ComplaintsforDes Moines Excavating LLC

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have a home warranty through HSA. They contracted Zippy to come out due to stoppage concerns as we had some water on the basement floor. The employee came out, acting as though he hated his job. He diagnosed that we had a major clog in the drain within 2 minutes of arriving and did not ask any questions or assess the area. 2 minutes later and he is yelling at me to call the city to shut the water off or my basement will flood. The employee admitted he thought he saw a clog and used force to push on it, which opened the check valve and released 6 inches of sewer water in my home. The worker then tried to get us to sign a document stating it wasnt his fault and blamed the city for the whole thing. He ended up not only destroying my basement, causing thousands of dollars in damage but he did not check the valve when he left. Had to get a different company to come out to check it because Zippy refused the request from HSA to check it. The check valve is completely broken and Zippy refuses to come out to fix it or replace it. I called at the direction of *** and the office manager told me it wasnt her problem and threatened me with a lawyer. Now I am paying for the check valve out of pocket to get it replaced and then having to completely rebuild the finished basement. Complete unprofessionalism for the entire company. I understand wanting to let insurance deal with it but to ignore the broken valve and not check it or tell the homeowner. That company is unreliable and the employee had no knowledge of the basics to plumbing.

  

  Business response

  02/27/2023

  As *********************** stated, she has a home warranty, thus meaning she is not our customer but a customer of her home warranty.  We were contracted by her home warranty company.  She called in stating that she has 2 floor drains and woke up the morning of February 1^st to find water hovering over both drains.  We sent our drain cleaning technician out  (not a plumber),  who confirmed their main sewer line was backed up upon arrival.  He cabled the line to clear the blockage and when he did the city main started to back up into their house.  At no point did the customer let him know that they had a backflow device in their line.  It is not that common to have a backflow device in the sewer line and not a common question to ask.  It is the homeowners responsibility to let us know that they have a backflow valve in their line. He also never saw it with a camera because he was not given authorization to use the camera, (Im not even sure he had a camera with him),  by the home warranty company.  Meaning we were only authorized to cable, anything beyond that, like using a camera, would have to be called in to the home warranty company to get approval or else the customer would have to pay out of their own pocket.  We follow these guidelines given to us by the home warranty company very strictly. If we did not, we would not get paid to do the work. 

  The technician advised the homeowner to call the city.  When the city showed up, they confirmed that the citys lift station had failed.  Once the city restarted the lift station the water drained.  The City of ***** took full responsibility when they were on site. 

  The backed up sewer lines belong to the homeowners, not us.  The homeowners failed to mention there was a backflow valve.  They called us to clear a blockage and unfortunately the main (which belongs to the city), backed up. 

  We did refuse to return to attend to the backflow valve for a couple of reasons.  First reason being, the ****** found it necessary to get their neighbors involved making it a somewhat hostile situation, being that one of them came over screaming at the technician and stating it was his fault and she knows because she works for the city.  Even after the City of ***** claimed the blame, the ****** continued to verbally blame him while he was on site and after he left to our office. 

  Second, the Olsons already made an insurance claim trying to blame Zippy Drain for all of it and the insurance company is asking that our insurance pay.  Since they have turned it into insurance, then they can also go through insurance for the repair of the backflow valve. BTW- We have no problem at all turning any kind of a claim into our insurance company if it is our fault, but that is not the case in this situation.

  Third, we are not going to send a technician out to return to a hostile situation where they are trying to put all the blame on us at Zippy Drain.  Again, we do not own their already backed up sewer line, nor the citys broken lift station.

  When **** called in on February 7^th asking about repairing the backflow valve, the *** that took her call went over all of our time stamped notes with her and her reply was that our entire story is a lie and wanted to speak to a manager.  I got on the phone with ****, I advised that we should let insurance work it out at this point and there was no reason for further communication, as every interaction with them seemed to escalate instead of any kind of resolution.  I did also tell her that yes, I had gotten our attorney involved due to **** and her husband **** making false accusations. Not a threat if thats what I had already done. In regards to her comment stating that we ignored the broken valve and to not check it or tell the homeowner, Im not sure I understand her complaint fully?  The Olsons were fully aware of the backflow valve while the technician was still on site,  they are the ones that made ************** aware of it after the fact.  ************ call had multiple issues going on to unfortunately lead to flooding their basement, but none of those issues were at our control.   

  Customer response

  02/27/2023

   
  Complaint: 19363420
  
  I am rejecting this response because: the excuses to not come back and fix a wrong is false and invalid. My household is the last thing from a hostile environment and we are very reasonable people.
  

  I was never asked about a valve and we had lived there for 6 months before this occurred. We had no knowledge, nor were we asked. I feel the contractor should have spent a little more time accessing things before he started trying to unclog a drain. He was yelling at me and blaming it on us. I got my neighbor involved as she has a contact number for the city and she was familiar with the basement set up. She is not employed with the city but has lived her for several years.

  The whole situation is frustrating, yes but the unprofessionalism from the company is unsettling. I never once raised my voice. When my husband refused to sign a paper stating it was not Zippys fault (seemed way too early in the situation to be sure of who was to blame), the contractor got all mad and yelled at him for refusing to sign.

  Im not disputing the sewer back up or the basement damages at this point as it has been addressed but that we had to purchase a new check valve out of pocket because Zippy refused to come out and fix the issue that they broke. It cannot be reimbursed through insurance because it was not broken by the city. The home warranty company is stating it is on Zippy drain to reimburse and they have failed to do so. 
  
  I have no interest in dealing with this situation or company ever again but ask that the broken item be reimbursed and for some accountability. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  

  Business response

  02/27/2023

  As stated before, a backflow valve is not common in a sewer line.  It would be the homeowner's responsibility to let us know.  But clearly, it would have happened anyway because they also didn't know they had a backflow valve in their line.  How is this our fault?  If they don't know, how are we supposed to know?  Again, we are not going to put a camera down the line without authorization to do so.  It is a separate and additional cost that was not authorized. 

  The technician that was there is a very 'yes ma'am, no ma'am' kind of person.  If he in anyway got loud with the homeowners, I also am not ok with that behavior at all. 

  The 4th paragraph saying that she is not disputing the back up anymore says it all.  Again, the city's pump station had failed... period. If the homeowner doesn't know about the valve inside a sewer pipe, then how are we to know?   I don't quite understand the comment about insurance not paying because the city didn't break the valve.  I also have not heard a word from the home warranty company stating it is our responsibility to reimburse. If that were the case our Field Manager from the home warranty company would've reached out to me directly. 

   

  Sincerely, 

  ***********************

   

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