A & B Sanitation Inc^
About us
A & B Sanitation is a small, female owned corporation that has been in business 40 + years serving Columbus and surrounding areas, providing domestic septic services and commercial gas and oil spill recovery.
Services we offer
Pump septic tanks, and oil spills., install Aeration motors, install inlet and outlet lines, install new systems, repair systems. Clean up EPA spills, septic spills, snake inlet and outlet lines
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings | 
|---|---|---|
| 67% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 11% | ||
| 17% | ||
| 6% | 
It was our fault for accepting the quote without contacting other vendors, but we were desperate to have this resolved quickly, and honestly feel a bit taken advantage of. In hindsight, if I needed this type of repair again, I would do the following:
1. Contact at least 2 other companies
2. Ask how long they expected the repair to take
3. Get an hourly rate from them and structure the agreement so it's based on an hourly rate
4. If they will not do an hourly rate agreement, ask for a breakdown for how they are determining their costs
The only other challenge I've had from them is trying to get a hold of someone to ask why the cost is so high. I emailed them weekly asking for someone to contact me and finally got a response today (and I'm a bit disappointed the owners or supervisors didn't contact me in person). Below is the initial email I sent them:
*** Start of email to A&B ***
Hello,
Please pass this message along to Jeremy. This is in regards to a septic line repair at 123 Main St, Pataskala, OH.
First of all, thank you for completing the repair so quickly last month. I have no complaints about the work or punctuality, but am confused why the price of $3200 was so high when there were 3 guys there for at most 90 minutes which is nearly $2000 per hour or $711 per hour per person. I know that I signed a contract so you don?t have to refund any money, but I am asking that you consider this out of goodwill. If nothing else, can you at least provide a better itemized list of costs to help me understand better because I am feeling a bit taken advantage of. This is what I learned from Jim Foley, but I still don?t understand why so high for 90 minute?s worth of work:
· Labor costs (I didn?t get an hourly rate. I know you need to make money too, so I suspect that $100/hour per person is fair number to use. Total $450)
· Equipment and costs (I understand wear and tear on vehicles, but I can rent the biggest excavator at Sunbelt rentals for around $400 per day, and the pumping fee of $300 also includes wear and tear on that equipment. I?m guessing your cost for the excavator is less otherwise you?d rent as needed, but I?m okay with using $400 as a number. In my head $600 is a generous number for all of this.)
· Paperwork and fees to submitted to board of health ($100?)
· Materials (Anything besides pipe and concrete? $100?)
· This is a similar rate to what others offer (I didn?t check with other companies so I can?t comment here)
· Some cost was built in in case repair was more involved than anticipated. (I suspect this is why so high, but I would prefer to be told what they think the issue is and be warned the cost could go up if another issue is found.)
You also completed the work the next day, and while we didn?t request for this to be
expedited, I think it?s reasonable to pay extra for this. ($250?)
I most likely am missing some costs, but the total I came up with is $1500 (including expedite fee). I tried to estimate high, but if I am off on anything, please let me know.
Unless I am missing some significant costs, would you consider refunding $1500 of the cost back? That would still be $1700 for the septic repair and $300 for the septic pumping. As I mentioned before, I appreciate your expediency, but at these costs, I would need to perform more due diligence the next time I need service or for future work I?d like done.
If you prefer to talk in person, you can reach my on me cell at 614-123-4567.
Thanks for your consideration
*** End of email to A&B ***
Here is the response I finally received:
*** Start of response ***
Hi,
Jeremy wanted me to let you know, he sat down with the owners last night and discussed the situation with them. At this point, they are in agreement with Jim Farley, he gave you a quote, and you signed the proposal and accepted the price that
was quoted. With the extra tech that was provided that day, the work was completed in a timely fashion, If they ran into issues and needed more time during the dig job, they would not have changed the price quoted. Therefore, Jeremy?s hands are tied.
Thank You
Tina
*** End of response ***
As mentioned above, I don't have any problems with their work or punctuality - I just feel taken advantage of with the price.
"Thank You!! It was a pleasure working with you as well."
2) Note, that this company marks up liquid disposal costs 700% and then sends you the bill.
3) Negotiate all work with this company prior to engaging their services.
4) Do not let them charge you "fuel surcharge" fees.
We learned on a Fri afternoon that an apartment bldg basement had 3 feet of sewage backed up in it. We called A&B to come out early that evening to pump out the basement. A&B sent 3 (later 4) workers and 2 trucks. The sewage was removed from the basement over the next 7 hours.
The work was done well but problems came up with the invoice:
1) They rush you to make payment within 10 days (providing a 10% discount) so that you do not have much time to review and make corrections (i.e., back and forth phone calls) to the invoice.
2) Labor charges were included on the invoice for personnel who were not on site. See note above about one of the workers showing up later during the job.
3) The liquid disposal rate of 35 cents a gallon is 700% more than A&B pays to the disposal site (5 cents). Their contract that they force you to sign before doing any work is not clear on this matter.
4) There was a fuel surcharge on the invoice. This was during a time when fuel costs were very low.
I would not hire this company again. If you do, negotiate your cost up front, do not let them charge a markup on disposal and do not sign any of their contracts.
"On Friday, October 24, 2014 this member called A&B saying he had just learned that one of his tenants had 3 feet of sewage backed up into their basement. After getting the dimensions of the basement, our technician went over every facet of the A&B would have to do to pump the basement free of sewage. The member was also quoted our disposal rates, our hourly rates (to include overtime), and the approximate number of men and vehicles it would take to do the job. He promptly agreed to and signed the contract - which is standard for this type of work. When we arrived at the worksite, the tenant said the sewage had been in the basement for weeks! Due to settling of solids over this time period, this increased the workload. The member states in their review that "The work was done well, problems came up with the invoice. Below we address the members complaints as they were listed: 1. Contracts are standard for this kind of work to protect both the client and the company. No company can commit the equipment and labor costs for work of this scale without a signed contract. 2. The disposal rates were thoroughly discussed with the member prior to his signing of the contract. Our makeup rates are well within the normal industry range. 3. The member had every opportunity to negotiate any part of the contract prior to signing. 4. Fuel surcharges are standard in the industry. The price of diesel does not go up and down with the prices of gasoline. The members failed to mention that these fees were removed from the bill after his objection. As far as the work done that Friday, A&B used the minimum amount of personnel and equipment, to safely complete the job. A&B pumped and disposed of 10,708 gallons during the seven hour period. During this time the member complained that one of our four employees was two hours late getting to the job site. We looked into this complaint and found the employee was picking up needed equipment for the job. Although the absence was completely justified, A&B still subtracted two hours from the final bill. Finally, in response to pressuring the member to make payment: A&B offers 10% discounts for paying within 10 days of completion which benefits both the customer and A&B. This is the first time anyone has complained about being rushed. As for not having enough time to review and make correction, the member was expecting A&B to renegotiate the contract after the work was completed per the agreed upon contract. The member made numerous phone calls over the 90 day period trying to get A&B to further reduce the final invoice. I told the member A&B had already reduced the invoice on two occasions and could go no further. In my opinion, the "F" is not appropriate for the work that A&B performed. The member says clearly that "The work was done well". This members complaint was with his bill, which we had reduced twice to attempt to cater to his concerns."
Tech Arrived withing 15 min of scheduled time with pre call to let me know his ETA.
Tech was very professional and effecient.
I will definately be using these guys for any future needs in this area.
The morning after the initial work was supposedly complete, an underground connection failed and sewar water flowed up onto our lawn every time the lift station pump kicked on. They immediately fired the technician who did the work. They returned within 7days and fixed the problem (an improperly positioned check valve not installed using compression fittings). The next day sewar water was again flowing like a fountain up onto our yard at a different point (where their technician had joined the new pipes to the existing leach bed pipes underground). They were not responsive in fixing the second problem - they ignored our weekly cordial reminders and repeatedly gave priority to other work. They delayed us for 5 weeks until we took a stern approach. They finally came out to fix it, protesting the whole time that it could not have been caused by them. They did fix it and left without telling us what they had repaired. They protested so much that I live in fear of further problems because I do not think they will honor their guarantee any longer. We have not had a problem in the two weeks since that last repair.
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