Action Pumping

Tyson R.

UPDATE:

The fact that Action Pumping lied (without informing me) on the permit application for my septic tank replacement last year has resulted in a 4+ month delay in my construction project, which has resulted in my losing thousands of dollars in AirBnB income.

Short version: If you are planning on ever requesting a permit for construction in the future (and if you'll want a STR permit, you'll need to do work with permits), don't let Action Pumping apply for your permit on your behalf. Action Pumping told me in the quote that it included ""Provide the County of San Bernardino Installation Permit with proper inspection."" But they didn't - they provided an improper inspection, and I'm the one paying for it. They put in ""like-for-like"" to expedite things and that his resulted in major delays when the county caught on that it wasn't like-for-like.

Long version: In summer of 2019, we bought our house in Joshua Tree and asked Action Pumping for a quote to replace the septic tank. We told them we need to expanding from 750 gallons to 1000 gallons because we plan to add a 3rd bedroom and 2nd bath. Included in their quote was that they would take care of all necessary permits. Their quote was several hundreds of dollars more than the other quote we received, but they had these good Yelp review so we were willing to pay extra to avoid any headaches.

A few months later when we were applying for the building permits, we were told we needed a septic certification, and that the septic company that installed our tank should have given us one. I contacted Action Pumping and they said they hadn't given me one because I hadn't asked for one. After some back and forth they finally filled out a septic cert form for me, and I sent that to EHS.
At this point I had everything in my building plans approved, all I was waiting on was the septic cert. This was last summer.
EHS came back and said they can't certify the tank because the leach lines are inadequate for a 1000 gallon tank. I asked, then why was I issued a permit for the tank? Turns out it was because Action Pumping had written ""like for like"" in the permit application, but the replacement was not like for like, it was a 1000 gallon tank replacing a 750 gallon tank. The county rules are clear that your drainage system needs to match your septic tank size (I didn't know any of this at the time, of course, and neither apparently did Action Pumping, which isn't good). So after some back and forth, with Action Pumping arguing they don't think an expanded drainage system is necessary and EHS saying, well those are the rules, I was finally faced with the fact that I needed to get a percolation study and then would need to install more leach lines. The percolation study would take over 2 months to get done, and cost something like $1500. So I got that done, and then I had to have EHS approve my septic plan. Around this time I asked Action Pumping and 2 other companies for a quote for the leach lines. After all the delays they had caused me, Action Pumping didn't even give me a reasonable quote for the leach lines! They were more than the other two companies. So of course I'm not going to do business with them again.
It took a few weeks for EHS to approve the septic plan, and now the plan is with B&S, and hopefully next week I'll get started on my leach lines, and then I can start on the bedroom and bath.
The original screw-up by Action Pumping put me behind on this project by something like 4 months, during which I could have been renting out our place for a $1000+ profit per month. Instead it's sitting there with drill holes all around the front yard from the perc study. Those holes would have been fine last August before our house was ready for rental. Now they are costing us money every week.

So - if you use Action Pumping - make sure you do your own research! Don't rely on what they say is necessary, especially if you are planning to every apply for permits for anything. And either don't have them do the permits for you, or ask them to show you the permit application before they submit it so you can check for errors. I'm sure they thought they were doing me a favor by fibbing on the permit application. They did save me a few thousand dollars in the short run. But in the long run, I'm paying for those costs anyway, plus my project is delayed, which is costing me thousands on top of that. Word to the wise!

Alexandra G.

**UPDATE**
So though my experience with action wasn't the most pleasant, my conversation with Heather (an employee who reached out through Facebook after reading my complaint) was a complete 180 from my experience with this company. She was extremely understanding and empathetic to the situation and went above and beyond to make things right (within like 5 min y'all) I'm upping my rating simply based on how wonderful heather was...

If I had had the opportunity to speak with her earlier I'm confident I would have had a different outcome today. ast night at around 8pm my plumbing in my whole house backed up, I have 2 small children who spend their days at home with me so this was an emergency..... I called action plumbing who had done our septic tank pumping in June and the guy I spoke with informed me of a extra $100 service fee for coming at night, I had no problem paying this given that it was an emergency but the guy said he could come over in the morning around 8, before his first job at 9 and then we wouldn't have to pay extra, we thought that would be fine since it was going to be first thing in the morning.

The guy calls me at 7 am to tell me it will be around 8:30 then doesn't show up, I called the office which was now open and the lady informed they had no one available till 4 pm.... and that the guy had ""left a note"" on her desk to call me, but she was busy and was gonna get to it now it will be closer to 5 before anyone gets here.

The office seemed completely unbothered by the fact their employee had told me these things and then left me out to dry. I've been without use of any of my plumbing all day.

I COULD HAVE CALLED A DIFFERENT PLUMBER HD THE GUY JUST SAID HE COULDNT MAKE IT OVER....

Rant over, just a poorly ran company all around it seems.

Sarah G.

Jonathan was amazing! Our plumbing backed up after 8 pm and he came out to help. Very polite, very knowledgeable, and solved our problem! Very happy with our service

Juan R.

During the sale of my home I needed to have the septic tank cleaned and certified per the county of San Bernardino and apparently for escrow. I contacted Action pumping and they were able to clean out the tank, but my last tenant had flushed needles and excessive baby wipes which required my drains to be snaked. Action Pumping took care of this issue immediately. Later when the buyer requested we replace the toilets (they were original to the home over 15years old) I called Action Pumping and were able to schedule a plumber within 2 days to respond! This was a relief for me since we had to close within 6 days, and with the Covid all companies are extremely busy. The two plumbers that arrived, Jacob and Johnathon,were professional and Clean! The old toilets were pretty disgusting, but they made sure to clean the area and even took the old ones away. Highly recommend this company.

Nilu A.

I hired Action Pumping for the private sewer connection on my property in Yucca Valley, CA. Action Pumping completed the job in 2 days for $ 2,500.--. Their competition wanted several hundred dollars more for the same job. Action Pumping works very efficiently and fast, and they have the expertise and all tools to do the job correctly.
They had caused minor damages to my driveway during the work, and they fixed it by placing a brand-new asphalt to that area. Looks very nice now.
Jason Mahaffey makes sure that his client is very satisfied with his work, which is very valuable. Action Pumping gets 5 stars from me.

Sandra G.

Their pricing was fair and they had the job done VERY quickly. Very impressed with the whole process. Thank you Action!

Christian C.

6 stars for Action Pumping, they came out in record time, fixed the issue with great customer service from Eric and Lorenzo. Our family will only use Action Pumping for all your plumbing needs, you should too.

Terra F.

Owning an older home unfortunately comes with some disadvantages. We've now had Action out 3 times to make various repairs (replacing cast iron pipe and septic pumping, main water line replacement and now a clogged pipe). Each time they are quick to come out, address and explain the issue, make the proper repairs and always leave everything immaculate after they're done. On top of that they are courteous. I know there are other options and my contractor brother is always saying get at least 3 bids, but these guys will forever have my trust and business, because of their great work and honesty.

Sara K.

These guys were great. Came out within two hours to my house on the edge of Wonder valley within two hours, and got the job done right. Wonderful, efficient, and communicative service. I'll call action again with any other plumbing issues.

Susan T.

I hired Action to install a new septic system for my new house. After the county inspection was done, Action came back. They came back to fill my new septic system with filth they had pumped out from someone else's old septic system. Fortunately, for me, they did this when Lanik construction was at my property. Lanik workers said the stench was unbearable. They told me. They knew this was entirely illegal. I was furious. I insisted Action pump out the filth they put in my septic. The Action worker said they always filled clean septics with old filth because they did not want to pay the dump fees at the state licensed dump. I do not know if they pumped everything out. Action did not mark where the tank's opening was and refused to tell me where it was. A few days later I was at Ultimate motors where I met another woman who had hired Action to replace her septic tank. She told me she could not figure out why there was a heavy stench surrounding her property. She was as shocked about Action's practices as I was. A week after we met she told me she also insisted that Action pump out her tank. She thanked me for helping her get the stench removed.