DIRT WORKS CONSTRUCTION

I had Brandon from Dirtworks come out and give us a quote. He was very prompt and came out the next day. He looked at the site with me and took some measurements. We discussed where I thought the sewer tap was located and he agreed having provided the same service for several people in the neighborhood. He decided it would be best to dig a trench around the South side of the house to avoid the utilities which were all located on the North side. Brandon left after about 20 minutes on site and called back that evening with a quote that was $600 less than the two other quotes I had received. I asked him to give me another quote adding in the pumping of the septic system and he called back with a second quote of $2500 which was still lower than the other quotes I received including the same service. I accepted his quote and we scheduled service to be started the next week. Brandon and his brother showed up on time on the scheduled day and proceeded to excavate the septic tank which they found after 15 minutes of digging with the excavator. They then trenched through the back, to the South, and around to the road following the route we had previously discussed. After 30 minutes or more of digging at where we expected the city installed sewer tap to be without finding anything, I called the city planning dept to see if they could provide us with a location. I spoke with a city engineer who emailed me the "as-built" plans for our neighborhood which clearly showed the sewer tap to be located 60+ feet North of where Brandon had excavated to. I called the city again to see if they could send out an engineer to help us assess the situation and confirm that in fact Dirtworks had dug to the wrong area. I spoke with the lead engineer for the city on the phone who confirmed that the tap was not where we had dug to, and that the excavation company should have found the tap, found the septic tank and then dug a trench to connect them. I asked if I could put in a new tap where Dirtworks had dug to, but the head engineer said that doing so would cause problems. After I got off the phone to talk over the situation with Brandon of Dirtworks, I found a city engineer and inspector on site. They apologized that our sewer tap was not where every other tap in the neighborhood was located and that they would make a special exception for us and allow us to put in a new tap and the city would waive the permit fee. Brandon explained that it would cost more because they project would require a road cut, a new tap, etc. He did not specify how much it would cost. Since I had a 6' trench around half of my house, I had no choice, but to proceed. The other option would be to back fill the existing trench and dig a trench around the North side of my home to the existing tap. Brandon explained that this would be more expensive and more time consuming. The idea of having a trench that completely encircled my home was not appealing. Brandon scheduled the work for the following Monday. Monday rained so they started Tuesday and completed the work. They rolled the area where the trench crossed the drive to ensure it wouldn't settle. Two weeks later I received a bill for more than twice the amount he had quoted me with very little detail explaining the added costs. I called Brandon and we discussed the bill. He explained the added costs and I explained that I could not pay a bill that was more than twice the original quote for a mistake that could have been avoided if the project had been done properly. Since it was so easy and free to get as-built diagrams from the city, there is no reason why they should have dug to the wrong location. We spoke several times more on the phone and I explained my situation and he was unwilling to eat the costs of his mistake. I sent him payment for $3500.00 ($1000 more than we had agreed upon) and a letter stating that I felt Dirtworks had not conducted itself in a professional manner and completed the quoted job in the manner they should have. They have cashed the check and I had considered the issue finished (and happy to be done with the situation), but the ground where the septic tank was is now sinking and I am worried that they did not properly fill the old septic tank with gravel and we are going to have a hazardous sink hole in our back yard. I looks like I will have to deal with Dirtworks again to try and get the new problem remedied.