North Shore installed a heater cable in our gutter a few years ago. It was great in preventing ice dams, but this summer, a squirrel chewed through the cable. I have been trying for months for them to reply to me about a fix/solution, but my requests keep going unheeded. I give up.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,100.00
- Company Response
Hi Nicole, thanks for letting us know how you feel about the service you have received from us. First off we are glad to hear that you are happy with our original work we did in 2011! We do not take a 2 out of 10 lightly and realize you must be extremely frustrated. Having a hard to get rid of squirrel chewing through parts of your home can be a real nightmare. Seeing an ice dam on your home which needs a working heater cable can be trying. We have looked back through our correspondence and can see where we dropped the ball in a couple of places with all the back in forth, with you receiving a quote for the new heater cable and also with you presenting an idea for putting the new heater cable in copper conduit. The first error on our end was sending the quote for a new heater cable to your old email address. That caused a delay of a few weeks. Sorry! With that being said you contacted us late in the season, Dec 4th to be exact, I am not sure we would have been able to complete the work before the ice dams set in. I can also see where I could have been faster giving Laura the information you were looking for in terms of a squirrel proof heater cable system. I had dragged my feet a bit because I honestly did not know what the best solution was for this situation. That is why we sent a quote for a new heater cable as the solution. I am not comfortable designing a new system of conduit etc. for the first time and having our client pay for it. There is the risk it may not perform like we intend and we would feel terrible in that case. Also it would cost you extra to construct this conduit system. We also feel that putting the heater cable down in the eavestroughs, under the leaf guard may not be the best option as the snow and ice may bridge right over the leaf guard. I understand that a lot of people seek us out because we are experts and go above and beyond to alleviate homeowners frustrations with their eavestroughs but in this case I do not have the answer you were hoping for. I followed up with a phone call to your home today.
On our visit to your home in 2011 we did some leaf guard and downpipe work and the cost for the actual cable in question was $650.00.
I do feel the review is harsh but it taught us a few things and I am thankful for that. Its the bumps along the way that show a companies true colors.
I hope you accepted my apology by phone last week for lack our promptness in a couple of our emails. Darren