We engaged the services of Flowsafe to clear out a blocked drain issue after looking at the prices online and speaking to the call centre. We were told this would cost $188 + $22 callout fee to fix.
In total, the service took less than an hour but we were charged $1,408. Yes that's correct, $1,408 for a standard drain clearage service and for an hours labour.
See attached images and invoice for how Flowsafe broke down this service charge and how this is excessively higher than what the market rate is for this service.
On top of this, we were told that the one of our pipes in the backyard had 'collapsed' and that we needed an urgent fix to resolve it. They quoted $12,890 (see attached image) for this fix. Not only was this quote also extremely excessive based on market rates and the work that needed to be done, it turns out they had not collapsed at all and we never needed this service. Looking at other reviews it turns out this isn't the first time the apparent 'collapsed sewer pipes' card has been played.
After trying to contact Flowsafe to reach an agreed invoice adjustment amount based on what the actual market rates are for this service and what we were initially told, they have ignored all correspondence. I'm currently in the process of escalating this with the ACCC and VBA as they have continued to ignore my emails. read more