Skip to content

Consumer BEWARE: Brian Davis Septic Company

Last updated on June 13, 2019

  If you live in the Palm Bay/Viera/Melbourne area in Florida, USA and you  own or have an aerobic septic system in  your home? Consumer BEWARE of the Brian Davis Septic Company! Read this! 

I contracted with Brian Davis Septic in December 13 after finding them in BBB with a A+ Rating. It took multiple calls to get them to fax over the paper work. Since that time I’ve experienced the problems listed below. While reading these, please note that this company is licensed by the State heath department to service it’s constituents for required services:

  1. Initial inspection stated all was well, however both tanks badly in need of pump out. Several calls required to schedule the pump out, all by me, in January (around the 10th) 2014.
  2. In January 10, during pump out, service techs stated that the “inspectors don’t really look for that sort of thing.” However tanks were open and inspected.
  3. During this service call, asked about leakage into yard from what was eventually determined to be a bad emitter. “Yeah, hmm, weird.” However no further information given, nor the need to fix as eventually determined. Techs at this time stated “everything else looks good and in working order.”
  4. After the pump out in January, 10, pump began making strange noise, as though water in pump. Communicated to office, attempting to schedule visit to inspect. Promised callback twice, none returned by office staff.
  5. In May 2014 as pump sounds began to increase, contacted office again to schedule visit, took several calls, again from me, never called back, to schedule visit.
  6. During visit, aerator pump was determined to be bad, and screw covers for vegetation covers/tank cover not screwed down properly, and would have been an inspection violation… last service was by this company, so error was theirs.
  7. During same visit in May, previously mentioned emitter determined to be issue needing repair.
  8. After calling office, informed that the pump issue was noted in January, however this was not ever explained as an issue needing replacement. Issue was slight in January, continued operation and a failure to respond to my initial concerns 4 months prior while in need of repair was likely cause of eventual failure, or at the very least accelerated it.

  1. When trying to get a price quote for replacement/repair work required 7 calls between 5/28 and 5/30, nearly all of them ending with a promise of a callback that never occurred. Each time I had to follow up. During this time, the aerator has been off leaving me out of code.
  2. After several calls, was finally able to schedule a time for the repair, Wednesday, 6/4 between 8 and 10 AM. I took time off work to be here to pay and monitor the service. At 9:40, with no one yet hear and no call, I called to confirm. I was told by the office person (Rosa, who has been the person I’ve dealt with consistently and had such terrible response) said that they would need to reschedule for 6/6 because one of their “people had a, um, problem.” I strongly feel I was simply forgotten, and previous experiences do nothing to dissuade this. I asked how I was supposed to know if no one called and that I took time off work for this, I was placed on hold, and told that someone would be by this after noon, now requiring me to miss an entire day of work.

This is absolutely the most terrible customer service experience I have ever experienced or witnessed, and I manage a customer service call center, and makes the BBB A+ rating meaningless.

Resolution:

Because of the many servicing issues, service mishaps, incomplete work, failure to respond, advise and/or notice existing issues for a service I have paid for, the only way this can be reasonably accommodated is with a free (or, at the very least, discount in excess of 75%) pump replacement and official apology from the business itself, acknowledging their failures and admitting fault.

Call Timeline, gathered from phone call history, text message logs and our experience:

5/28

7:14 AM – Called to report pump worsening after January Reporting of same issue. Was told that the person answering (I believe it to be Rosa) was on way to work, and that she would call back in 15 minutes

8:38 AM – I called back to schedule visit, told would be coming out between 10 and noon. During this call also mentioned I had previously informed them of the pump noises following pump out in January. Was told this was noted on prior report. However I nor my wife were never informed of this, and the sound didn’t occur until after the pump out.

1:05 PM – 2 Service Techs showed, disconnected air pump, told my wife that it was shot and needed replacement. Service Tech got on ground, dug out previously mentioned emitter (again, mentioned in January) and informed that it, as well as the alarm light, needed to be repaired/replaced. Also unclogged pump inside tank which was clogged with hair, according to the service tech. During this time my wife overheard one of the techs could be overheard speaking on the phone with office “No it doesn’t need a pump out, I’m not going to lie to her.” This same tech also told my wife, when she mentioned issues with contacting the office that he “could tell {us} horror stories about the office.”

5/29

10:01 AM – Called and was told she didn’t have notes yet, but would get them and call back.

3:02 PM, 4:25 PM – I called to get information. Each time was told she would call back very shortly (15 minutes first time, 5 minutes second

5/30

9:30 AM – Called back to get information, was given price to replace pump, fix emitter and repair/replace alarm light. Due to the difficulties I’d experienced, arranged with office to split payment. Rosa agreed to do so. During this was asked to provide post-dated check, which is not actually legal. I refused this and an arrangement for me to call back was arranged. Essentially NET 30. Listing this information in the interest of a full accounting of the situation, as it was one of the few bright spots of the service. Date for install was set for 6/4 at between 8 and 10 AM

6/4

9:40 AM – called when no one had arrived. Was told had to do Friday (notes on this in complaint). When I expressed concern at the lack of notification or callback, told would call back.

10:14 AM – Was (miraculously) called back to set second appointment today from 2 PM to 4 PM

4 PM – No show or call at this time. (Called Christie @Brevard Health to let her know)

4:03 PM – Called to check on status – Was told will be 45 minutes to one hour.

4:32 PM – Received call from Emily and told will be here in approximately 25 minutes.

4:50 PM – 2 Service techs arrived (Emily seemed to be one of them). After investigating the pump, she stated that she wished that someone had told her that the pump needed an adapter.

5:09 PM – The tech didn’t have one with her and they left with our pump to get the appropriate adapter at the local Home Depot or their shop (not sure which). Also overheard the 2nd tech mentioning that the cover screws were stripped and needed to be rethreaded. In the past year, the only service has only been by techs of Brian Davis Septic.

6:26 PM – The techs returned, with a third gentleman. The problem with the pump hook up was not apparently as difficult to remove as the 3rd tech was able to remove it. The pump was then hooked up and the emitter line repaired. I again mentioned a second potential emitter issue, which a prior tech had mentioned didn’t look like a problem; however it was not investigated at this time any further. The new pump seems to be working, however they positioned it such that the cover for the pump will not close properly. Alarm light on due to high water levels in second tank. That brings me to a new complaint…

During this time, they inspected the second tank, and determined the water level to be too high. It should be noted at this point that during the prior visit on 5/28 after cleaning out the pump filter, that the pump was in working order and providing 45 pounds (I’m assuming) of pressure. The water level visibly dropped and things were proceeding, according to the first techs, just fine.  Again, no pump out was recommended by the techs on Site 5/28. During this visit, however, they noted there was a problem with the pump, directly contradicting their previous inspection, including low pressure and no return pressure. She expressed credulity that we had had both tanks pumped out as recently as January which we had. In addition, the tech today noted that this may have been due to back flow from the broken emitter, again, an issue we reported in January. She suggested a second pump out, and possible 2nd tank pump replacement. She stated the office staff would contact me with quotes/details.

7:26 PM – gathered up their things and prepared to leave, closing the vegetation and access covers, but not completing the closure of the air pump cover due to the issue noted above. As they were leaving, they said that the office person (Rosa) said I would give them two checks. This was, as previously stated, not the agreement and that they would have a card reader with them. These techs stated that is not the case. I advised them to have Rosa contact me and I would work out details at that point.

[box type=”info”] Stock image provided by: http://ahrum-stock.deviantart.com/[/box]
Published inPhat Life