Upon arrival, It appears that my septic tank has been covered by a large concrete patio that was poured before I purchased the home. I was told by the technician that I needed to call a plumber and have them bring a camera out to locate exactly where the tank was. Even though no work could be done, I was told that there was still a trip fee for coming out. I completely get that. I work in the service industry as well. We charge trip fees just like everyone else when our time has been wasted.
What I did not expect was to be told that the trip fee was $175! More than half of what the actual service was going to cost me!
I immediately called the company office to explain my situation and stress that this should have been disclosed to me prior to sending someone to my home. Questions should have been asked as to whether I knew where the septic was located, had a septic report, etc. And that If they arrived and could not find/access it, that I would be charged this hefty fee.
The woman that I spoke to (I forget her name, but I want to say it was Gina), same woman I spoke to the day before I'm pretty sure starts to go into how they typically don't run into this problem. After the technician told me that this didn't surprise him. So, I assume they DO in fact run into this issue from time to time.
I explained to her again that my issue was that I was not told about this charge prior to them coming out. If I was, then I would have called the plumber first to locate the tank instead of wasting $175 for 5 mins of someone telling me to call a plumber. She began to explain to me that she also tells her clients that the price is for a 1000 gallon tank, then they get on site and find out its a 2000 gallon tank and then customers want to argue the price with her. Again, that information was disclosed to me. So that would not have been an issue. The issue is that I am not paying $175 for a trip fee!
At this point, she begins to get smart with me and asks me what I feel is reasonable for a trip charge. I told her $50 is reasonable because that's what we charge in my line of work. I told her I have a warranty company as well. There is a $75 trip fee whether they can do the work or not. That is reasonable. $175 is ridiculous!
Here's where I was sent over the edge...after I gave her this price, she then LAUGHS at me!!! And says, "yea...okay" and mumbles something under her breath.
I have been in the same line of work for going on 9 years now. Working in customer service and have dealt with some of the nastiest, rudest customers you can imagine and never once have I laughed at one of them or not kept my composure in their time of frustration. My guess, is this woman is somehow related to the owner or maybe even part owner herself based off of the way that she spoke to me. And if she isn't, she should be FIRED!! Because now, not only will I go back to every person that referred you to me and let them know that their recommendation was horrible, But I will also let everyone else know how your office runs and how rude you are to your potential clients. And that information is purposely left out so that you can scam people out of their hard earned money especially during times like these.
I would have gladly called them back out once I located my tank. But now, they will NEVER get my business and I will make sure that anyone I see needing these services doesn't make the same mistake that I did and go through being treated that way!
Let me also add that I was told that I would receive a call back after this issue was unresolved and waited 4 hours before posting this!!! read more