No one wants to find themselves in this situation – you have a load of laundry to run but there is a backup in your main drain and adding any more water is just going to make the situation worse. And smellier.You just need someone to come and fix this – fast, and hopefully for cheap. So you grab your phone and turn to Google. “$35 Drain Cleaning”Low and behold, there’s a result. They’re cheap, they say they can be there fast – perfect. Or is it?
What’s the Harm?
It might seem like the cheaper the better when it comes to drain cleaning. Afterall, you aren’t getting anything other than pipes that work again. Why should you have to pay hundreds of dollars for a simple drain clog?
The truth is there is a lot more to a functioning drain system than most people realize. And a bad situation can quickly become worse if you have the wrong guy in to open up your drains.
Low Price May Mean Low Experience
A professional drain cleaner is going to come and likely use some pretty heavy equipment to not only open but clean your drain lines. Depending on the line, the machines that are used weigh hundreds of pounds and can generate significant amounts of torque.
In the hands of an experienced technician, this is ideal. The power of the machine will allow them to clear most kinds of clogs, whether they are caused by hair, roots, or sludgey build up in the pipes.
In the hands of a less experienced technician, this is dangerous. They may not be used to moving such heavy pieces of equipment. If they are not careful, they can cause damage to your house as they move the machine into position. And once inside the pipes, if they are not familiar with the warning signs, they can actually damage the pipes. In some circumstances, this can lead to collapsed main lines or open drains in the basement.
Low Price May Mean Low Effort
Even if you are dealing with an experienced technician, a $35 drain cleaning is unlikely to involve much cleaning. Time is money and money buys time, so $35 dollars may only buy you the time it takes to “pop” a clog. This means that the technician will run your line with their machine only once. This is often enough to get the water to drain and solve the immediate problem, only for it to reoccur weeks or even days later.
Spending a little more money can buy you a line that has been fully cleaned out and will be serviceable for much longer. Depending on the exact cause of the initial clog, you may not have an issue again for years to come. If tree roots are the main cause, a good technician will let you know and give you an estimate on how often you have to get your drains cleaned to prevent back ups from occurring.
Low Price May Mean Low Customer Service
When you have a drain cleaning technician come into your home, you hope that they will treat it with respect. Even though drain cleaning is a dirty job, that doesn’t mean that your home should become dirty in the process.
True, there is some amount of mess that is to be expected. Sometimes the machines can accidentally fling bits of drain gunk when the cable is pulled back. An experienced technician can minimize this mess.
No matter how messy the job itself gets, however, your technician should clean up after themselves. If you have someone in for only $35, they may not want to put in the time and effort or the cost of the cleaners to do so. Don’t settle for a service that leaves you with a bigger mess than you started with.
Low Price May Mean High Pressure Sales
You are probably not thinking about it when you are looking at the backed up drain in your basement, but drain cleaning is usually only one way of dealing with a backed up drain line. Because drain cleaning is a service that is needed and often something of an emergency, plumbing companies will often advertise specials and low prices for getting your drains cleaned. This is called a loss leader and not many customers are familiar with the tactic.
A loss leader is a product or service that is intentionally underpriced. This allows a company to get their foot in the door and establish a relationship with a customer. Once that relationship is established, the company will go on to attempt to sell other, larger services or products.
In drain cleaning, this may involve shady tactics to get you to buy a sewer line repair. In the worst cases, plumbing companies may bring someone in with a camera and show a customer a feed of a broken line that isn’t theirs. Most of the time, this only means that the technician who is cleaning your drain will try to sell you with high pressure sales tactics and dire warnings about what may happen to your drain line in the near future.
Look For High Value, Not Low Price
Here at Honey Go Fix It, we don’t want anyone to suffer the pitfalls of too good to be true pricing. We strive to provide fair pricing and exceptional service to keep both you and your drains happy. Although the allure of a $35 drain cleaning is certainly a tempting fix, we believe that the value provided in thorough cleaning, expertise, knowledge, and transparency is well worth the additional cost. So if you have a backed up drain, look no further than Your Neighborhood Drain Experts.