darin
02-23-2007, 05:37 PM
Or you may get charged!
SEATTLE - Your drain clogs. Your pipes back up. You call the plumber.
Then you get the shocking news: his snake or hose is stuck in your pipes. And he says you have to pay to get it out.
Sounds crazy. But that's what happened to two KOMO viewers recently.
In digging into this story, I learned more about sewers than I ever wanted to know. It doesn't happen all that often, but even the best plumbers get their snakes or other tools stuck. And unless they did something wrong, they expect you to pay for it -- a job that can run thousands of dollars.
"We're On Our Own"
In one case, Jesse Thatcher called Rescue Rooter to unplug the bathroom in his auto body shop, Pro Finish in Kent. When Jesse contacted the Problem Solvers, his toilet was disconnected and a plumber's snake was coiled on the floor and down the drain pipe. Thatcher says his bathroom had been like that for more than a month.
"This is the snake he was going to use to clear the drain for us," Thatcher said, pointing to the coil, "and pretty much got it stuck the first hour he was here."
That snake belongs to Rescue Rooter.
With no bathroom for his employees or customers, Jesse had to rent a porta potty.
Rescue Rooter sent two employees to dig outside to locate the snake. When they hit an old septic tank, they stopped, closed up the hole and left.
"We're on our own, and we're stuck with what we've got, and they're not going to do anything about it," Thatcher said.
Rescue Rooter told Jesse it wasn't their fault the snake got caught. If they had known he had a septic tank, they said, they would have done the job differently.
Jesse says no one ever asked him about that. And besides, as far as he knows, he's hooked up to a sewer. We checked with the city of Kent and their records show Pro Finish is on the sewer system.
"Basically, the last words I had with the owner of Rescue Rooter was to talk to our attorneys," Thatcher said.
$350 bid turns into $3,500
Thatcher's case is not an isolated case.
Read the rest:
http://www.komotv.com/news/6008726.html
SEATTLE - Your drain clogs. Your pipes back up. You call the plumber.
Then you get the shocking news: his snake or hose is stuck in your pipes. And he says you have to pay to get it out.
Sounds crazy. But that's what happened to two KOMO viewers recently.
In digging into this story, I learned more about sewers than I ever wanted to know. It doesn't happen all that often, but even the best plumbers get their snakes or other tools stuck. And unless they did something wrong, they expect you to pay for it -- a job that can run thousands of dollars.
"We're On Our Own"
In one case, Jesse Thatcher called Rescue Rooter to unplug the bathroom in his auto body shop, Pro Finish in Kent. When Jesse contacted the Problem Solvers, his toilet was disconnected and a plumber's snake was coiled on the floor and down the drain pipe. Thatcher says his bathroom had been like that for more than a month.
"This is the snake he was going to use to clear the drain for us," Thatcher said, pointing to the coil, "and pretty much got it stuck the first hour he was here."
That snake belongs to Rescue Rooter.
With no bathroom for his employees or customers, Jesse had to rent a porta potty.
Rescue Rooter sent two employees to dig outside to locate the snake. When they hit an old septic tank, they stopped, closed up the hole and left.
"We're on our own, and we're stuck with what we've got, and they're not going to do anything about it," Thatcher said.
Rescue Rooter told Jesse it wasn't their fault the snake got caught. If they had known he had a septic tank, they said, they would have done the job differently.
Jesse says no one ever asked him about that. And besides, as far as he knows, he's hooked up to a sewer. We checked with the city of Kent and their records show Pro Finish is on the sewer system.
"Basically, the last words I had with the owner of Rescue Rooter was to talk to our attorneys," Thatcher said.
$350 bid turns into $3,500
Thatcher's case is not an isolated case.
Read the rest:
http://www.komotv.com/news/6008726.html