It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about this, but it bears repeating over and over because it could save you thousands of dollars.
Some people call us wondering if we do free sewer inspections with our sewer scope. When we say “no” they’re always surprised (and a few of them angry.) After all, they trust us here at Garvin’s and want to use us for their sewer service, but they wonder why we don’t offer free sewer camera inspections when they’ve seen advertisements for companies who will do it for free.
We’ve bought more than a few sewer scopes over the years, and we know how expensive they are. And we know just how much we’re paying our sewer experts and what most of them at other companies are getting paid. So we know it’s expensive to buy the camera and to send someone out to use it…how can other companies possibly be offering this service for free?
We know the unfortunate answer to this question. They offer this service for free because they want to convince you that your sewer line is busted. And if they can do that, they can sell you a $10,000+ sewer line replacement, destroying your lawn and hurting your trees in the process.
So how does this scam work, and what can be done to avoid it?
They’ll show you a fake video: If steam could come out of our ears, this is when it would happen! Sometimes these charlatans will simply show you a fake video! They’ll send the sewer scope down your sewer line, but they might not even be checking to see what’s wrong. They simply give you a DVD of someone else’s broken line to convince you that your’s is broken! (The best way to avoid this is to watch as they do it and make sure the video that you’re given corresponds to what you see live.)
They’ll show you your real video: Okay, so let’s say you’ve verified that the video they’re showing you is actually your sewer line. At this point they’ll sit down with you and point out everything that’s wrong with your sewer line. They might say “look at how the roots are coming in through that break” (when in reality tree roots are perfectly normal and they might be pointing out a man-made joint.) They might say “look at how all the water is collecting here” (and might simply be pointing out a perfectly natural “belly” in the line that isn’t doing any harm). They’ll point out perfectly normal variances of your sewer line and suggest that you need a whole new line.
So, how can we fight this? Well, Garvin’s will take a free second look at your DVD and give you our opinion. We don’t sell sewer repair services, so we can give you our honest opinion. Sure, you may have roots and need rooter service, but think how many decades of rooter service you can get before you equal the $10,000 that other company was going to charge you!
If you’re having constant sewer line problems, Garvin’s is happy to perform sewer camera service for you, but we’ll charge you a fair price and give you the most honest opinion around (again, we have nothing to gain if it’s determined you do need sewer line repair). If you think you need the sewer scope, give Garvin’s a call today!
