Bill Whorff Inc

We moved into our house 3 years ago. This was our first experience with a septic system. Before closing on the house, we negotiated into the settlement the addition of a new and complete septic system including new tank, leach field, pipes, and an electric "lift" pump station since, unfortunately, we were "told" that a simple gravity leach system couldn't work in our field. The $18,000.00 cost was negotiated between us the buyers, and the sellers, into the final settlement cost of the property. No one was living on the premises at the time of the sale. We moved in to find the pump station electric wires entering a large open hole in the stone basement foundation wall. We caulked it up. I called Whorff a few times early on to get some idea of the layout of the system, operating and maintenance instructions, etc. They maintained they had nothing to tell me, that there was no documentation detailing how the system was actually built. They claimed the person responsible for the actual installation was no longer with the company. They insisted that the system had been built according to the designer's blueprints and that that was the extent of any documentation. The design plans didn't show where the tank was. It only showed the layout of the yard and details of the leach field. Our multi-acre property is field, woods and marsh, made up of mostly ledge. Finding this tank was like finding a needle in a haystack, a solid ledge haystack. It would have been impossible to know in advance where that tank could be placed. Now, our third summer, it was time to clean out the tank. We called a highly recommended local company and they weren't sure where the cleanout was. We called Whorff again, a number of times, asking that someone come out and either FLAG WHERE the cleanout was or uncover it. (Since there were now apparently two different cleanouts- one to the house and one to the tank, we were really confused. This information could have simply been provided to us! Why was all this confusion necessary? Finally they came out, the soil moved aside and the lid exposed. Directly across the concrete lid lay electric wires. Even if the cleanout company was able to slide the lid out from under the wires, they would never have been able to attach a hose with the wires stretched across the opening like a rubber band. Another phone call asking who had been responsible for the installation of the electical. They again weren't interested- telling ME to simply dig up and move the wires. They said for me to dig out both ends, relieve the pressure, and pull off the lid! Why would we pay $18,000.00 to have to dig up and rewire the system ourselves!? My conversation with "Tom" grew heated. I enlisted someone who had much more "clout" than us and Whorff sent out two young men (in the pouring rain) to, I supposed, dig up the wires and fix their obviously unsafe and unprofessional work. After the rain stopped, we looked again and couldn't believe what they left behind. Worse than before. They had exposed yet another lid (supposedly the correct one this time); had cut, spliced, and lengthened the wires, thus relieving the tension, but on either end lay a foot or so of completely exposed BARE WIRE in the soil, the spliced ends covered with tiny bits of plastic used in a car engine. Now, mind you, the young men sent out had done the best they could under the circumstances and in the pouring rain. They had most likely been sent by their superiors. I loaned them a circuit tester to insure the power was off so no one got hurt in the pouring rain. Didn't their supervisors have any concern for their safety, their company's workmanship and reputation, or our or the cleanout company's safety? Since things were obviously going from bad to worse and we were wasting a great deal of time, we gave up with Whorff and my husband did the work himself. $18,000.00 indeed. It is obvious that this company has NO interest in customer service or quality control. They knew that the long-time former home owner was no longer living in the house and must have felt that a less than adequate job would suffice with new homeowners. Not a shred of documentation came from them to us. At one point "Tom" actually asked who had paid for the system, knowing that the sellers had "paid" out of the settlement, and claimed that therefore, they had no responsibility to us. That pretty much says it all. We've been in the "rehab" business for 20 years, buying, rehabbing, renting and selling beautiful old Victorian homes in a Historic District in the mid-west. We've seen shoddy work before but rarely electrical due to its inherent danger to anyone working in or around it. This tank will need to be cleaned on a regular basis and safe electrical is a no-brainer. Buyer, beware this company.