You probably have friends or family members who can tell you horror stories about their plumbing and the cost of the repairs. It seems like every homeowner has had a sewer nightmare at one point…but few people have a story quite as outrageous as this recent news report from Salem, OR. Even the 3 Mountains Plumbing pros were amazed to hear this story on KOIN:
Rooter Rite worker to the client: ‘They’re scamming you
The story starts when homeowner Joel Kinney called Rooter Rite, a Salem drain cleaning company, to help with his backed-up drains. After attempting to snake the line, Rooter Rite told Kinney the blades on their rooter kept breaking – they would need to excavate the sewer line itself. Kinney, being a contractor himself, knew that some sewer blockages require line repair to restore flow to the drain, so it was normal to have a hole dug in his parking lot to expose the pipe. He never suspected anything until his Rooter Rite plumber arrived at his front door and told him he was being scammed.
“When I got down to the green pipe, I gave [my manager] a call and said, ‘What do I do from here?’” David Hidalgo, a worker on Kinney’s sewer job, was hired on Craigslist. “He said, ‘Grab a jackhammer and break it.’”
As it turned out, the green pipe in question was not a sewer pipe but a natural gas line. If Hidalgo had followed orders, not only would Kinney’s sewer not be any closer to being fixed, but Hidalgo could have potentially been injured or killed in the resulting gas explosion. Needless to say, Kinney and Hidalgo are both very lucky that honesty prevailed that day.
Find A Portland Plumber You Can Trust for Sewer Repair
In any skilled trade industry, there will be Rooter Rites looking to scam homeowners by suggesting unnecessary and even dangerous plumbing work. Not every drain cleaning specialist will be honest, which is why it’s so important to always get a second opinion on any sewer repair or replacement work. Make sure you know the company you’re working with, and always look for the following qualifications:
- Upfront Pricing – Any plumber you hire should be able to give you a guarantee that the estimate they give you will be the same price on your bottom line. 3 Mountains Plumbing offers upfront pricing, so there are never any surprises.
- Local Licensing – Don’t pay a plumber’s bill to a Craigslist worker. A reputable plumbing company screens its plumbers and has a licensed local team.
- Insurance – Besides the obvious risks involved in letting anyone besides a journeyman plumber handle your sewer repair in Portland, homeowners who work with disreputable drain cleaning companies also run the risk of having liability for any damages incurred. Had Hidalgo broken the gas pipe and wound up in the hospital, odds are that Kinney would be held responsible to cover the costs! Every plumber needs to be insured by his company for everyone’s safety.
So, if you need sewer repair or replacement in the Portland area, don’t fall for the scams. Call a plumbing company you can trust, a company that has served Portland for over a decade – go to 3 Mountains Plumbing for a consultation or second opinion on Portland sewer repair today!
