Metroplex Leak & Line Locators

It went as well as a job that big and that messy could go. The workmen were polite, punctual, efficient, and tidy. They kept me informed all along the way. Since the work was under the house, obviously I couldn't see it but they took pictures and videos for me. And, I have pictures with the new pipes. They worked directly with the insurance company so I didn't have to manage that part. And, their office staff was very easy to contact and work with. I had absolutely no complaints and would recommend them to everyone.

Great service. No unnecessary work. Honest people.

I

On Thursday, September 6, Metroplex Leak and Line Locators sent a plumber to our home to investigate a water leak. After 2 1/2 hours of performing various tests (from meter tests to pressure tests), he was unable to find the source of the leak and suggested that we make an appointment to have an exploratory hole dug in our foundation of which he reported has no guarantee of finding the issue and would cost close to $1000. I asked the plumber to reflect those details on the invoice so I could share them with my husband. When he delivered the invoice, I inquired about what I noticed was an extra 15 minutes and he said the company charges for writing invoices. I proceeded to read the invoice to assure that I understood it and it reflected what services were performed. The plumber then stated that he would have to charge for his time while I read. I declined to pay more and stated I would call the owner of the company about the issue.
During that conversation, the owner stated that the company always charges for preparing invoices and restocking and cleaning tools and suggested that all contractors do so. In my 16+ years as a homeowner, I have never been charged for the technician to complete an invoice and certainly not been charged to read one.  I see it as very poor customer service to charge a client at an hourly rate for completing and/or reading an invoice. As a repeat customer of Metroplex Leak and Line Locators, I was extremely disappointed at the owner's unprofessional manner and refusal to refund the $25 I was charged for the preparation of my invoice.  I will not use them again unless they make this right.

Update - 9/17/12
We knew there was a leak because we continued to find standing water, so we called another company for a second opinion.  They found the leak immediately and expressed shock that MLL never found it.  What the new plumbers reported was that either MLL did not conduct the pressure test for long enough or their gauge was broken.  MLL only performed the test for 5 minutes (I watched the clock with the plumber).  The new plumbers stated that in order to find a leak no matter how slow, the pressure test would need to be conducted for at least 30 minutes.  Consequently, I have submitted a request to the BBB for a refund from MLL for the last hour and a half ($168) of service.

Corollaries in getting your home ready to put on the market: a. The economy will be down.
b. You discover the things you live with are not part of the drive up or walk in appeal.
c. The furnace/air exchange thing in the attic that you depend on for air conditioning will suffer a catastrophic heart, kidney, pancreas, liver failure all at once requiring you to purchase a new unit for many thousands of dollars.
d. The years-long drought does not like a torrential rain, and the clay soil will react like zombies rising from the dead which in turn will turn your slab foundation into Disneyland.
e. A Disneyland slab means slab leaks in the foundations as the copper pipes embedded in the foundation all scream at once: "W**?"
f. A plumbing company which shall remain nameless (::coughBFPcough::) delivers an estimate for repair...wait for it...$11,920.00. You can tell the plumber/estimator is embarrassed since he says the estimate is "eleven thousand." It's $80 away from $12,000.00 and he says "eleven thousand."

f.1. The plumber wants to dig a tunnel, braced like a mine shaft, from the front of our house to the suspected leak site near the rear of our house--some 35 feet or so of tunneling.
f.2. The tunnel has to be big enough for some small people to get in it and repair the pipe which would now be in their tunnel ceiling.
f.3. I mention that if he digs the tunnel from the back of the house it will only be about 3 feet long. "Oh, that's a good thought--then it will only cost you $8,000."
f.4. I ask what it would cost to just go down into the slab above the leak and fix it without using the unemployed smuggler tunnelers and he also thought that would be a good idea. "Well, that would get it down to $6000."

g. A call to our insurance company and relating to the adjuster the heart murmuring conversation with the "nameless" plumbing company results in the adjuster having a really good laugh. "I can't say anything bad or good about a particular company, but in my 25 years as an adjuster, let me just say I've heard a lot of people mention that company."
h. Metroplex Line and Leak Locators/Flow Plumbing is now here to verify the exact location of the leak(s). They pressurize the plumbing and use sonar equipment to find the bubbling noise.
i. At least the insurance company will pay for the damage, but, interestingly, not the repair. We pay the deductible, and pay for the actual pipe to be repaired, and the insurance will cover the locating costs, the jackhammer excavation, the new concrete to fill, and any damage to carpets and ceramic tiles.
j. Cost out of pocket that insurance won't cover: $500 deductible and $100 actual line repair. The insurance company will pay ML&LL/FP $950 of the $1050 estimate and bill. They arrived at 8:00 am and were gone by 1:00 pm. I couldn't be happier with their service.
Ah the joy of an older home that wasn't built all that well in the first place. On running some ethernet wires some years ago to one of the back bedrooms, and dropping the line into the wall to the opening where the J-box would go, and when I reached in to fish the wire out, I pulled out an empty whiskey bottle. So we know that at least the drywallers were drunks.

The first crew came out on 11/30 to do a leak test.  They test the water supply in about 15 minutes and said it was okay.  They said I needed a 2-way clean-out in order to test for sewer leakage.  Since, I didn't have one, they said they would install it.  After 2-and-a-alf hours, they still hadn't located the main drain pipe.  I asked them to stop the clock and paid them $319 for their effort.  I hoped that I could avoid doing the sewer test.  When I couldn't get out of it, I called Metroplex to come back and finish their work.

Metroplex sent an entirely new crew who did nothing but repeat the same procedures that the first crew did.  After 4 hours and they still hadn't located the sewer line, I told them to stop.  This was a main contributor to losing the contract.

Subsequently, the City of Richardson has come out, charged me $60, and installed a 2-way clean-out in about 4 hours.