Any Plumbers on the 'Hide?

[kthomas]

Need some advice, I think I'm getting fucked by one plumbing contractor.

Had a plumber come out because the washing machine won't drain, and when it tries to drain it fills up the sink next to it. The dishwasher will back up the kitchen sink next to it when it's running. The showers and toilets all drain fine.

The plumbing contractor that came out said that we needed to hydrojet the lines. It's a 1973 built house with cast iron pipes. They said that will fix it. They quoted us a cost of ~$1800 but the wife and I said fuck it, the pipes probably need it. The kid with the hydrojetting tool shows up, runs into my mesquite tree causing damage to it, and proceeds to hydrojet the lines. Tells me I need to run a "chain knocker" through one of the vents (there's some buildup), and that was going to cost $4500. He then leaves, leaving a mess by my house (he used my hoses and didn't even bother to clean up the site afterwards), and peels out of the driveway, chewing up some of the asphalt.

Had the supervisor come over, turns out he's the hydrojetter kids dad. He unplugged the water line to the washing machine, put it down the drain and turned it on to see if it would fill up - drained fine. We then proceeded to connect the washing machine back up to see if it would drain - it immediately filled up the sink next to it. He calls his son (hydrojetter kid), and after the phone call he also tells me I need to chain knock that one vent (for ~$4500). My washing machine is now completely full of water and won't drain.

I'm waiting for a plumber from another company to show up to get a second opinion, but I also wouldn't mind some input from some professional plumbers on the 'hide. Does it sound like I'm getting fucked? Does $4500 seem at all reasonable? Does ~$1800 for hydrojetting sound reasonable? Is this actually a venting issue?

 

[krw]

I workd for a plumber 1 summer when I was a kid. Lerned 3 things. 1 Shit runs downhill 2 Do Not bite your fingernails 3 payday is Fri!! Hope you get your plumbin probs fixxd!!

 

[Missalot]

I'm not a plumber but I owned a couple of coin laundries and clogged pipes were a daily, weekly, monthly thang. Never heard of a chain knocker but I'm guessing it is something that will cut through roots. I used a water jet on a line that was hooked up to my 3000 psi power washer to clean my drains and remove all my clogs. It worked really good and cost about $250. You will need to feed it from a clean out. We once got over $750 in change along with screws, nails, toy cars and other nasty things out of a 20' washer drain for 12 washers.

Anyway, what caught my interest was the plumber running your washer [cold] water line into the drain and it drained with no issues. Then he runs your washer and when it pumps, it fills up the sink? If I read this right, IMO your problem is very local to your washer drain line. I don't know what kind of washer you have, but if it's a residential unit, top or side load, it pumps the water out of the drum with a very small pump (3 gal/min or so) about the size of your fist. It doesn't move water nearly as fast as a full on faucet delivers water from the street at 60 or so psi (5 to 10 g/min). Therefore, if the faucet is turned on max, it's delivering a lot more water than when your washer pump is pumping. So why would your drain handle the volume from the faucet but not a reduced volume from your tiny washer pump? I am going to speculate that if you shorten your drain line from the washer so it only goes down the drain about 12", it might fix your problem. I think the drain hose is bottoming out at the elbow creating its own clog and the water is coming back up the drain and filling your sink. Or I could be wrong.

 

[kthomas]

I'm not a plumber but I owned a couple of coin laundries and clogged pipes were a daily, weekly, monthly thang. Never heard of a chain knocker but I'm guessing it is something that will cut through roots. I used a water jet on a line that was hooked up to my 3000 psi power washer to clean my drains and remove all my clogs. It worked really good and cost about $250. You will need to feed it from a clean out. We once got over $750 in change along with screws, nails, toy cars and other nasty things out of a 20' washer drain for 12 washers.

Anyway, what caught my interest was the plumber running your washer [cold] water line into the drain and it drained with no issues. Then he runs your washer and when it pumps, it fills up the sink? If I read this right, IMO your problem is very local to your washer drain line. I don't know what kind of washer you have, but if it's a residential unit, top or side load, it pumps the water out of the drum with a very small pump (3 gal/min or so) about the size of your fist. It doesn't move water nearly as fast as a full on faucet delivers water from the street at 60 or so psi (5 to 10 g/min). Therefore, if the faucet is turned on max, it's delivering a lot more water than when your washer pump is pumping. So why would your drain handle the volume from the faucet but not a reduced volume from your tiny washer pump? I am going to speculate that if you shorten your drain line from the washer so it only goes down the drain about 12", it might fix your problem. I think the drain hose is bottoming out at the elbow creating its own clog and the water is coming back up the drain and filling your sink. Or I could be wrong.

The drain hose was actually bottomed out. However correcting that hasn't resolved the issue.

The plumber from the new company is about to arrive, so hopefully I have new answers soon.

 

[mahlv]

For $4500 you should be able to replumb the whole house. When we come across steel drains, it's almost always a replacement

 

[kthomas]

For $4500 you should be able to replumb the whole house. When we come across steel drains, it's almost always a replacement

These fuckers said that if they found any damage to the pipes, it would be a minimum of ~$8-10k on top of that $4500 to poly coat the pipe...

 

[mahlv]

I'm in the wrong market, holy shit.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Not a plumber but have done a bit of plumbing a "chain knocker" is just a device that cleans the pipe by spinning a wheel with chains.
$4500 seems OUTRAGEOUS and you probably dont need it.

 

[mahlv]

I'm not sure exactly what chain knocking is, but if it's a chain head on a drain snake meant to knock rust and roots loose etc, then I would almost guarantee they will find damage after running that shit in there

 

[Deputy Dan]

I workd for a plumber 1 summer when I was a kid. Lerned 3 things. 1 Shit runs downhill 2 Do Not bite your fingernails 3 payday is Fri!! Hope you get your plumbin probs fixxd!!

Sounds like my dad's advice. Never understood why he was so darned insistent on not biting my nails until I actually worked with him for a while. All made sense then . . .

A journeyman plumber taught me: there's just some jobs where you have to say, "I don't know how to do that." Course he told me this AFTER he had me crawl through 6 inches of stinking swamp water in a crawl space to hook something up.

And dad's final "plumbing" message, as he dropped me off at college, was to learn to work with my head and not my back.


Anyway - I wouldn't trust the kid. His one job is to sell you on the chain knocker service and is barely trusted to work the hydrojet without supervision.

I'm kind of a do-it-yourself guy, so if it was my house I might climb up on the roof and check the top of the vent directly above the sink to make sure it's not full of leaves, or some bird hasn't made a nest in it. That could block the vent enough to cause the one drain to work poorly. Might also be inclined to try to drop a weighted line down the vent - or use a long pole - to see if it hits any obstruction on the way down. Just don't lose the line or pole . . . The vent is probably a straight drop to a point PAST the actual drain line from the sink. I suppose you could run a hose down it but if you fill the vent, the water will try to find any other way to get out and could cause some excitement elsewhere in the house. If any of that works let me know and I'll send you a bill, for a lot less than $4,500!

 

[kthomas]

2nd company came out and said they would have to run a camera (for ~$250) to find out. But their opinion is that it will either require hydrojetting (which has already been done) or the secondary drainage lines will need to be re-piped. They said if hydrojetting didn't work, chain knocking definitely wouldn't.

And I agree, chain knocking will only expose more problems, or perceived problems for the plumbing companies to try and make $$$.

I have a third, smaller company with really good reviews coming out tomorrow.

 

[kthomas]

Not a plumber but have done a bit of plumbing a "chain knocker" is just a device that cleans the pipe by spinning a wheel with chains.
$4500 seems OUTRAGEOUS and you probably dont need it.

I agree.

2nd company that came out said your same thing.

 

[Bradu]

Being cast iron pipes, I think running a camera down the pipe is a good idea to see what is going on and where the problem is. It will give you a good idea of what will have to be done. I don't know what kind of house you have or how much of the pipes are exposed but at some point the cast iron will need redone so that's something to think about.

 

[OldSalty2]

I think running a camera down the pipe is a good idea to see what is going on and where the problem is.

Thats just the worst...

 

[mi223]

I am a plumber but I avoid drain cleaning.

I am not totally following the terms your drain cleaner is using but you need to tell him to get lost.

I have seen some pretty serious drain cleaning that was done for less than that. I am talking 100ft of 4 in pipe full of sand do to the pipe being damaged.

 

[HousePlant]

Cast iron pipe = it's crushed or rooted at some point and high doses of water back it up. Most often right when it leaves your house and the protection of any concrete or decking above it.

Had this issue at a property with a septic tank. Worked great until you tried flushing a toilet or draining the washing machine. Boom... backup.

Decided to dig it out myself after a plumber ran a camera said he cleared it... didn't.

The pipe was crushed due to some bush roots and age.

Replaced main drain with plastic myself. Frustrating process, but I did it.

Had a guy come redo the septic tank inlet and outlet and drain the tank. Cost me $3500.

Redoing the drain would have cost me another $2500 for what wasn't a very long run and they said they'd have to take out the deck and concrete above it... wrong I just cracked the old pipe out and slid the plastic one in its bore.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Sorry, only worked for Nixon and have no idea how to sweat a pipe...

Sirhr

 

[mi223]

These fuckers said that if they found any damage to the pipes, it would be a minimum of ~$8-10k on top of that $4500 to poly coat the pipe...

Having pipes lined is not cheap,. But it is not 8-10k. I could cut up your floor and replace with pvc for less. I would guess 3-5k with out knowing the house

 

[Texasflyer]

We went thru this recently, the outer drain line to our septic tank was crushed causing it to back up, they ran a new peice of pipe to the tank. Think it cost a few hundred bucks.

 

[Deputy Dan]

Original post said showers and toilet aren't backing up so it doesn't sound like the problem is outside the house. If the kitchen/washing machine are UPSTREAM of the shower, then unless when the kitchen sink backs up water is flowing out of the floor drain in the shower there's a blockage between them. And if the kitchen is downstream of the shower then running the shower should fill the floor pan in nothing flat. If the problem is ONLY at the kitchen/washing machine, then the likely problem is between there and the main sewer line. Begging the question of where the kid inserted his hydrojet line when he cleaned things out. I'd guess he found a clean-out near where the sewer line exits the house and just jetted from there to the street/septic system. If he didn't put his line in upstream of the current blockage, then he wouldn't have cleared the real blockage. But in truth he wasn't hired for his ability to think.

I toted a lot of cast iron pipe in my several summers working with my dad - that stuff should last 100 years unless it's got trees nearby to invade it with roots. I'd think the pipes inside the house should last longer than that if they were installed correctly (See Rule 1 above).

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Vent problem.

 

[mi223]

For some reason I assumed this was underground in the basement. Is the drain lines exposed in the basement or is it under slab?

 

[mahlv]

Cast iron gets fucked up with people using drano and other strong acidic/basic liquid products. Corrosion builds, flakes off, expands, flakes off, rinse and repeat. Not sure why a smaller snake ran right down the washer drain wouldn't get you by for a while

 

[chevy_man]

Original post said showers and toilet aren't backing up so it doesn't sound like the problem is outside the house. If the kitchen/washing machine are UPSTREAM of the shower, then unless when the kitchen sink backs up water is flowing out of the floor drain in the shower there's a blockage between them. And if the kitchen is downstream of the shower then running the shower should fill the floor pan in nothing flat. If the problem is ONLY at the kitchen/washing machine, then the likely problem is between there and the main sewer line. Begging the question of where the kid inserted his hydrojet line when he cleaned things out. I'd guess he found a clean-out near where the sewer line exits the house and just jetted from there to the street/septic system. If he didn't put his line in upstream of the current blockage, then he wouldn't have cleared the real blockage. But in truth he wasn't hired for his ability to think.

I toted a lot of cast iron pipe in my several summers working with my dad - that stuff should last 100 years unless it's got trees nearby to invade it with roots. I'd think the pipes inside the house should last longer than that if they were installed correctly (See Rule 1 above).

100 years is about right. I just replaced my stack that had rust growing through to the outside. Wasn't leaking yet, but it was paper thin.


I had pieces of pipe rusting and flaking off causing clogs one after another. I'd run the snake through, things were fine for a few days, and then clogged. Rinse and repeat 15x before I cut everything out from the floor cleanout up and installed PVC. Luckily the city had issues on their end and installed liners on their lines and all the houses on my block a few years ago, so the stuff in the yard is all good for a long while.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

You are quoting some really big number's $$$ here.... Do you have any mechanical ability ? Is this a hot job with your wife screaming and jumping up and down ? Did it get this way over night or did it slowly get worse ? did you go to ACE Hardware and get that super foaming stuff you pour it down the drain and add hot water ?....... Are you on a slab or raised foundation (crawl space) ?... Have any of the plumbers suggested going on the roof and running the auger down one of the vents ?
As has been suggested, the kid probably cleaned from the edge of the house out to the sewer main line.....

For $10k you can watch a few YouTube videos, go buy a Sawzall and a package of blades and expose the existing drain lines..... If they are shot, go buy some PVC and re-pipe it yourself....

Me = Retired Union Steamfitter / Welder..... Plumbers are dumb as a box of rocks....

Hobo

 

[Nimothy]

My old man was a plumber and I worked a service van every summer through high school. Mind you that was 20 years ago, but unless prices have gone up ten fold I’d say you’re getting fucked. Maybe things are different in Texas but we’d alway try and push a camera inspection first (lots of folk refused that) but that would show you on a tiny little tv what was going on and why you’re getting raped for thousands of dollars. we’d either run a retractor or a cutter type blade on the end of our sewer machines. And with a camera service we would guarantee our work. My dad’s friend (who I worked for) was a drain wizard of sorts. I’d make them climb on the roof and send a camera down your vent while explaining what that machine is gonna do and how it’ll fix your issues. before you give them a dollar. Either way I wouldn’t do business with a company that fucked off my tree/driveway/hoses

 

[OneMoreNoMore]

Need some advice, I think I'm getting fucked by one plumbing contractor.

Had a plumber come out because the washing machine won't drain, and when it tries to drain it fills up the sink next to it. The dishwasher will back up the kitchen sink next to it when it's running. The showers and toilets all drain fine.

The plumbing contractor that came out said that we needed to hydrojet the lines. It's a 1973 built house with cast iron pipes. They said that will fix it. They quoted us a cost of ~$1800 but the wife and I said fuck it, the pipes probably need it. The kid with the hydrojetting tool shows up, runs into my mesquite tree causing damage to it, and proceeds to hydrojet the lines. Tells me I need to run a "chain knocker" through one of the vents (there's some buildup), and that was going to cost $4500. He then leaves, leaving a mess by my house (he used my hoses and didn't even bother to clean up the site afterwards), and peels out of the driveway, chewing up some of the asphalt.

Had the supervisor come over, turns out he's the hydrojetter kids dad. He unplugged the water line to the washing machine, put it down the drain and turned it on to see if it would fill up - drained fine. We then proceeded to connect the washing machine back up to see if it would drain - it immediately filled up the sink next to it. He calls his son (hydrojetter kid), and after the phone call he also tells me I need to chain knock that one vent (for ~$4500). My washing machine is now completely full of water and won't drain.

I'm waiting for a plumber from another company to show up to get a second opinion, but I also wouldn't mind some input from some professional plumbers on the 'hide. Does it sound like I'm getting fucked? Does $4500 seem at all reasonable? Does ~$1800 for hydrojetting sound reasonable? Is this actually a venting issue?

I’m not a plumber but being in restaurant biz I deal with clogged drains on the daily.
What kind of debris is on your clothes normally when they are washed? Are you a mechanic, welder, heavy equipment operator? Reason I ask is I just cleaned a floor drain to lady that looked like it had concrete in the bottom of it. Had to take a metal rod and break it up then use a shop vac to remove the pieces. Finally punched through with a snake and got it flowing again.

 

[Deputy Dan]

Me = Retired Union Steamfitter / Welder..... Plumbers are dumb as a box of rocks....

LOL- Dad was a plumber, uncle a steamfitter. About the only thing they agree on was that engineers couldn't find their butts with both hands in broad daylight.

 

[mahlv]

Blah blah blah, union fucks lol. Is it time to take a break again? That's not in my job description

 

[Texasflyer]

I’m not a plumber but being in restaurant biz I deal with clogged drains on the daily.
What kind of debris is on your clothes normally when they are washed? Are you a mechanic, welder, heavy equipment operator? Reason I ask is I just cleaned a floor drain to lady that looked like it had concrete in the bottom of it. Had to take a metal rod and break it up then use a shop vac to remove the pieces. Finally punched through with a snake and got it flowing again.

Can i hear more about you cleaning the "floor drain to lady"? Is that a case of wanting some booty but then being scared off by her 15 cats?

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Plumbers are dumb as a box of rocks....

 

[candyx]

Thought you were looking for someone to lay some pipe.

 

[supercorndogs]

We have cast iron pipes. We have had a couple clogs where scale builds up and stops the line. The first one we found the clog with a camera. There was 20ft broken snake line stuck through it where they had come down from the roof vent. We cut a hole in the side of the pipe, and dug it out by hand.

The second time we had one of these on the offending drain.

Then we ran a garden hose down the vent pipe from the roof. And managed to wash the clog out. The main problem we had was the volume of water needed to wash the clog out.

Clogs in the line show up a lot when draining the washer because of the amount of water it holds.

 

[Gee Kay]

we have bore scopes available for rifle barrels, these plumbers don't have a bore scope for pipes? maybe i missed that bit.
maybe i'm wrong cause i ain't a plumber, but i'd put eyes down the pipes first to see what the problem is before chucking other shit down there that could cause more problems. maybe its out of sight out of mind for these shit kickers.
blocked pipes here, we use drain-o. usually works if no tree roots in the way or the kids haven't flushed elmo down the shitter.

 

[OneMoreNoMore]

Can i hear more about you cleaning the "floor drain to lady"? Is that a case of wanting some booty but then being scared off by her 15 cats?

For some reason autocorrect is the worst on the hide for me. Should have been “floor drain today”

That being said, no I don’t like cats.

 

[rtB]

Shove a cat down your pipes. If it comes out the other end, make some curry.

You're welcome.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

They need to to run a scope down line to see what obstruction is first.
Chain flail is pretty radical to use straight away.
Should be able to send a spinning head hydrocutter (rat) up to clear, before using the
flail.
$4500 ?
I'm renewing my licence, and coming to Amerika!

 

[kthomas]

They need to to run a scope down line to see what obstruction is first.
Chain flail is pretty radical to use straight away.
Should be able to send a spinning head hydrocutter (rat) up to clear, before using the
flail.
$4500 ?
I'm renewing my licence, and coming to Amerika!

These plumbers are fucked. They have high tech fancy toys, and want to create a problem to bill me ~$20K.

My neighbor, who was a plumber once way back in his former life, came over to help diagnose the problem. There's a clog downstream of my kitchen sink (washer and utility sink are upstream of this sink), which can probably just be snaked out, unless that line is collapsed or whatever before it connects to the main drain (worst case scenario), but he says it likely just requires some snaking.

My 77 year old neighbor performed more diagnostics in ~30 minutes then 4 different plumbing techs did from two different companies. I would be embarrassed to run a company the way these guys do. I've already talked with my credit card company to dispute the money I spent with the first plumbing company, who clearly either don't know what they are talking about, or are either just trying to intentionally fuck me.

Third plumber (from a small reputable company) is coming over sometime today. Hopefully it's an easy fix like my neighbor suggests.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

Yup.
The fuckers want you to pay for their shiny things.
The amount of times I've had to fix a plumber's fuckups.
If you can get downstream of the blockage, jet upwards with a through rat, or spinning head, should be enough to clear.
Or hand rods, if you want to go full Old Skool.
I went to one job, the plumbers had left a hand rod broken in the line, didn't tell the customer, and wanted to charge for "a collapsed line", and dig it up to replace the pipe.
Sounds like your neighbour is one of the rare straight up types.
Too many robber barons in the business now.
Pity you aren't in Perth, I'd help you out with my jetting kit.
Hope it all works out for you.

 

[kthomas]

Yup.
The fuckers want you to pay for their shiny things.
The amount of times I've had to fix a plumber's fuckups.
If you can get downstream of the blockage, jet upwards with a through rat, or spinning head, should be enough to clear.
Or hand rods, if you want to go full Old Skool.
I went to one job, the plumbers had left a hand rod broken in the line, didn't tell the customer, and wanted to charge for "a collapsed line", and dig it up to replace the pipe.
Sounds like your neighbour is one of the rare straight up types.
Too many robber barons in the business now.
Pity you aren't in Perth, I'd help you out with my jetting kit.
Hope it all works out for you.

Thanks!

The whole situation has been really disappointing. I hate being lied to, and there's enough evidence now to suggest the first company was lying straight to my face, just to make more money out of me. Its despicable. You pay good money for what you expect to be a professional service, and it ends up being a con. I just found out that the owner of this plumbing company, which happens to be one of the bigger ones here in Tucson, just went to jail for 6 months for defrauding social security. I wish I knew that before I hired this company, that right there shows their ethics (or lack thereof).

My neighbor is a straight up awesome dude. Very knowledgeable, and is a straight shooter. Former Vietnam vet, he used to replace PBR's when they came back to base all shot up.

 

[mahlv]

If those fucksticks from the start are licensed, call the contractor's board. In Nevada anyway, the contractor's board may as well change their name to the consumer's board the way they will just throw a contractor under the bus in an instant. This would play in your favor if it's the same way in your state. If they are not licensed, they have no recourse if you decide not to pay them or dispute the charge for any reason

 

[supercorndogs]

we have bore scopes available for rifle barrels, these plumbers don't have a bore scope for pipes? maybe i missed that bit.
maybe i'm wrong cause i ain't a plumber, but i'd put eyes down the pipes first to see what the problem is before chucking other shit down there that could cause more problems. maybe its out of sight out of mind for these shit kickers.
blocked pipes here, we use drain-o. usually works if no tree roots in the way or the kids haven't flushed elmo down the shitter.

The one i ran into our pipes, I bought for 8 dollars on eBay.

 

[kthomas]

If those fucksticks from the start are licensed, call the contractor's board. In Nevada anyway, the contractor's board may as well change their name to the consumer's board the way they will just throw a contractor under the bus in an instant. This would play in your favor if it's the same way in your state. If they are not licensed, they have no recourse if you decide not to pay them or dispute the charge for any reason

This is a great idea. Arizona does have a contractors board, and being as big as this company is, I'm sure they are licensed.

I'll wait and see if it's just a simple clog downstream of the kitchen, and if it's a super simple fix, that will give me a lot of ammo to go against these pricks with the contractors board and BBB (I hear BBB is useless these days, but every way to stick it to them makes me happy). Either way, I'm going to try and make life difficult for them.

 

[kthomas]

we have bore scopes available for rifle barrels, these plumbers don't have a bore scope for pipes? maybe i missed that bit.
maybe i'm wrong cause i ain't a plumber, but i'd put eyes down the pipes first to see what the problem is before chucking other shit down there that could cause more problems. maybe its out of sight out of mind for these shit kickers.
blocked pipes here, we use drain-o. usually works if no tree roots in the way or the kids haven't flushed elmo down the shitter.

They used a camera, and one of my vents (I believe it's actually the drain/horizontal pipes) did have some build-up that made it look like there was a trough in there, rather then a complete ID circle. That's when the kid said I needed to use the $4500 chain knocker. I declined, went with the hydrojetting service and said I wanted to see a video after - he basically refused, and said the video would be emailed to me in a couple of days.

This is where it gets confusing though. The trough appeared to be sitting on the low-side of a pipe, as if it was in the horizontal section (the drain). The kid talked as if it was the drain, implying that toilet paper would get stuck on that "trough" (though there was no blockage in the first place there). I requested the supervisor to come out, which he did the next day, who happened to be this kids dad. The dad tries to diagnose the problem, but can't figure it out. Calls his kid to find out what was hydrojetted, and then comes back in the house and says that it's because it's the vent (that's not what the kid told me, it's not what it looked like on the camera, and it wasn't blocked that badly so it wouldn't prevent venting from occurring).

Between the kid refusing to show me a live video feed after, and claiming that he knocked some ID of the pipe off with the hydrojetter, and that the debris "went in a hole" that he couldn't fully clean, at this point I feel like they are going to send me a video from a random job that has bad pipes to steer me towards a non-existent problem that's really expensive to fix. I don't trust them at all at this point, and the simple diagnostics that my neighbor did clearly demonstrated that it wasn't a venting issue.

Long story short, they used a camera, but tried to use it in a way to sell me a very expensive story, which I'm not buying.

 

[tomcatmv]

I hate stories like this because being a commercial mechanical contractor for over forty years, it gives the whole industry a bad name. I've had some contact with residential contractors and you really have to be on your game to know if they are screwing you and they, sadly, are out there.
Maybe check out sites like Angie's list or ask around friends in your AO for some good recommendations.
Oh, and by the way, I'd vote for a blocked vent as someone stated above. Also check to see if your washer box (where the hot/cold valves and drain are located) has an island vent instead of a vent to roof (VTR). Some localities allow these.

 

[kthomas]

Okay, another plumber came out, it was exactly as my neighbor said: a plug in the drain just downstream of the kitchen sink. Snaked it for $160. Everything works fine now.

I contacted the Contractor's Board, but they can't do anything since another plumber came in to fix the problem. I talked with the office manager for the first company, she's going to talk with her plumbers to "get their side of the story" before she gets back to me. With that as a response, I don't expect any resolution from them.

An investigator that I spoke with at the Contractor's Board basically said I'm left with writing bad reviews and contacting the BBB. Unfortunately I don't believe the BBB has any teeth anymore, but I guess it's one of the only options I have left.

 

[K80/6.5]

Facebook/ Google review I have found company’s will try anything for you to change a bad review at least car dealerships.

 

[kthomas]

I am fuming right now.

Office manager called me back, stated that their plumbers were offering a "total solution", the plumber that resolved it just did a "quick fix". She's trying to spin some sort of a story, won't refund my money. Clearly out to protect themselves, there's so many contradictions in their own story.

I called out the contradictions, she said she is going to talk with the plumbers again. Probably going to craft some other BS story.

 

[K80/6.5]

I am fuming right now.

Office manager called me back, stated that their plumbers were offering a "total solution", the plumber that resolved it just did a "quick fix". She's trying to spin some sort of a story, won't refund my money. Clearly out to protect themselves, there's so many contradictions in their own story.

I called out the contradictions, she said she is going to talk with the plumbers again. Probably going to craft some other BS story.

I guarantee you they won’t be refunding you any money. Your best bet is to chalk up as loss and make sure you let everyone know not to do business with them. Also write the review and explain everything so others don’t get screwed.

 

[supercorndogs]

They offered a service they could argue in their opinion you needed. How ever shady that is, I don't think you have any recourse unless you can get them to admit they knew the work they were doing would not fix your problem. Otherwise it will be, we offered, he accepted, we did it. IT didn't fix it, oops so sorry. In our professional opinion we thought it would.

If you can find multiple place that do it considerably cheaper, you might get the charge reduced by a small claims court. You might not have to go to court. Get some quotes on what they did, if its way cheaper at a bunch of other places you may be able to get it reduced to a reasonable cost by them, by threatening to go to small claims court.

Just guessing, I am as much lawyer as plumber. I guess I have practiced more plumbing, but watched more small claims court TV.