As you can imagine, we’ve gotten some pretty frantic calls over the years. People who have sewage blocking their toilet. People who have sewage flowing up out of their toilet. People who have sewage actively shooting out of their toilet. All of the people who called had a perfectly valid reason to be frantic!
When we get these calls, we suit up, grab our equipment, slide down the firepole (we don’t have a firepole, but DANG! we should get a firepole!) and race to your home as quickly as the law will allow. When we get there, we’ll dive right into the situation, but in order to help us find the cause of the problem it’s important that you tell both the person who takes your call and the technician we send as much as possible, no matter what problem you’re having. Basically, we need to know as much as you do. So we’d like to offer this advice.
Try To Be Calm: We understand that you’re in the middle of what is probably the worst experience of your year (we see a lot of people’s worst experiences). But the more calm you can be, the more information we can get out of you in a timely manner and the sooner we can get to the root of the problem.
Give Us The Background: Be sure to tell us exactly what’s been happening. Has the problem with your plumbing been going on for years, or is this the first time you’ve ever had an inkling of a problem? When was the last time you had sewer cleaning performed? Is Garvin’s the only company you’ve called to help with your sewer service, or have others had their go at it this year? Tell us everything you know, because even small details about how your sewer system has been acting can be important.
Tell Us Your Habits: It might be embarrassing, but it’s important for us to know exactly how you treat your drains and sewer lines. You might be embarrassed to tell us that you pour your bacon grease down the sink and flush your feminine hygiene products, but it’s important for us to know because it might alter the tools we use and the decisions we make. On a related note…
Be Honest: It’s important for us to know what you’ve already tried. If we’re there for drain cleaning, it’s critically important to let us know if you’ve already tried a chemical drain cleaner. We have had drain technicians scarred by drain cleaners that were sitting in the drain, even after the customer had insisted that no cleaners had been used. For our own safety and yours, please let us know about anything dangerous that might be in your drains.
Stand Back!: Once you’ve filled us in, stand back, ‘cause we’re gonna get to work! We’ll be protected from the situation with eye and face protection, rubber boots, and clothing that is specially disinfected once we leave. We don’t want you to have to deal with the stuff that can make you sick, so be sure to get some fresh air and find your insurance agent’s phone number.
When you call Garvin’s, you’ve called the sewer drain experts, so make sure that you give us all the information you can. We’ll make this terrible experience as easy as possible for you.
