A & B Sanitation Inc^

Excellent service. The Estimated cost was $380.00 for drainage of the 2000 gallon unit and a $25.00 charge for traveling over 25 miles - total: $405.00 Jason and Ed arrived on time and drained the Septic Tank, took about an Hour. They took the time to explain their work and provided me with a great deal of information; my cabin and the septic system -- built in 1978. I will definitely use them in the future -- I will be replacing my Septic tank built in 1978 with one of their current/modern Septic tank systems next summer.

Fine, the part takes a while to order and arrive, but as soon as it arrived Jason contacted me and scheduled an appointment.

A & B sanitation installed my lift station on March 22, 2016 and I paid them in full. Once the dirt settled I noticed the tank had collapsed. I called them on June 9, 2016 and informed the manager, he stated he would fix it in July 2016. July came and went and I never heard from them, so I called them again on August 1, 2016. They came out on August 2, 2016 and stated "yes, your lift station tank is collapsed and beyond repair". I was told they would be coming out to replace it. It is now approaching September, I have called several more times asking when they are coming out to replace the tank, the response "we will call you". To this day, I still have a huge pile of dirt with a non-usable, worthless, lift station tank under it in my yard. I feel that I am getting the run around and I am very upset with the service of this company.

When they inspected my septic tank after pumping it, they discovered that there was a broken tile which is why it filled up so quickly. They were able to come out the next day to perform the repair, which was great. They quoted $3200 which they say is the market rate for this type of repair and we accepted. They came out the next day as agreed and performed the repair - 3 men with an excavator and they completed the job in less than 90 minutes. My only complaint is the cost - that is over $2000 per hour or $711 and hour per person!
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.

Jason arrived on time. They got the septic tank pumped quickly. They was friendly and knowledgeable on the issue with our leech bed. Spoke with Jeremy and they will be following up with me on thursday to fix and pipe on the side of the house and to check our leechbed. They are a small company and for small companies they are the best in Sanitation. We've used many companies before and none as good as this one. Will use them again!!

1) Do not sign any contracts with this company.
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.

unknown

Provider contact was very cordial and was able to schedule my appointment to my liking.
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.

We also knew there was an issue with our list station pump. I found out later that there was an issue with the distribution box. They dug that up, replaced some lines and they fixed everything that I had asked them to do. They were on time, courteous and did a nice job. They were also fair with their prices and it was comparable.

unknown

Project started in August of 2013. Our leach bed was 40 years old so they installed a Dbox first then they used Septic scrub to try and open the lines. When those options failed they installed new lines  and a dosing box. We last saw them on Dec 20 of 2013. They were to come back and do the finishing touches and finish the above ground work. They never came back. I called them on several occasions.I was always told it was too wet to work the land even during the dry periods. We last tried to contact them in July of this year to no avail.  I gave up our yard was a weed patch and a breeding ground for mosquitoes, snakes, rodents and what have you. It was a health hazard. I contacted a local landscaping service who has cleaned up the mess and layed sod and seed. I got a list of names of septic services from the Delaware Ohio Board of Health website for future problems. I hope what they did was correct, but I have my doubts, and I certainly would not recommend A & B Septic Services

.

Our septic system had been working fine for 40 years before they did their work.  The work was done incorrectly and required two follow-up fixes.  For 6 weeks we had raw sewar water flowing like a fountain onto our lawn every 30 minutes or so.  They were initially cooperative, but It was very difficult to get them to do the second of the two repairs.  The repairs were for problems they had clearly caused.  They repeatedly argued that the second problem was not their fault.  They eventually fixed it and did not tell us what they repaired.  

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.

I've been doing business with them for years and they've been great. I called them the day before at 4:45 and scheduled the appointment. They arrived on time and did a great job. They gave me senior discount as well.

Provided same day service on very short notice. Young man providing service was very professional and pleasant to deal with. Accomplished all work requested in a organized and timely manner and left nothing for the homeowner to clean up. Very well satisfied with service provided and will certainly continue to utilize the company for my service to my septic system.

They did a good job. They were prompt, and their price was reasonable. They did what they said they were going to do, and I was happy with their work.

I had just had the system checked the day before and the person checking it said it was in good working order. He felt the motor with his hand and said it was warm. When the A & B person told me the motor was shot, I felt it - it was warm. He told me it would cost me over $900 to replace the motor. I told him to connect the motor directly to the AC (bypassing the timer) - it worked fine. Now I wonder about the need to pump the second tank (for the additional $200.

We have used this company before. They are a family business. They are a reliable father and son team. I think that the price is getting a little too high and I am going to shop around to make sure I'm getting the best deal. But as far as service goes, they do a good job.