Dependable Irrigation, Inc.

First I would like to point out that I have attached a copy of our warranty information for youThis warranty is printed at the bottom of all of our invoices and our bid sheets/contractsAfter we completed this system - the system was tested and approved by *** *** and he signed the contract
and gave us the final payment on that systemOur warranty clearly states that if there are any attempted repairs to the system by anyone other than one of our technicians, then the parts warranty is voidWe tell our customers to watch their system and if there is any problem or adjustments needed within days of completion - they are entitled to ONE visit at no charge to address those issues At this time the line that was causing the leaks and problems was not active or running when we ran our systemNor was that line and/or valve discovered during the installation of the system we put in for himWhen we install a new system we tell the customer that when we are running the trenches to put the new lines in, we do remove as much of the old line as possible that we come across, and we did thatThe problem area that caused this complaint is not in any location that we dug a trench to install new linesNor is the valve for that line in the same location as the valves from the old system that we did remove and replace with new valvesThose are located in a valve box near the timer ( we did not install a new timer either)We did not encounter this old line or valve at any time & it is not connected to the new system that we put in, in any way. While we were installing this system for him, my crew encountered and was attacked by an active bee hive and sustained numerous bee stings*** *** did call a bee keeper and had the hive deactivated Even with this, my crew continued working - as they knew he was preparing to leave town soon and wanted it completed before he leftAt the time we did this install for him - my crew was working 7days a week to keep up with the demands of their schedule After the system was completed, and *** *** left town - he had people - a landscaper and a house sitter watching his propertyOne of them reported a problem to him and he in turn called me to report itHe reported a line for a bush spraying water up near the wall in back behind the pool and a plant in front that looked very dryHe sent me pictures of both of theseI then sent my crew out there to repair these itemsThey put a new emitter on the line for the plant that he reported spraying water, as the one we originally put there was missing*** *** informed me that his landscaper had changed the watering time from minutes to minutes and he preferred to stay with that programWe did not adjust that in anywayThey also put a larger emitter on the plant in front that was drying upWhile they were there - the ground was very wet in areasThis was in part due to watering for minutes at a time, but they also discovered several plants in the back yard that had no emittersSomeone had apparently opened them way too far and they blew of when the system ran - causing way too much water to come out of the linesWe replaced all of those missing emitters This was all done as a courtesy and at no cost to himAfter this visit I called him to report what we had found and - this is when all the problems started*** *** was wanting to speak to the person that I had visit his propertyI informed him that all correspondence goes through the office ( me ) and that I do not provide my employees cell phone numbers to customers, and that I would handle anything he needed He would not take my word for what they had found and was also wanting to know exactly how many gallon emitters and how many gallon emitters there were on the system & their locationI informed him that the only way to now this would be to go out there and count themThis while problem is obviously all due to a conflict between myself & him from the beginning because I would not provide cell #'s to my employees for him He became very aggravated and rude with me and eventually hung up on my when I told him he could not call any of my employeesI STILL after that, did ask one employee call him after this visit - to help satisfy him - and he was told the same thing that I told him, and he thanked me for allowing that phone call He continued to email me - ( he would not call & speak to me ) reporting that there was still a problem with the systemI pulled employees off of another job site three more times to go to his propertyOn those visits we checked over the new system that we installed thoroughly and did not discover any leaks, nor did we witness any old line running or leaking at the times we were there Then he e-mailed me and stated "There is a leak in the system that was reported to him by the person watching his houseHis did not supply any picture this time, and his description of the location in that email to me was: 'FACING THE HOUSE AND THE MAIN FRONT DOOR ~ THERE IS A SMALL PATIO / WALKWAY TO THE LEFTTHE LEAK AND POOLING OF WATER IS ADJACENT TO THE WALKWAY, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AS YOU ENTER THE WALKWAYIT MIGHT BE A LEAK IN CONNECTION WITH A GALLON EMITTER"I again sent me crew out there and they checked that system that we had installed again, no leaksThe only water in the area that he described was due to a pipe that is a discharge line for his pool when that is running, and there was a small puddle of water thereI e-mailed him again and sent him a picture of what we had found, and also told him again - that NO PART of the system we installed had any leaks We went back & forth with e-mails several times and he finally stated that he felt that he was going to have to hire another irrigation company to find the problem, and that he may have to return to *** to take care of the problem I then told him that I did not feel that either of these were necessary measures and that I was certain that we could get it resolved He never offered to arrange at anytime for the person(s) reporting the problem to meet us there I also advised him at that time to read our warranty information as it clearly states that work on our system attempted by anyone other than one of our technicians will void the parts warranty He chose to do both of these anyway He then e-mailed me and stated that the he was returning to *** & had hired another irrigation company to come out & find the leakAfter he returned to *** & met with this other company, he then emailed me again and stated that there WAS a leak causing problemsHe described it to me in detail and requested that we take action by July I told him that I would again send someone out threw while he was still there to address the issue. On that visit - *** *** was present and showed them the problem areaThe leak was NOT where he had described to us at allIt was an old line with an old valve - apparently from the old system and was not anywhere close to where he had described to usIt was actually behind a gate in a garden area and was not in any area that we had dug a trench to install any new line for his new systemIt also was never present & running at anytime we were on his propertyIt would have had to of been activated by someone watching his property after he left town the first time for it to be running On this same visit - he pointed out to my crew, trees that apparently did not get lines to them when we installed the new systemThis was the area where my crew had gotten attacked by the bees - so I am sure it was unfortunately and inadvertently missed in errorWe not only added lines for those trees at that time, we also dug up the line and installed another octopus port onto that line per his request ~ that WAS NOT included in our original proposal because he stated that he may want to add more plants to that area sometime in the futureAn octopus port is a connection that is undergroundIt is installed onto the pipe (the main line supplying water) underground and allows water lines to come above ground from it to supply water to six plants During this entire mess we did not request that he return to *** to solve the problem, and we certainly did not ask or advise him to hire a competitor to come out and make any adjustments to our system or to review the problem He chose to do this on his own We certainly would have met with him if he had requested - and we did just that - but only after he chose to hire a competitor and then email me and we request that we take action due to what another company had found Still - We did that on our last visit - in hopes to avoid any more problems or issues with him. Once this was all over - he then e-mailed me and was asking for reimbursement for some of his expenses in hiring someone elseWe had done everything we could and then some - to please him and I had always promptly responded to each and everyone of his e-mailsI had sent someone out to his property on different occasions at no cost to him to look for problems that he had described to meWhile they were there - on each of those visits - our system that we installed was checked over thoroughly and there were no problems or leaks with our system ( with the exception of the missing emitters on our first visit) that were taken care of immediately)Nor was there any evidence of any other water running - or leaking - or pooling at anytime we were there.I told him that I would not be reimbursing him for anything It was at this time that he e-mailed me again and stated that if I did not reimburse him for what he was asking - that he would file a complaint with Revdex.com or Angie's List My response to him was that I have been running this business for years and have NEVER encountered any problems or complaints from any customer in all those years as I had from him, and that we had done everything possible to satisfy him I also told him that we had never had a complaint in years - especially one that he felt needed to go to either the Revdex.com or Angie's ListI told him that we had never had a complaint with the Revdex.com and that we have nothing but an A+ rating with *** *** and that we work very hard to maintain that and are very proud of itI also told him that if he chose to tarnish that reputation withan act like that - that it would void his warranty and that that would be the end of any service by us to him or his system Why would I want to continue to do business with someone that apparently is not happy with our services no matter what we do for him? The damage is done and I truly feel that it would only cause more problems in the future to do any business with him, and that we are both better of going our separate ways Respectfully,*** ***, Co-Owner & Office ManagerDEPENDABLE IRRIGATIN, INC

Good Morning  ~While I do truly regret that this ended in such a bad way ~ I am not willing to change my decision nor am I going to reimburse him for hiring a competitor in our field!  I am listing my reasons why - in order to his last response:  1)  WE DID deactivate the old system that we replaced with our new system.  The line that was causing him the problems - as I have stated repeatedly, was not in anyway connected to our new system and was never encountered by us at anytime while we were on his property.  It was not even evident at the time we tested his old system & gave him our proposal for a new system.  2)  WE DID fix the problem when he requested, and this was our 5th or 6th trip out to his property at no charge since this whole problem began.  Again - the problem line was never encountered by us in any way & was never hooked up  to the new system that we put in.  3)  There was NOT A LEAK IN THE SYSTEM THAT WE INSTALLED & THERE NEVER WAS!   The leak that he was experiencing was not in anyway connected to the old system that we deactivated - and not to the new system that we installed.  It was never active or encountered by us at anytime - before or after the installation we did.  IT HAD TO BE FOUND AND TURNED ON MANUALLY BY SOMEONE ON HIS PROPERTY APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS AFTER HE LEFT [redacted].  OUR SYSTEM HAD BEEN RUNNING FOR THAT 2 WEEKS WITH NO PROBEMS OR LEAKS.  While there were minor problems with our system in the beginning (missing emitters) all except one - that were caused by someone adjusting & opening them too far ~ and we took care of that problem immediately, at no charge.  4)  I told him repeatedly that I did not feel it was necessary for him to return to [redacted].  He could have even had the person reporting the problem to him, meet us there if he felt that was necessary.  When he chose to return to [redacted] from [redacted] ~ we would have been happy to meet with him to resolve the problem at no charge - but he made the decision to hire a competitor.  Had he asked us to meet with him - we would have taken care of the problem at that time - at no charge - in order to maintain a happy business relationship & to assure that our customer was satisfied.  5)  Even after he did return to [redacted] & did hire a competitor - WE STILL came out to fix the problem once and for all.  I never actually told him that his warranty was void because he filed this complaint - I did however advise him before that fact - that he should read our warranty that clearly states that any attempted repair to our new system by anyone other than one of our technicians would void the warranty.  I also did advise him that it would be a shame to void his warranty by filing a complaint with Revdex.com or [redacted] - (which he did both).  His warranty is not void due to him filing any complaint anywhere.  In fact - I di not ever tell him it was void.  I do feel however - that our business with him is done - as he is apparently not happy - no matter what we have tried to do for him and I feel that it is better for both of us to go our separate way - rather than to cause more problems in the future.  This is the first and only complaint that I have ever encountered in 12 years of operating this business and as I stated before - I feel that the problem is actually all derived from his personal conflict with me on the telephone in the very beginning ~ when I refused to give him cell #'s for my employees.  I am not comfortable with doing any business with anyone that keeps insisting on reporting false facts - or revealing only what he wants to.  The money he is asking for to be reimbursed is no where near the expense that I endured in trying to resolve this for him and the numerous trips we made out there at no charge  - not to mention the medical bills that were received due to the numerous bee stings that my crew encountered while at his property.  It is better for everyone involved - that we leave things alone & go our separate ways.  The system that we installed is working properly and is not leaking & never was.  Best Regards, [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Dependable's response obscures basic facts.  
1.  Dependable failed to deactivate the old irrigation system when it installed the new system.  
2.  When it came to our property on July 25 to correct this error it took about one hour to accomplish the task, the task it did not perform during the initial installation.  
3.  When initially informed of the apparent leak, Dependable went to our home and reported that it re-checked the "entire" system and found no leak.  It repeated this in several subsequent emails.
4.  On my return to ** from [redacted] I immediately observed the apparent leak.  I hired an irrigation specialist who confirmed the leak and capped it.  
5.  After being informed that the leak was located and capped — the leak Dependable assured me did not exist — Dependable responded favorably to my request that it take corrective action.  
It is unfortunate that I had to travel from [redacted] and compensate others to locate leak(s) that Dependable said did not exist.  Once Dependable was persuaded that the problem was real, it took action to correct its initial omission.  Dependable says it won't compensate me for the cost of hiring others to identify its error.  Further, it says it  has voided my warranty because  I lodged  this complaint.  I  will let others draw their own conclusions. 

Regards,

Good Morning  ~While I do truly regret that this ended in such a bad way ~ I am not willing to change my decision nor am I going to reimburse him for hiring a competitor in our field!  I am listing my reasons why - in order to his last response:  1)  WE DID deactivate the old system that we replaced with our new system.  The line that was causing him the problems - as I have stated repeatedly, was not in anyway connected to our new system and was never encountered by us at anytime while we were on his property.  It was not even evident at the time we tested his old system & gave him our proposal for a new system.  2)  WE DID fix the problem when he requested, and this was our 5th or 6th trip out to his property at no charge since this whole problem began.  Again - the problem line was never encountered by us in any way & was never hooked up  to the new system that we put in.  3)  There was NOT A LEAK IN THE SYSTEM THAT WE INSTALLED & THERE NEVER WAS!   The leak that he was experiencing was not in anyway connected to the old system that we deactivated - and not to the new system that we installed.  It was never active or encountered by us at anytime - before or after the installation we did.  IT HAD TO BE FOUND AND TURNED ON MANUALLY BY SOMEONE ON HIS PROPERTY APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS AFTER HE LEFT [redacted].  OUR SYSTEM HAD BEEN RUNNING FOR THAT 2 WEEKS WITH NO PROBEMS OR LEAKS.  While there were minor problems with our system in the beginning (missing emitters) all except one - that were caused by someone adjusting & opening them too far ~ and we took care of that problem immediately, at no charge.  4)  I told him repeatedly that I did not feel it was necessary for him to return to [redacted].  He could have even had the person reporting the problem to him, meet us there if he felt that was necessary.  When he chose to return to [redacted] from [redacted] ~ we would have been happy to meet with him to resolve the problem at no charge - but he made the decision to hire a competitor.  Had he asked us to meet with him - we would have taken care of the problem at that time - at no charge - in order to maintain a happy business relationship & to assure that our customer was satisfied.  5)  Even after he did return to [redacted] & did hire a competitor - WE STILL came out to fix the problem once and for all.  I never actually told him that his warranty was void because he filed this complaint - I did however advise him before that fact - that he should read our warranty that clearly states that any attempted repair to our new system by anyone other than one of our technicians would void the warranty.  I also did advise him that it would be a shame to void his warranty by filing a complaint with Revdex.com or [redacted] - (which he did both).  His warranty is not void due to him filing any complaint anywhere.  In fact - I di not ever tell him it was void.  I do feel however - that our business with him is done - as he is apparently not happy - no matter what we have tried to do for him and I feel that it is better for both of us to go our separate way - rather than to cause more problems in the future.  This is the first and only complaint that I have ever encountered in 12 years of operating this business and as I stated before - I feel that the problem is actually all derived from his personal conflict with me on the telephone in the very beginning ~ when I refused to give him cell #'s for my employees.  I am not comfortable with doing any business with anyone that keeps insisting on reporting false facts - or revealing only what he wants to.  The money he is asking for to be reimbursed is no where near the expense that I endured in trying to resolve this for him and the numerous trips we made out there at no charge  - not to mention the medical bills that were received due to the numerous bee stings that my crew encountered while at his property.  It is better for everyone involved - that we leave things alone & go our separate ways.  The system that we installed is working properly and is not leaking & never was.  Best Regards, [redacted]

First I would like to point out that I have attached a copy of our warranty information for you. This warranty is printed at the bottom of all of our invoices and our bid sheets/contracts. After we completed this system - the system was tested and approved by [redacted] and he signed the contract...

and gave us the final payment on that system. Our warranty clearly states that if there are any attempted repairs to the system by anyone other than one of our technicians, then the parts warranty is void. We tell our customers to watch their system and if there is any problem or adjustments needed within 30 days of completion - they are  entitled to ONE visit at no charge to address those issues.  At this time the line that was causing the leaks and problems was not active or running when we ran our system. Nor was that line and/or valve discovered during the installation of the system we put in for him. When we install a new system we tell the customer that when we are running the trenches to put the new lines in, we do remove as much of the old line as possible that we come across, and we did that. The problem area that caused this complaint is not in any location that we dug a trench to install new lines. Nor is the valve for that line in the same location as the valves from the old system that we did remove and replace with new valves. Those are located in a valve box near the timer ( we did not install a new timer either). We did not encounter this old line or valve at any time & it is not connected to the new system that we put in, in any way. While we were installing this system for him, my crew encountered and was attacked by an active bee hive and sustained numerous bee stings. [redacted] did call a bee keeper and had the hive deactivated.  Even with this, my crew continued working - as they knew he was preparing to leave town soon and wanted it completed before he left. At the time we did this install for him - my crew was working 7days a week to keep up with the demands of their schedule.  After the system was completed, and [redacted] left town - he had 2 people - a landscaper and a house sitter watching his property. One of them reported a problem to him and he in turn called me to report it. He reported a line for a bush spraying water up near the wall in back behind the pool and a plant in front that looked very dry. He sent me pictures of both of these. I then sent my crew out there to repair these items. They put a new emitter on the line for the plant that he reported spraying water, as the one we originally put there was missing. [redacted] informed me that his landscaper had changed the watering time from 30 minutes to 90 minutes and he preferred to stay with that program. We did not adjust that in anyway. They also put a larger emitter on the plant in front that was drying up. While they were there - the ground was very wet in areas. This was in part due to watering for 90 minutes at a time, but they also discovered several plants in the back yard that had no emitters. Someone had apparently opened them way too far and they blew of when the system ran - causing way too much water to come out of the lines. We replaced all of those missing emitters.  This was all done as a courtesy and at no cost to him. After this visit I called him to report what we had found and - this is when all the problems started. [redacted] was wanting to speak to the person that I had visit his property. I informed him that all correspondence goes through the office ( me ) and that I do not provide my employees cell phone numbers to customers, and that I would handle anything he needed.  He would not take my word for what they had found and was also wanting to know exactly how many 2 gallon emitters and how many 10 gallon emitters there were on the system & their location. I informed him that the only way to now this would be to go out there and count them. This while problem is obviously all due to a conflict between myself & him from the beginning because I would not provide cell #'s to my employees for him.  He became very aggravated and rude with me and eventually hung up on my when I told him he could not call any of my employees. I STILL after that, did ask one employee call him after this visit - to help satisfy him - and he was told the same thing that I told him, and he thanked me for allowing that phone call.   He continued to email me - ( he would not call & speak to me ) reporting that there was still a problem with the system. I pulled employees off of another job site three more times to go to his property. On those visits we checked over the new system that we installed thoroughly and did not discover any leaks, nor did we witness any old line running or leaking at the times we were there.  Then he e-mailed me and stated  "There is a leak in the system that was reported to him by the person watching his house. His did not supply any picture this time, and his description of the location in that email to me was: 'FACING THE HOUSE AND THE MAIN FRONT DOOR ~ THERE IS A SMALL PATIO / WALKWAY TO THE LEFT. THE LEAK AND POOLING OF WATER IS ADJACENT TO THE WALKWAY, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AS YOU ENTER THE WALKWAY. IT MIGHT BE A LEAK IN CONNECTION WITH A 2 GALLON EMITTER". I again sent me crew out there and they checked that system that we had installed.  again, no leaks. The only water in the area that he described was due to a pipe that is a discharge line for his pool when that is running, and there was a small puddle of water there. I e-mailed him again and sent him a picture of what we had found, and also told him again - that NO PART of the system we installed had any leaks.  We went back & forth with e-mails several times and he finally stated that he felt that he was going to have to hire another irrigation company to find the problem, and that he may have to return to [redacted] to take care of the problem.  I then told him that I did not feel that either of these were necessary measures and that I was certain that we could get it resolved.  He never offered to arrange at anytime for the person(s) reporting the problem to meet us there.  I also advised him at that time to read our warranty information as it clearly states that work on our system attempted by anyone other than one of our technicians will void the parts warranty.  He chose to do both of these anyway.   He then e-mailed me and stated that the he was returning to [redacted] & had hired another irrigation company to come out & find the leak. After he returned to [redacted] & met with this other company, he then emailed me again and stated that there WAS a leak causing problems. He described it to me in detail and requested that we take action by July 25. I told him that I would again send someone out threw while he was still there to address the issue. On that visit - [redacted] was present and showed them the problem area. The leak was NOT where he had described to us at all. It was an old line with an old valve - apparently from the old system and was not anywhere close to where he had described to us. It was actually behind a gate in a garden area and was not in any area that we had dug a trench to install any new line for his new system. It also was never present & running at anytime we were on his property. It would have had to of been activated by someone watching his property after he left town the first time for it to be running.  On this same visit - he pointed out to my crew, 2 trees that apparently did not get lines to them when we installed the new system. This was the area where my crew had gotten attacked by the bees - so I am sure it was unfortunately and inadvertently missed in error. We not only added 2 lines for those trees at that time, we also dug up the line and installed another octopus port onto that line per his request ~ that WAS NOT included in our original proposal  because he stated that he may want to add more plants to that area sometime in the future. An octopus port is a connection that is underground. It is installed onto the pipe (the main line supplying water) underground and allows 6 water lines to come above ground from it to supply water to six plants.  During this entire mess we did not request that he return to [redacted] to solve the problem, and we certainly did not ask or advise him to hire a competitor to come out and make any adjustments to our system or to review the problem.  He chose to do this on his own.  We certainly would have met with him if he had requested - and we did just that - but only after he chose to hire a competitor and then email me and we request that we take action due to what another company had found.  Still - We did that on our last visit - in hopes to avoid any more problems or issues with him. Once this was all over - he then e-mailed me and was asking for reimbursement for some of his expenses in hiring someone else. We had done everything we could and then some - to please him and I had always promptly responded to each and everyone of his e-mails. I had sent someone out to his property on 4 different occasions at no cost to him to look for problems that he had described to me. While they were there - on each of those visits - our system that we installed was checked over thoroughly and there were no problems or leaks with our system ( with the exception of the missing emitters on our first visit) that were taken care of immediately). Nor was there any evidence of any other water running - or leaking - or pooling at anytime we were there.I told him that I would not be reimbursing him for anything.  It was at this time that he e-mailed me again and stated that if I did not reimburse him for what he was asking - that he would file a complaint with Revdex.com or Angie's List.  My response to him was that I have been running this business for 12 years and have NEVER encountered any problems or complaints from any customer in all those years as I had from him, and that we had done everything possible to satisfy him.  I also told him that we had never had a complaint in 12 years - especially one that he felt needed to go to either the Revdex.com or Angie's List. I told him that we had never had a complaint with the Revdex.com and that we have nothing but an A+ rating with [redacted] and that we work very hard to maintain that and are very proud of it. I also told him that if he chose to tarnish that reputation withan act like that - that it would void his warranty and that that would be the end of any service by us to him or his system.  Why would I want to continue to do business with someone that apparently is not happy with our services no matter what we do for him? The damage is done and I truly feel that it would only cause more problems in the future to do any business with him, and that we are both better of going our separate ways.  Respectfully,[redacted],  Co-Owner & Office ManagerDEPENDABLE IRRIGATIN, INC.

Review: I describe below a dispute with Dependable Irrigation.

In brief, Dependable Irrigation recently installed a new irrigation system to replace a leaky old one at my home in [redacted]. When leaks appeared, Dependable checked and asserted there were no leaks. The leaks continued so I needed to hire independent contractors to confirm the existence of leaks. Although Dependable finally took corrective action after the leaks were confirmed, it has denied my request that it reimburse me for the cost ($215) of the independent contractors whom I called for help.

When I told Dependable Irrigation that I would inform the Revdex.com (and perhaps [redacted]) of this dispute, Dependable Irrigation said it would void my 5-year parts warranty in apparent retaliation.

I retained Dependable Irrigation (“Dependable”) in June 2015 to install a new irrigation system and cap the flow of water to an existing system that the new system would replace. I explained to Dependable that the old system had many leaks and needed to be replaced.

Dependable performed the work during three days (June 12-14). They hauled away components of the old system. I subsequently left for [redacted] where I planned to spend the summer months.

On July 15, our landscape contractor notified me of an apparent leak. I alerted Dependable and specified the location. After visiting our property Dependable reported, “We checked everything. There are no leaks in your system” (emphasis added). Dependable also reported that the “only” evidence of water was “near a pipe that drains from your pool.”

Because of the discrepancy in these two reports, I asked an individual whom I retained to watch the property in my absence to determine if she could observe a possible leak. She reported a “very wet” patch of ground in the same location identified by our landscape contractor.

I told Dependable of this second report. I asked to speak directly to the person who had checked the entire system and found no leaks. [redacted] of Dependable responded, “I understand you may have questions - but you need to understand they are working out in the field 7 days a week. It was Lee [Schneiders] that visited your property. Please let me know what info you want or need, and I will do my best to get it to you. I gave you info & a pic of what they found.” I asked, again, to speak directly with [redacted] to ensure that he had examined the correct location. [redacted] declined that second request. She said, in part, “There is nothing wrong with your system…There are no leaks. Everything is running as it should be.”

Faced with conflicting reports, the inability to speak with [redacted], and an unattended leak, I advised [redacted] that I felt it necessary to return to [redacted] from [redacted] to personally assess the situation. [redacted] responded, in part, “I have given you all information that you have asked for…There is no leak…”

On my return to [redacted] I observed pooling water in the location that had been identified by the landscape contractor and the individual watching our home. Given Dependable’s assertion that there was no leak, my only option was to retain a separate landscape/irrigation firm to investigate. On July 22, in my presence, the firm located and capped the leak. The source of the leak was a line in the old irrigation system, the system that Dependable was to have deactivated.

The next day there was evidence of a separate leak. This time, I asked my landscape contractor to assess the situation. She located a leak — again in the old line —upstream from the leak that had been identified and capped on July 22. She capped the new leak on July 23. Shortly thereafter evidence of a third leak appeared, again upstream from the second leak. After more investigation, it became apparent that Dependable had not fully deactivated the old system and water was flowing to both the new and part of the old system.

I informed Dependable of the multiple leaks. I requested that it take corrective action to fully deactivate the old system no later than July 25 so that I could return to [redacted]. Dependable came to my home on July 25 and capped the flow of water to the old irrigation system. There has been no subsequent evidence of leaks.

On July 29, I requested that Dependable reimburse me $150 for the cost of the firm that confirmed and capped the initial leak. I also requested reimbursement of $65 for landscape contractor who located and capped the second leak. I requested no compensation for the time (one week) and cost (travel, etc.) associated with my return to [redacted] from [redacted].

On July 29 [redacted] responded, in part, “[N]o - I am not going to reimburse you for anything.” She added, “We did not ask you to call others in to check these problems - nor did we ask you to interrupt your summer & return to [redacted].” While [redacted] refers to “these problems,” Dependable previously denied on multiple occasions that there were any problems.

[redacted] claimed on July 29 that the previous system “was NOT active and running when we completed & tested your new system.” However, as evidenced by the three leaks, the previous system clearly was active. This is because Dependable did not cap it off when installing the new system. [redacted] acknowledged as much on July 29: referring to Dependable’s July 25 visit, she wrote, “We have…taken care of that problem for good…”

To review:

1. Dependable was hired to install a new system and cap the flow of water to an old (existing) system.

2. Two sources reported an apparent leak. I described the location to Dependable.

3. Dependable assured me on multiple occasions, “There are no leaks. Everything is running as it should be.”

4. Because of discrepancies in reports I was receiving, I needed to return to [redacted] from [redacted] to assess the situation.

5. After my return, two different firms identified and capped leaks.

6. When I asked Dependable to take corrective action it did so, after having repeatedly told me that there were no leaks.

7. Dependable has declined to reimburse me for costs incurred in identifying the leak(s) — the leak(s) Dependable said did not exist.

8. For good measure, Dependable said, “We did not ask you to call others in to check these problems - nor did we ask you to interrupt your summer & return to [redacted].” Of course, had I not returned to [redacted] and hired others there still would be leaks.

9. Deactivating the old system (a straightforward task that eventually took about an hour) was part of Dependable’s initial responsibility. Dependable claims that when it finished the original job the old system was not active. Yet within a month leaks were directly traced to the old system.

The principal cost of resolving this situation has been my cost in needing to return to [redacted] from [redacted], along with the interruption of my vacation and other related impacts. I have been willing to absorb that. I requested only that Dependable reimburse me for the cost of two contractors who identified problems that Dependable said were non-existent.

When I told [redacted] I would seek to resolve this dispute by reporting it to the Revdex.com, she said doing so would cause Dependable to void our 5-year parts warranty. Specifically, she wrote, “…[I]t would be a shame to have your 5 year warranty on your parts voided due to a selfish act as that…” I asked what act she referred to and she responded, “The act of you filling a bad complaint or report to either the Revdex.com or [redacted] is the act I am referring to…We have nothing but an A+ rating with both those companies and if you choose to change that over this - then yes - your warranty will be void…”Desired Settlement: I seek reimbursement of $215 for expenditures I incurred to identify errors on the part of Dependable Irrigation.

Business

Response:

First I would like to point out that I have attached a copy of our warranty information for you. This warranty is printed at the bottom of all of our invoices and our bid sheets/contracts. After we completed this system - the system was tested and approved by [redacted] and he signed the contract and gave us the final payment on that system. Our warranty clearly states that if there are any attempted repairs to the system by anyone other than one of our technicians, then the parts warranty is void. We tell our customers to watch their system and if there is any problem or adjustments needed within 30 days of completion - they are entitled to ONE visit at no charge to address those issues. At this time the line that was causing the leaks and problems was not active or running when we ran our system. Nor was that line and/or valve discovered during the installation of the system we put in for him. When we install a new system we tell the customer that when we are running the trenches to put the new lines in, we do remove as much of the old line as possible that we come across, and we did that. The problem area that caused this complaint is not in any location that we dug a trench to install new lines. Nor is the valve for that line in the same location as the valves from the old system that we did remove and replace with new valves. Those are located in a valve box near the timer ( we did not install a new timer either). We did not encounter this old line or valve at any time & it is not connected to the new system that we put in, in any way. While we were installing this system for him, my crew encountered and was attacked by an active bee hive and sustained numerous bee stings. [redacted] did call a bee keeper and had the hive deactivated. Even with this, my crew continued working - as they knew he was preparing to leave town soon and wanted it completed before he left. At the time we did this install for him - my crew was working 7days a week to keep up with the demands of their schedule. After the system was completed, and [redacted] left town - he had 2 people - a landscaper and a house sitter watching his property. One of them reported a problem to him and he in turn called me to report it. He reported a line for a bush spraying water up near the wall in back behind the pool and a plant in front that looked very dry. He sent me pictures of both of these. I then sent my crew out there to repair these items. They put a new emitter on the line for the plant that he reported spraying water, as the one we originally put there was missing. [redacted] informed me that his landscaper had changed the watering time from 30 minutes to 90 minutes and he preferred to stay with that program. We did not adjust that in anyway. They also put a larger emitter on the plant in front that was drying up. While they were there - the ground was very wet in areas. This was in part due to watering for 90 minutes at a time, but they also discovered several plants in the back yard that had no emitters. Someone had apparently opened them way too far and they blew of when the system ran - causing way too much water to come out of the lines. We replaced all of those missing emitters. This was all done as a courtesy and at no cost to him. After this visit I called him to report what we had found and - this is when all the problems started. [redacted] was wanting to speak to the person that I had visit his property. I informed him that all correspondence goes through the office ( me ) and that I do not provide my employees cell phone numbers to customers, and that I would handle anything he needed. He would not take my word for what they had found and was also wanting to know exactly how many 2 gallon emitters and how many 10 gallon emitters there were on the system & their location. I informed him that the only way to now this would be to go out there and count them. This while problem is obviously all due to a conflict between myself & him from the beginning because I would not provide cell #'s to my employees for him. He became very aggravated and rude with me and eventually hung up on my when I told him he could not call any of my employees. I STILL after that, did ask one employee call him after this visit - to help satisfy him - and he was told the same thing that I told him, and he thanked me for allowing that phone call. He continued to email me - ( he would not call & speak to me ) reporting that there was still a problem with the system. I pulled employees off of another job site three more times to go to his property. On those visits we checked over the new system that we installed thoroughly and did not discover any leaks, nor did we witness any old line running or leaking at the times we were there. Then he e-mailed me and stated "There is a leak in the system that was reported to him by the person watching his house. His did not supply any picture this time, and his description of the location in that email to me was: 'FACING THE HOUSE AND THE MAIN FRONT DOOR ~ THERE IS A SMALL PATIO / WALKWAY TO THE LEFT. THE LEAK AND POOLING OF WATER IS ADJACENT TO THE WALKWAY, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AS YOU ENTER THE WALKWAY. IT MIGHT BE A LEAK IN CONNECTION WITH A 2 GALLON EMITTER". I again sent me crew out there and they checked that system that we had installed. again, no leaks. The only water in the area that he described was due to a pipe that is a discharge line for his pool when that is running, and there was a small puddle of water there. I e-mailed him again and sent him a picture of what we had found, and also told him again - that NO PART of the system we installed had any leaks. We went back & forth with e-mails several times and he finally stated that he felt that he was going to have to hire another irrigation company to find the problem, and that he may have to return to [redacted] to take care of the problem. I then told him that I did not feel that either of these were necessary measures and that I was certain that we could get it resolved. He never offered to arrange at anytime for the person(s) reporting the problem to meet us there. I also advised him at that time to read our warranty information as it clearly states that work on our system attempted by anyone other than one of our technicians will void the parts warranty. He chose to do both of these anyway. He then e-mailed me and stated that the he was returning to [redacted] & had hired another irrigation company to come out & find the leak. After he returned to [redacted] & met with this other company, he then emailed me again and stated that there WAS a leak causing problems. He described it to me in detail and requested that we take action by July 25. I told him that I would again send someone out threw while he was still there to address the issue. On that visit - [redacted] was present and showed them the problem area. The leak was NOT where he had described to us at all. It was an old line with an old valve - apparently from the old system and was not anywhere close to where he had described to us. It was actually behind a gate in a garden area and was not in any area that we had dug a trench to install any new line for his new system. It also was never present & running at anytime we were on his property. It would have had to of been activated by someone watching his property after he left town the first time for it to be running. On this same visit - he pointed out to my crew, 2 trees that apparently did not get lines to them when we installed the new system. This was the area where my crew had gotten attacked by the bees - so I am sure it was unfortunately and inadvertently missed in error. We not only added 2 lines for those trees at that time, we also dug up the line and installed another octopus port onto that line per his request ~ that WAS NOT included in our original proposal because he stated that he may want to add more plants to that area sometime in the future. An octopus port is a connection that is underground. It is installed onto the pipe (the main line supplying water) underground and allows 6 water lines to come above ground from it to supply water to six plants. During this entire mess we did not request that he return to [redacted] to solve the problem, and we certainly did not ask or advise him to hire a competitor to come out and make any adjustments to our system or to review the problem. He chose to do this on his own. We certainly would have met with him if he had requested - and we did just that - but only after he chose to hire a competitor and then email me and we request that we take action due to what another company had found. Still - We did that on our last visit - in hopes to avoid any more problems or issues with him. Once this was all over - he then e-mailed me and was asking for reimbursement for some of his expenses in hiring someone else. We had done everything we could and then some - to please him and I had always promptly responded to each and everyone of his e-mails. I had sent someone out to his property on 4 different occasions at no cost to him to look for problems that he had described to me. While they were there - on each of those visits - our system that we installed was checked over thoroughly and there were no problems or leaks with our system ( with the exception of the missing emitters on our first visit) that were taken care of immediately). Nor was there any evidence of any other water running - or leaking - or pooling at anytime we were there.I told him that I would not be reimbursing him for anything. It was at this time that he e-mailed me again and stated that if I did not reimburse him for what he was asking - that he would file a complaint with Revdex.com or Angie's List. My response to him was that I have been running this business for 12 years and have NEVER encountered any problems or complaints from any customer in all those years as I had from him, and that we had done everything possible to satisfy him. I also told him that we had never had a complaint in 12 years - especially one that he felt needed to go to either the Revdex.com or Angie's List. I told him that we had never had a complaint with the Revdex.com and that we have nothing but an A+ rating with [redacted] and that we work very hard to maintain that and are very proud of it. I also told him that if he chose to tarnish that reputation withan act like that - that it would void his warranty and that that would be the end of any service by us to him or his system. Why would I want to continue to do business with someone that apparently is not happy with our services no matter what we do for him? The damage is done and I truly feel that it would only cause more problems in the future to do any business with him, and that we are both better of going our separate ways. Respectfully,[redacted], Co-Owner & Office ManagerDEPENDABLE IRRIGATIN, INC.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.