Brad’s Septic Tank Service (BSTS) received a phone message on Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 1:52pm. Brad’s Septic returned the call on Monday, December 23, at 8:15am. At this time, BSTS was informed from the Customer that there are problems with water not draining properly and backing up. The septic tank has not been pumped for some time. As BSTS had a full scheduled day, as a courtesy to the Customer, BSTS rearranged other appointments for December 23, 2013, in order to service this Customer. On December 23, 2013, the first visit of work was completed: Time In: 9:30am and Time Out: 11:30am. Upon arrival, the tank was located and opened and roots were very visible inside the tank. The septic tank contents were mixed/agitated and pumping the contents began. During the pumping, the roots continued to plug the hose line. Back flushing water from the septic tank truck was performed three times in order to remove all the solid matter. Thickness of the solid matter is due to less frequent pumping. Pumping was complete at this time and the tank was clear of all solid matter, water and the grease layer. Many roots at the bottom of the tank and around the inlet pipe remained in the tank. BSTS went over and above the normal septic tank pumping and removed three garbage bags of wet, sloppy root masses from inside the tank by hand. At this time, the customer flushed the toilets having problems. The first flush, no water entered the tank. The second flush, no water entered the tank. The third flush, the toilets backed up with water. As the vacuum pumping hose was in the inlet line, BSTS had two employees inside at each toilet plunging for the purpose to move the clog through the line into the vacuum hose. This did not work and the plunging was circulating the sewage between the two toilet lines and the shower drain. BSTS advised customer the next step was to snake the line. It was necessary for the sewage in the shower and toilet lines to recede due to the potential need of pulling toilet to access the main line to snake. With sewage in the lines, overflow into the bathroom may have occurred if the toilet was pulled. BSTS and the Customer discussed when the snaking would be scheduled. The Customer was to be out of town from mid day December 24 to December 26 at which time a family member was returning to the Customers’ home on December 26 with the Customer. The Customer had appointments on December 26 with the family member and the Customer stated it would be cutting too close into her schedule for snaking to occur. It was decided that BSTS would return the morning of December 24 (Christmas Eve). December 23, 2013, BSTS completed the company’s scheduled jobs. Due to Christmas Eve the next day, BSTS called the Customer, asked if it was OK to snake the drain this night. The Customer stated “I don’t care if you are here at 11:00pm, I want to have the work completed as soon as possible”. BSTS asked if the water receded, Customer stated she bailed the sewage out of the shower so it is all gone. On December 23, 2013, the second visit of work was completed: Time In: 5:30pm and Time Out: 7:10pm. BSTS snaked through the 2” PVC shower drain pipe with a medium snake machine. Approximately 30-35 feet the clog was reached. The snake cable was pulled out to find many flushable wipes wrapped around the cable. Snaking the shower drain was repeated a couple times. Each time pulling wipes out, but fewer and fewer. Finally, the shower didn’t back up, both toilets were flushed several times to make sure drain line was clear and water was flowing fine to the septic tank. No further issues were detected with water backing up in the shower drain or the toilets. BSTS also verified the water was entering the septic tank. BSTS loaded tools and stepped into the company vehicle to finalize a bill. When BSTS left the first visit, the Customer asked where the cost is so far….BSTS responsed, around $300. This information was given to the Customer as BSTS was loading tools and packing up to go; costs were not finalized at this time. Perhaps BSTS could have stated to the Customer to wait a moment for an exact figure. The first visit was actually $340.00. Keeping in mind, a typical septic pumping is locating the tank, opening the lid, mixing contents, pumping the tank, and closing lid all in about 45 minutes to 1 hour. This job was NOT the routine septic pumping job as there were extra tasks involved to do the job correctly. Therefore, rather than a typical 45 minutes to 1 hour, the septic tank pumping/root removal took about 2 hours. The pricing for the snaking portion of the job (second visit), was $187.50. This is calculated at $125.00 per hour times 1 ½ hours (5:30pm-7:10pm). There was an emergency charge of $62.50 that was added but BSTS removed this charge. Whether BSTS snaked the drain the evening of December 23, 2013, or any part of December 24, 2013, the emergency charge would have applied, again, this emergency charge was removed from the bill. So, the final bill started at $590.00, but was immediately credited the $62.50 emergency fee which brought the total to $527.50. The Customer asked for a breakdown of the individual charges. BSTS reviewed each charge on the bill. The Customer still didn’t want to pay that much and asked if we give an “Angie’s List discount.” BSTS offers a senior discount which was given and actually doubled from our standard discount. After the senior discount, the bill total was $507.50. BSTS asked how the bill was to be paid. The Customer stated she would be paying by credit card. As BSTS’s prices are cash/check based, there is a convenience percentage fee to accommodate Customers wanting to use credit cards. The convenience fee of $15.25 was added to the bill, making a FINAL total of $522.75. The Customer insisted on writing the credit card information on BSTS’s Credit Card Purchase Slip, then signed the Credit Card Purchase Slip. The Customer refused to show BSTS the credit card in order to verify information. BSTS thanked the Customer and reassured the Customer if there are ever any questions or concerns regarding the septic system, don’t hesitate to contact our office. In closing, BSTS has successfully serviced the area with honest, quality work for the past 25 years. BSTS’s prices are competitive with the industry standards as any other licensed and insured company. As with any other company within the industry, charges are reflective on the company’s operating costs. BSTS is a very organized company which always strives to provide excellent service along with Customer education on how their plumbing and septic system functions.