Drain Works Plumbing

In Response to Company's comments-
I wanted to respond to Eddie's comments and first say this is the first time he has actually written/spoken to me without his condescending tone, but I will say it is his facts that are actually misleading. I do believe that they may have done good work for others and in fact this is the second time we ourselves hired them but this was a very different matter.

First of all I never agreed that drainworks had no responsibility to damaging my tree. That is extremely false. I didn't even know where Drainworks was digging their hole to begin with as I was told that the pipe would be re-placed and then pushed through to replace the remainder problems. Why they needed to dig right at the base of the tree is beyond me. Also what Eddie does not mention is that I actually have three invoice copies for this work order. The first was for replacing 12ft of pipe for 3150.0 the second to replace 22ft of pipe for 5100.0 and the third for 3800 for 8 ft, which was only adjusted after they couldn't fix the problem and they told me I owed them this amount because they had spent three days on my property and I didn't have a choice in the payment matter because they had my visa. Again the eight feet was adjusted after the fact. As far as I was concerned you told me 22ft would be re-placed and again when you could only replace the 8 feet you told me and my husband I still owed the money. Eddie also says I declined their recommendation to remove my tree, which again is mis-leading. When Drainworks stopped digging the first hole because the tree was unstable and said I had to take the tree down due to the damages they had to make when digging, I explained to them that you can't remove trees in Toronto that they are protected and it would have to go through a permit process; which it was after that because it was no longer stable. So to say I declined to have it removed that day is ridiculous since it wasn't even an option I had. Armando's crew had piles of dirt everywhere in my front yard and refused to do any further work and said they would only knock off a portion of the amount for not actually fixing the drain.

Perhaps if Eddie would have responded to our complaint we placed with Armando the next day it wouldn't have been so dragged out. The bottom line is they did not complete the work and actually made a larger mess of things then they were when they started. Nothing like Terry's promise. They changed the price three times during the contract and didn't even finish the job.

If Eddie would like to talk further we would welcome it as we have tried several times. He simply refuses to acknowledge or let us explain or talk about the situation. In his own words "Maybe he's not a good listener." The truth of the matter is I was here and he wasn't, so maybe he needs learn to listen and review the facts as they occurred, but as he said to me, he's not interested.

I truly hope none of you have the experience we did and I hope you never have to talk to Eddie about it. I do find it funny that he says we're bully him when all we want is to resolve the issue and move on but we can't get a word in edge wise with him consistently yelling over top of us and cutting us off. I'd say the bulling is being done the other way around.

Drainwork was contracted by us on September 12 to complete a camera inspection of our property, after finding some problems in our sewer line we contracted them to replace the 12 feet that was damaged. On September 15th they started to dig. The problem is that the reason we had problems with our sewer line is that there was some root damage. When the crew arrived and started to dig they severed several large roots to our Colorado Blue Spruce. They did this without telling the homeowners that this would be necessary. Apparently there’s even a city of Toronto By-law that states that they can’t damage a tree when digging but they choose to ignore that by-law stating that they’ve never heard of such a by-law so they couldn’t be responsible. Once they started digging the hole and had cut the roots they (the drainworks team) stated that the tree was now too unstable and they were scared it would fall over so they didn’t feel comfortable digging any further in this first hole and made some suggestions to pipe-burst the line through. As a result of that we incurred a greater cost and now a damaged tree that was no longer stable. Once they dug two additional holes again at our cost they decided that they actually couldn’t complete the work as they stated but we still owed them the $4,000.0. They said we had to pay it as they dug the holes, but they’d knock it down to $4,000.0 since they didn’t actually replace the pipe as they said they would. According to Terry’s promise the work will be done fast and right the first time. This is not the case with us as our sewer line is still damaged and they claim that they did nothing wrong. They never cleaned up after they left and never re-sodded our grass, they smoked on our property and left cigarette butts everywhere and refuse to address this as an issue even though it is also states in Terry’s promise that if they smoke in your home that you will not have to pay. When we talked to them about how unsatisfied we were they simply said there was nothing we could do. Then a month later as a direct result of their damaging the roots according to an arborist and the city of Toronto’s urban foresty supervisor the Blue spruce fell over causing damages that they also refuse to take any responsibility for. When we tried to talk to them, they just yell over top of you trying to bully you and scare you off. The bottom line is if you do have any problems, they will not support you or take any responsibility for anything. They even threatened me with their lawyers. Total damages due to their job - close to $17,000. Amount that they’ve taken responsibility for $0.0. What they said to me – We’ll meet again down the line with our lawyers.

We had a drain backup in our basement that we notice after doing a load of laundry. The next day I came on to Homestars to look for plumbers to get us flowing again. I wrote the numbers of 4 and started with Drain Works, they came over that night after I finished work and were very prompt. Jeremy shows up, checks things out and informs me that he recommends a scope first to see what's going on since we have a lot of old clay pipes still then follow with a snake if necessary. After meeting him and getting a reasonable quote, I didn't even bother with the other 3 companies. We looked at the monitor as he put the camera through and saw that the problem was roots that had invaded into the pipes in 3 different areas. He was completely fine with my curiosity in the matter and showed me what he was doing each step of the way. I okayed the snaking and he was able to get nearly everything with only the 2" snake since he had to go through the toilet drain and not the main drain. It's not a problem solver but at least it got us following again and allowed us a fair bit of time to plan the next steps for removing the old clay pipes. He located where they would have to dig and helped me understand the next steps whenever we want to do it. Hopefully this buys us 6 months of time to prep.

After all was done Jeremy cleaned things up to the way he found it and was very courteous and careful. I would highly recommend Drain Works, they don't pressure you into doing anything and they really help you understand what the issue is and offer their advise. Kudos!

Re DrainWorks - plumbing & sewage

We are homeowners of a more than eighty-year-old home in the Mount Pleasant-Eglinton area of Toronto. Recently we had major sewer and water service repair and renewal project done in our house. DrainWorks not only completed the work thoroughly within two days, they also have provided effective follow up.

The work was done competently with a minimum of disruption; the workers were capable, efficient and polite.

We particularly appreciated the competent, thorough guidance and expertise provided by Mike Dunn. He explained everything clearly. The targets he set were met within the time given; he has an easy, patient willingness to describe the work at each phase. Mike’s sensitivity to our needs made the whole process quite easy to deal with.

Also we thank Chris who did such a fine job on our water pipe and outside faucet.

We have had DrainWorks doing this type of work in our home for more than 12 years; we continue to trust in the quality of their staff and workmanship.
Walter & Caryl Sinclair (Toronto)

pleasant and helpful , will recommend to family and friends.work was done in timely and very clean.matt was very helpful and professional .this company was right on time and price.

My husband and I have been renovating our home for about six months now in a full gut. On his birthday last week our plumbing exploded in the basement and it was not pleasant. Drainworks was here shortly after our call, fixed the problem and were able to come back the next day to get to the "root" of our problem. We had city tree roots in there. They fixed everything and even set us up with the full money-back rebate from the city since it was their tree affecting things!

On a Sunday Morning, Our Toilet in the upstairs bathroom (upon flushing) was backing up in my basement sink. After searching 'Yellowpages,ca' I decided to give them a try. They were at our home within 2 hours and within 45min the Plumber had my drains snaked clean. I am satisfied, Thanks alot.

Very responsive on the sale side (if a little chatty), good work on the project. Once done, hard to get them back to finalize loose ends which was a let down.

I called about my clogged bathtub drain in the late afternoon on a Friday (Halloween no less!) and spoke to William. Within a couple of hours William had arranged for Matt Achcinski to make a service call that night. Matt arrived right on schedule, insisted on removing his boots (despite my protests to the contrary) because he had left a clean pair of "booties" in the truck and went right to work. He inspected the drain, provided an accurate quote and within an hour of arriving had cleared the drain. A job very well done! Drainworks was easy to deal and very professional. I wouldn't hesitate to call them again.

Called Drainworks on short notice on a Saturday morning to unclog my main drain to the city sewer. They arrived quickly, explained everything required to performed the work. They put a camera down the drain to view the blockage and then snaked the drain to remove. In and out in 1 hr. No mess, just success.

Called late at nite as my 2nd floor bathtub would not drain. Spoke to William who explained every detail to me and that someone would come out the next day to repair. I received the phone call the next morning giving me the time the service man would be there. Sure enough at the given time Matt showed up and in the most professional way put "booties" on and I showed him where the problem was. He examined and explained what had to be done and what the cost would be and fixed it in less than one hour. What a breath of fresh air. The company from Willian on the phone to Matt at service was fantastic. I will always call on the pro's at DrainWorks. I couldn't be more pleased!!

Buddy