Here comes another story of, “I just can’t make this stuff up” Scenario. Buyer and buyer’s agent call me to inspect a septic system of a house that they are going to purchase. I note that 1. There is an electrical problem that needs an electrician. 2. The alarm float has become detached from the float tree and needs to be reattached. 3. The solids levels in the tank show that the tank does not need pumped; however, there is…
This goes under the heading of: “I can’t make this stuff up” This story is unbelievable. Client purchases a home. There is a deficiency marked on their septic system from competitor. “Outlet Baffle is broken” Client calls my competitor who wrote up the deficiency and asks them to repair it. Competitor tells homeowner that they need to dig up the tank first. (This is outrageous to me, for one, I know exactly where to dig. It takes me all of…
Customer uses First Call Septic because our rates are clearly posted. Visit the Rates Page for more details. Yesterday I received, what I call, “Tire Kicker Call”. You may wonder what that is. Person calls in checking prices, but has a million other questions about price. This usually happens when a customer has been burned by another in my field. Example: What if the tank has lids that need opened? What do you charge now? Or What if the lid…
This is a super rare photo of me during a septic pumpout. The machine I’m running is called the crust buster and stirs up the tank so we can guarantee we clean the tank well. This picture was taken by my customer. He was a pleasure to work for and it’s rare to see someone want to take a picture and then share it. This picture was taken in the camas, washougal area just outside of vancouver.
Best customer call ever. He called me this morning wanting a price quote. I told him that we charge 38 cents per gallon and sales tax and that’s a flat rate. He asked what that was. A flat rate? I said that there is no other fees. I’m not going to be upselling you magic chemicals or anything else. As long as your correct on the gallons you can write the check out now and put it on the counter….
What a Scam. Don’t fall for these magic chemical additives. These are the type of emails I receive daily to “Make extra money per job/visit”. I will never fall for these, nor will I ever be broke enough to scam homeowners. I received this email today. To:ronnie@firstcallseptic.com From: ——–@aol.com Subj: Make $91.20 extra on each pump-out ————- Tallevast, FL 34270 1-800-621—– www.———–.com help@———-.com Let me introduce myself. My name is ————-. I’m sales manager of SEPTI——-. We’ve got a program…
Last night I was with my friends at Rusty Grape Winery. I received an emergency call from a homeowner. Obviously since I had a drink, I could not respond to the emergency of my customer. The emergency was her “Septic High Water Alarm” started sounding off. Now, what does that mean? Simply, it means the septic system is experiencing a “Higher Than Allowable” water event. A sewage pump must b e acting up, or failed all together. I instructed her…
Sometime last week we experienced an emergency call about a septic system only being 3 years old and needing pumped already. They have used Rid-X septic tank additives religiously over the past three years. And they thought they didn’t have to pump the septic tank if they used their product. Here is the cut and paste from their website. It’s also on the package of Rid-X they were using. “Q: If I use RID-X®, will I still have to have…
Here is a video of what happens when these screens are not cleaned annually. And there is no “septic technician” in a bottle. There’s no magical chemical that you flush that can clean this screen. It needs to be completely disassembled and cleaned. There’s no other way around it. The consequences of not performing this maintenance, will be a pump that is starved and eventually burns up. And these are not cheap pumps at all. They start out at about $400 to…
This is a great video. Now I did start recording a bit late. But here’s how the story goes. This is a home with two people living inside. This tank is only 3 years old. They use a commonly known septic tank additive every month. They have been using it religiously. So they started backing up in the home. They were confused and called us to find out what was wrong. The septic tank was completely full of solids and…