River City Environmental

Emily D.

I called River City to repair my septic system in Tillamook. After a very rainy January, my shower and toilet were backing up due to too much water in the drainfields. Chad with River City recommended proceeding on a ""time and materials"" basis, since the location is a ways out of Portland - he could diagnose the problem and repair in one fell swoop over 2-3 days. River City required a 5000 credit card hold prior to proceeding, and in looking over the rates list I signed, I didn't expect the bill to be much more than that.

Fast forward 3 months: the shower and toilet is backing up again much worse: sewage including feces in the shower. My entire yard is a swampy mess with up to 14"" of standing water in many places, including behind the house where they created a sort of pit through their excavation where surface water can't flow out of. Water is visibly infiltrating into my garage, and could be seeping into the lower level of my house as well which is at the same elevation. My underground rain drain pipe was crushed during construction. Every square inch of my yard was dug up and is too muddy to walk on, and there is Styrofoam ""poly aggregate"" (basically artificial gravel which looks like packing peanuts) mixed in with the soil all over the yard. My renters, who have 2 dogs, have not been able to use the yard since January.

The price tag for this was $17,690.25.

The state of my property is much worse, and everything that was done to divert water needs to be redone likely exceeding that amount. I have hired a local contractor to excavate and replace the crushed rain drain and to clean up the poly aggregate. I hired another septic company to siphon the standing water behind the house that is not draining, and drain excess water from my holding tank. I am getting a bid this week for a landscape architect to remove and replace a defunct ""ground water interceptor"" - this is basically a French Drain to divert excess ground water that was getting into the septic system. The system River City used has a perforated drain pipe that comes bundled with Styrofoam ""poly aggregate"", wrapped in a geo fabric to provide drainage, rather than the traditional gravel-based drainage systems - supposedly it is a proven system that costs less and is fast to install, if installed correctly. Somehow many of these bundles burst all along the trench line, spewing chunks of Styrofoam all over the yard. From what my contractor observed, the pipes are not even connected in places, and in some cases there is no pipe, just Styrofoam in torn fabric a hole with clay soil fusing to the Styrofoam pieces. In some areas the drain pipe is above the ground. The soil is on my property is mostly clay, and the usual precautions you would use with a soil that does not drain, like additional geo filter fabric, backfilling with a pervious soil etc. was not done. Additionally the grading done does not direct surface water away from the house, instead a low point was created behind the house where water is trapped and just ponds. Normally you would channel the water away from - rather than toward the foundation. The crew had 3 days with an excavator at 1200/day, and this was the result.

I had a phone conversation with the Chad and the office manager about the issues and the bill. I acknowledged that the the shower and toilet seemed to be draining and other maintenance to the septic lines were done, and I authorized a 5000 partial payment on my credit card. Chad agreed to return in April to fix some of the issues, and make some adjustments to the bill. Meanwhile I discovered that feces and toilet paper were piling up behind the house through a sewage line that had been broken during construction. River City repaired that broken pipe, but then I got an email from the contracts manager, Mick letting me know that Chad and the foreman were taken off the project, and all communications had to go through him. In trying to figure out how to remedy the problems, I asked Mick what products were used, placement of underground elements, whether my raindrains were altered or combined with this new drain line, and a conversation that was supposedly had with my neighbor to daylight the ground water onto his property. Mick would only reply by saying things like ""the amount owing currently is $13,175.25.  We can put you on a payment plan if you like"".

At about 6 weeks after the invoice that I disputed was received, Mick filed a lien on my property (wrongly naming my neighbor as the owner initially - causing a great deal of anxiety) with the intent to foreclose if I didn't pay them in full, plus the 500 filing fee.

I hired a mediator so we could have a conversation and work things out, River City refused to mediate. Yesterday I received a letter from Mick demanding payment in 10 days, saying that their work was ""per industry standards"" and that their invoice was not overstated.

video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAMN7LQPyUQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6uC0

Nitikorn W.

Be aware this company, I forgot to check out this Yelp first before I had them a job. Like many people to give them a negative feedback. They overcharge amost $1,000 . the price came up without telling me in advance before they had the job done .
I got the inspector come to check the problem before I gave them a job. I try to confirm the quote before and while they were doing a job onsite. Contractor still say the price was the same quote, no worry, not anything surprise until the job was done. They gave me the final bill that over estimate almost $1,000. How professional are they? They will give you a low quote to beat up another to get a job.
I try to talk with the company why that so big difference than your quote, seem like they did not care anything.
The company just hire contractor to do the job and they are not take any resposibility for the customer at all. They also don't care about their reputation. So shame.

Kade R.

Very good business, does not over charge
Jesse and Joey are great guys
Knew what they were doing

We had a toilet issue upstairs and they came in and diagnosed the problem and knew what was wrong

Got me on the schedule quickly

I would highly recommend!

Aaron S.

I just want to say a huge Thank You to the people of River City. We are so blessed having businesses like this that truly care about their neighbors.
We were displaced due to the fires and are in our RV parked at an emergency station.
Just prior to the fires our truck was taken in to the shop. We have no way to tow our RV to a dump station so their service of emptying is amazing.
My wife is handicap and on oxygen 24/7 as well as other issues its vital to have water and bathroom.
ThankYou again so much.

K H.

DON'T TRUST THEIR QUOTES!

We have had to use this company multiple times, for THE SAME ISSUE!
We originally were impressed with the $300 service fee, but at the last service call (#3), our technician Mark quoted us the $300 fee same as before, and One week later I get an invoice for $497!
When we called them to discuss why we were charged over half again as much, they said it was for a 2hour travel fee and tech time. They did reverse a $45 environmental fee, but refused to honor the quote given.

On top of that, Mark was going to have other tech come out to give us estimate to replace a damaged pipe, but they never bothered to come out and we happily paid a more reputable company for the repair.

We will not be using this company again.
If they would have demonstrated integrity, this review would be different.

Gerald S.

Did a great job lost all their points by overcharging. When challenged they had reasons I did not like. Also, they take credit card info up front and when done you are charged, the price they come up with without telling you it was higher and explaining it. Finally they agreed to give me about $125 credit as concession. I had to call they 3 times over 4 weeks before I finally got the money, but only $85! They wore me down so I gave up. But I mustered up the energy to write this review I guess as therapy.

Kylie C.

Called for a quote to get my above ground swimming pool filled and told them we needed about 5000 gallons (to fill a 14ftx4ft circle pool, not huge). I was told their trucks carry about 2600 gallons so I was quoted for two truck loads. The quote was roughly $300-$350. I was charged for nearly $500! This company is expensive and the water I received was GREEN. When I mentioned to the truck driver that I was not expecting green water he laughed and said ""that's Portland water for ya"". I have treated with several (expensive) chemicals to try to remedy this and the water is still a terrible hue of green.

This charge is ridiculous, the company is taking advantage of people and overcharging for a less than desirable green tinted product. I do not recommend to anyone to fill their pools with this company. Will never use again and will tell my neighbors, friends, coworkers and patients to use a different company and beware river city environmental. Company should be ashamed charging so much.

Brett P.

Wow,
I should have read the reviews. The average homeowner does not know why their catch basin is draining slowly, assumes it needs cleaning and depends on your knowledge and experience to ask the right questions. I had a terrible experience. You don't show up when scheduled and perform a service which doesn't address the problem. The catch basin still needs attention. You want to argue whether I mentioned it wasn't draining during our phone call, which is ridiculous. Had you the ""professionals"" asked the right questions I would not mind paying for the service I needed which was cleaning (jetting) of the drain line, not cleaning the catch basin. Terrible communication and all your manager is interested in is blaming the customer. I will use another service going forward and will leave an appropriate review. Please read your reviews and learn from your mistakes... 3 stars, no wonder.

Gerrie W.

we called to set up a appt to get our septic pumped , they asked all the questions and said they would call back to set up a yime on the day we wanted , the next day they called and left a message to call back to set up the time
Well when he called back they said they had no paperwork on us , and did not even set up a appt so we just called someone we could rely on , if you want the job done DONT CALL RIVER CITY

Stephanie L.

Have used this company 3 times now. Always very friendly guys and do a great job. Give helpful tips on how to prevent and how often we should do our catch bassinens. Will definitely continue to use them and recommend as well.