First, we had moved into this house recently and, not knowing how long it had been since the septic was service, thought we should have it pumped to reset the clock. Our driveway is steep and the tank is maybe 80 feet behind the house and further down the slope. Being new to the area, we called several septic tank vendors including a couple on Angie's list. We were told and quot;not enough lineand quot;, and quot;addition $ for mileageand quot; when office was and lt; 10 miles away, and quot;not enough pressure for uphilland quot;, and quot;extra charge for and gt;50 feetand quot;, etc. We kept looking, doing a web search, then a Better Business check. I am so glad we did because I've just added a great business to Angie's list! I talked to Jennifer, of the husband/wife owners. I gave her our address and described the lay-of-the-land. She said: and quot;No problem, We live and work in Bella Vista and hills with steep driveways are normal.and quot; She also said had more than enough line (think she said 200 feet!) so not an issue or an extra charge. We discuss pricing and based on 3 full baths, she estimated tank size and quoted $180 while some others quoted over $300 after all their $extras. On the day scheduled for the job, they called an hour or more before our appointment to say were running a little late. Even so, they arrived not long after the original time. Before they started Jennifer discussed an issue - they had stopped to fill up with gas before coming to our house. While the drive was not an issue, some gas was leaking from the gas cap area onto the drive and she didn't want runoff to damage plants. She ask if they could return after emptying the truck's septic storage which would raise the back side and prevent gas leakage. We are retired, so that was no problem and we appreciated her caution. Upon returning, we learned they were very familiar with our house and gave us some history. This system pumps water waste UP the steep hill to the large front lawn so that the water disperses over the lawn. The original builder put the pump into the septic tank, which put the large and expensive pump at risk, among other issues. Based on their recommendation, a previous owner had installed a separate septic tank that fed only waste water into the original tank/pump. It is now a better system with much more capacity then most 3 bath homes. They answered all our questions about the system, how to maintain, etc. Jennifer referenced their website which has information on septic care and I found it very informative. They also honored the original $180 quote even though the additional capacity required more pumping and we would have understood a price increase. Obviously, our future price will be more and they told us how they would have calculated for our capacity. While in the $300 range it would be based on capacity and not miles from the office or feet of hose! They told us the tank had been pumped about 3 years prior and with standard use we should plan on about 3 years between service. Having moved from city sewer system with a monthly fee around $35, we will smile the next time we call them! We will be using State Line Septic in the future and would not hesitate to recommend them - even if it took me a while to do this review
D D.
