Bottom line up front: bad management/owners who don't care to lose customers over pricing that isn't up front/advertised/estimated. Customer tried to work It out with company. company apologized and acknowledged responsibility, but still charged egregious amount and didn't fix complaint.There are a lot of irrigation companies, so find another.
This was a great review (a few years ago) until I dealt with ownership/management recently. I've always liked the technicians that have come out the past three years. I love paying for good work; however, owner(s)/management, in my recent experience and first interaction with management, don't care about customers. This year (April 2024), I had them open my system. Third year of doing so. I know there would be work to do besides normal
Opening (a sprinkler head replaced, a possible blockage in a valve box). Two techs came out (one seemed to be in training, but not sure). They took about 20-30 minutes and said they'd need to get a part to fix a valve. I asked how much. They said the parts plus labor. They came back soon after (within half hour) and finished work. Being generous, less than an hour of work (confirmed by their office manager). They said I'd receive invoice. I was charged for two techs (70 an hour x 2 = $140). Work took less than an hour. I've always had one tech open for season and do ancillary work. Example: My system hadn't been used from when house was built (2010, I wasn't first owner) until when I first started to use sprinkler system (two seasons ago). First opening, a decade-ish of no use: one tech. That one tech did alllll the work himself in under an hour ( a lot of ancillary stuff, valves, head replacement, etc. It was so bad I needed a plumber to replace pipes/valves outside). Now, two techs were "needed", because as I was told "well we had a lot of houses today". So now I'm told my less than .25 acre property needed two techs instead of the normal one, just bc it makes it faster for company. I wonder if both techs each got paid $70 for the less than full hour? (Spoiler alert: they don't, because I asked and I got an "uhhh ummm"). When I asked about the need to have two techs, not a great response. "well a lot of houses and it goes faster". Ok. Not my problem. Staffing is your problem. When I told the office manager (Rhyle) that I asked the tech about cost, the tech said it was labor and cost of part replacement. I was not actually given the numbers for labor or replacement work. she said "I apologize" yadda yadda. I asked, "just to confirm, you are apologizing I didn't get an upfront price and yet you are still charging full price?" (That's verbatim) .She said she'd check with management. I did say the invoice was "bull S##" but I apologized for swearing. Over 5 hours later she called and said they are charging full. I had already told them they'd lose a customer. I trusted they'd be fair. I now have to ask every company "hey, don't trust ya, lemme get a full invoice". Yes. Not getting a full invoice before work is my fault. Just thought they were better. They also tried to justify two techs. When I told them the work was completed by one tech the last two years, it was quickly dismissed with laughable reasoning. When I asked how two techs are getting into a 2x2' valve box to do work, that wasn't answered. I also informed them they have access to my system (literally can run system though an app by themselves without me present) so they didn't need another tech to stand outside looking for sprinkler activation while the one tech actually works. That revelation wasnt answered. i also asked (and it's in writing too), "so if you sent three techs for same work, I'm paying for all three?" Yep. You are. That's what I was told. So. Out of principle about not telling pricing up front, sending their over staffing/personnel overages for work needed (and profiting off of the overage, which is shameful bc employees aren't seeing that money), horrific customer Service, etc, I'm moving on. read more
