FLATIRON SPRINKLERS

I thought they did a good job replacing the shutoff valve which is not complicated – the hard part was digging out the meter pit to gain access to replace the valve. (Estimated 4 hours for 2 people actually took 5 hours including trip to the store for the valve). The problem started when I got the bill and called to question the amount. The bill was $1,500 with no detail. Based upon the repair rate of $85/hr on their website and one new brass shutoff valve I expected the bill to be less than $1,000. I called their office and talked to Karen to explain my concern about the bill and was told the rate on the website has been outdated for a while and the current rate is $95/hr for 1 person or $150/hr for 2 people. I said that would still come out to less than $1,000. She said she would talk to the owner and get back to me. A few days later she left me a voice message and said the new price is $2,100. I called Karen back and said I still don’t understand how it could be that much. Her reply was -- that’s what the owner said and that the price of brass and copper went up and that in addition to the brass valve they used copper elbows, couplings and 5 – 6 feet of copper tubing. (It should be noted that they only replaced one brass valve and used one copper coupling. They used the existing copper tubing with the threaded ends to reattach the valve). I said the labor portion based on her rates would be $750 which meant the brass valve would be $1350. That doesn’t make sense. She said she would honor the previous invoice for $1,500. I said I’d like to see the details on how they determined the amount. She said she is only the messenger and I would need to talk to the owner. I asked her to have him call me. The owner did call me back, but it wasn’t pleasant. He just said to pay the bill – he would not listen to what I wanted to say. He said if I don’t pay the bill he would come and remove the valve and then I would have to get a plumber to replace it, or he’d send the account to collections. He continued to say pay the bill and talk loudly and over me. When I asked him to let me talk, he hung up…. Apparently, he doesn’t like to be questioned, especially about substantiating his billing. He shows no regard for his customers and is not concerned about retaining customers, referrals, or negative reviews.

The service person showed up at 10:40 and left at 1:10p, 2.5 hours. He was gone for 45 min to get a part that he did not have. He had to travel all the way to Boulder and back when there is a Home Depot and Lowes just 5 min away in Louisville! Then they charged me for the time he was gone to get the part! The website says $75 for the first hour and then $60/hour after that. My wife paid him as I had to go to work, and when I found out that I was billed at $75/hr for 2.75 hours of labor! He charged me for going to get a part! When asked, the serviceman said they had to as they did not carry all parts on the truck! What a scam! I called and spoke to the owner, what a waste of time. I called to complain on Friday and gave him my cell to call back on, he called the home number and did not get back to me until Monday. Then he claimed that they always charge for travel time to get parts and that it was a flat $75/hr with no discount for subsequent hours and that it did not say any different on their website! A blatant lie! False advertising also! He offered to refund me $50, not even the full $85 his company over charged me for! DO NOT use these guys, they will rip you off and charge you for time to get parts that they purposefully do not stock on their trucks. He had to get a connector and clamps for crying out loud. Total rip off

I decided that I was going to get the most expensive provider for this service because these people have got to be good, but they were not good. They did a lousy job and they did not like having to come out to adjust the heads. They were watering the sidewalks and the corners which left big yellow things on my corner. I could not believe that a $5,500 job which is almost twice as must as the next guy charged. I even got the management out and he was acting like I was the bad guy. They kept coming and adjustment the heads wrong. They then got real testy and I gave up.

Very well.

We "inherited" this sprinkler system when we purchased our house in March, 2012. Since I've replaced sprinkler heads and adjusted water patterns to a system that wasn't kept-up over the years. I then discovered water leaking from a valve control and the repair looked to be more than I wanted to embark upon myself. I called another service provided, but their schedule was really full and they typically only work on large irrigation systems. This company recommended Flat Iron Sprinkler. I called to schedule a repair for what I thought was a leaking valve control, as I noticed water dripping from one of the units. The repair team, Jose and Jose, arrived around 8 a.m. on the scheduled day. Unfortunately the problem wasn't a leaking valve control, but a leaking manifold located under the set of 3 valves. The crew did not have a manifold in their vehicle, so the repair had to be reschedule for the next day because of their set schedule with other clients for the day. I understood and it wasn't a problem for me. The next morning, around 10:00 am, they arrived to do the repair. Prior to their arrival, I dug out the green control box in order to save some labor costs. They were appreciative and I'm presuming it expedited the repair. After replacing the manifold and resetting the control valves in a format that "made sense" for future maintenance, the team inspected the rest of the sprinkler system. They discovered two major leaks in the front yard. Quickly they dug down to find the leaks and replaced/repaired the broken fittings. Once completed, Jose took me around the yard to show me how I can improve my system. The improvements included changing spray heads to further the water distriubution and moving sprinkler heads to optimize watering. Jose said they could do the work for me, but he knew that I wanted to repair these myself. He told me "what" and "where" to buy the sprinkler heads. Overall, a good experience. I've rated the cost as a "B" because I believe the labor charge was about $75/hour, if my calculations where correct. The invoice was not detailed and Jose told me the manifold costs around $140. Honestly, I don't know what the going rate is for irrigation work, but that felt high to me. I would hire again though if I have further problems with my system because of customer service and quality workmanship.

I spent a lot because we have 5 acres and it was a huge amount of money. They did a really good job and it was a very difficult project. I had a super difficult project and it didn’t go perfect at first, they made mistakes at first but fixed them.

Well - come March of 2012 - the old well is removed and a whole bunch of sprinkler lines were sticking up in the air and shooting water when the well was turned on. We contacted the owner of Flatirons and were hung up on. This man had our money and there was no way he wanted anything further to do with us. Frankly this firm is incompetent. There is no one there with any interpersonal skills - unless you call a nasty lawyer interpersonal skills. We are going to have to pay the same amount we paid him to fix this and it make me sick to my stomach that there are people who hide behind lawyers and companies - just to rip people off. Stay away from this company. They are not going to be looking out for your best interests. They want your money - period - in the easiest manner that they can get it.

They were the lowest bidder, but not by a significant amount. The irrigation system is adequate, but the zones are confusing and complicated.