I needed three things done. To find where two downspout drains go, and to find a sewer WYE. I tried APS because I feel violated every time I have used a plumber with a camera because of the excessive charges. And these guys had all the other neat tools, (at least on their website they did!). When I called, the guy was nice, and was professional. They were going to be working 5 minutes from my home one day, so I decided to take the appointment. The guys that showed were also nice, I thought professional, and came on schedule. But then they tried going down the first downspout drain, and couldn't even get past the very first bend! I asked about the transmitting sondes that they show on their site, but they didn't bring those! So, one out of three parts of the job (no pun intended), down the drain! They then attempted the second downspout drain. They got into this one approx. 15', but said they hit a blockage, and do not carry a snake (auger)! WTF?! What's funny though is that the downspout is flowing just fine! They then went down the sewer cleanout and (supposedly) located the WYE 2' down, directly below the downspout drain which they said was 1' down. Now I have my patio all torn up to find that the downspout drain is there (but I still have no idea where they dump out), but there is no sewer WYE after digging into hardpan nearly 3" down!! So this was a Complete Waste of Money!! They charged me for an hour of time for doing nothing for me, but on top of that, charged me for an hour travel time to go from Mountlake Terrace to Kenmore!! First time in my life I have ever been charged for travel time, and they were already 5 minutes away on another job!!
I wrote a letter to the owner expressing my dissatisfaction, and never heard back! However they didn't cash my check for a while, and I thought that might be why. But now they have, so I am sharing my experience! Next time I will let a plumber violate me, or rent a locator myself! Even Aurora Rents has the sondes! Never has a plumber failed to get into any drain, and they always carry with them a snake! What a waste of $330!!
Update 4/14/17: When I received a receipt in the mail saying I had paid in full, it had a number to call with any questions, I decided to call!! She puts me thru to a supervisor, who happened to be the first person I had talked to who I thought was professional. I no longer think so!! First he says he thought about not cashing the check, and said he left me a message about that on my phone machine. That was a total Lie, and why not simply refrain from cashing the check since you did absolutely Nothing for me!!! Then he said he would come out and re-do the job. I told him let me get a plumber out first to make damn sure he will be able to get into the downspout drains. Now I am up to $548, but know the drains are, and were clear. After wasting nearly two weeks getting jacked around, and being told he would come out on Wed the 10th, which turns out to be a day that didn't exist, he now won't even return calls!! I don't think he had any intentions on coming back out and making this right! Now I have yet another plumber coming out to finish the job they couldn't complete! The good news is its "only" $225, but that now puts me at $773 (plus tearing up the patio) to complete a simple locate job!! I highly recommend staying away from these crooks!
Update 4/19/17: To add icing on the cake, I had the other plumber come out. He had a much better camera with a huge screen. He said there was no sewer WYE as APS had indicated, and the sewer was a full 5' away from where they marked the patio and I had the concrete all torn up, all for nothing! What a waste of time my time, and $!! read more