This is a long review, but PLEASE, PLEASE read before you use this company.
We contacted Bond Plumbing in March 2016 because my mom needed her sewer line augured at her home and gallery. We live in Colorado Springs and, although my husband is a plumbing contractor, we could not get to Taos in a timely manner to take care of the problem she was having. However, my husband had augured the line once at an earlier date. He did it by himself, and it took about four hours. He charges $75 per man, per hour so he estimated the job should have been around $300.
March 28 - Bond sent two men to my mom's home to do the job. They called me later in the afternoon to inform me that they had lost the sewer cable they had been using for the job. They couldn't explain how or why that happened, but it did. Subsequently, they charged us for two men at $70 per hour for 7.5 hours - part of this time included trying to find the cable. Our bill was now at $1050.00.
March 29 - the two men returned in order to dig up the cable. They brought a backhoe and charge us $90 an hour for 5.5 hours for a total of $495 on top of the labor charge of $70 a man for 8.5 hours ($1190). Our total bill after two days was now $2735. Here's the funny thing....we didn't lose the cable. They did. Even more amusing, they lost it because they ran it in the wrong direction. I quote from the invoice "Sewer line where we dug was empty, no cable. Dug on the other side of the clean-outs to find sewer line." They found the broken cable which they then left on my mom's patio until we threw it away.
March 30 - The two men returned to actually augur the line. They also tied the sewer line back into the main sewer line because they had to disconnect it the day before in order to find the cable. Again, two men at $70 an hour for 7.5 hours. We were at $3785! While they were doing all the digging, my husband asked them to go ahead and move one clean out to a more convenient spot about 10 feet from where it originally was. Why not? The ground was all torn up and the backhoe was already there. Materials for this cost us $213.61 and the use of the augur machine cost $85 for a grand total of $4,083.61! Fortunately, we were given a 10% discount as a customer courtesy since my husband is in the same business. My mom paid $500 on the spot in good faith. We ended the three days at $3437.11 including the tax. Unbelievable, right? Just to get a sewer line augured?
In early April, the line was still backing up. My mom called Bond to see if they could come augur it again. She also wanted to know what they were going to do about the torn up drive way and parking area. After the backhoe work, it was just left as it was. It had since rained and the entire area was a muddy, slippery mess. Customers and delivery people cannot drive in or park at the gallery. There was a two-foot sinkhole. Waste Management called because they couldn't get into the driveway to empty the dumpster. The new clean out that my husband requested had not been finished. A white PVC pipe was sticking up about two feet in the middle of the parking area with an orange cone next two it. Needless to say, it was eventually hit and broken.
April 13 - The two men arrived to augur the line again. This time it only took them TWO hours. The entire bill is $391.01 and that included the augur machine and tax! This is what we expected the first time!!
May 9 - FINALLY, after many phone calls, the two men arrived with gravel base and a backhoe to fix the drive. Our bill states that we are not charged for three hours of "digging out the old trench." We don't know what 'trench' they are referring to or why it would take three hours with a backhoe. You could dig out the entire driveway in three hours. We are also not charged for three hours for the backhoe. We are billed for one hour of labor for two men, the tamper, and the base gravel for a total of $455.28. As of today, after paying $1000 and incurring a finance charge in April (even though the driveway wasn't addressed until May), we have an outstanding balance of $3323.46. My husband has asked Bond Plumbing to step away from the job. He will finish the new clean out himself.
If you choose to use Bond Plumbing, just remember that you were warned. read more