American Sewer

We noticed that the basement floor drain was backing up when our clothes washer reached the drain part of its cycle. I called American Sewer and was able to schedule a visit for the next day. The repairman arrived on schedule during the 2-hour time window I'd been promised. He looked at the floor drain but said the problem was most likely not in that drain but in the main sewer line. I don't know when the sewer line was last cleaned. The house is well over 100 years old; I've owned it for 12 years and never had it done. The repairman first tried to find the direct access to the sewer line. He found and removed a wood panel in the basement floor where the access must be, but it turned out that it had been buried in a huge amount of plaster debris and other junk. He dug 2-3 feet worth of rubble out of the hole without getting down to the pipe, and so decided it would be quicker and easier to go through stack pipe. He removed the stack pipe access cover piece, which was completely rusted out and not reusable, then fed his drain rooter through it until he had broken through the clog and water was running through it easily again. Then he installed a new cover on the pipe. He was here for a total of about 1 hr and 45 minutes. The next morning I discovered that the cover was not completely watertight; small amounts of water were dribbling out when a toilet was flushed. I called American Sewer to report this and the same repairman was back out that afternoon to adjust and reseal the cover. There was no charge for the return visit. All seems to be well now.

Very professional - did a great job - very good value for the $$

I called and left a message, he called me back within a few hours. We set up an appointment and on my part it didn’t work out so I had to cancel. I intend to have him come out for the work in the future.

We gave the three best times for American Sewer to come to our house. They were able to come to our first choice of day and time. When they called to confirm the appointment, Ben said that he would arrive between 3:00 and 5:00. He called at 12:10 and said that he could get to our house in a few minutes, if that worked for us! That was such a pleasant surprise! Ben was very personable. It took him about an hour to clean our kitchen drain. He also checked our toilet. Our experience with Ben and American Sewer was great. We will definitely call them again if we have any other drain or sewer issues.

Ultimately, I had the deal canceled and my money refunded. It took the gentleman quite some time to respond to me by email, and we never really set up an appointment because I solved the problem on my own with vinegar, water, and baking soda. I was partly to blame for this, however, because I was preoccupied with my husband's upcoming heart surgery.

Before I purchased the Big Deal, I contacted Jonathan and asked if I could have two drains cleaned since I didn't need part of the deal and preferred to have a second drain cleaned. However when the plumber arrived, they had no record of this agreement and wanted me to spend another $80 to have the second drain cleaned. Once I found the e-mil, there was still a question of whether or not he had agreed to my request. The work was done in a satisfactory manner. The plumber left a mess for me to clean up in both rooms.

I usually take care of clogged drains myself - but with this one, nothing worked. I looked up the list and found American Sewer ranked pretty high. I called Jonathan and he said he would try and come over within a few hours to address the problem. He called ahead, came on time and it took him just 10 minutes to clear the drain. Would use him again if the need arose.

They answered my call right away. I was out of town and needed the work done while I was away. They arranged for the work to be done with those who were at the residence. The work was completed successfully within a couple hours and the price was exactly as quoted. He even gave me the Angie's discounted price even though I was not there to present the coupon. I would definitely call them again and recommend them to others.

On time and not leaks. Would use again.

The fellow was very good. He cleaned out the sink in my downstairs bathroom. He also checked my upstairs toilet. He was very thorough and there were no additional charges. They were supposed to come between 9-11, he called me close to 11 and informed me he would be about twenty minutes late.

Everything was perfect. He is very knowledgeable about what he is doing. He did excellent work. He was right on time.

He came on time and did the work. He was very courteous and very professional. The price was very reasonable.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. They were okay, nothing special. They were a little late but that wasn't a big deal. He explained everything he was doing. He did not have one small part in stock that was broken so he told me what I could buy. He did okay and he was nice. There were no additional charges.

It went well. The guy knew a lot about sewers. It was a good price.

Jon was able to schedule an appointment with two day notice. On the day of the appointment he gave me a window of time and called me to confirm he was on his way. In order to access the cap to the main drain he had to cut through the carpet, which he carefully did. It took about 100' to get to the street, and I was able to visually see the condition of the pipe. I was happy with Jon and the service he provided.

Everything was done as promised and on time. This was Big Deal purchase and I do not recall seeing any where that the fee only paid for one hour. The job took 1 hour and 15 minutes so I was charged an additional $25.00, but this was still a good price for a main line cleaning.

It was fine and he did a good job. I don’t have any dislike about them. They were timely and got in touch with me within the time frame that they said they would. They got somebody out to do the problem and it was good. The estimate was exactly the same as the cost of service. The value of the price was very good for the work done.

He lost credibility with me. He couldn’t show up when I needed him to show up. He said that it was rainy and didn’t want to get his equipment wet, even though all the work was inside.

He did a great job. The technician that came out was really nice, and the price was very reasonable.

Service went fine - technician knew what he was doing and was professional. I had purchased an Angie's List Deal "$99 for Main Sewer Line Cleaning Including Video Inspection". Upon arrival the tech indicated that this only included 1 hour of work and that additional hours would be billed at $80 per hour. I replied that there was nothing that indicated that the $99 was for only an hour of work, but instead implied a "fee for service" contract (see complete Deal text below). I understand that American Sewer can't allow a service call to be completely open-ended, but if this deal was intended to be limited to 1 hour of labor it should clearly state that. And if it is limited to 1 hour of labor, why not just call the deal '$99 for 1 Hour of Main Sewer Line Cleaning...". The name of the deal certainly implies that for $99 you are getting a clean sewer line, and nothing in the fine print indicates otherwise. However, if they called it '$99 for 1 Hour of Main Sewer Line Cleaning...' they probably would sell fewer of them, even though it is technically the exact same thing. Which makes me think that it is intentionally worded to be a bit misleading. I have had American Sewer perform a similar service at my former residence, and I was happy with that experience. I am not unhappy with American Sewer, but I think they should be more straightforward in defining their Angie's List Deals. Complete text of Deal description: Description: Here's the Deal:$99 for main sewer line cleaning including video inspectionValid for up to 100 feet of your main sanitary sewer line; extra feet can be purchased for an additional fee/per footSewer must have accessible clean-outService uses an electric power rod and cutter bladeTelevising allows you to see live footage of your sanitary sewer line, including blockages, decay, separation, and broken pipes. The Real Deal: Yearly inspection and power-rodding is important for keeping your sewer system clear of obstructions and functioning properly. Prevent high-cost repairs, and rely on free-flowing pipes, with this money-saving offer! The Fine Print: Deal must be purchased through Angie's List to be eligible for discount Service area includes: Hennepin, Carver, Scott, Wright, Benton, Sterns, and Sherburne Counties Not valid for cash back Deal cannot be combined with other specials or offers Deal cannot be applied to current or past jobs For residential service only Appointments are to be performed during normal business hours Limit one deal per person/household Some sewer line restrictions apply; longer lines can be cleaned for an additional fee If it is found that there are any abnormalities, settled, corroded, or damaged sewer/drain lines American Sewer shall not be held responsible American Sewer is not responsible for any any water damage hidden or visual or any losses due to routine drain cleaning efforts Any additional hours of service will be billed at the standard labor rate of $80 per hour from the time of arrival Travel fee may be applied to service members who are outside 494/694/35E. Call for details Promotional value expires six months from date of purchase; paid value never expires

The whole basement was flooded and was really unpleasant. He was completely nonplussed. He went about his business very professionally. Once he cleared the main line, he started on several others in the basement. Even the toilet, which was very disgusting. John told me that I needed a professional cleaning company to come in and clean up. He asked if I knew of one, and of course, I did not. He recommended a place and even called them for me. I received a call from the company within minutes and they were there within hours.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. He was fine, but I felt a little bit like we paid for something but we didn't get it cleaned. He just looked and he was only there for 20 minutes. He charged me $30 extra because we were apparently a few miles out of his distance. He had me come down and take a look at the video while he had the scope in there. I didn't observe a whole lot because it was just a lot of black, and I really couldn't see what he was seeing. He said he saw a little water in there but that was it. He had some protective shoes so he could walk through my house so I was happy about that. He really didn't inform me a whole lot. The reason why we had him come out was because we were hearing some strange gurgling noises from our toilet upstairs, and when the kids shower in their bathroom you could hear some strange noise in our master bathroom jacuzzi so it was just new noises we had heard, and so we took to wondering if we had a clog in our lines and thought we would just have it looked at and cleaned out. The only thing he said is that it could be ice on the roof. It could be this water that he saw standing in the line way, way down in there, but he wasn't sure. I was not expecting to pay $30 more especially for a service that was just a look and it's fine. I wouldn't use him again. I would go with somebody that doesn't charge for extra mileage.

I hired American Sewer to unclog my main drain in the basement to the sewer on Oct. 16, 2013. On that date, the guy was about an hour late getting to my house because he had trouble at the job just prior to mine. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on being so late because I certainly know that unforseen things happen. On the initial visit, he was here for an hour and 1/2. Their first hour fee is $125 and for the extra 1/2 hr it was another $40. He also told me he was going to replace the drain cap. He didn't tell me how much it would cost, nor did he get my permission. I assumed he was just doing it for free since he didn't get my permission. The other cap worked but he said it was a bit too big and therefore hard to get off. I've had that same drain cleaned by 2-3 other companies over the years and no one else ever commented about it. I was surprised to see a $20 charge for the new cap when I got the bill. In January 2014 the same drain backed up again. When I called the owner he said they would have to charge me the full price since it was over 3 months since their first visit. I explained that it was NOT outside of 3 months and furthermore there was nothing in writing saying that the work was only good for 3 months. He agreed to send a guy out later that day and would only charge me $80 instead of their normal fee of $125. I wasn't happy about the charge since he said he guarantees his work for 3 months but I needed the work done and I knew $80 was cheaper than I would find anywhere else. The same guy who cleaned it the first time came back close to the time he said he would be and he cleaned it out again. He said he probably just didn't go far enough the first time. I asked why I was having to pay for the service again then and he explained that this is their policy. I asked about it another way a second time but got the same answer so I sucked it up and paid another $80.

We had a really good experience with American Sewer. We talked to Jonathan on a Sunday morning and he offered to come out right away or schedule an appointment for Monday. We decided to wait till Monday because it's less expensive and we didn't have an emergency situation, but it was nice to know we could have had someone come out right away if we'd chosen that option. On Monday, Jonathan called to let us know how his morning schedule was going, and since he had some time open up between jobs he offered to fit us in earlier if we wanted or to keep our appointment scheduled for later in the afternoon (between 1 and 4). We appreciated being given the option, but chose to keep the later appointment. Jonathan called later that afternoon when he was ready to come over and I came home from work (very glad he offered to call when he was thirty minutes out, so I did not have to wait at home during the appointment time range). He took care of the clog and then offered to replace the worn-out flapper while he was there, so we decided to do that as well. The toilet is working better than it was before his visit. He also walked me through how to replace the toilet handle ourselves, which is beginning to rust through, but suggested we wait a while to do that. Throughout he was very professional and pleasant, and kept us informed of what he was doing. We would definitely call him again and will recommend him to friends.

It was fine. They kept in communication with me, they came, cleaned the drain, and showed me the drain. It was fine.