ComplaintsforC T Brown Sanitation Service

• Initial Complaint

  12/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contacted CT Brown Sanitation to clean out my septic tank. I was quoted a price of $400 to remove the lids and completely clean my tank out. The 2 man crew showed up and they dug a partial hole down to the tank. They never removed any of the lids. They stuck their pump hose in a hole that was broken on the lid and pumped out the back half of the septic tank (water compartment). They did not pump out the front half of the tank where the sludge is. They said it was completed and I told them it wasn't because you have to remove the lids to clean the tank out thoroughly. I have had the tank emptied previously by another company and know how it is supposed to be done. They asked me to flush the toilet because it was done. The toilet flushed and overflowed. It was still clogged. They took a power hose on the roof and shoved it down the vent pipe, but they didn't put it down far enough. When they turned it on it blew sewage all over my bathtub from the shower lever. The clog did break free, but the front tank was never cleaned out. They handed me a bill for $700 instead of the $400 I was quoted. They didn't even put the dirt back in the hole when they left. The owner called me and asked what the problem was and I explained it to him. He called me a liar and told me his men would never do anything like that. He said his men told him my tank was more than 3 foot deep in the ground and it would be extra to dig whole thing out. I put a tape measure on it and it is 17 inches down. He called me a liar again. He said the clog is undone. I told him if all I needed was it to be unclogged, I would have hired a plumber. His company was hired to clean out my septic tank thoroughly and it wasn't. The lids were never taken off. He tried to bill me almost double what I was quoted for a job that wasn't even a quarter complete. Since then he called and cussed me out, called me every name imaginable, and even threatened to come to my house. I told him we can settle in court.

  Business response

  12/28/2023

  we told cust prices he agreed to them but apparently only heard what he wanted  he called said was gonna dig up  so we called him back to see if had dug up was very rude we got him working and he didnt care  about paying us we went above & beyond so could have a toilet  we just know we will never do work for him again i told him we normally have complements not complaints but oh well next time toilets wont work he can call somebody else customers like that is not woth our time just wanted something for nothing

  Customer response

  01/02/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  1. I never said I would dig up my own septic tank in the original phone call when a price was quoted. I am 60 years old and disabled.

  2. I was quoted a price to dig up and clean my septic tank. That price was $400 plus $35/foot which would total $470.

  3. They never even dug up one lid, only a small section enough to get the hose in the back section of the tank. They pumped the water out and left the sludge in the tank.

  4. They tried to charge almost double what the quoted price was. I told them I would gladly pay the original quoted price when they finished the job. They refused to finish the job. They refused to dig up the lid and clean the tank. I was told if they did it would be $1400. One thousand more than the original price.

  5. I got my adult children over to dig up the lid. I had to buy my own auger system to clean out the main pipe  before it would work properly.

  6. The owner was rude and very unprofessional when I called to complain about the job not being done. 

   

  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have used CT Brown services for years for all our septic issues, and have recommended him to others, including family members who have also hired him. We are in the process of building a new home and needed to hook up an existing septic system to our new build. We asked Tommy to come out and clean the existing septic then give a quote for the job of hooking up to the new build. He quoted us $1500 to hook up the existing septic. We contacted Tommy once we were ready for the septic work to begin on our new build (about 4 months later). He came out and completed the job. He did not tell us of any change to the quote before he started the job. After he completed the job, he said we owed him $3800. More than double what was quoted! When we ask him why, he stated it took him an hour longer than he expected to drill through our basement wall. An hour of extra work does not equate to over doubling our invoice. When we stated this, he said also his costs have gone up. He never said anything about this before starting the job. After contacting him again about this issue, he stated he would take a couple hundred off the invoice. As I stated, we have hired CT brown many times, but after this experience and reading similar complaints from others on BBB and google reviews, I see this has become an unethical business practice for this company. I hope this dispute can be resolved and the septic business admonished for these practices.

  Business response

  12/06/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2021/11/22) */ Dear BBB, I never met with the customer but did talk with her father and based on what he asked me to do I gave him a rough quote of $1500.00. I told him to contact the health dept to see if the system could be saved. Several months later he contacted me to do the work and I met with him at the site, once I saw the changes that the builder had done on the new house I told the father it was going to be much more detail to accomplish the job and the cost was going up, he told me to go ahead and do it. I did everything exactly the way it should be done in accordance with the health department and the quote was a guesstimate based on what was explained to me at the time. Many things changed from tearing down the old house and building the new one. The job turned out to be a different job than what was quoted due to the changes the builders made. Over the past few months we have had to raise the prices especially on labor assistance and this has to be passed onto the customer. The changes on this job actually increased the price to more than $7000.00, but they were not charged that amount. I did call the dad to discuss payment and when he told me he would not be paying, I told him to pay the $1500.00 but to never call and ask for anything again, no services at all and that includes tips on what should be done and or how to do something. He stated no he will get the bill paid he did not want hard feelings. The daughter did pay a portion and the father paid the balance. *** *****

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