Dyno-Rod Compensation Query

GeorgiaRoo

Hi everyone, I was wondering if someone could offer some advice please?

A few weeks ago, I called Dyno-Rod to come to my house because we noticed that there was an issue with our drains (things like we could hear water gurgling in the sink when the toilets would flush, or the bath would gurgle when the washing machine was on). Prior to this, we checked with our neighbours to see if this was a wider issue, but it was just affecting us, so we believed it was an issue with our drains.

Dyno-Rod arrived the next day (even though their confirmation text said they'd arrive the day we made the call, but we were told verbally that this was a mistake and that they would come the next day).

They arrived, and after some investigation, found that there were stones and rocks in our drains, so the water couldn't flow properly. They said the drain was shared, so they couldn't unblock it.

According to their 'Customer Checklist Report' which they sent me, the resolution type was 'Drains - Unblock (External)' and the resolution comments were:
Attended site for blocked manhole used high pressure water to restore flow found large stone/type one rocks in pipe however on shared drainage so I have informed the customer to contact local water board to clean the stone out of the pipe.

I paid nearly £200 for this.

Later that day, I contacted our local water company who arrived the next day. They asked us and our neighbours to flush dye down our toilets and concluded the drain was actually private property. As a good will gesture, they removed the stones and rocks free of charge.

I have contacted Dyno-Rod about this, as I would like some compensation. For me, they incorrectly diagnosed that the drain was ours, and therefore they didn't remove the cause of the blockage. Had they asked us to flush dye down our toilets, they would have realised the drain was ours, and they would have removed the stones and rocks as part of the overall fee (I have this confirmed in an email). Regardless of their visit, the issue persisted. After complaining to them, they have offered me £25 as a good will gesture and have said that is their final offer.

I wanted to ask if anyone has faced a similar issue before, and whether I might be entitled to some more compensation? I have found their service to be quite poor, and I'd appreciate any support and thoughts here. Thank you.

eskbanker

In the absence of any actual financial losses (total paid is what you signed up to) or particularly significant inconvenience (issue resolved next day), I'd have thought that you'd struggle to make a claim for any more than a token gesture stick?

Woodstok2000

You need to quantify your loss - if Dyno-rod had removed the stones you would have paid almost £200 to get them removed. As it is, you paid almost £200 and the stones are gone (although not removed by DR) so financially you are not out of pocket. £25 for the time taken to call the water board and deal with their visit doesn't seem unreasonable. What would you like them to do?

Aylesbury_Duck

Did you see these stones and rocks? Are you confident they're not pieces of a broken pipe? Or are they evidence of a broken pipe? If they are, there will be further problems down the line. How do stones and rocks end up in a sewer? They're not the sort of things people put down the sink or flush down a toilet.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Services must be carried out with due care and skill, where they aren’t you are entitled to a price reduction, that is typically the difference between what you got and what you paid but the CRA guidance notes have an interesting example for a price reduction noting the reduction doesn’t necessarily need to reflect a monetary loss.

I’d look for a CEO email, cite section 49 of the CRA

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/49

and push for a full refund, they might settle on half.

Customer service will just fob you off, how good the ceo office (assuming they reply) is I don’t know but most are far more helpful to the point it’s now the only way I contact a company if I need to.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82177828#Comment_82177828

What is your basis of saying 50% is appropriate? The normal idea would be cost of service paid for minus cost of service received. Its unclear if the OP is disputing that they did what they said they did re using high pressure hoses but I am assuming they arent.

The unknown element is if they had not made the mistake of thinking its a shared drain would there have been an additional charge for stone removal? If there would then they got the service they paid for and not only that but the mistake saved them money as they were removed for free rather than paying the extra fee.

Anchoring is a well known strategy, say you want more than you really do which allows negotiating room to give up ground and still hit where you wanted to get to. You however have to be reasonable… come out with something stupid like saying you want a 300% refund because of a minor issue you are more likely to annoy people who will then offer you nothing where as a more reasonable request may be actually considered.

The fact that the water company had to gain access to a neighbours property to determine if it was shared or not indicates it wasnt abundantly clear

Keep_pedalling

You actually got lucky here, had they done the investigation and cleared the blockage it would have cost you significantly more than £200, but for some reason you think you are entitled to compo.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82177904#Comment_82177904

Probably worth re-reading the OP.

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82178327#Comment_82178327

I did, did you?

There's this

"They arrived, and after some investigation, found that there were stones and rocks in our drains, so the water couldn't flow properly. They said the drain was shared, so they couldn't unblock it."

and then there's this

"According to their 'Customer Checklist Report' which they sent me, the resolution type was 'Drains - Unblock (External)' and the resolution comments were:
Attended site for blocked manhole used high pressure water to restore flow found large stone/type one rocks in pipe however on shared drainage so I have informed the customer to contact local water board to clean the stone out of the pipe."

So they claimed they couldn't unblock it, although they "restored the flow."

Given the OP called them out because "A few weeks ago, I called Dyno-Rod to come to my house because we noticed that there was an issue with our drains (things like we could hear water gurgling in the sink when the toilets would flush, or the bath would gurgle when the washing machine was on)" then it seems like there was an issue with the flow which Dyno Rod did fix.

What they did not do was provide a permanent solution. However, what is the indication that their permanent solution would be the same price as the flushing service the OP got? Who knows?

To be honest 200 quid for a guy to squirt a high pressure hose down a drain for a bit to "restore flow" is probably about going rate, especially from a "named brand."