The Drainman

At 9:00AM on 6/28, I called to check on them. I was told they will call, they are currently on an appointment. At 9:30AM Al (the service manager) called and said that the call they were on will run over and they will not be coming. They might be able to come on Friday. I let him know how this type of customer service is unacceptable, considering I was given this appointment the previous Friday. We have been living with this issue for 5 day. We went elsewhere for a plumber. Due to their lack of concern and willing to keep an appointment. I would not recommend The Drainman.

I scheduled the work on the phone the day before. Technician called ahead of time and was on schedule and completed the work in less than an hour. The cost was well under the estimate they gave me on the phone. Technician was very knowledgable and explained how I could prevent future problems and gave me some advice on a home repair project I was working. Next time it's out of my home repair scope I will definitely call again!

It went perfectly, It was less than we thought it would be and got to the job quicker than we thought.

When I called the office, the person who answered the phone was very pleasant and I was able to schedule the visit the same day. So far so good. The technician arrived on time and even called me to let me know he was on the way. Once he arrived at my house, my wife showed him where the access point was for the drain. the plumber stated that working on the drain from the basement would be an extra $30 which we were willing to pay. My wife left him to do his work. When she went to check on his progress, the plumber was gone without saying a word to her. The work was not done and no explanation for why not. When I called the plumber back, I got his voicemail. I left a message but at this point, I'm done with the Drainman and suggest others don't waste their time like I did.

I'd first contacted this company on 5/26/15 when I submitted a request online via Angie's List to get an estimate to replace our exterior sewer line. I included photos from our basement and outside where the clean out is in regards to the street. The current line is clay pipe and full of roots, causing backup in our basement. It's 50 feet from the street, and currently situated inside of a low, narrow retaining wall right alongside the house. We were asking for the new pipe to be laid just outside the retaining wall so that we wouldn't have to disturb the wall, which is why I sent detailed pictures. I was also told previously by another plumber that the main is not very deep as the sewer runs shallow under our street. I received an email back from the office asking for my phone number. I responded back with my phone number, but then went ahead and just called the office directly. I was directed to one of the head guys who clarified some things and went over some of the property details. He took my contact info and an appointment for the estimate was scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday 5/28. On 5/28, I received a call just before 10am from Jamie asking if he could come early. I said sure. He arrived 30-40 minutes later with a printout of my photos in hand. He asked me what needed to be done, so again I explained the situation. Since, I'd already gotten the line scoped by another company, I was able to explain the details of what we thought the job would entail. He didn't ask any probing questions or provide any feedback or alternative suggestions, and was unable to provide an estimate on the spot. To me, it seemed like he wasn't 100% confident in assessing the situation. He had me write down my email address on the print out of the photos he had so that they could send me the quote. He said it might take a week, as they needed to research permits, materials, etc. I said Ok. He took new pictures and left. I waited but did not hear back. I called the office again on 6/10 to follow up. I spoke to an apologetic person who said that they didn't have a quote ready as Jamie had not yet submitted the information to the office for a quote to be issued. She said he'd been working long days every day since our appointment, so that may be why, but assured me they would reach out to him to get the info and would email me a quote the next morning. It is now 06/18 and I have yet to hear from them. I was concerned that at least a ballpark estimate could not be issued on the spot. Other companies have issued written quotes on the spot or by email within a day of the appointment. If this job was outside of their expertise or otherwise a job they were not interested in taking, they could have just said so. Due to this lack of accountability and follow up, I would not feel comfortable hiring this company.

The tenant at my rental where I needed service said that the tech was rude and grouchy. I told her that was not a big deal if the drain was clear..3 weeks later the drain was again backed up with tree roots. I called the Drainman to see if they could go back out to see why this would be clogged so very soon after the service. The supervisor tech answers the phone with a "YEAH!" not very professional to begin with, then when presented with the issue, he proceeds to tell me how they don't warrantee their work and if one of 'his guys' go back out they will charge me. At no point did I ask him to go back out, nor did I state I would not pay again if something other than the same tree roots were the issue if they did go back out. He proceeded to tell me again that they don't warrantee their work and when I stated to him that I was shocked that he was not willing to help come up with a solution, he said he didn't like my attitude and hung up on me. I immediately call the office and asked for the owner, the girl on the phone told me he was not in, and that i could leave a voicemail. which I did. The following day I still had not heard from the owner and I called again, another girl answered the phone, tells me he is not in and I asked if she could contact him on his cell and ask to give me a call, she said that she would. That evening the same girl calls and states she could redo the job for half price, I did not ask for a discount I asked to speak to the owner. She says he will not call me and that 45.00 was a final offer. What final offer? I never asked for a discount. The owner refuses to speak to me about the rude employees and the way I was treated nor did he care when I stated on his voicemail that I was a member of Angies list and was going to contact them. He still has not even so much as given me a call. Horrible service, no customer service at all.

On first call got a message machine. A polite callback came within an hour and I was given general information about when we could expect service given the current work load. Later got a call from the technician Curt who wanted to discuss the issue we were having. He spend time with me trying to understand the issue, our unusual drain setup, and let me know what he thought the corrective action would be and, if the guess is correct, how much the cost. He called and told me the arrival time and arrived early. After looking over the drain and vent setup he gave an opinion of what it was but we decided to run the drain that was having symptoms. He found and corrected the issue that's been troubling us for months. Curt was very prompt and courteous, confident and not minding my questions. Clean and well spoken as well. I learned in conversation that he is a plumber as well as drain cleaner. That explained the confidence and knowledge about other suggested corrections. The bill was a little less than I expected. Our house was left clean and tidy with no bad smells and the annoying problem gone.

I took a while to get the jet machine here, but the drains work well now. We also learned quite a bit more about our drain situation including sump pump and exterior sewer that had not been explained before. We live in an area where there is poor drainage and very much need the sump pump. Will likely use them for future home rehab.

Left message on 7 Jan 2015 that septic tank needed to be pumped out as we were seeing drain problems in the house again and asked that work be done within a week. Asked that they call me to schedule. Called late in day on 8 Jan 2015 to change contact phone number to reach us as I had had oral surgery and couldn't talk well so we gave them my husband's phone number- they said they would call back to schedule soon. Called them again on 13 Jan 2015 as had not heard from them yet - talked to the person who did scheduling for septic tank pumping. The scheduler was less than professional in his discussion with me in my opinion. Example - When he asked me what the gallon capacity of the septic tank was, I replied I didn't know that but as they had done this for us at least twice before, could he check their records. I was informed that the government did not require them to keep those sorts of records. Instead of being helpful, the person on the phone made me feel like I was bothering him with my wanting to schedule. After setting a time (3:30 PM the next day) and price ($350), he called back within 5 minutes to say that the time we had agreed to constituted overtime and the price would be $500. Because of the lack of a call back on my first two calls and the less than professional demeanor of the scheduler, I decided to cancelled the appointment.

I have used The Drainman in the past and initially contacted them to install a new pump station pump as it appeared the old one was no longer working. As it turned out the reason the old one was not working was that a line was clogged between that station and the holding tank and had been running continuously for a few days. The pump was inoperable, needing to be replaced and the pipe still needed to be unclogged. The repair ended taking 2 days as both pits needed to be cleaned out before rooting out the clog and then to be sure water was moving between stations. Chawn was professional and most helpful working from an attempt at the least expensive solution to the ones that actually worked. I will contact them again for my future plumbing needs.

We had a great experience. The plumber showed up on time and was able to access the problem and remove the roots. We also had them clean out another bathroom drain.

They came once and it did not work and they came back and did again. They got it right the second time. I had a good interaction with them. The work turned out good after the second time.

It was fine. The initial thing is $99 and if they can't find it, they come back the next day. They don't charge you but they charge the $150 to use a lead on the router that goes through your line which I don't completely understand why they can't do that the first time that they're there. That's how they work. They made clear that they're going to do that but it just seems a little odd to me. They're responsive. He was late. He was a good guy.

The service was great. He did a very good job and was very nice. I expected to have to pay more than $90 because he spent quite a bit of time working on it. I would have him again. He was here quite a while.

I think the work turned out well. They showed up when they said they would and got it fixed. I think we have had them out a couple of times. The pricing is fair.

They were wonderful. I would recommend them to anybody. I have told people about them. They were very good. He had his head stuck down in the septic tank. They were efficient in their work. The first guy didn't know but he said they might need to pump out the sump tank. The next guy said that wasn't the problem and it was probably the roots and they would try that first. I liked that they didn't try to pump it out when it really wasn't needed.

We had 3 different people look at this situation, with the first saying that he could not access the drum trap to open or replace it, and would have to cut through our front hall ceiling to get at it. We got a second opinion!! The next person said that he thought it could be accessed and opened, but he was just a drain guy, and it would take a licensed plumber. The third person was the Drainman plumber, Shaun, and he knew what he was going to do as soon as he saw the trap and pipes, and he had the right tools to do it. We will definitely call the Drainman first, the next time we need a plumber!!

After spending countless hours over the course of a weekend I finally gave in to my better senses and contacted a professional on a Monday morning to clear a clogged main drain line. Gayle, who took my call and scheduled my appointment for that same day around my schedule, was incredibly polite, professional, and accommodating. Jason, the man who arrived at my home very promptly, was kind and knowledgeable. He took the time to address my concerns, explain the issue, and let me observe his work during the process. Ultimately, there is zero question in my mind as to whether or not The Drainman is deserving of the accolades they have received on Angie's List. I hope I don't ever need them again, but if I do, I will not hesitate contacting them immediately.

Went well. Cleaned the drain out & gave good advice on how to fix the problem permanently.

It was terrible. The work done was not the work that I had expected to be done. They did only half of the job and they should have done a full line and they did not.

Our kitchen sink began to drain very slowly. It took 20 minutes to completely drain the sink. Contacted The Drainman on Monday morning about 7:30am. I explained that it was not a dire emergency but we wanted to get the issue addressed as soon as possible. They scheduled a service call for between 11:00am and 1:00pm the same day. Shortly after the she serviceman called me and said he could do our house early if it was ok with us. He arrived 20 minutes later, about 9:45am. He inspected the drain line, asked me about the issue and proceded with the repair. After clearing the line, the drain was tested for 10 minutes by running water at the sink to make sure the clog had been completely removed. The entire repair took about 30-45 minutes.The repairman took precautions to ensure our cabinets and floors were not damaged during the procedure. He was thorough and proficient and dealt with us in a professional manner. We were very pleased with our experience and would recommend them to anyone needing this type of service.

The experience was not good. When I contacted them to come out and give me an estimate, the office connected me to the guy on the truck, and the guy on the truck was what I consider to be less than polite. I would tell people to go to somebody else. I would advise them to be more courteous to the customer.

Completed job in about 30 minutes. - Took excellent care of carpet but wearing booties over shoes. Nice Guy.

I contacted The Drainman to provide a diagnosis of why the drain pipe for the sump pump was backing up after heavy rain falls. (The sump pump drain pipe was backing up outside of the house where the PVC pipe comes over the foundation and dumps into the 4" drain pipe. The 4" pipe was clogged.) The Drainman came out with their camera to scope the pipe. They marked the yard in two spots and told my wife (I was present) that the pipe had separated/split in one spot and was crushed in the other. Their camera could only see 35 feet into the pipe. The overall distance was 60+ feet to the storm drain at the property line. After a misstep on getting the yard marked for utilities (The Drainman thought they called it in), they provided an estimate for $1,800 to trench a new 2" PVC drain pipe for 60 feet. I did not hire them and I dug in the two spots they marked. I did not find any issues with the pipe in the marked locations. I am not sure what was communicated to my wife regarding the state of the current pipe but they were not correct in identifying my problem and seem to have punted as it was not possible to scope from the drain end of the pipe I ended up renting a ditch-witch and trenched in a new 4" pipe. In the process, I found the original pipe was clogged by tree roots where the 4" pipe tied into the 6" pipe in the easement before the storm drain.

It went wonderful. He did everything that was needed and did not try to push any extra work. I was very happy with this.