AMERICAN LEAK DETECTION- PHOENIX

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. It has been months of agony trying to get a pool leak repaired and a new auto-leveler installed. American Leak Detection said it would take ONE DAY. **IT HAS TAKEN 3 AGONIZING MONTHS.** In the meantime, our pool and a large part of our backyard were unusable. The first day, a technician came, built a fire in our chiminea, sat in a patio chair and slept all morning while another person dug holes in our pool deck and yard. He didn't have basic pool repair supplies like grout, glue, concrete or a cleaning bucket. He used our patio chairs to drape warning tape around the gaping holes instead of using standard barriers. He kept running to Home Depot...or so he claim. He was gone for hours and sometimes didn't come back. The same technician showed up again weeks later. That day, he used our pool to clean his tools and sponges although we told him not to and brought him a bucket. He said we were pushing him too hard. He said he would come back early the next morning to clean it. He didn't. Our pool maintenance team was here several times, at our expense, to backwash and clean it but our pool was so cloudy we couldn't see the bottom and did not want to swim in it. The bottom of our pool had chunks of grout, tile and concrete rocks the size of grapefruit. Our pool furniture and lovely gardens were covered in dry plaster and grout. The technician seemed like he didn't want to be there and blamed the corporate office (in Las Vegas) for over-scheduling. After weeks of problems, we insisted on a new crew. They were better, but again, they took forever to finish. We didn't know they were actually finished until the corporate office called us for payment. In fact, the company sent us a bill ($3750), before the pool deck was patched or rechecked for leaks. The bill was about $600 more than the estimate. There were still water leaks, and the auto fill unit they installed did not work. In addition, we kept finding random pool parts around our backyard and our pool had mysterious geysers of air bubbling from it. We also waited almost 3 months for one part. Basically, a one-day job took 3 months. During the entire process, we were not able to fill our pool so now exposed plaster, especially on the steps and sides, has dried out and chipped off. Now we will need our pool refinished to repair the patches of missing plaster. We cancelled parties and family events in our backyard because of the dangerous holes at the back door and path. Our pool was so dirty and cloudy that it was not usable. We waited at home for calls or appointments that never occurred. (Their last visit in January was totally unannounced.) We advise you to use another company if you do not want to suffer through our nightmare, (You can search Yelp for more terrible reviews.) BTW, this is not really a local company but a big corporation in Las Vegas. Local plumbers apparently have arrangements (Doing Business As) with this corporation. Don't expect anyone to answer the local phone number. The voice mail is always full. The corporate office has no idea what is happening with Phoenix customers. You will get bills before you get service. NOTE: If you have had problems with this company, you can find them on the AZ Registrar of Contractors. (Under Stolworthy Inc. DBA as American Leak Detection- in Sahuarita, not Gilbert, as stated in their ads and business cards.) Write the AZ ROC and let them know what is going. It is unclear whether they are operating legitimately in AZ with an appropriate license which seems to be very limited in scope.

The technician was very thorough and very professional and he did a good job

This company is currently contracted with and directly paid for by my insurance company for leak detection. They used three kinds of detection, sonar, pressure and conductivity to identify the specific pipe and location of the leak. They did an excellent job. Ken Stolworthy visited our home. He was prompt, courteous and got the job done and very professional. I highly recommend this company for the type of detection work done. Originally I had hired a different company on our own, they did thermal testing, but the leak was not correctly located and they did not provide the insurance company the info. So I called the insurance and they sent out this company, American Leak Detection. They used three kinds of detection and determined our leak, though in the slab was not next to the water heater, was under a wall. American Leak Detection allowed both my plumber and I to listen to the sonar to hear the water leaking out of the pipe under the ground near wall. My plumber was so impressed, he asked for Ken's business card as well. American Leak Detection also sent a full report of the leak to the insurance, something the other company never did. Please note the rate listed is what was billed to the insurance. We paid nothing.

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We were very pleased with them.  Their basic charge is $340 to come out, and they came out 4 times, and they didn't charge us, they did several things to find out what was going on, and they were digging holes, they tried very hard, until they found it. They kept at it, until the difficult leak was found, and the charge was exactly as they had said it would be.

Service schedule was about one week from when I called ALD. The office followed up yesterday with a phone call to confirm service would arrive between 8-9AM. Service arrived at 8AM.
Serviceman surveyed the pool and equipment area with me while asking questions about how much water was leaking, when it leaked, any signs of leakage etc. Explained what the process would be to find a leak if it was below ground. He asked about the backwash pipe and when we turned the pump on and checked the pipe he discovered that water was bypassing the valve when it was in the closed position, and that was the source of the leak. He attempted to get the valve to seal but was unable to fix it.
I was only billed for a service call for $ 140.00 and will schedule with the pool repair company to replace the valve.
Serviceman was very polite, knowledgeable and thoroughly explained everything he was doing.
Would recommend ALD for water leak detection. Only issue was I cannot find anything that confirms ALD is a Licensed Contractor in Arizona. This would be a problem for me if they were to actually perform repairs.

We are in the process of renovating and time was of the essence in getting the plumbing inspected when we discover a neighbor had major plumbing issues and replaced their sewer line.  American Leak Detection responded quickly and it was quite a process to see the live video feed.  They confirmed all our cast iron pipes indeed were deteriorated and there were numerous areas of root intrusion.  Had the cabinets and floors been installed it would have been more costly to rip everything out to get to all the pipes that run throughout the house.  With the new pipes in I hope we don't have any more issues but if it did I wouldn't hesitate to call them asap!

The service people were very good. The only problem was the person that answered the phones. She seemed to be very disorganized and didn't know what she was doing.

My swimming pool has had a water leak that caused my household to use almost 4 times as much water as usual, for each of the past several months. I had narrowed it down to the water being supplied to the pool causing the excessive water usage, and called American Leak Detection to find the cause. I researched several agencies through the Internet, and decided that the higher price quoted ($465 after the 5% Angie's List coupon, for the pool with built-in spa) was worth the peace of mind of knowing I'd picked arguably the best company around for the job. I had quotes as low as $200, but when they found out a spa could be involved, they said it might run $400, and some said that if the leak turned out to be difficult to locate, they would have to go to a specialist (like American Leak Detection) at that additional cost to me, to pinpoint the leak. Since there is a lot of plumbing that runs under cement topped by Cool Deck, pinpointing the leak could be paramount. So, by paying more, I would have the most expert agency find the leak. I was even happier when told that they also could do repairs, so I wasn't going to have to go to another company who hadn't diagnosed the problem for resolution of the issue.
Rod came out to do the service, and was there right on time as scheduled. He has dozens of years of experience, including years working with swimming pools, and I felt totally confident in his work. He was very professional, explaining everything I asked about, and very personable. My pool was unusual in that it has two sets of pool returns, one set never used in the 9 years since it was built. Rod figured out how the plumbing was run, that the leak was in this unused return line, and plugged the return drains near the bottom of the pool. While he might have pressured me to repair/replace the bad return line, he took the more pragmatic approach to plug the lines and shut the valve that fed this line from the pump. I really appreciated this, since it will have absolutely no negative effect on my pool or how it is filtered, and prevents a huge waste of money that I simply wouldn't have wanted to invest. He allowed me time to test each step in deciding what was necessary (using the bucket test procedure), giving me several days I wanted to make sure the cause(s) were completely pinpointed and were resolved.
Since he found the leak had nothing to do with the spa, and he didn't have to even test the spa lines, my bill was greatly reduced... only $365 was charged with the added repair work included (a diver making another trip to plug the lines). I'm confident that this is no higher and probably much lower than any other agency would have charged.
If I ever have another water leak that needs this service, I won't even pause before calling Bonnie and asking for an appointment with American Leak Detection!

Had water in backyard we could not trace source.  Ended up being HOA lines with leaks we didn't know where there and I think my neighbors pool heater or sprinkler lines are leaking and going to recommend they have American Leak come out too.

acted professional and did a professional job. Had a dispute on the price - invoice -v- estimate of repairs. Resolved in my favor,

Job went very well.  Lots of care taken on our property.  Leak was initially marked, then a second procedure was used to confirm the location of the leak.  Leak was in a difficult location, but the leak was located "spot on."  A huge THANK YOU  to American Leak Detection.  Thank you for your timeliness, professionalism, and excellent service.

The technician was prompt and performed the work in a professional manner.  I would recommend this provider to anyone.

It was wonderful. They took off $115 because we didn't need all the services they offered. They only tested what we needed and didn't bill us for what we didn't. They have a $350 flat fee but they didn't bill for what they didn't have to do. They were reliable and punctual. They were here when they said. They billed fairly and didn't bill for stuff they didn't need to do. Their prices were about the same as everybody in the valley.

My experience with American Leak Detection in Phoenix went okay. They said they were going to do something, but they never came back for it. But they did fix the main leak in my pool. I have a very old pool and it had a pretty serious leak and they fixed it very quickly, very professionally. However, there was an aerator on the pool that they said they would come back and fix, but they never came back. They were capable and very helpful. They explained everything very well to me. They showed up when they said they were going to and did the work quite quickly.

Excellent.  I phoned at noon, the two men were here an hour later due to a cancellation in their schedule.  They determined that our pipes were plastic which made the job a little more difficult.  Within a half hour they located all the lines in our rather large front yard, marled the signficant T and found another junction.  They sprayed in the routes in the gravel and desert sand for us and made an informal map for  us to show a plumber who will put in a separate water meter.

It went well - until 4 months later: I paid them with a check on the day service was rendered, the check was cashed in October 2010 and all was fine. Then in February 2011, I received one of those "Notice of Claim" from a bill collector. American Leak Detection had submitted my "delinquent account" to a bill collector!!!! This is absolutely unacceptable and unprofessional! It does not matter that I can send the bill collector a copy of the check which shows it was CASHED by American Leak Detector - that is NOT the point. It NEVER should have reached that point since I paid when asked with a good check. I was NEVER contacted by this company directly about this at any time in the 4 months from the time I PAID and they CASHED my check. Take your chances with this company - you may get the work done, but you may also get a headache you don't need. UPDATE: The company has refunded my money. That is much appreciated and signals a willingness to listen to the customer. I will now wait for confirmation from the bill collector that they are no longer pursuing me for payment. Thank you

They ran all their tests and they seemed to be inconclusive. Very professional and very courteous. Seem to be very thorough. If I need more work done I will contact them.

HE WAS HONEST AND FAIR. HE WAS ONE OF 2 PEOPLE THAT COULD FIND THE LEAK WITHOUT DIGGING BLINDLY. EVERYONE ELSE SAID WE HAD TO JUST START DIGGING. HE WAS HALF THE PRICE OF THE OTHER COMPANY. HE FOUND THE LEAK AND GAVE US AN ESTIMATE TO FIX IT, WE DECLINED SO HE MARKED THE AREA SO WE WOULD KNOW WHERE TO DIG.