Schirmers Wastewater & SP Testing, Inc.

Same experience as prior poor review. Had an appt for septic design and cancelled the evening before due to client decided to use a company half the quoted cost. Received phone call where threats were made to file a lien on the sellers property and a bill would be sent to me (the agent) for their drive out. Will never ever recommend!!! Beware.

I canceled the septic inspection service with SP Testing back in 2017. Reason for cancellation is irrelevant at this point. We hired another company to perform quarterly septic inspections. Today (March 2019) I got a call from Debbie Schirmers (apparently owners wife). She stated they send us a contract and performed services on our septic system. When I stated we do not own them any money since they did not perform any services for us wince fall of 2017, she got very aggressive. She stated that if we do not pay and sign the contract, she will call the city of Orono and make our septic system non-compliant. When I stated that we, in fact, hired another company, she stated something nasty and hanged up the phone. Customers should be aware of the tactics they are using to retain or lure customers. I have to mention that this is not a complaint related to service. Steve (owner) is very professional and knowledgable.

The owner and son met us at the property at the scheduled time and tests were done and conversations were good. They seem to have a lot of experience and work frequently in the surrounding area where we were looking to build. My knock on them is the disconnect between the estimate and the actual price. Quoted $150 for an hour's worth of work. The actual time spent on-site was 1.25 hours, so I could see the estimate floating a bit higher than this. When I called to pay the bill, I was told it was $250. I replied that our estimate was "about $150". Had the bill come back at $175/180 I wouldn't have balked, but $250 is 65% higher than the estimate. Deb knocked it down to $225, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. Our experience confirms what we've heard from builders that Schirmer's is consistently the highest cost provider of these types of services. I don't doubt they are good at what they do, but I will definitely get multiple bids for a septic system.