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:12/05/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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.

  The company came to replace about 30 feet of septic pipe only. While digging they cut our propane line (how we get our home heated).They said they turned off the propane so that it wasnt leaking. The propane was not turned off properly so we lost a lot of fuel. The owner said that we wouldnt care about that and that it was fine for us to have our propane line cut by them. I was NOT ok with them cutting our propane line. During all this our property was severely damaged by the operator of the machinery. The entire half of the backyard looked as though several entire septic systems had been installed. The owner had the operator come back to fix the yard. He came back with a very bad attitude and fixed his mess in the matter of minutes, then he left in less than 5 minutes and had even further damaged the yard even more. Neighbors and other witnesses seeing the operator working in a very fast dangerous way right next to our home, foundation and all.Owner came to our house while my husband was at work in the early hours while I was in my Pjs and with my children trying to start a fire for my kids one of which has special needs he came by after speaking with my husband over the phone to not come to my home because just his wife and children were there.. and he would be available after work. The owner came anyway with the operator of the machinery, 2 grown men trying to intimidate me (52 105lbs female) and my 3 children by treating me as if I had no brain trying to convince me that the yard looked fine to him. After a while of realizing the owner only wanted to act as if the job was not a landscaping job (obviously never questioned that). and never even acknowledged the propane while I was telling him over and over we had no heat and I have a special needs child I care for. I told him he needed to speak with my husband. He has never returned my husbands calls since. And we still have no heat and the weather has been getting to the teens at night.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2024

  We didn't receive our notice until Saturday, December 14th through the mail. We never received anything through email just the postal service and that is why we haven't responded yet. I am going to follow up today with a written letter stating what was said and happened on the repair job that we have a complaint against us for. I will also be sending pictures as well. I am getting with the repair crew now to get statements of what happened.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2024

  11/11/24- ******* scheduled Mr. ****** for November 15, 2024, to perform a septic tank pumping and inspection, as well as to uncover and inspect the distribution box. On the same day, ******* completed an 811 ticket to have all utilities marked before Matthews Sanitation crews arrival. The 811 ticket listed Brightspeed, **************** Mid-Atlantic Broadband and ******** with no gas lines noted.

  11/15/24- The technician visited the site to complete the work scheduled. The client declined to have the septic tank pumped due to financial constraints and requested only the d-box to be uncovered. During the inspection of the d-box, the technician discovered that about 40 feet of 4 inch S&D pipe required replacement due to roots and root damage.

  11/22/24- ******* contacted the client to inform him that the repair crew could proceed with replacing the S&D pipe. However, the septic tank needed to be pumped down first before the repair could be made. The client mentioned he needed to gather the necessary funds and would call back. After securing the funds, the client called back to confirm. Consequently, the two crews were dispatched to (crew A) pump the septic tank and (crew B) to replace the pipe.

  Upon arrival, the three technicians observed a gas tank and inquired about the gas line. The client informed them that the gas line was routed on the other side of the tree and wouldn't interfere with the work area. During the initial excavation, the gas line, which was approximately one inch below the ground, was struck. ******* immediately turned off the gas, and both ******* and the client verified that the gas was turned off. At that time, the gas tank was at 20% capacity. The client assured the team that it wasn't an issue and that he would handle the gas line repair and not to worry about it. ******, ***** and ******* ***** the client state he would fix the gas line. Once the gas was turned off and the client verified, the team proceeded to complete the replacement of the S&D pipe. The technicians rerouted the Schedule 40 PVC around the tree, as requested by the client and shown in the pictures. After the repair was completed, the client confirmed that the work looked satisfactory. ***** informed the client that it was too wet to properly cover the repair on the low side where the new Schedule 40 PVC connected to the old S&D pipe due to the amount of sewage that had leaked out and saturated the ground. The client stated that he would borrow/use a skid steer from across the road to cover it himself. At that point, the technicians loaded their equipment, and the client confirmed that everything looked good and the client signed the repair ticket. The technicians then left the property.  

  The client contacted ***** (owner) shortly after the technicians left and provided a different account of the situation. ***** suggested bringing a skid steer out once the ground had dried out in about a week, and smooth the dirt out. However, the client expressed dissatisfaction with this plan. *****, then called ***** and told him to leave the job they were on to go back to Mr. ******** site to try and smooth the dirt out that day. ***** then explained to ***** that the initail attempt to cover the area had worsened due to the saturated ground from the sewage. Upon returning to the Wallis residence, ***** and ******* used the excavator bucket to smooth the dirt and removed roots from the yard from the repair. After completing the task again, the client expressed satisfaction and thanked them both. Both technicians responded courteously. However, at 4:52 p.m. the client began texting ***** again, indicating dissatisfaction with the completed work. Mr. ****** contacted ***** on Saturday the 23rd and he and ***** agreed to meet at the Wallis residence Monday morning (11/25/24).

  Around 7:30 a.m. on 11/25/24, ***** tried to call the client but received no answer. He tried again about ***** minutes later with the same result. ***** then made another attempt when he reached State Road 57, still with no response. The client then texted *****, stating he was at work and not at home, despite having agreed to meet ***** when they spoke on Saturday. When ***** and ***** arrived around 8:30-8:45 a.m., the client's wife was on the porch. ***** greeted her but she didn't respond. After he spoke again, she asked if she could help him. ***** explained that Mr. ***** was supposed to have met him there that morning. He asked her to show him the issue and show him the problem area. The wife expressed dissatisfaction, saying her father would never have left a job in such a condition and would be turning over in his grave. ***** again, asked for specifics but she couldn't provide any information. Mrs. ****** did show ***** where the pavement ended and the yard began, pointing out track marks in the yard. ***** explained to her that the track marks were from the skid steer which had to unload in the yard to get access to the repair. The wife didn't raise any other complaints, so both ***** and ***** left the property. 

  Mr. ****** told ***** that the gas was their only form of heat and we needed to fix the line. The client said he would fix the gas line, which was a private line and not marked and he said (******) was clearly out of the work area. The technicians noted that smoke was coming from the chimney both times they were at the property that day. ***** and ***** also noted that smoke was coming from the chimney on the 25th of November when they were at the property.

  Mr. ****** started texting ***** on December 3rd, stating that he was contacting an attorney and sending in a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/23/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  I do not agree with the offer, as none was provided by Mr ******** He falsified all the specific accounts he attempted to time-stamp within his response. The accounts stated are untruthful, manipulative, and inaccurate of our interactions, as well as the timestamps listed throughout his accounts. The problem and concern, stated many documented times from the day the damage occured, has always and only been asking for resolution of the propane gas line that was cut through by ************************** It has been explained to Mr. ******* directly in great detail, that our home is heated by the propane gas line damaged by his company. Our one working chimney is secondary heat and does not heat our home or our water pipes that run beneath our home, and now there is a constant worry of pipes freezing at any moment while the temperatures have been as low as 13 degrees this month. Having my family huddle in the living room (as mentioned to Mr. *********************** several times I have a special needs child with a compromised immune and cardiac system) for the only warmth in our home, desperately trying to find wood to burn, does not constitute a heated home due to "smoke being seen coming from our chimney" Mr. ******** He and his company have refused accountability for the damages caused by his company on my propane gas line.  As a result, my home cannot be properly heated as it once was prior to his company's negligence.   
  
  
  The propane tank stands above ground and connects to a unit directly next to the house. As we told them, we moved here in 2024 and do not have knowledge of the exact location of the propane line.  However, we did tell them that there was a propane line there as obvious as that is, and we were under the impression that they marked all utilities as they said they were going to prior to the inspection.  The inspection clearly showed a propane tank in the area they were going to work on as well.  The company called in the early hours on a day we were not scheduled, to schedule that same day,  while raising the price almost $300 before stepping foot on the jobsite.  We assumed they did what they said and had the propane line marked as well as the other utilities needed to do the job they approved and gave us an estimate for.   
  
  
  Mr. ******* has stated on a number of occasions that he is not a landscaping company, as we are well aware of,  and he has stated that he shouldn't be accountable for the condition and state his company left his jobsite "our backyard". We have not argued this "landscaping" matter since the day Mr. ******* and his operator trespassed on my property on 11/25/24 to harass me and my children.  During a 6 minute long phone call at 7:48am from Mr. *********************** to my husband, my husband notified Mr. *********************** that he was at work, not at home, and not to go to the property as his wife and children were only there alone.  Mr. *********************** told my husband that he would get back to him regarding a time to schedule a meeting to discuss the issues, then proceeded to hang up on my husband. Unbeknownst to me of the interaction of the phone call, I was outside braless in my PJ's trying to start a fire for warmth due to ************************************* negligence, not on my porch as he stated, when Mr. *********************** and the Operator of the machinery entered my property in an intimidating manner.  I immediately said my husband was not home and he was at work, before Mr. *********************** ever spoke or interacted with me.  Mr. *********************** said he knew, as he was exiting his vehicle, and continued to bypass me and my children and go to our backyard.  I said, "Excuse me? Can I help you? All while Mr. *********************** attempted to belittle, demean, and disrespect me, while never acknowledging the propane line I continued to speak to him about, until I finally had to firmly say, he needed to contact my husband and leave. 
  
  Mr. ******* chose to attach to his response, the pictures I took and sent to him of his operator's final product. However, I can provide additional pictures showing his crew digging up the gas line they cut through, as well as pictures of the excavator digging everywhere around the propane tank within feet. As well as, very clear pictures showing the negligence of how close the excavator was digging next to the house, the heating system where the gas line enters the home, a large black walnut tree that they severely damaged the root system to, and the active propane tank, all within feet of one another.
  
  
   I have given Mr. ******* ample time and opportunity to resolve this, without involving and wasting the courts valuable time. I hope this can be resolved using this platform.  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  ********* ******
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/24/2024

  No, the propane line has not been repaired.