Last December we called SPPHC b/c we had a frozen meter that broken and left inches of water in our basement. We had been out of town and discovered the problem upon returning on a Saturday evening. We told the dispatcher at least 3 or 4 times over the phone that we KNEW it was the meter - we had cleaned out the water from the basement and saw it spraying from the meter, plus we could see the break. She sent a plumber out (at weekend rates of $200 for just a service call); when the plumber got there and we told him it was the meter, he immediately said he couldn't touch it b/c it was city property and that he never should have been sent out. We paid, begrudgingly, and called SPPHC to air our grievance come Monday. They said they wanted to keep our business so they credited our account (not refund our money...but pretty much guaranteeing we'd call them for any future service).
Fast forward to this week: We called to clear our sewer line b/c of backed up basement drain, but the "drain guy" wouldn't auger past 30' b/c he found a "severe dip" that needed to be repaired and the guy said he was afraid that he might break his cable. Stuck a camera down there and said we had the dip + an offset pipe and told us we'd need to replace sewer main - thousands of $$$ and HUGE headache - basically major surgery on your sewer system. Called around for quotes and another RELIABLE plumber said he wanted to auger himself before quoting or digging. Turns out the "severe bend" was a normal connection between a 4" and 6" pipe; the "hard impenetrable obstruction" was just tree roots! Our pipe is perfect (no breaks or offsets). St. Paul Plumbing was over 2x as expensive (we paid more even though we had a $230 credit) and they didn't even DO what we hired them to do (auger/clean roots from our line). They spent nearly 3 hours here to do nothing and gave us a WRONG and extremely costly diagnosis. Will NEVER EVER call them again. This was the second time we had issues with them, thought we'd give them a 2nd chance, but we're through with them. Call Joe Francis from Ace Plumbing instead - a true, experienced tradesmen who won't rob you.
more