Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The vendor showed up unannounced to "inspect for leaks in our irrigation system", they were onsite for less than 30 minutes, claimed to have confirmed a leak, and suggested we get a specialty service to locate the leak. They claim my wife made the appointment which she denies, and we've seen no evidence of such a request. When they came to reinstall the back flow in the Spring, we had asked them what it would take to find a leak in the system if there was one due to having some high water bills, but never asked them to come do an inspection and were never quoted a price.We were invoiced $180 for this visit, more than they charge for a backflow install/removal appointment, which is all we had used them for in the past. We felt this charge was very high for the service provided, and we were not given the opportunity to ask about the service and the expense before they arrived.After they came unannounced and unasked, I discovered the issue was a hidden program in the irrigation system causing it to run on days we were not expecting it to run. There is no leak that they claimed to have confirmed.I contacted the company and expressed the disappointment with the poor communication and the incorrect diagnosis, and what we felt was a high price for a diagnosis that turns out to have been 100% incorrect. I offered to pay half of the invoice and continue to work with them as out service provider and they refused. In a final attempt to repair the working relationship, my wife made a similar offer - reduce the disputed $180 invoice by half, and we will continue to use their services for our irrigation system. She received no reply besides an email restating the $180 invoice.At this point we have contracted with another firm to handle our system. We feel the company's bad faith charges and poor communication are unacceptable, but we are still willing to pay 50% of the invoice to put the matter to rest and settle this complaint.

  Business response

  11/14/2022

  I had been out of the office for a few days with sick children and I came in on Friday to catch up on emails that I had missed and found this email:

  ***********;<*************************************************;
  To: You
  Tue 11/8/2022 5:31 PM
  
  We would love to continue working with you and would be interested in winterizing before this weekend.  
  We appreciated your service and found it to be good.  We are not sure where to go with the fees from last spring regarding checking for a leak.    The leak was not found and the time was short at the site.
  We would be willing to pay $90 for that time and go forward.   Does that work for you?   There was some conversation that was not clearly stated what was going to happen and when and the charge.   
  Kind regards - 
  
  Jeanne **********;
  

  Shortly after seeing that email, I got this email:

  From: Mark **********;<*****************************>
  Sent: Friday, November 11, 2022 8:49 AM
  To: New System of Nashville LLC Angeles <**************************>
  Subject: Fwd: Reminder: Invoice ***** from New System of Nashville, LLC
  
  I have submitted this to the BBB and asked them to assist in the matter.
  We still dispute that you had any authorization to show up unannounced and charge such a high rate for very little work.
  In the interest of moving on, we again offer to pay 50% of this and consider the matter settled.
  

   

  After seeing this 2nd email from **************, I was surprised because he mentions we had not authorization to show up.  When we got the call to start the irrigation system back up, *************** said they were concerned about a leak and asked us to check it.  We had set up an appointment, but when it was time for the appointment, we had been having lots of rain, which makes searching for a leak impossible because the ground is all wet, so there is no way to see visible wet spots, so we just started the system and told them we would be back once the ground was dry.  I even put that in the 4/30/22 invoice.  Please see the emails from below- when I email to tell them we were unable to find any leaks and his response to our recommendation.  If we had been there without his permission, why did he not mention it at that time?: 

   

  Mark **********;<*****************************>
  To:
  You
  
  Mon 5/9/2022 1:24 PM
  
  Start reply with:
  Sounds good, thanks!I appreciate that!Sounds good.
  ?Feedback
  Thanks, yeah I just wanted to have an idea going in.
  I'll check in with them!

  
  On Mon, May 9, 2022 at 1:00 PM New System of Nashville LLC Angeles <**************************> wrote:
  
  Last year, I believe it was around 250/hour,  I'd say call them directly though, I don't want to give the wrong information.
  
  ************
  New System of Nashville, LLC
  ************* cell
  ************* office
  
  
  
  From: Mark **********;<*****************************>
  Sent: Monday, May 9, 2022 12:50 PM
  To: ************************** <**************************>
  Subject: Fwd: Irrigation
  
  Hi ****, 
  
  
  Do you know anything about their rates or how they quote a job?
  
  ---------- Forwarded message ---------
  From: ***********;<*************************************************;
  Date: Mon, May 9, 2022 at 12:41 PM
  Subject: Fwd: Irrigation
  To: Mark **********;<*****************************>
  
  
  
  
  Sent from my iPhone
  
  Begin forwarded message:
  
  
  From: New System of Nashville LLC Angeles <**************************>
  Date: May 9, 2022 at 12:08:34 PM CDT
  To: ***********;**********;<*************************************************;
  Subject: Irrigation
  
  ?Mrs. *****, 
  The crew came out last week to check for leaks and they were unable to locate any.  They left the system off and turned off the valve at the backflow.  When you want to turn it on, turn the valve that is circled and then turn it off when the system is not in use to prevent any unwanted water loss.  
  

  For a permanent solution for this, I highly recommend that you reach out to American Leak Detection **************.  They are a separate company and they have the equipment to locate underground leaks.  Once they find it, they **** it, and then we can dig and repair it.  We had a system with a leak that we could not find and they were able to find a small leak under a big ******* which we would not have been able to locate otherwise.
  
  Let me know if you have any questions about any of this,
  
  ************
  New System of Nashville, LLC
  ************* cell
  ************* office

   

  After seeing that he decided to file a complaint with BBB claiming we just showed up with no permission, I sent both of them the following email:

  New System of Nashville LLC Angeles
  To: *******************; ***********************
  Fri 11/11/2022 9:36 AM
  Mr. and Mrs. *****, 
  
  On 4/18/22, the irrigation crew was out there to start the system and Mrs. **********;had asked that we check for the leak- we had some bad weather and lots of rain, so when the crew started the system, they were unable to check for leaks, and I stated that on the invoice- will come back when dry to check for a leak.
  
  
  That is the reason the crew came back out on 5/5/22, it was finally dry enough that we would hopefully be able to see a wet spot.  They went through and checked every station and were unable to locate any obvious wet areas that would indicate a leak.  Then on 5/9/22, I sent an email stating that we had left the backflow off to prevent water loss and we recommended that you call American Leak Detectors because they have specialized equipment to locate leaks underground without having to dig.
  
  
  We only charged for the time that the crew was there however, I will remove this charge altogether to close this matter.  
  
  
  Thank you and best of luck in the future,
  
  
  **** Angeles
  New System of Nashville, LLC
  ************* cell
  ************* office
  
  
  I would rather have this loss than get into any back and forth with them.  One of my kids is still very sick, last night she had a fever of ***** and she is getting all sorts of tests today.  I did not purposely ignore them, I am the only one that has access to the emails, but like I stated before, I had been out because my kids ha.  The email from *************** was the first email that I received asking to reduce the invoice and the "email restating the ****** invoice" is a reminder that quickbooks automatically sends out to past due invoices.    

  Let me know if you have any additional questions about any of this.

  ************

  Customer response

  11/14/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  In fact, that business had already emailed that response to me directly saying they were cancelling the invoice, so I already considered that finalized.

  I had also spoken to her by phone on at least two occasions earlier in the year to question their work and the price on the invoice (exorbitant compared to their competitors) and told her I might not feel comfortable working with them if she was unwilling to compromise on this invoice. She had several months to decide whether she valued our business and reach back out to us before this complaint was filed.

  We made one final offer (my wife's email, that was referenced in the response) because we had a quote from a new vendor, yet decided to make one last effort to contact New System before scheduling the new vendor. Three days later the only response we had received was another copy of the invoice ( one that highlighted their BBB A+ rating at the top).

  I am sorry her children were ill,  three days is plenty of time to answer an email if you are running a business.  Moreover, she only offered to compromise on the invoice once we filed the BBB complaint, while she ignored our concerns for MONTHS before that time. I feel she continues to mischaracterize the situation, but we can agree to disagree.

  We consider the invoice voided and the complaint resolved.

  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩