Reliance Home Comfort

Kitchen sink was blocked so I put in a call to Reliance for service and was scheduled to a Plumber #1 on the morning of May 27th. He tried the plunger and a machine to remove debris (not sure what it is called) with no luck. He then quickly went downstairs to the basement and advised this is a big job and the pipes need to be exposed. As common sense I questioned this advise as it seemed unnecessary to break the ceiling to unclog the drain and asked about using some other method to suck/blow the debris. With absolute confidence he advised this is the only way the drain will be unclogged which he documented in his notes. He advised to either get a contractor or do it myself but pipes need to be exposed in the basement for drain to be unclogged - there is NO other way. He seemed very rushed and quick to make a judgement and leave.

Due to little kids at home I need the kitchen functioning. With help I open the ceiling to expose the pipes. Then I call Reliance to setup a service call. Plumber #2 shows up in the promised window in the afternoon. He accesses the situation and the FIRST thing he mentions that it was unnecessary to expose the pipes opening them in the basement would make a mess in the basement! He tries to unclog the drain for a few minutes. Then he proceeds to get the vacuum cleaner from the truck. He starts vacuuming the gunk out of the drain a few times and then tries to run the water to see if the water still clogs. No more clog! He emphasized that it was ill-advised and unnecessary to break the ceiling to expose the pipes and vacuum did the job.

Customer service was sympathetic and quickly passed my case to Legal (Linda). She repeatedly asked me to get a quote for repair work which I finally got to them ($2650 for Drywall and Paint). No response from her for over 6 weeks. After several calls and VMs she said it would take another 2 weeks to review. The same day she quietly sent a DENY letter with absolutely NO explanation.

It is so easy to a corporation to dismiss their paying Clients without any repercussions. This needs to be known to the public. I've filed a BBB report, publicized on Social Media as well as their CEO. Next step is Small Claims Court.