Drain Works Plumbing

We've used Drainworks before and they were the first company we chose to call this time when we had trouble with a drain blockage. As usual they were prompt, courteous and professional. We called at 8.00pm and they were thereby 10.00pm and had the problem fixed an hour later. Jeremy the technician was thorough and and polite. No hesitation in recommending Drainworks for your plumbing needs.

We've had to call plumbers a few times to clean out bathroom drains (daughters and wife with very long, thick hair is a recipe for disaster). The 1st 2 outfits did OK work but were very expensive for an after hours/weekend call. Didn't clean up after themselves all that well either. The folks at Drainworks were very professional on the phone, knew exactly where their guys were, gave me a reasonable window for showing up and actually showed up when they said they would and called an hour prior to confirm arrangements. The rate was reasonbale too at about 20% less than the previous guy. The guys came in a marked van, were pleasant and friendly and went about getting the job done as soon as they arrived. They cleaned up after themsleves too. Not just tossing the hair into the garbage bin but wiping the tile, the drain cover and removing soap grunge from the inside of the drain. Like I said, these guys are good.

We had used Drainworks in 2004 for a basement drain back-up, and when it happened again a couple weeks ago I knew who to call!

Armando was very professional, helpful, and informative. The work consisted of an initial camera inspection, followed by the decision to replace the trap & breather due to tree roots. The following week the excavation crew came and worked extremely hard the whole day. They tarped the area they worked in, cleaned up well and were very respectful of our space. Armando came back the next day for a final inspection and snaking, and this removed most of the roots causing the problem.

Armando also informed us about the city of Toronto drain grant process, which was a big help. I felt confident being in their hands. I'd highly recommend Drainworks for fast, friendly service.

Over the last few years I have had occassion to contract Drainworks a number of times. Each time the service experience from beginning to end has been consistently 5 star!

Mike came out Saturday and unclogged my drain from the house to the sewer system, he mentioned to me what the problem is with the old system that the City of Toronto has and also mention the City of Toronto Drain Grant. We booked an appointment for the Tuesday of that week. Mike and his crew were friendly and professional, they finished the work quickly and left my property clean. I have already recommended Drain works to a friend and will recommend this company all the time.

Jeremy the drain technician diagnosed the problem and resolved the issue quickly. He left no mess behind and was very was professional from start to finish. I would reccomend Drainworks to my freinds and family anytime. Thanks Jeremy!

We completely remodeled our kitchen and after the countertop was installed, we expected to have to wait a week or more for the plumbing. Drainworks was able to start the job two days later. There were difficulties, as the sink did not fit the cabinet very well (even though they were sold as a set). The plumber found a solution and our new kitchen looks fabulous.

I selected DrainWorks from the Homestars website because it showed at the top of the search list, had a high average reviewers' score, and a large # of reviews; and also because I was in a hurry -- the plumbing for my kitchen sink was failing rapidly.

You should note that DrainWorks pays customers to write reviews, including me. The review does not have to be positive, although receiving payment might cause some reviews to be more positive. It appears that paying for reviews significantly increases the # of reviews posted for DrainWorks on Homestars, and perhaps that in turn helps put the DrainWorks listing higher on the Homestars review page.

Now the review ...

The Good:

- Drainworks plumber Craig L was on site within 3 hours of my call to Drainworks.

- Craig was courteous, and presented himself like a customer service person rather than "just a plumber". (I have previously had a plumber at my home seem rather annoyed to be there, even though that was his job and how he earned his pay.)

- Craig quickly identified what turned out to be multiple problems, and all were resolved within an hour.

- Craig was decisive, offering a discount on the replacement equipment out of empathy for my personal circumstance: I am about to renovate the kitchen and so this repair was a "waste of money" other than for the unfortunate reality that this plumbing failure was about to deteriorate into a flood emergency.

- Craig was inquisitive. He asked a rather provocative question: How many months did I think this leak had been occurring. Months? He told me there was no way this leak arose in the past couple of days. We then went one floor down, and unfortunately, discovered some water damage which now has to be investigated.

The Bad:

- The price is out of whack. Just the service/labour fee (i.e. excluding materials) cost $319 for one hour. To put this into context, a Vice President in the highly specialized knowledge field of marketing consulting charges less than $300 per hour. This pricing distortion undoes a lot the good I noted above, and makes it hard for me to recommend DrainWorks to a friend.

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A VERY DISAPPOINTING RESPONSE FROM DRAINWORKS -- DO NOT CALL THEM

I wrote a mostly positive review above about DrainWorks. Unfortunately, DrainWorks chose to react Negatively when I pointed out that they have High Prices. (See their response further below.)

The way they reply suggests they themselves believe their own prices are high and that they don't want us all to realize this. This is evident because they, in their response, attempt to distract you, the Review Reader, from the reality that their Prices are High by resorting to rather amateurish and faulty debating tactics such as irrelevant details, name calling, as well as partial truths -- not telling the whole truth is actually not telling the truth at all.

I am obliged to reply to their nonsense.

I have changed my original rating from SIX out of ten (4 out of 5 for how satisfied + 2 out of 5 for how likely to recommend to you) to TWO (2+0).

This is not a reflection on the specific plumber assigned to the job, who did a good job and does not deserve to be associated with DrainWorks.

First off in reply to their response, I said why I chose to proceed with the service in spite of their stiff price. I was about to have a flood in my kitchen. My kitchen plumbing system was failing very rapidly. This was "choice" in name only.

Second, why did I take 20 days to submit a review? This is irrelevant. It is a common corporate reply tactic on review sites to attempt to discredit the reviewer and distract you, the Review Reader. I can do a review whenever I want. Anyway, the answer is that I have more important things to do than write reviews for $25 five minutes after the plumber leaves. I found time in my schedule to do it, and that was when it was done.

Third, DrainWorks gave me a choice to write the review for $25 cash, or a $25 donation to the Sick Kids Hospital charity. Which form of compensation I choose is irrelevant, and does not in any way taint the quality and thoughtful reply I provided. DrainWorks attempts to discredit my reply because I opted for the $25 cash. You might take the cash too if you had to pay the High Price DrainWorks charged.

Fourth, I do say in my original review above to whom I am comparing DrainWorks prices. It is flabbergasting to me that DrainWorks charges a lot more than a Vice President at a marketing consulting firm. That's why I say their prices are "out of whack" -- I just cannot perceive that as comparable value to DrainWorks plumbing because plumbing service, while specialized, is relatively commoditized whereas consulting services remain highly specialized.

Fifth, the work did not take 1.5 hours; it was less. Standing around chatting does not count. So the labour charge of $319 is thus effectively a rate of $319 per hour, even if it is not charged at an hourly rate. And even at 1.5 hours, the $319 is $213 per hour -- still a High Price.

Sixth, I did not "choose" the most expensive replacement faucet DrainWorks had available. There's that mirage of "choice" again. This was a partial truth, and thus not really the truth at all. In fact this was the ONLY faucet DrainWorks had that would fit my sink, and it was expensive. BUT, the DrainWorks plumber did offer me a discount on this given my circumstances (about to undertake a kitchen renovation). I said that I was grateful for this in the review above, but DrainWorks hopes to distract you from that part of my review.

Seventh, I did not exclude mention of any plumbing work DrainWorks performed in some lame attempt to overstate their High Price. I did not say only "faucet", I said kitchen plumbing "system" and by that I meant the whole system of pipes and hoses from the faucet right down to the water supply in the floor below the kitchen sink.

DrainWorks must be aware that you, the Review Reader, by now realize that their Weakness -- High Prices -- has been revealed. So they make one last attempt to distract you from this reality by name-calling, referring to me as an "illogical person". I assure you, I am a whole lot more logical than the DrainWorks' response below.

DrainWorks' response has been ill-thought and ill-conceived because, not only does it suggest they actually do believe their own Prices are High, but now their response also has damaged the trust and value of its service.

I now unfortunately must recommend that you, the Review Reader, Never Call and Never use DrainWorks.