McDevitt & Son's Plumbing & Heating

A K.

Disregard for basic law such as parking diagonally in a parking lot across multiple handicap spots over the course of greater than 3 hours...

Deborah S.

On the 23rd of February 2009, I received a disclaimer from the seller of the house I was looking to buy. In it, she explained that the property had had two sewer drain clogs in the previous five years. Based on that information, I sought a company that would make a video inspection of the line and give me the information I needed to either live with the problem or request the seller take some measure to fix it. When I called Baltimore Sewer Service (also dba McDevitt & Sons), I spoke to both Melissa and Paul, supplying them with this background information. They agreed that they could help me and I made an appointment to have Paul come out Friday, February 27 to do a video inspection of the main sewer drain line.

After the inspection, Paul recommended verbally that I have the line replaced. He proceeded to write up an invoice on which he wrote a description of the work he had done. I asked him to also note in writing that he recommended the line be replaced. He refused, explaining that he could only do such a thing if it was already my property, as the last time he made a recommendation on a property that was not the client's, he was later called into court to testify, causing him to lose time from work, and he was not allowed by his company to do such a thing again. I and my real estate agent both pointed out to him that the nature of the request was such that a written recommendation as to amendment/replacement was part of the job. While he could see our side of the argument, he continued to refuse to write down a determination one way or the other. He did say he would discuss it with his boss and I would hear something back that coming Sunday (March 1).

Keep in mind that, as with any transaction related to bringing a house to closing, time was of the essence. I had less than two weeks to come to an agreement with the seller as to what work should be done on the house before we could proceed with the sale.
Since I hadn't heard back, I called the company again Tuesday March 3 and several more times over the next few days. I left multiple messages. I spoke to Melissa at one point and explained the situation. She assured me that I would receive something by e-mail. I called again and left a message when I hadn't received the e-mail in a couple of days. At a certain point, it became clear that no one at this company was interested in honoring their commitment, even to the point of returning a call and saying they couldn't help me.

McDevitt & Sons Inc./Baltimore Sewer Service LLC did not provide the service they agreed to perform when I explained to them in detail what I needed before we even made the appointment. They refused to assist or even respond appropriately when I attempted to resolve my problem directly with them. I appeal to my fellow consumers--please do not give these people your business.