The Drain Dude

Rob H.

Where to start... I decided to simply paste my timeline that I used in small claims court against The Drain Dude Inc. We won, not only because The Drain Dude never showed up (similar to how they never show up to many jobs they say them will finish) but because he took our down payment for a simple job and never returned.

1/13/22 Old Republic Home Warranty Work order #68158762 assigned to The DrainDude Inc. to address a noise around toilet and lead under home.
1/27/22 The DrainDude Inc. came out for scheduled appointment to address work order. The DrainDude Inc. replaced the fill valve and universal plunger (Evidence 1), however repair did not address the leak under the home. Pictures of house inspection (Evidence 2) were shown to The DrainDude Inc. owner Randon Castro, of leak under the house. Initial work order (#68158762) was written only for toilet, so they did not inspect under the house. Natalie Hoffman was advised to call the warranty company and have it added to the same work order.
2/1/22 Natalie Hoffman contacted Old Republic and added pipe replacement to the work order for The DrainDude to continue with the work order.
2/3/22 According to Old Replublic Home Protection agent, the warranty company was billed by The DrainDude Inc. for only the toilet repair.
2/16/22 Communication with The DrainDude Inc. continued with the Hoffman's and on this date, they returned to the home for the inspection of the pipe to replace it (Evidence 3) stating that the estimate was for $3600 and they stated that our plan will only cover $2500 and that we will need to pay $1,100 up front for materials as shown in the quote. Natalie Hoffman wrote them a check for $1,100 on this date check #XXXX (Evidence 4).
2/18/22 The DrainDude Inc. cashed the check (Evidence 4)
2/16 -3/19 Date was set during this time for The DrainDude Inc. to complete the leaky pipe job once the materials came in. Set date was canceled and rescheduled to 3/22.
3/22/22 Reschedule date for The DrainDude Inc. to replace leaky pipe, and it was canceled by The DrainDude Inc.
3/23/22 Natalie Hoffman contacted the Old Republic Warranty Company to cancel the work with The DrainDude Inc. and requested a new company to be assigned. A new company (Premium Plumbing & Drain) was assigned to the job.
4/14/22 Other plumbing company came out and inspected the leaky pipe and informed us that there was no issue nor leak. The warranty work order was closed
3/23 - 7/17 Multiple phone calls, voicemails, and text message were sent to Randon Castro's personal cell phone and The DrainDude Inc. office during the weeks following this requesting the reimbursement of the $1,100 for incomplete job.
7/18/22 Called Randon Castro on his cell (209-595-6226) using Rob Hoffman's work cell and he answered. Randon Castro stated on the phone that they had sent the check and if we did not receive it that he personally would come deliver the check to us.
7/27 - 8/9 Followed up with Randon Castro via text message confirming that we had not received a check and if he can deliver a reimbursement check.
9/26/22 A complaint was filed with the Better Business Bureau against The Drain Dude by Natalie Hoffman (Evidence 5)
9/27/22 Demand for Payment letter was sent by certified mail (Evidence 6) for Randon J. Castro at 2972 North Rose Brook Dr and 6366 Jackson Ave. as shown by receipts (Evidence 7)
9/29/22 Received mail confirmation of the certified mailing of the Demand for Payment letter to the 6366 Jackson Ave. Riverbank CA. (Evidence 8)
10/19/22 We filed for Small Claims Court and hired ABC Legal to serve Randon Castro and The DrainDude Inc.
10/25/22 Email to Randon Castro at The Drain Dude Inc. (thedraindudeinc@gmail.com) was send by Rob Hoffman asking for reiumbursement. Email was sent with read receipt. (Evidence 9)
10/26/22 Received email read reciept confirming that the email was read by someone at The Drain Dude Inc. (Evidence 9)
11/13/22 Received certified mailing of the Demand for Payment letter to the 2972 North Rose Brook Dr. in Riverbank back to sender (Evidence 10) and Randon J. Castro did not accept the certified mail.
11/21/22 Received confirmation that Randon Castro and The DrainDude Inc. was served by Joel Villanueva of ABC Legal, to show up to this small claims court appointment.

Although we won, we still have not been paid back. Still going through the hoops of the courts to get our money back. And from all the other lawsuits he probably doesn't have any money left, but we will keep trying.

Lesson learned, and definitely do not use The Drain Dude.

Aaron S.

This place is the absolute worst. They did my whole house in PEX which leaked and lost my ceiling over it. They said they would have it fixed and never did. I hired a new company to come in and they are tearing out all the work they already did because it's such garbage. I'm in the works to get every penny back from them

Joan J.

Was assigned drain dude through home warranty. Had an appt '8-12'.totally stood me up, no phone call. Finally got ahold of someone, got a flimsy excuse why no one called. Am requesting a new company to come out for my plumbing issue.

Lauren P.

This is the worst company I have ever in my life had to deal with. I wish there was a star less than 1 to give. This company was given via American Home Shield. The Owner of this company is literally the rudest and most unprofessional person I have ever spoken to. I went to check reviews on this company after my terrible experience to see if it was a one off. BUT no. All reviews say the same thing- that this company is the worst kind of company you can work with. For a second I thought, ""there are already so many one-star reviews, should I even spend the time writing this"" and then I thought YES it is actually THAT bad of an experience that I am spending the time writing this review. NO insurance company should recommend this company. I am more disappointed with my insurance company, that they can even work with a company with such poor reviews. I really hope insurance companies see these reviews before sending this company to work with a customer.

John W.

DD was assigned for toilet warranty work. They changed parts which did not fix the problem. Another appointment was schedule. They didn't show. I made several calls to DD and was told they had ordered more parts or were working with the warranty company. When I finally called the warranty company (I should have called them sooner) I was told DD reported the problem fixed a month ago, and that was the only feed back they had from DD.
I am in the customer service business. The service, or lack of service is inexcusable.

George E.

After several call with the State Contractors License Board it turns out a permit is required to install a water heater. Of course The Drain ""DUDE"" did NOT pull a Permit.

The fraud dept contacted the building dept of Tracy. They had us pull a permit (yes we paid for it) and today a inspector came out.

The inspectors findings were as follows.

The incorrect gas line was installed.

The water supply lines were installed to close to the exhaust vent.

The earthquake restraints were installed incorrectly and were not even tight to the water heater chassis.

No installation was wrapped around the water supply lines.

No drip valve was installed on the gas line.

No drip pan was installed under the water heater.

Can you say take the loot and scoot, what a bunch of loser scum bags!!!

BTW, it took 7 weeks for this band of scumbags 7 weeks to come pick up the trash they left behind.

If your looking to toss your $$$$ into the fire, do it yourself and save yourself the frustration.

BTW, who and hell names there company ""DUDE""

Jul H.

Josh and Nathan are good guys they get the job done. I normally have to have my husband home when we get the septic tank done. Not with Josh and Nathan they know exactly what to do.

Nikki G.

Hands down, rudest experience I have ever experienced in my life regarding Customer Service, it use to be Comcast, but now they are beat.

I always maintain my professionalism when dealing with companies but after being hung up on because I had to call to see if they remembered my appointment I had made 2 weeks prior because of tardiness, I'm outdone.

Can't really say much because they never showed up. I called 3 times, she told me it happens, that sometimes other appointments run over and I need to be patient. So I was patient, until I couldn't any more. Ridiculous. My home warranty (Old Republic) sent me their information or else I would have never scheduled with this company, and going forward I pray they are removed because the reviews alone show why they can not be trusted to provide a regular, standard, professional service.

The Drain Dude, never again. Please do not do this to yourself and chose another company.

*The one star was so I was able to provide this review.. it is not deserved. *

Heather J.

I had a few leaky valves and my home warranty company sent Random (Drain Dudes owner) and his brother out on a service call. Random told me that they would not replace the leaky valves unless they also redid all the pipes to Pex in my house and acknowledged my home warranty company would not cover the pipes and it would cost me between $4000-$6000 out of pocket. After they left, Random's brother called and said although he was unlicensed he would replace the pipes and valves for $1300. I asked him how often he undercut his brother and he said ""only when he wanted to help a nice person out"" and because he was not licensed he was able to charge less. Random and his brother attempted to take advantage of the fact that I am a single woman that doesn't know much about plumbing. They did not present redoing all the pipes as an optional service, but told me there was no way to replace the valves without redoing all the pipes, which is a straight out lie. I contacted another plumber who said it was ridiculous and actually laughed at what the Drain Dudes were telling me. The plumber I contacted came out and replaced the valves without issue in under an hour. After my experience with Drain Dudes, I read their reviews and many people stated that Drain Dudes tried to take advantage of them, submitted completed work orders to insurance companies when they had not done the work, and are generally dishonest and unprofessional. Because of Drain Dude's lack of ethics and professionalism I had to hire an independent plumber and paid him $219 and got a cash out from my home warranty company for about $90; on top of the $219 to the independent plumber I also had to pay an $85 service for these two hustlers to show up at my house and attempt to swindle me.

As a bonus, as soon as Random and his brother showed up, the brother asked to use my bathroom. Immediately after coming out of the bathroom he directed me into the bathroom so I could explain the valve issue. I walked in and was immediately hit with the stench of this man's defecation. He and his brother walked in behind me and I was therefore trapped; The three of us stood in my very small and now stinky bathroom discussing the leaky valves and pretending like we weren't gagging. It's so unprofessional to blow up a customer's bathroom. Use a gas station bathroom before coming into a customer's home. I mean really!

Claire J.

First of all the drain dudes contractors license is suspended for failure to pay restitution on jobs that he was sued over. Scammed my grandma out of $8500 she is an elderly lady and he had her pay them in cash (in speaking with another company should have been around $2k) and TO TOP IT OFF, never finished the job. Criminal behavior. Would never hire this guy to polish my tires. BIG MISTAKE & the home warranty company should've never sent them out with an invalid license now it's time to go to the home warranty company. NEVER use this company