I was looking for someone to audit my landscape for MWELO submission. He was asking $350 per valve and for 6 valves, the total would be $2100. I got it done from someone else for less than half the price. The other person was equally responsive and got it done fast.
I obviously don't have any idea of what additional level of service is provided by Wicks - but all I know is whatever the other guy did, that was enough and we got the certification done. And that is what I was looking for - keep it simple and get the job done.
Personally, the county has made a big mess in the implementation of the MWELO completion. You could have a very expensive home and the county takes care of the inspection - this way, you don't have to shop around for a person to take care of it. Now that you need an external auditor for MWELO, these external auditors are preying on the unsuspecting public and asking for whatever money they want and hope to get away with it. Part of the reason here is that for some people, the certificate of occupancy is tied to the MWELO completion. So that is what Wicks was trying to offer me - he could do the inspection the next day and have the audit report the following day and offering to not collect payment until the certificate of occupancy was received. While conceptually what he is doing is good, all he is doing is preying on people who are really ready to put the house construction behind them and move into the house ASAP - so he is basically dangling a quick inspection for an obscene price for very few hours of work. We were already in the house - so we had no urgency on the occupancy certificate and the other person who charged much less, got it done equally fast.
In summary - if you are up the creek and can't find someone, sure go for this company but else save yourself some serious dough and look around.
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In response to what was posted by the owner of the company.
- While I actually didn't do business, I did reach out to engage. What I am reporting is my first hand experience on the pricing.
- My frustration with the county on MWELO is really about the issue of county exposing the home owners to vendors who are willing to ask for any price since the home owner has no choice but to get the audit completed. Wicks irrigation pricing is a prime example of why homeowners would be frustrated by this.
- I didn't want to but I will post - the other guy charged me $800. Obviously the other guys is running his own business too but he has figured out how to do it efficiently. From a customer perspective, there is a big difference between $800 and $2100. And the other guy met the state and the local regulations and his certification was accepted by the county. read more