DS
Douglas Streichhirsch
2 days ago
It’s important to start off acknowledging Service Professor is owned by a Venture Capital firm headquartered in Florida. Follow the LLCs and you find it.
I had a horrible up-charging experience with them a few years back never planned on using them again. Using locally owned non-venture capital contractors then on. However, after the flooding in Grand Rapids recently, they were the only ones able to respond in a reasonable time. So, encouraged by necessity, we made the appointment. Clearly stating there was standing water, enough to trigger the flood alarm and safety on the water heater.
The techs showed up unprepared and unaware and began working at 1:05pm after signing off on the $99 drain clearing price and a “we break it, you bought it” waver. Wearing 5 gallon buckets (!) instead of mud boots, they waded to the floor drain and I saw myself to the back yard. Hard to watch that. At 1:25 pm Cody, one of the techs, comes up: can’t do it because of the standing water. For (starting at) $250 they’ll go upstairs, pull the toilet and go at it from there. I started to question that, but caught myself and said go for it. To which he replied: You wanna do it? Cuz I’d be happy to leave. Then stormed out of the house.
The other tech came to me for approval and instead, I sent them packing. Interestingly enough, I happened to be standing under a ring floodlight camera and it caught the conversation between Cody and I. Won’t post it right now but have it saved.
In conclusion, sometimes you need to spend $99 to relearn what you already know. I don’t care what’s going on, how bad the flooding is or if I spring a geyser, I will never be calling them again. And to you dear reader, I suggest finding an actual local contractor whose goal is to provide a quality service and not bleed you out to pay investors.
Edit: The one thing the techs did manage to do is wreck this cap. Left it on the floor.
I had them do a CIPP epoxy liner just over a year ago now, and I was very happy with the experience. It was a sudden and stubborn blockage, and another plumbing service had already tried twice and were recommending yard excavation (I don't have a cleanout). The SP estimate (Mike B) came out for a second opinion within a few hours of my call and explained how they could do a CIPP without the disruption.
They were very thorough - I had two different drains and they mapped both and then cemented over the one that was vestigial. (My house is from '56.) They also rebuilt most of my basement stack with PVC (took out cast iron). They even added a pump to my utility sink to lift my laundry water up and out the stack rather than letting it drain into that old pipe where it probably just slowly absorbed back into the ground. My drain is about 100 feet with a right angle and they were able to get the CIPP installed without too much trouble.
In all I had 4-8 plumbers in my house at any given point for three full days, and they didn't leave until everything was done at about 6 pm on Valentine's Day (Friday). Mike stayed on site the whole time and he and the lead plumber (Jordan, I believe) were very responsive and explained everything to me along the way. He also answered a followup text a few months later, on a Saturday, within an hour or two.
They got me what I feel was a reasonable price, and found me 0% financing for 18 months. They quoted me up front before they knew everything else they might be doing like the second drain and rebuilding the stack, but didn't try to up the cost. I didn't totally like that the loan was basically opening a credit card with a bank, but so far the repayment process has been fine. I probably could have found a cheaper solution (from them or someone else), but there's a 20 yr warranty on the CIPP and I like not worrying about another blockage for at least that long.
So I originally called them to put in outlet for gas dryer as my ex told me prior to us separating that he hard wired the dryer to fuse box. Keep in mind he is not an electrician. Well Service Proffessor gets here, there is an outlet for dryer and current dryer was plugged in. So I had them look at fuse box as I live in a mobile home. Well there's where I thought I was going to faint. As he started to unscrew the panel cover literally the 1st screw, there was a spark and power went out. My ex had a screw through one of the main wires. Said screw wasn't even a screw specifically used for the panel. As they made entry to fuse box he had 220 hooked up and ran to his shed illegally and not even the proper wire that required. The breakers were all outdated, too big for what the use was for, painted over. Electrician goes outside to main electric box and found cover off exposed to the elements and diy wiring. They had time to get me scheduled for same day service, 2 more electricians came out, totally took out old fuse/breaker box, installed new, labeled everything, installed whole house surge protector, fixed everything on main box outside in 2hours. Price $4057. Idk what the price is for all of that costs, but I can say they're knowledgeable, fast, friendly. Before they started their work I was scared, anxiety through the roof as I am single and a grandma raising 3 grandkids who was worried that had they not came out when they did our home could of burnt to the ground. By the time they left all my anxiety and fear left knowing we're all safe. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Service Proffessor. I will be reaching out to them again as same person (my ex) replumbed this whole place. I am going to have them come out and redo his work. Service Proffessor definitely has a customer in me and I will definitely be recommending them to anybody and everyone I know. Great job Service Proffessor, we will all sleep safe from here on out. Huge THANK YOU to Randy Burns and Matt Steven's for your professionalism and knowledge and promptness in discovering the issue and fixing it. There's honestly no words to describe how appreciative I am. Another update, do when shed essay disconnected it cut power to porch/mudroom where apparently the power there wss tied in. There sat my upright freezer full. Aaron Bicknell came out and advised that wasn't done correctly, so another $2500. Service Proffessor team are extremely professional and each one specializes in certain areas. Thanks again for helping me.
Ray Cambell was extremely kind and explained everything in terms I could understand. He cleaned up great after getting my backed up kitchen drain flowing again.
Mike Brooks, the sewer supervisor, came out after Ray with a camera and he figures out my issues so quick and explained everything in a way that made sense and i could understand. He even helped me troubleshoot and diagnose other plumbing problems around my home.
He told me the problem I called for is a full septic tank, not a drain issue. They dont pump septic tanks, but he gave me a local company to call to help with that. I had a great experience and i am so thankful for my both of my technicians help, expetise and honesty. If i could i would give ten stars!
I wish I could give less than one star. The technician they sent to my house last night was extremely rude and had no confidence in trying to help me. He said I only have a 50/50 chance of having my pipes cleared and if anything went wrong I was liable for damages. He was cocky in his delivery of services but knew that I was already in an unsettling situation and he was still getting paid for the service call whether he helped me or not. I refused to let him work on my house after he said if his equipment got stuck he would cut the line and leave it in my water pipe in a worse situation than I’m already in. When I called to speak to a manager today and tell him how I was treated, he refused to accept his worker’s conduct and argued that he did nothing wrong. I will never use this company again and will continue to share my poor experience!!!!!