# Silver Spoon?



## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

I had an emergency sewer call last Sunday. The property is a row of town houses built slab on grade. The building drain was backing up into the on grade laundry/mechanical room from the floor drain.

Upon arriving, the water had gone down but, there was the obvious signs of back up around the floor drain. So, I go through the obvious list of questions with the tenant to determine if this is a new or chronic issue, how long they've lived there, if anything has recently changed, if they have had guests or a party, have the neighbours had any issues, if they had tried fixing it themselves etc., etc.

I got all the standard answers - first time and no idea how this had happened. So, I got out the drain machine and got to work. After retrieving lots of white mice, the drain ran normal and free. I lectured about flushing feminine products and of course they didn't do that.

Fast forward to today - Sunday again a week later.

Same call - same unit. I was told there was 5 inches of water flooding the unit. I advised the property manager on the phone that that wasn't possible unless all the units are flooding or the tenants had gone away and left the water running. I arrive to the same scene as last week.

The tenants are grumbling about property damage and giving the landlord what for and on and on. So, I corralled them and explained what I was going to do today. I told them I was going to rod the drain just enough to get it flowing then I was going to put a camera down the drain and we'll see for sure exactly why I was called back.

When their demeanor suddenly changed to uncertain quietness and unease, I realised there was more to the story. They were now polite and friendly and they backed off whispering quietly to each other while I worked. 

After popping the drain and retrieving more white mice (surprise), I pushed the camera in and found what's in the picture about 7 feet from the main clean out wye. It luckily couldn't make the 90 bend straight down. Working the snake with a large retriever head, we were able to snag it and work it back up the clean out.

Anyhow to make the story short, no one wanted to lick the spoon.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Lmao, that is defintly odd, never seen a cooking spoon in a drain line b4

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## AssTyme (May 15, 2010)

Do you think this spoon was in the line the first time you rodded ? If so which type/how big of cutter did you use and how far did you rod the line out ?


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## AssTyme (May 15, 2010)

How do you think that spoon found it's way into the sewer ?


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

AssTyme said:


> How do you think that spoon found it's way into the sewer ?


My guess would be someone trying to dig out tampons and an oops moment happening. Question for the op, do you warranty unstops if you find a bloated mouse/roots/ton of grease?


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## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

To answer the questions...

1. The only way the spoon got into the sewer was through the clean out - the same way it came out. The spoon was intact when I spotted it initially in the drain but even working carefully with the retriever and camera and just bumping the reel to keep the spoon hooked, I broke part of the end off in the drain. It could not have been there and made it through the initial rodding intact.

2. On the initial call I poked through with a small star and retrieved with a small retriever head. Cleared to about 25 feet - invert/main line.

3. Thinking back about the conversation(s) on the latest call... She indicated her boyfriend had "tried to snake it". He told me later that no one had touched it.

4. I have never offered a warranty on drain work. The way I look at it is I can clear the drain but, I can't control it's use/misuse. To be honest, I'm not sure what others offer as far as warranty goes. I'm interested to hear other's opinions.

The older camera system I have is newish to me and it's come in handy a few times now. I'm not sure how I did without it before. Today being no exception. Chronic issues, suspect drains/sewers, peace of mind etc. I don't generally run to the camera for every call but, if there's any reason for me to believe something isn't or may not be right then, I'll suggest we use it.


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## AssTyme (May 15, 2010)

" I have never offered a warranty on drain work"


I think most do. I offer 60 days and always tell the customer before I leave. It gives them a better feeling. I'm averaging about a 1% callback rate so it really doesn't bother me at all.


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

We offer 30 days, as long as there doesn't appear to be problems with the line. Bellies, tampons/misc, or grease. If we pull back and there is no sign of an issue we warranty it.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

We do 6 months on residential and 30 days on commercial and rental properties...

I get hit on less than 1% and it's been that way for years...


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## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

Given the scenario above then, would anyone apply their warranty?

It's completely unfair to the landlord to have to pay twice for sure. But, since there's a tenant involved in the triangle as well, it complicates the issue a bit - especially since they're flushing what shouldn't be going down the drain, even after being told the first time.

In retrospect, I should have broke out the camera on the first call I suppose. Also, I stated the spoon couldn't have been there initially but while not likely, it's not realistic for me to say it's impossible that it was there. Based on the conversations though, I suspect they were trying to avoid a call back by spooning the drain themselves...

Edit:

I've been offering drain cleaning for (only) 2 years now so, I still have things to learn. This is however my first call back. I'm not above taking responsibility for my shortcomings if it's warranted but, I'm not afraid to charge for my services either.


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## AssTyme (May 15, 2010)

MarkToo said:


> Given the scenario above then, would anyone apply their warranty?
> 
> It's completely unfair to the landlord to have to pay twice for sure. But, since there's a tenant involved in the triangle as well, it complicates the issue a bit - especially since they're flushing what shouldn't be going down the drain, even after being told the first time.
> 
> ...





Like I said I'm averaging about 1% so I would have just kept everyone happy and ate the callback. I don't know your drain cleaning volume but having to eat one in two years wouldn't be so bad.


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## damnplumber (Jan 22, 2012)

*"white mice" Good term!*

I offer a 90-day warrantee on drain cleaning when I am sure there are no issues. But if I get a call back even on questionable drains (maybe 1% of the time) within few days or even weeks, I always show good faith. I live in a small town and my reputation is worth a free drain or two. Word of mouth is my best advirtiser! 

I had a client ... that clogged her toilet with "white mice" every 28 days! I joking told her that I would know if she were pregnant before her doctor and she never called me again!


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

damnplumber said:


> I had a client ... that clogged her toilet with "white mice" every 28 days! I joking told her that I would know if she were pregnant before her doctor and she never called me again!


Tactless but funny enough to warrant losing a customer over.:laughing::laughing:


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

damnplumber said:


> I had a client...


MizBiz said shame on you. :bangin:


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## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

AssTyme said:


> Like I said I'm averaging about 1% so I would have just kept everyone happy and ate the callback. I don't know your drain cleaning volume but having to eat one in two years wouldn't be so bad.



I haven't invoiced for it yet - I mail my invoices out. So, I can still eat it. However, I spoke with the owners today and explained the situation and let them know I probably should have verified the sewer condition with the camera on my first call and I would be willing to charge only for one call. Incredibly they thanked me for the honesty and told me to go ahead and bill both calls and that they would educate the tenant and would be back charging them for any future issues that can be verified with the camera as tampering or misuse.

I would say I average three drain calls a week - perhaps a little more on average. Probably one of those per week would be main sewer/drain jobs. That said, this was a first for this type of thing...


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

remember this show , I do


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

MarkToo said:


> I haven't invoiced for it yet - I mail my invoices out. So, I can still eat it. However, I spoke with the owners today and explained the situation and let them know I probably should have verified the sewer condition with the camera on my first call and I would be willing to charge only for one call. Incredibly they thanked me for the honesty and told me to go ahead and bill both calls and that they would educate the tenant and would be back charging them for any future issues that can be verified with the camera as tampering or misuse.
> 
> I would say I average three drain calls a week - perhaps a little more on average. Probably one of those per week would be main sewer/drain jobs. That said, this was a first for this type of thing...


That sounds like a customer worth keeping !
Maybe think about just billing them for the extra camera work that you could have done on the first call and wave the second cable charge ?


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

The reason to warranty is to return to the customer. I want first crack to do a replacement or spot repair. We receive quite a few draining cleaning jobs at a much higher rate due to plumbing companies not warranting their stoppages. We also receive more drain replacements because we discover why the drain has a stoppage and then explain how to prevent it from happening again.

I do not care if anyone disagrees with my premise that a warranty gets you back into the home, business or condo the fact is it does. The spoon could have turned and lay on the bottom of the pipe where the products caught on it again. A small head could have broken the forks of the spoon. The tenants could have put it down the drain too. 

In any event you solved their problem and now you are the hero. Congratulations .


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## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> *That sounds like a customer worth keeping* !
> Maybe think about just billing them for the extra camera work that you could have done on the first call and wave the second cable charge ?


Indeed.

Solid advice.

Done.

Thanks everyone.


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