Dr Drain and Sewer Repair

Davola H.

I had to put 5 stars so that Yelp wouldn't hide my bad rating. Please open up all 15 or so ratings that Yelp hid below. They are all telling the truth since I too have experienced the EXACT same unethical business practices.

Or you could say that the 5 stars are how excited I am to have heard on the news that Al Solano, the owner, go arrested for ELDERLY FRAUD in Santa Barbara!!
From the BBB:
Date of Action: 7/26/2013
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, the owner of this company Mr. Albert Solano has been charged with elder abuse and working without a valid contractor's license. Mr. Solano was arrested on July 26

Sara W.

If I could give a rating of a negative amount of stars for this company I would. Dr. Drain is by far the worst plumbing company I have ever dealt with; in fact it's the worst company I've EVER dealt with period. The company did a repair on an elderly, disabled man that I assist. Shortly after the repair, the sink started to leak. I called countless number of times and left messages, or spoke with different employees who said they would send someone over to look at the sink and they never returned calls or passed on my messages. Finally, I spoke with the manager, Al and he sent someone over. I was told that a part on the garbage disposal needed to be replaced and that he was going to contact the manufacturer. Today I followed up after more than two weeks of hearing NOTHING back, and the employee I spoke to HUNG UP ON ME!! He was rude and very unprofessional, so i proceeded to ask who I was speaking with so that I could inform management. When I asked his name, he flat out hung up on me. I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau at this point. Anyone who's willing to take advantage of an elderly AND disabled man should be handled accordingly. Everyone I've spoke to at this company is SHADY.

Disso E.

They offered me one price on the phone then when the technician gave me the estimate, it was considerably higher. I passed on the job. The next day the owner called and quoted me a price and it was also high. I told him no and he continued to bargain with me until his offer was so low I took it. He said his crew would be there in the morning and they didn't show up or call. I called his cell phone and main line and still no return call. I hired someone else and if I were you, I would too!
Oh also, he was suspicious of one of his employees stealing side jobs from him. That wasn't the case, but why would you call up potential customers and talk trash about your own employee? Very unprofessional!

Amy B.

This company should be charged for elder abuse. They tried to charge over $15,000 in plumbing work that did not need to be done OR because of damages they did on purpose in order to increase the bill. Another plumbing company came in and confirmed what they had done was not necessary at all. The homeowner even overheard one of the Dr. Drain employees tellling another employee to BREAK a perfectly good drain line so they could bill to fix it. The homeowner then watched them as they did this ! They also demaned more than the lawful 10% down and also tried to include sales tax on labor prices. This company will be reported to the board and I hope they are stopped sooner than later. So sad to see them ripping people off every day.

Jean B.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. I have a simple plugged toilet. The hitch is that I had to be on my way out of town 4 hours ago. I made calls to numerous plumbers and drain cleaners, but ultimately chose this company because I was promised by ""Al"" that he would arrive in less than an hour. What a joke. 4 phone calls and 4 hours later I'm still waiting. With each phone call I was promised a return call.... NEVER HAPPENED. With each phone call I was told ""I understand your frustration, but this is just the dispatch center. We can't call you back. We don't know how you can talk to anyone from the company. We'll page the technician again."" Irresponsible, unreliable, unprofessional, untrustworthy company. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

donna g.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. They were to replace the sewer line from the house to the street and they were a NIGHTMARE. First, they did not have alot of supplies they needed and asked to borrow shovels and pitchforks, hoses and tarps and they stole the items. Called numerous times to have them returned and the owner kept acting nice and said they would but never did. The sewer line was suppose to be seamless but instead it was installed in pieces with clean- out lines coming out of the ground in our grass near the sidewalk!!! Then they charged us tax on six thousand dollars of labor (which was overpriced ) which came to hundreds of dollars which they weren't suppose to charge ( I called Fisher, Dutton and Swenson's plumbing and none of them said they ever heard of charging tax on labor). Tried to get the tax money back and same thing as asking for my tools returned - owner acted all nice and said he would but did nothing. I also believe they use another name for their company in another city.

Al S.

From: Shannon D. Perches

It is my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Al, Also as ""Dr. Drain"". A few months ago, our main sewer line broke and we needed repairs right away. we called Dr. Drain and he took good care of us!

Our plumbing was fixed in a timely manner. Each step of the process and all needed repairs were carefully discussed with us before implementation. We have beed completley satisfied with the work that has been performed at our house.

We also have appreciated Al's customer service. We had some snags with our insurance adjuster, but Al patiently coached us through the process and ensured that we were aware of our rights and the insurance company's obligations to fulfill them. We appreciated the fair prices and friendly service we have received.

we have been very pleased so therefore, we highly recommend Dr. Drain Plumbing! We will be referring all of our friends to Dr. Drain.

Sincerely,
Shannon D. Perches

Deon O.

EDITED!! Forget this review. The problem was never fixed. I got taken advantage of. Make sure to check the BBB for a certified plumber and do your homework!!

I just recently moved in to my new home and thought that this time should be the happiest time of my life. I have 3 little boys and they all are now able to get their own rooms. But once those 3 little boys tried to take a shower and the shower started backing up with water. The bathroom was flooding, my family is panicing. Dr. Drain was readily available and came to my new home to take care of the problem and let me know what exactly was going on.

I will recommend Dr. Drain to all of my friends and family since that is who recommended him to me. I only go off recommendations by trusted people in my life and when someone that I know (and is like a brother to me) tells me that I NEED to call Dr. Drain because he wouldn't steer me wrong...I CALL THEM!

Dr. Drain is completely trustworthy and it really boils my blood that some people have nothing better to do then slam a small business. You have several options when it comes to the services that you choose. So if you don't like it, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

I understand that I am only 1 person. But doesn't it always seem that people are more prone to write bad reviews then to write good ones? Honestly, I work in the customer service field as well and not everyone knows how to be polite. Everyone speaks differently. So just because Ernie says that they were rude, that should be the truth?? I find these other reviews very hard to believe. And if they were so badly effected, they should take their woes out someplace else. It's hard enough to have and maintain a small business, but to have people that have nothing better to do-go online and talk smack...how about, ""don't just talk about it-BE ABOUT IT""!!

It's just so hard for me to allow this type of post to take place when Al and all of the Dr. Drain staff have been so kind and understanding. They know that when people are in these situations, that they have to be very delicate with people and evaluate all of their options.

I truly feel like this company has recieved a bad wrap and if believe everything you read, please take my post into consideration. Thank you.

Ernie R.

WOW! I called asking if they do a particular service and the response I got was terrible! Completely rude! I believe his name was Anthony. Thats 3 people with 3 terrible reviews...we cant all be wrong!

Dr. A.

After wasting my day by being hours late to arrive, they tried to charge me $1000 to fix an issue that didn't even turn out to be the actual problem. They claimed it was a free estimate on their ad, but I had to pay $50 because I signed an estimate form with them. In hindsight, it was worth $50 for them to just leave. I went with another company and it was only a $180 repair. That company told me that Dr. Drain is known for preying upon people that are not familiar with plumbing repair.