Reading the few slightly less than stellar reviews of the overall performance of Cramer Enterprises (CE), I'm left with the impression that their technical service is acceptable, though I have had only a few short conversations with their competitors with which to draw a comparison, and no service work performed. It appears that the less than 5-star reviews center on a lack of communication. That was also my experience.
I originally phoned CE to ask for some insight into the water quality in the Big Valley. I was connected with Jim Jackson whom I believe to be one of CE's employees servicing well pumps and other equipment. Jim was great. He answered all my questions and volunteered helpful insights that provided a good overview of water conditions near a home we were considering for purchase. We chose not to make an offer on that property for other reasons.
Later, when considering another property in an area known for poor water quality, I phoned again, this timeI I spoke with Eric Cramer, owner of CE, expecting similar results. He and I spent considerable time discussing the location of the property and the well production one might expect as gallons per minute (GPM). Although I suspect that he likely possessed knowledge of water quality issues prevalent in the area, that topic wasn't addressed until I mentioned the property's existing water conditioning system (WCS). After some further discussion, we scheduled two visits by CE, a well production test and then an evaluation of the existing WCS.
Aaron Cramer, Eric's son, performed the production test, initially assisted by Russell Cramer, Eric's brother and employee, on the prescribed day. A water sample was collected and sent to Alpha Labs for numerous tests. Aaron also did some "field tests." In Aaron's words, the results indicated that water was "Bad!" After an interruption in the schedule to decide of we wished to proceed upon hearing of the "bad" water, Russell Cramer performed the WCS evaluation. Eric described Russell is a "state certified water technician." I cannot speak to the voracity of that.
I spent considerable time speaking with Russell on the date of his WCS evaluation, a process that took three or four hours. He arrived later than expected due to "an emergency," which prevented me from observing the entire process because our realtor had to leave the property and thus so did I. Presumably the well business can easily result in such circumstances, so I don't fault Russell or CE, though it seems to us that there were numerous such interruptions of the work flow, suggesting that CE may be somewhat understaffed. The water analysis results from the lab were severely delayed, which caused us to request an extension of the inspection period, though not a fault of CE.
While both Russel and Eric Cramer invested considerable amounts of time in conversation while on site with us, we found that Eric was far less forthcoming, often engaging in circuitous answers to our questions that led to little useful definition, both of the specifics of what might be done to address the "bad" water, at least three parameters of which were severe, and their financial consequences. In the end, the written estimate of corrective equipment and actions was almost precisely double that given by Eric. His somewhat evasive and vague delivery style could be improved upon.
Most significant, the major communication issues were centered around the expected report and its timeliness. Eric failed to respond to several emails and multiple phone calls with requests for an update on the findings of the WCS evaluation, though the basic data for the well production test was made immediately available. Additionally, an incomplete and much revised estimate for the installation of the new WCS equipment was received, though it not accompanied with a rationale for its installation, suggesting CE didn't grasp that we didn't own the property - that our purpose was to evaluate it for a potential purchase and would need a full report of the findings, even though we had made it clear during our several conversations with CE. It took a good deal of prodding to induce CE to deliver a line-item-by-line-item estimate with prices of all WCS components, rather than simply a "bottom line." I was especially struck one time by the response of the person answering the phone when I mentioned the above, only receiving, "That's the way we do it." Maybe so, but CE shouldn't be in the business of evaluating water systems for potential real estate purchases if that is, indeed, the "way" things are done.
The full report was eventually forthcoming, though very late, seemingly due to the delayed lab results. That said, it would have been entirely possible for CE to deliver the bulk of the report along with a clearly itemized estimate of the recommended corrections. I can't fault CE's technical expertise, as they're seem capable of doing the work, however their customer service could be greatly improved. read more
