Complaint Review: Roto-rooter - Fredericksburg Virginia

I bought my first house on March 27th, 2009. It was obvious that the basement had flooded in the past. I started to work on remodeling the nearly 1300 sqft basement myself. One day, I was washing my car using the backyard faucet. I noticed that water seemed to be going everywhere, but out the hose. I checked the basement and confirmed that the water was running between the houses outer, concrete wall and the basement drywall and into the basement. I thought I had found the source of the previous flood(s). I called several plumbers to fix the faucet and, eventually, I got Wayne from Roto-Rooter. Wayne was very polite and professional. He fixed the pipe and left.

As I was nearing the end of my renovation. I had bought a $2000 Bose Surround System, $5500 living room set and had $4300 worth of carpet work installed. All that was left was to have the walls painted (which I was currently doing).

On April 11th, 2009, my basement flooded causing immense water damage. Now to be clear (and fair) all damages, up until this point, are at no fault of Roto-Rooter or Wayne. I filed a claim with my insurance company; USAA and they called Servpro a water/mold remediation specialist to remove the nearly 4 inches of water from the basement. At about the same time, I called Roto-Rooter to come out. I specifically requested Wayne because of his past professionalism. Now while, I was waiting for Wayne to show up, Servpro tried to determine the cause of the flood. What the Servpro crew noted was that the sump pump plumbing was unusual. The piping inside the house was 1.5" PVC piping. Outside the house, the piping had a cap/adapter that allowed a 1/2" hose to connect to it. The hose ran all the way past the corner of the house.
About an hour later, Wayne showed up and inspected the sump system. He determined that the cause of the flood was a clog at the sump pump itself. After he made his assessment, I brought him outside. And showed him the sump system piping.

 
This is the single act where I believe that Roto-Rooter or Wayne is responsible for a future damages.


Wayne looked at the piping and said that it was unusual, but he had "seen it before." Being a automotive-performance enthusiasts, I metaphorically said to him "In the car world, you would never build an exhaust system to go from bigger to smaller." Wayne said that it's "not the same as fluid dynamics." Wayne then offered to replace the piping on his off-time. He said that he would charge me $500, if I had him do it through Roto-Rooter, but would cost roughly $250, if he did it on his own time. As I thought this was unethical, I declined as Wayne assured me that this was not the cause of the flood and would not cause flooding in the future. Wayne gave me his cell phone number anyway, told me to "think about it" and gave me a receipt citing the clog as the problem and then left.

Later that night. The check-valve from the sump system came apart into several pieces. The power of the sump pump was now shooting water at full capacity straight into the ceiling. I called Wayne on his cell phone and told him that he needed to come back. I also called Servpro again as the water had flooded into adjacent rooms.

Since Wayne had disconnected the valve, during his initial assessment. I recorded the water damages as it was happening, just in-case. Wayne showed up at about 11:00 PM and went back down stairs. He unplugged the sump pump which stopped the fountain effect, but now the sump well as rapidly starting to overflow. Wayne said that he was going to replace the check-valve, as well as, the sump pump for my "peace of mind." He told me that his initial assessment was wrong and he asked me for the previous receipt back. Something didn't seem right so I went upstairs, took several pictures of the ticket/receipt, and then came back down stairs and gave it back to him. He ended up replacing the check-valve and sump pump as he said, charged me about $500-$600, gave me a new receipt and left. Servpro removed the water again, which cost me around $800.

Over about 45-60 days, my insurance company, completely refinished my basement. A total of $30,000 worth of work. I replaced the new carpet, new furniture, a poriton of the dry wall had to be replaced, paint. etc.

Now fast-forward to November 22nd (ish), 2009. My wife calls me at work to tell me that the basement is flooding again. She is quick to remove as much stuff as she can, but can't left the heavy furniture herself. So I leave work and being paid upwards of $35.00/hr, I had to either a)take a huge finiancial hit or b) take vacation days. I opt to take vacation hours, indirectly losing about $300 in wages. I help my wife move the heavier items upstairs but most of it was already damaged. I was forced to file another claim at a deductible of $1000. And as luck would have it, I get the exact crew that cleared the water damages in April. Servpro again had to remove the water and remove all the carpet again. $4300 worth of carpet and the baseboards (estimates range from $2000-$8000). Trying to reduce the claim against my coverage I don't claim the $2000 Surround Sound System or $6000 worth of furniture. I did this in hopes that USAA; my home owners insurance would not drop me. Despite all that, Servpro, still took plenty of pictures of the damages for USAA as well as did I. Servpro's assessment was again, that the hose was the cause of the flooding. The hose seem to have water moving out, but at a very slow rate.

I called Roto-Rooter and, by chance, Wayne shows up again (without me requesting him). At this point, I inform Wayne that I am keep accurate account of our conversation. (I am not sure if I actually said "recording" and the recordings are own my computer which has a failed power supply) He didn't seem to comprehend what I was saying. None-the-less, I start recording every time we start to talk. He goes down stairs and says that the sump pump is working fine. Even after observing the water trickling out of the house connected to the sump pump system, he stays to his claims that the sump system is working fine. The Servpro crew argues with him stating that the basement would never get dried, if the water was coming back in at a rate faster then sump pump system could evacuate it. Finally Wayne said he had to get on the phone with his supervisor, he goes outside in a storm to talk to his supervisor. I didn't hear what what they were saying but when Wayne comes back in, his story completely changes.

Wayne was now saying that the sump pump system failed because the hose was causing excessive back pressure. Furthermore, Wayne goes on to tell me that he is not responsible for the failure of the sump pump system as he "warned me" to replace the hose. He continues to say that he called the manufacturer of the sump pump and informed them that I declined to replace the hose under his advisement and so voids the warranty for both parts and labor. He then states it will cost another $500-$600. I literally had to restrain myself from beating this man. I argued with him and it seems that without his supervisor coaching him, he was just stepping on his own feet. Finally he admits to knowing that the original source of all flooding was the hose and he, while knowing that it was a problem, still did not repair the problem. I asked him to leave and told him that legals actions maybe pending.

I called C&P Plumbing and Eddie showed up. Eddie was considerably younger then Wayne, maybe 20-22 years old (vs Wayne in his late 30's). I first showed Eddie the piping in the water closet, then I showed Eddie the hose outside the hose. Eddie said right away, with a confused face, that the hose was the problem. Eddie asked me where the hose connected to the piping. I showed him the adapter some 15' under my deck, by shining a flashlight on it. Eddie crawled under the deck (through gravel and mud) and pulled real hard on the hose. Suddenly I could hear gushing water. We went into the basement to witness the water evacuating the sump pump well and an incredible rate (the well emptied in about 30-45 seconds). Eddie confirmed several things to me. First, he told me that the sump pump I had was best on the market. Second, after telling him the past history of the flooding, he confirmed that the likely cause of the first flooding was the hose and that the check valve fell apart because of both, it's age and the excessive back pressure caused by the hose. Lastly, Eddie confirmed that any competent plumber would have known that was the source of the initial flooding.

Eddie said that he did not have enough piping to reach the end of the house. Eddie said that the water would come out the pipe, go back into the soil and then back into sump pump well, essentially making a never ending cycle. Eddie told me, I could go to Home Depot to get the piping, he told me what connectors, he even estimated how long the piping would need to be. He even gave me good instructions on how he would do it, if it was him. He said that the parts would run me about $20, it actually ended up being about $25. Can you believe that?!? Wayne would have pocketed $225. I immediately left and got the parts I needed from Lowes and crawled under the deck during a storm and with a sump pump pipe blasting water in my face and replaced the hose with 1.5 piping ALL the way to the end of the house.

Now to be honest, I was going to lick my wound and move on. Despite have lost:
$500 for a sump pump that didn't need to be replaced, $800 for Servpro to come out a second time. $300 in wages, $1000 for a second claim deductible, $2000 for a Bose V20 LifeStyle Surround Sound System, $6000 in furniture and more then $100 in secondary repairs. Despite losing over $10,000 out of my OWN pocket and another $6000+ (and counting) of monetary damages to my insurance company, I was just going to forget it and move on.

That was until about last week; when I got a letter from USAA stating the are going to drop my coverage effective March 26th, 2010 due to an excessive claim history. Trying to find coverage now that I am labeled as "high risk" is at a minimum of 600% of what I am currently paying. And that is for a policy that specifically excludes water damages. And, oh, it gets SO MUCH better. After speaking with my father-in-law, who works in one of the biggest law firms in the state, he told me that my homeowners insurance with USAA was written into my mortgage contract (he would know, he over saw the negations). And whatever insurance company I go with will likely have to be approved by my lender. Chances are they are going to demand a policy with water coverage that will cost me $5000 or more a year (vs $500 I am currently paying).  I can not afford that and so (my father-in-law) informs me that the lender could ask for the ENTIRE mortgage due. That means I have to come up with about $230,000 in 2 months to pay off my mortgage or they can FORECLOSE on my home.

If you thought it ends there, you are wrong. I am a government contractor. I have a security clearance. My security clearance is tightly entwined with my financial stability. So if I can not pay off my mortgage when asked, my credit score goes from the 800's to crap in no time, my house gets FORECLOSED on AND I lose my security clearance. If I can not maintain a security clearance, I lose my job.

I worked 9 years to get where I am. I served my country worlds greatest Army, spilled my own blood in Afghanistan to get where I am today. Everything I worked on since leaving my parents home will be gone.

SO TO PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE. I STAND TO LOSE MY HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE POLICY, HAVE MY HOME FORECLOSED ON, DESTROY MY CREDIT RATING, LOSE MY SECURITY CLEARANCE, AND ULTIMATELY MY JOB BECAUSE ONE PLUMBER WANTED TO MAKE $225 ON THE SIDE.

I know that sounds dramatic, but I am working with my lender who confirmed what my father-in-law said about losing my home. AND I am working with my security officer who confirmed that if foreclosure affects my credit rating enough I am right about losing my job.

How is that for being screwed by one man?

And, Yes, that is really me from Afghanistan.