trenches were and get the water out of our system that had filled back up because it had rained again atet days after Dr. Flush was here. Dr. Flush was dishonest, in saying that they had to pump it. They should’ve held off and not pumped when I had asked them to stop. I have two people, one being the guy who installed our septic and the other being the builder, who both explained that it did not need to be pumped and that Dr. Flush was dishonest. I can list the builder and the gentleman who installed our septic if needed. They would be glad to talk with you. The builder is **** ****** phone number 864-********

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  To whom it may concern,

      On November 21,2022 ******** ********* called our office (we are a Septic Pumping Company) and set up a appointment for us to send a pump truck to her residence located at **** ******** ***** Way ********, S.C. 29673 to pump her septic tank. We put ******** ********* on our schedule for that same day. The Pump Driver called her when he was on his way (confirming the appointment). When he arrived he dug the septic lid up and told ******** ********* that the tank was full of water. The only option would be to pump it.While the pump driver is pumping her septic, ******** called into our office speaking with Nikki W****** inquiring about the cost again. (This was disclosed to ******** when she originally scheduled the appointment.) ******** didn't seem to think that since it was water in the tank that she wasn't responsible for payment of services.(It's still mixed with sewage) Now that a Spring has been located on her property it should make more since to her and explain why her tank was full of water.

  Dr. Flush was called by ******** *********, she made a appointment, and we pumped as requested. I'm sorry that she doesn't feel financially responsible for this bill because to her it was just water. This is septic/sewage and we have to pay fees to dump the waste water. 

  Thank You,

    Dr. Flush

  Customer response

  12/22/2022

  Yes, I did call Dr Flush to come and pump the system. BUT when they took off the lid, yes there was some sewage floating on top but when they started stirring it with their pole they saw it was a bunch of water underneath it. I told them that we had just had it pumped in March of this year by then. Both men that were there from Dr. Flush said it should not be full of water like this and water is getting trapped in there with nowhere to go. I asked them can we hold off on the pumping but they both kept saying it needs to be pumped because the water has nowhere to go. I discussed with them that if it’s just going to fill back up with water and it has nowhere to go, then it’s not gonna solve the problem. They both said we need to find out why the water cannot get out of the system. I got on the phone with the gentleman who built our home, and he said tell them not to pump. At that point they had already started pumping. I put them on the phone with the man who built our home and he told them specifically do not pump. He was going to get the gentleman who installed our septic to come out and look at it. They continue to pump. I never call Dr. Flush when those men were out here to confirm the price. I never call Dr. Flush at any point during the visit. I did call Dr. flush a few days afterwards to tell them the same thing that I am telling you now of what happened and that I don’t agree with having to pay for something that I had asked them to stop, as well as the builder had asked them to stop. But they didn’t listen and they continued to pump. If they knew it would back up with water and the water not have anywhere to go then they are licensed enough to know that pumping the system will not fix an issue. They also did not put the lid on the septic correctly nor did the put the screws on the lid and we had heavy rain come in and folded the septic right back up. We had asked him to leave the area un-buried for the installer only, NOT to leave the lids off! The installer and builder were able to dig and release our system of that water and things are working as they should now. Dr. Flush was not honest with their assessment of things. Pumping a system is not fixing the issue. When they took that lid off and saw what they saw and discussed with me what we had discussed as stated above, they should have stopped pumping when I had asked. They should have been honest about what needs to be done instead of me having to get on the phone with my builder to try to get him to talk to them because they weren’t listening to me. I also talked with a gentleman who used to be the installer of septic tanks in Anderson County. He came out here and looked at things and said those guys were dishonest. They should have never pumped and they know well enough that that was not fixing the issue. When I call a company, I expect honesty in their assessment when they get on site and see hands on what’s going on.

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