RED DIRT SEPTIC

It's been good.

Went very well.

The people at Red Dirt were amazing! From the phone calls all the way to the service performed!! Came out and took care of our problem way before we thought it could be fixed. Highly recommend them!!!!

Showed up on time. Came back out after installation to show us how to use it and checked the system again to make sure working properly. Great experience.

Went well, I called and they made an appointment in 2 days. Didn’t have a time when they would be there, but as requested they called before they arrived. They found tank and got to work right away. Determined I needed a new t-pipe (or something) and offered to come back later that same evening to finish the job. The technician was really nice and got right to work and finished the job. Not sure if price was right or not, I didn’t shop around much but seemed fair.

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Red dirt refuses to honor my 2 year maintenance agreement. When we first moved in in March of 2014 we had a heavy rain and it sunk the ground about 3 feet around the septic unit. They told me it was normal. One of their reps came out and accessed the problem and told me that they might have to re-set the unit. Several days went by and heard nothing. The owner Kevin Ruark came out and refused to fix it and I told him that the rep came out and said that you would re-set it. The rep said he never said that and called me a liar. That did not go over very well with my husband and my husband told the rep to get off our property. So I told them I will be contacting my lawyer. Kevin Ruark got in my husband's face and my husband told him to leave our property. Red dirt came back and fixed it like it should have been done. Thats all we wanted was them to fix the problem. I have never meet unprofessional people like this who say they will take care of business and don't follow through. Now they will not service my account. I have contacted DEQ to resolve this ongoing problem.

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First experience with Red Dirt was exemplary 5 years ago. Service providers arrived on time, just before noon a couple weeks ago. They came to my front door after failing to find the clean out area using a map they said was provided as a result of service call 5 years earlier. I showed them where clean out is located (having lived here over 2 decades, it was easy). One of the men argued with me about the location, suggesting I Was wrong! They got to work and completed task in a little over an hour. They did not inform me when they were done and just left. I noticed they dug an area much larger than during prior service call and area appeared much more disturbed than in the past. 7-10 days later vegetation was dying in the area they worked and my husband determined a sprinkler line was not functioning. He found a yellow sheathed bundle of wires in the septic dug out area that had been cut and reburied. It took 10 days to get our regular irrigation people out on a service call . They determined the cut wires caused the malfunction in the sprinkler line. I called red dirt to provide feedback and indicated it was hard to believe the service providers did not know about the cut wires as they were quite obvious. Having failed to mention the problem to me led to a couple of week delay in discovery and repair of sprinkler issue. Vegetation suffers in 99 degree heat. The red dirt reps i spoke with assured me a manager would get the info and get back with me. I have heard nothing from them which I find inexcusable. So add $108 dollars to cost of cleanout due to sprinkler issue. I will not be using the Red Dirt Septic again.

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Red Dirt Septic was called to do a maintenance clean out of our septic tank because someone mentioned they needed regular maintenance.  They made it out the very next day.  A couple of large concrete lids were unearthed, one removed, and the tank emptied and rinsed.  $300 for a clean out.  Less than three weeks later one of the lids, the one that had been removed, fell into our tank after a couple of heavy rains.  This is the first problem we have ever had with our system.  The septic system is an older system, so I understand lids break.  I didn't see any cracks when the gentleman was pumping it out, and I assumed he would have mentioned it.  I called Red Dirt to let them know we needed assistance with the large open sewage hole in our backyard, and we became unprofitable...
   Over the next few months we went through many phone calls, most of them put offs or delays.  I was told there would be no retrieval of the lid that had fallen in, or clean out of the dirt that fell in.  I was assured by the "manager" that the concrete lid would disintegrate in the sewage over the next 4-5 years.  Red Dirt was kind enough to provide us with a new lid, free of charge.  A $300 value they assured me.  When one of their men finally did make it out to cover the open hole and take measurements for the lid, he rigged a flimsy wooden "lid", covered it with trash bags, and some large stones we had lying around.  I was very worried about getting a lid before the next rain because there was no way it was water tight with such large gaps between the wood slats.  It overflowed in rain.  
   Red Dirt told us the lid would have to be poured to fit our tank.  It took over a week for the lid to be delivered.  I understand concrete takes a while to cure, especially in wet conditions, but we were delayed delivery more than once for profitable jobs.  "We have to make a living," was their excuse.  When the first man showed up on delivery day, he sat in his truck for a long time until other trucks showed up.  When the other men showed up, the younger man (the one who rigged the flimsy lid) asked where the first man was.  When I told him he was still in his truck, he rolled his eyes.  I helped them remove the stones, bags, etc because the whole thing was very precarious.  I waited for them to start clearing the dirt from the sides of the cave in.  No dirt was removed.  They literally forced that lid with a metal bar between two other lids.  The dirt was flush with the edges of the two lids, and even overhung it in some places.   Which means the original lid removed to clean the system was not an end lid.  I did not find this out until later.  The metal bar was used in the middle of the actual end lid to force the fit.  Some dirt was removed from around the new lid AFTER it was clear they couldn't force it.  More dirt went into the septic.  The final "fit" frustrated me and I asked them why they left the edge of the lid lifted on a patch of dirt that was between it and the tank.  The lazy one told me that the dirt would eventually wash away and the lid would lie flat.  They charge me $85 to install the "free" lid that looked like they had poured it themselves.   
   The rains came, a lot of it.  Toilets overflowed when flushed, and water wouldn't drain.  The septic had overflowed through the dirt on top and made a little sewage pond.  The next morning when I called Red Dirt, they refused to come out for over a week.  When I told them it was unacceptable, that it was clearly an emergency situation with no use of our water, flushing toilets,raw sewage,  and more rain coming, they still refused to help us.  After several phone calls, I was put on the phone with the owner.  
   The owner refused to acknowledge any potential fault on their part.  She repeatedly stated it must be our lateral lines that were clogged after I was assured by her tech that my lines were fine.  When I told her this, she stated that the man wouldn't have known one way or the other.  She mentioned she is not very familiar with septic systems, but she trusts her people 100% and they can do no wrong.  In the same breath the assures me that they saw this sort of thing all the time, and it was my lateral lines without inspecting the system herself.  
When I tried to explain the problem with the lid installation she proceeded to tell me that, even in heavy rains, a complete lack of lid wouldn't cause the problems we were having if the lateral lines were working properly.  She actually told me that lids were mostly there to keep people from falling in.  I asked her if all of the dirt falling in could cause the lateral lines to clog, and I was assured it settles to the bottom.  In the same conversation the owner proceeds to explain that lateral lines clog when dirt builds up in them and it becomes like "concrete."  I took notes on this conversation because I was so blown away by what I was hearing.  She refused to help us.  She suggested we find another company.  She knew they had made a mistake, and refused to make it right at her own expense.  I told her I would be reporting and reviewing her company.  
   Willco Septic Inc was able to help us.  It turns out that Red Dirt had broken the end lid when they forced the new lid on, and it was sagging into the tank with the crack down the middle.  So water and dirt were just flowing right in during rains.  I learned that it was unusual for a septic company to take a middle lid out for cleaning BECAUSE it was more likely to crack a lid replacing it instead of sliding off the end lid.  Red Dirt just removed the first lid they uncovered.  When I called Red Dirt to let them know that it had been their employees that broke the second lid, I received no comment.
  After paying Willco $285 for a second clean out to make sure the tank wasn't damaged, and $1,000 for a whole piece new lid (it ended up being a 5 lid tank, which is very unusual), using motel showers/toilets for days, and staying with family for another week ...this was a very costly A Rated Angie's List  company pick.  I am hoping that this review improves the quality of service others receive from Red Dirt Septic, and encourages others to give more thorough reviews.

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I called in the morning, but they weren't able to schedule us until afternoon the following day.  They showed up during the window they gave me, pumped my tank, and the concrete lid broke apart when they opened the tank.  No big deal; we understood the system is at least 12 years old and the weight of the saturated dirt above likely put pressure on the lid.  The tech told me he would have someone bring a new lid the following day, and also told me he called in a request to have someone come out and assess my system to see if repairs were needed, and that person/crew would come out the following day as well.  No one showed up the next day.  We covered the open septic hole as best we could with cement board so our dog wouldn't fall in.  When I contacted Red Dirt Septic, the young lady answering phones told me she needed to call me back after checking into it, and asked me, "Well, it's covered up right now, isn't it?"  It was, but it certainly wasn't a long-term solution, and there was more rain in the forecast that I didn't think would help our situation, especially with an open tank.  After an hour or so with no return call, I had my husband call to follow up.  They told my husband they couldn't bring a lid that day since they had no idea what type or the measurements of the lid, and that they had no idea we even needed one since there was no order/request in their system.  They finally brought the lid two days later and installed it, and never mentioned anyone coming out to assess the system as promised during the initial pump service.  We're now at the next big heavy soaking rain and the system is full, again, less than two weeks after being pumped.  We'll be using another company.

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Found my pager in the septic tank too.

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We had liquid coming to the surface in our yard. The owner, Kevin, came out and looked at our septic system. Our system is over 30 years old. Everyone else I talked to over the phone thought I probably needed a new system. Kevin had his employees come out the next day. They drained the tank and started digging. The supervisor on the job was very helpful. When we were told we just needed distribution boxes replaced we were thrilled. They explained everything to us. Their integrity is outstanding. They could have told us we needed a new system and we would have not questioned it because of the age of our system. Kevin told us our soil was good and system could last quite a while longer. I would highly recommend Red Dirt Septic.

The two gentlemen who came introduced themselves and were very cordial. They did not try to do or fix anything other than what was needed. They gave some helpful advice on keeping our septic system running properly and we felt they were very honest.

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