My tenants complained about their kitchen sink backing up, so I had someone from New Canadian Drain come to my house to take a look at it. After assessing the problem, the plumber advised that the best course of action would be to replace the pipes underneath the sink, because they were in an unconventional configuration. I advised him that the pipes had worked perfectly fine for 13 years in that configuration, and that the pipes under the sink weren't the problem - it was a clog further in. I had even snaked those pipes myself before he got there, so I knew the problem was further in, but he insisted that replacing those pipes under the sink would fix the problem, so I allowed him to do it. $450 later, I had new pipes, but the sink was still backing up. The plumber assured me that it was draining much better, even though we were both watching it completely back up. He then told me that I could pay extra money for him to snake the drain, but that he didn't think that would help the problem because the drain was too far from the main stack, so I just accepted what he said and paid for his services thinking this was as good as the drain was going to get. It seemed possible that it was draining slightly better, plus he was a very friendly guy, and I figured he had tried his best.
My tenants tried to deal with the very slowly draining sink, but after 9 days they contacted me again saying it was unacceptable, and that the sink was still backing up. I called New Canadian Drain to complain that the issue wasn't dealt with, and asked for a refund. The woman I spoke with was very understanding, and assured me that the first visit would be refunded - she also offered to have a second plumber come out and assess the situation, and since the first plumber was being refunded, I figured how could it hurt to have another plumber come. The second plumber snaked the drain and fixed the problem that the first guy should have fixed, and charged me another $300. When I called to ask when the money from my first visit would be returned, the company manager informed me that they would not be refunding it (even though that was why I agreed to have the second person come). Instead he tells me that the drain was working perfectly when the first guy left, and that it was a totally separate clog they fixed on the second visit 9 days later. I informed them that the first plumber did not fix the problem, and that my tenants can verify that - it makes no sense that an entirely new clog would form that quickly if the problem had actually been fixed. He also said that no one from his company would have offered a refund, and yet the woman I spoke with on the phone clearly did. The manager's last argument was that I should have just gotten the drain snaked at the end of the first visit when the plumber offered, but why would I pay even more money to someone who had just misadvised me and cost me a lot of money? And if the sink was draining properly as the plumber had claimed, then why would he offer to snake the drain in the first place? Clearly you would only offer to snake a drain if it was still backing up.
Either the plumber made a mistake in thinking that replacing the pipes under the sink would fix the problem, or this is some scheme they push to make people spend more money - either way I shouldn't be responsible for their mistake. And $400+ is very expensive for 30 mins of actual work. Think twice before dealing with this company - seemingly very friendly, until you hold them to their promises.
