A1 Sprinklers

*** WARNING: NOT INSURED *** A1 Sprinklers flooded my basement, saw the damage, turned the water off and left… Oh, and then they invoiced me! I wasn’t home and received a call from my basement tenants that the basement was flooding. When I called A1 dispatch they notified the tech at the house who turned off the main line to stop the leak from causing further damage. I called my insurance Company and they said it was going to be a claim against A1 Sprinklers liability insurance and not against my homeowners insurance. When I called A1 Sprinklers dispatch to tell them that, they called the owner, Wayne Wardle, out to my house to assess the situation. Once he got to the home, he and the tech (who was actually very professional while he was here) left within 3 minutes of the owner Wayne getting to our home. Wayne or the tech didn’t inform us of why the pipe they were working on leaked, what they were going to do to fix it, and how they were going to resolve the issue of flooding our basement. He never came to our door to say a word knowing we were inside waiting to talk about it. I saw from my Ring camera that they just left in a hurry, never to be seen again. A1 Sprinklers left glue, parts, and tools at my house due to trying to leave so fast after seeing the damage to the basement. They left my yard full of holes, didn’t address the leak in the pipe they broke while digging, and when I called dispatch to ask where they went and what was going on, the receptionist told me that she was told by the owner that it wasn’t their responsibility, they were not coming back to finish the job, and they would invoice me for the work they had done up until the point when they left. In order to get a restoration Company out to my house I had to file a claim against my homeowners insurance and pay my deductible. My insurance immediately sent a field adjuster and an investigator out to my home and determined it was due the work of A1 Sprinklers. Pretty obvious when we have never had a leak, they dug a hole in the ground to uncover the main sprinkler line, and then a leak occurred within an hour. My insurance Company now has to file a lawsuit against A1 Sprinklers. This is just so ridiculous and frustrating that A1 Sprinklers, and especially the Owner Wayne Wardle, don’t work with integrity to address their issues when things go wrong. A few days later, I received a text message saying that they invoiced me $858 for 5 hours of work (including 1 hour of removing the water from the outside of the door where the water entered my basement). I called to tell them I would forward it to my insurance and have it wrapped up in the impending lawsuit. When I was transferred to the manager, Marcie, and told her that she hung up on me. I called back to ask another question I had and ask why she hung up on me and she said she had nothing else to talk to me about and hung up again. Just goes to show the type of Company A1 Sprinklers really is. At the end of the day, justice will be done and my insurance Company and I will be reimbursed for everything. However, I put this out there to warn others. They are not worth it! $105 for the first 30 minutes, $105 per hour after and when things go wrong… no integrity, no ownership, and then they treat you like YOU did something wrong. Save yourself the hassle and go elsewhere, even if it means waiting longer. Photos show the hole they dug, pipe they worked on and where leak occurred (pretty obvious). Then the damage and work that had to be done.

Very quick, efficient and easy to work with. They did a great job!

From the very beginning of the installation there were problems. The pipes were leaking and we contacted A1. The first person who came to fix the problem said that they had used faulty pipes and were no longer using these pipes. They worked on the system to fix it. We were obviously very concerned about the quality of the system and how long it would last. At the time I contacted Wayne Wardle with my concerns. I told him what his employee had said and that we were concerned about the entire system. He denied that the pipes were faulty and said that he would guarantee his work. I asked if I could get that in writing, and he said "Oh so my word isn't good enough for you?" I was honestly shocked and just said that I had major concerns because of the quick failure of his work. My mom was recently widowed and we were just trying to make sure that she was well taken care of and treated with respect and courtesy. Wayne Wardle was so rude that I did not want my mom to have any further contact with him. Recently there were more leaks and I contacted the company again. They came out to fix it and charged my mom $90. A couple days later the part that they replaced began to leak (see photo) and it was going into her basement. I immediately called A1 and Wayne answered. I explained the history and our concern and asked for help as soon as possible. This was on a Friday morning. He said he could have someone out to fix it on Monday. This was during July with 90 degree weather and my mom's lawn was already dry. I told him that it wasn't acceptable and my mom had already paid them for the service that they hadn't properly repaired and that it was leaking into her foundation. He said to turn the system off until Monday. Again, I said that it was unacceptable and that he had given me his word that he would guarantee his work and we didn't want to wait until Monday. He literally said "Call someone else then." I couldn't believe that was his idea of customer service and told him so. He then hung up on me. Unbelievable. We waited until Monday and someone came to fix it. He told my mom that he worked on it and would be back to finish the job the following day. The following day, nobody had come and so we contacted the company. The person said that we weren't on the schedule because it had been fixed the previous day, despite what they had told us. It did stop leaking and we hope it is fixed for the long term. This is my first negative review on Angie's List. I am shocked that this person runs his business this way and lacks the integrity to treat clients with respect and honesty. I was not surprised by the other F ratings that sound very similar to our experience. I wish him luck, but I would stay far, far away from this company because our experience has been terrible. Buyer beware, and do not hire this service.

It always goes real well at A-1 ! Freindly service reps and techs take great care of my vacuums. We have rental property and more than 1 vacuum... We bought our Sanitaire's from them and they have been flawless! I highly recommend this business it's a Family owned Local small business.

They guys did a great job in restoring my front lawn by repairing the irrigation system and applying new sod. Very professional work; I will use them again for future projects.

unknown

We have had them service our sprinklers in the past. The quality of the service at the time was acceptable. But since they have become very rude.

This company is awesome! They are always available to help and answer any questions along the way. I purchased my house during the winter and didn't know the condition of the sprinklers. They came out and assessed the old system and gave their recommendations. We ended up having them take out the old system and install a new one. They had quoted us 3 days to complete the job. They were running behind on the last day, so they brought in extra labor to ensure that they finished on time. They came back the next day and explained how to use the system and made sure that I was comfortable with everything. They left my yard in PERFECT condition- no dirt piles or garbage left behind. We had been working with a different landscaper during this project, but ended up having to fire him. I found out that A1 did landscaping as well, so I had them come out and give me a bid. Their prices were extremely reasonable! We had a truckload of topsoil in our yard (from the old landscaper) that needed to be spread, so they rearranged their schedules and had someone come out and take care of it the next day. In addition to the dirt work, they built up a ton of flower beds, put down fabric and mulch, made flagstone paths around my yard and garden boxes, and created a "riverbed" behind my deck for all of the water runoff. They made sure that I was completely satisfied with everything before they left. I will definitely use them again for any yard needs!!

it was fine

On the day that they were to arrive, the office manager called my phone but did not leave a message so I had no idea who the number belonged to or that they had called to come in the afternoon. Therefore, they had to come the next day. The man who came was rude and non communicative in general. When my husband arrived home and tried to talk to the man he found the same thing. No mention was made of there being a large problem. The man left an open pipe and a huge pile of dirt spread across our sidewalk with no discussion of what the plan would be. I assumed he would return the next day to continue work but he did not show up. I had to go out of town for the next week. When I called to follow up, the office manager told me that the job had been completed. I told her it had not. She finally called back and said that he would be out to finish. It took them an entire week before they returned to finish the job. There were no messages left on the phone. There were other problems in the process as well. I will not use them again.

This company is frustrating to deal with because of its scheduling. Several times we have hired them to do work and they have given us a window of time in which they will arrive. Most often we choose the morning from say 9-11 or 8-12. Several times we waited around for them and they either never came or came late in the afternoon, closer to 2 or 4!

From the time there lady answered the phone I was pleased. They answered there phone! They sent a man out and seen the problem, gave me my choice on how to fix the problem and fixed it. No mess.

They were great, they came out when they said they would and the quote was spot on to the work done. One of the parts broke while they were installing it and they had to come back another day to finish the repair but they came back at exactly the time they said they would and with no extra charges. Im going to do some more work with my sprinklers and will use them again.

I continue to call him and have hired him for additional work.

Original estimate was $700-800 to be billed on an hourly rate of $85/hr. After the job commenced it was then determined that the size of the old valves was incompatible with the new valves and a whole new valve system would have to be installed. In the process one of the sprinkler lines was inadvertently attached to the wrong station and later had to be dug back up and reconfigured. The box in the back was unnecessarily in my opinion located so close to the foundation of the house that a vine attached to a large portion of the wall of the house was severed causing the vine to wither and die leaving me with an unsightly dead vine 20 ft high. What was to have been a job that would take part of a day ended up taking 2 full days. The system, however, does seem to work well and I am pleased with the result .

very well

My husband called and made an appointment for some sprinkler repairs. The person who answered the phone took a lot of time obtaining all kinds of information including a credit card number. An appointment was set up for Saturday before noon with the understanding the repairman would call prior to coming out. Well no show or no call the entire day. Then on Tuesday, we received a message from the company appologizing for not being able to come out on Saturday and wanting to know if a repairman could come out in the next 30-60 minutes. We were not home. We did not return the call and do not intend to do so.

Great and on time.

I don't know what happened to these guys. We've used to use them a lot, but I will never use them again. I called them in April to repair a leaking valve box. It took four phone calls over about three weeks for them to finally show up. They'd make an appointment and then.... just never show up. They finally came to work on the valve box in mid-May, and then sent me a bill (that same day, I think) for $300. Problem is, the valve box leaks more now than it did before they did the work. Three more phone calls and a week later, their guy finally showed up, only to tell us that another valve in the box had somehow been "cut" (his description, not mine). I told them that they were the only ones who had access to the box, and I didn't know much about sprinkler systems, but it sounded like one of three things had happened: (i) they "cut" the other valve when they fixed the first valve but didn't realize it at the time they did it, or (ii) they saw that two valves were broken when they came the first time but only fixed one of them, or (iii) somehow a second valve spontanelously "cut" itself about thirty seconds after they finished the work they did on the valve box. His response was that he wasn't the one who came the first time and didn't know what work had been done, but that they'd have the original guy come back the next day. Their guy didn't show up yesterday as promised (we're now about six weeks into the project), and when I called today to find out when they'd be out, the owner told me that we were "difficult" customers and that they weren't going to come out again. He did say, however, that they wanted to be paid for the work they did on the still-leaking valve box. Then he hung up on me.

It was fine, no problems.

Good. Responded same day as called. Took the time to find the problems and make the needed repairs. Professional technician.

He called before arriving and was punctual plus he fit us in on short notice. Work was completed in a timely manner and he was very professional in his attitude.

We hired them to fix leaky sprinkler valves. They sent a guy who walked around our yard and then dragged mud and dog poo all over our house. This guy could not fix our sprinklers. The company said they would send someone else, but they never did.

I felt that they were very professional and prompt. They saved me a lot of water in the long run by moving my sprinklers to where they needed to be. They were very pleasant people.