ComplaintsforRiver City Environmental Inc

• Initial Complaint

  10/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 9/23, I called River City to deal with a clogged toilet. I was told the driver would call when he was leaving his last job and heading to my site. He called at 4:04 to say he was on his way. He arrived at 4:37 (see PDF attached with screen shots of timing). He was supposed to call and let me now how much the job would entail. He never called and then the tenant texted me just after 5pm to say that he was already gone and that it was a very quick job that was done with a snake. Since he never called back, I assumed i would pay the emergency call out fee ($250) plus an hour of time since they round up ($250). I was charged for two hours instead of one. I sent an email to the company and asked them to confirm with the driver that it was 2 hours. They responded that he ws there two hours. Then, I send over the screen grabs of his calls and the tenants confirmation that he was already gone (all time stamped) and I haven't been able to get a further response.

  

  Business response

  10/24/2023

  Thanks for bringing your concern to our attention.
  The service was called in as a same day, weekend emergency service. The rates quoted for this service were as follows
  $250 emergency call out fee
  $250 per hour rate, rate is charged Port to Port
  
  In our response to your email, it was confirmed that the 2hr rate was correct. Again, billable rate is associated to Port-to-Port times.Port to Port includes drive time to the location, time on site, and drive time back to our dispatch area.
  
  Based on your overview of how you thought billing would occur, there *** have been some confusion related to the communicated rate at the time services were ordered. We apologize for any confusion that *** have occurred when you called in for services.
  
  We want to ensure our customers are properly taken care of and in that light, we will be making an adjustment to the invoice associated to this service. The adjustment will be for one hour of time at a rate of $250.00. The remaining balance on the invoice will be $500.00 which covers the $250.00 call out fee as well as one hour of billable time at the rate of $250.00. Total invoice will be adjusted down from $750.00 to $500.00. Our records indicated the invoice has been paid so we will be providing a refund of $250.00 back to the card the payment was made from.
  
  In addition to this adjustment, we will work internally with our teams to ensure clear and specific information is provided in associated to our chargeable rates.
  
  Thank you again for allowing us to work through this situation and apologize it required as many steps as it did to get resolved.
  
  ***************************
  Operations Manager | River City Environmental, Inc.
  P: ************ | C: ************
  Working Together for a Clean Environment | www.rivercityusa.com
  

  Customer response

  10/24/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  I appreciate RiverCity Environmental's response as well.  Thanks so much for your help with this.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Our ****** is 9 miles from River City Environmental. However, we were charged $100 fuel surcharge. The on-site employees did leave our site to pick up materials from ******** Plumbing which is 4 miles from our ******. The two employees working on our site left for approximately 2 hours to pick up materials. We were charged $160 an hour for 1 employee and $98 for the second for the time they were getting materials. We were also charged a second surchage of $98.61, however, I have been unable to get an answer from River City as to what this charge was for. They purchased twice as much piping as was necessary and charged us for the materials that were not needed. This was a very straight forward job - 16 feet of pipe along a dock needed replacement. They charge us for 2, twenty foot pieces. Each 20 ft piece is $158. When I spoke to the manager, ****, he told me I could pick up the remaining pipe, however, when I reached out to him via phone and text, he did not answer. Once the River City employee, returned from picking up the supplies, I timed how long it took them to replace the piece of pipe. As it is an exterior pipe that runs along a dock, 16 feet, the job was quick and took less than 30 minutes. I was charged for 2 hours of work for 2 employees. The cost of this small repair was grossly inflated.

  

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  Complaint Rebuttal: 
  River City Environmental (RCE) quoted standard time and material for plumber rates, labor rates port to port, and materials needed for the job to-be-determined rates and materials to the customer.  The pipe needed for the repair is sold in 20-foot lengths. the replacement section was 23 in lengths requiring two sections of pipe to be purchased along with fittings and glue.  Originally the customer had said we used scrap pieces of pipe for the repair and they shouldnt be charged at all. This was incorrect.  After providing the receipt we credited the material charges to cost which the customer agreed was fair.The customer thought that we should not markup material cost at all.  Also, the customer complained that we should not charge time or fuel to pick up material for their repair.
  Finally, this was a same day emergency service repair.  RCE did not charge emergency rates for this same day repair, giving the customer a hefty discount from the beginning. 
  We are issuing a credit to the customer even though we do not think this is the correct thing to do.  We will credit the amount the customer is asking for; $340.00.  RCE already issued a previous credit to the customer that was previously agreed upon.

  Customer response

  04/10/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and accept the credit of $340 that they have agreed to.  ***'s response to this dispute, however, has the following discrepancies.  I would also mention that, when trying to resolve this with ******** and explain that the charge was grossly inflated, he suggested the *** come to our site,remove the piping they fixed and return our payment. He also mentioned getting *** attorneys involved.  
  1.*** never credited any amount back to our account as stated by ***.  **** agreed to issue us a credit, however, when I did not receive the credit, he would not return my call.
  2.I never received a receipt from ***, as stated by ***.  I only have the receipt they provided to my ****************** when I disputed the charge (attached).  The numbers that *** provided do not add up to the $1136.61 total - $160 is unaccounted for. 
  3. The replacement section was approx. 16' in length, not 23' as stated by ***.  Therefore, there was no need to *** to purchase 2 20' pieces. I did not say *** used scrap pieces of pipe as stated by ***.  I asked if I could keep the unused pipe when I learned that so much excess had been purchased and I had paid for this excess. **** agreed to this over the phone but would not return my text when I wanted to pick up the pipe.
  4. This was not a same day emergency service repair, as stated by ***.  I called earlier (maybe one to two weeks) to ask for a bid on a larger project.  When I called the day of the small repair, I was told they had someone in the area and it wouldn't be a problem and they would also discuss the future work.  I never asked to not be charged at all for the work.  
  5. I never suggested they should not mark up their materials cost. I do think that $460 for the replacement of 20 feet of pipe and a few materials is excessive,considering that one 20 foot piece would cost approx. $160 (that is without a contractor discount).  I also believe that a $98 fuel charge is excessive,especially since they are 9 miles from the job site and **** said they had someone in my area when I called.  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My husband and I contacted River City the beginning of June 2021. We needed them to and inspect our leech lines for purposes of installing a pool. After some miscommunication and rescheduled appointments on their end, a gentleman named Chris came out to our house and discovered our leech lines need repaired/replaced. Chris gave us a detailed quote to start the process and recommended we start right away due to the severity of the blockages. The contract dated 6.9.21 states that River City would dig two holes 90’ apart, fill out necessary paperwork and submit to Clackamas County for the next steps on what type of system they require. Knowing that our options were limited and fear of having our septic system back up, we agreed to the price of $1,950 and requested they start work immediately. After two weeks passed without any communication, my husband reached back out to Chris to find out when we could schedule the test holes. Chris and his crew came back out in August and dug two test holes. River City charged my credit card the full amount on September 22, 2021 without any communication. Again - after weeks of no communication from River City or Chris, my husband contacted River City and was informed that Chris was no longer with the company and he dropped the ball on lots of projects, our home being one of them. River City informed my husband that a new project manager (Jeremy) would be in contact to discuss our project. It took my husband contacting Jeremy before we ever heard from him. Then when we did hear from him, he knew nothing of our house. He tried to draw up a new contract and recharge us more money. We had to prove to Jeremy that we in-fact already had a contract, and they had already charged my credit card the full amount of the project. That was September and we STILL have had NOTHING completed on our house. We have two large size mud pit holes in our backyard. We have attempted to contact River City multiple times receiving no communication back.

  

  Business response

  11/03/2021

  We apologize for the delays and communication issues you have experienced, its not what we want for any of our customers and are working through the jobs Chad was handling prior to him departing. 

  We did submit documentation needed for permitting on 10/1 for changes/fixes however have not received approvals back. We are still waiting for them. Attached is that paperwork.

  The 1950.00 outlined that was paid for specifically dealt with the test pits and submittal of paperwork. As indicated by the complaint we did perform this service and took payment associated to it as agreed upon in the documents you attached to this complaint.

   

  We again apologize for the lack of communication and will continue pushing the county for permits. We will ensure better communication as we move forward!

   

  Thanks,

  Jared M*******

  Customer response

  11/04/2021

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

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