Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/11/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have called Jet Surge Affordable Drain Company 3 other times over the last 12 years to clean out the house main drain, with those jobs all taking an hour or more with a bill of about $126 each time (last done March 2021).. On 12/16/2022 they came again to do main drain clean out and I was charged $273---a 200+% increase since the same drain clean out in March 2021. The worker was very slow and said he wanted to make sure it was the main drain before he started the work, so he made me flush toilet twice, start washing machine, show him if there was a drain clean out by water meter (I told him no but he wanted to see so I had to move lots of things to get to it). He didn't bring his machine in for at least 30 minutes. In addition he also made 2 to 3 trips to his vehicle to do I don't know what. Then 2 other company men came into basement to talk to him but were not cleaning the drain. Next thing I know, they were leaving and said they were there 2 hrs but were charging me for 1.5 hrs at $273. They acted like they weren't sure if the drain was really cleaned out. I have no problem with them raising their rate to $170 but the past times, they got the drain cleaned out quickly and didn't mess around. This worker was very slow and did not seem all that sure about how to do the job. I don't know if that was why the 2 other men come to check on him. I had no idea they would charge me hourly rather than a flat fee. I emailed the company 1/02/2023 telling them about how the job wasn't done that efficiently and I asked them to refund some of the amount I paid. They did not respond at all. I resent the email 1/06/2023 commenting that I was still waiting to hear from them. Their immediate response was to send a copy of the bill I had paid---no other communication from them. I believe the company should have responded to my complaint about the job not being done quickly and efficiently, and then inflating the amount charged. They should take the words "Affordable Drain Company" out of their advertisement.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/06/2023

  See attached response

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/10/2023

   
  Complaint: 18722634
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I have used this business 4 times over the last 11 years.  The 3 previous workers started the drain clean out within 10 minutes of arrival and were done within 1 to 1.5 hours.  I was always charged from $106 to $126 ($126 charge in March 2021) and I was always satisfied with the work.

  This last visit on 12/20/2022, the worker dinked around for over 30 minutes and didn't even bring in the machine until after that.  It was obvious that the main drain was plugged and it didn't take all the time that the business is implying for the worker to assess the problem.  My final bill was a HUGE increase totaling $272.85!  This is a 220% increase from the service charge less than 2 years ago!   I did not inquire about the cost before this service was done because of my past billing experience with the company was good.

  This business is defended this employee's *** work to get the job done efficiently; and then I had to pay extra for his  slowness to get the job started and finished.  I would have been satisfied with a partial refund, but Jet Surge ignored 2 emails I sent to them and never did talk to me about the situation until I sent the complaint to the better Business Bureau.  

  They are no longer an affordable drain company as part of their business name implies.
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/13/2023

  We do not feel the need to respond to a complaint regarding the competency of our employee because a customer thought he was to slow.  Does she know how long it takes to complete the service? Is she discriminating against an older employee and might think a younger one would be more efficient? Our employees are highly trained and we do not purposely take extra time so we can add up hours for our services in fact the faster we get done the faster we can move on to other jobs. We take anywhere from ***** calls a day and every job is different. As for the pricing we have not increased the prices over 220% as she claims and again as the homeowner she should have asked what the pricing was and not assumed it stayed the same from her last service call with us. If she did not hear back from us from email, she could have most certainly called the company. I am sorry but prices do increase and we have the right as a company to charge what we think is fair. Not all services are billed the same and what her service was a year ago was different this time and did take a little longer,not because of the employee but because of the issue he was dealing with. I would again suggest in the future not to assume that prices stay the same and maybe she should ask this before hiring a service company.

  Affordable Drain/ JetSurge