Complaint Review: MA Williams (Drain Cleaning/Septic) - Petersburg Virginia

I called MA Williams to get a quote on having my septic tank pumped and inspected for the sale of my property. There was a short time line to schedule this.My real estate contract stated that pictures of an open tank were needed. I asked MA Williams if they would take pictures and requested a price for the tank pumping and inspection and certification. I was quoted $245.00 on the phone for this service and then scheduled service with them. When the techincian met me at the house, he wrote an invoice before even starting the work and handed it to me to sign. It included 2 jars of biodegradeable chemical @ 50.00 each, one to be used in the house and one installed in the tank, other extra charges included $100.00 if they were to open the tank and find any solids, and an agreement to pay for any other work as well. It was a very cold day. I stood outside with the technician while he tried to call his field manager upon my request. I refused to sign the invoice, so the technician refused to use his shovel. After speaking to the field manager. I reviewed the service that I requested, was quoted ,and would pay for. I stated if there was a problem with the tank that this could be addressed, and a cost estimate of additional work after first looking at the tank .  I was being ask to pay for fixes of problems that had not been discovered yet and chemicals I did not want. These were slipped into the invoice, I was being requested to sign before any work was done. I told him that I was not willing to do this. I insisted that they proceed with the pumping and inspection of the tank at the charge I was quoted. 245.00. The field manager stated that I could not have been given this quote because they do not quote prices. He stated that they never know what they are going to find when arriving to a job. I asked "why then was I given a quote for this work on the phone"? The field manager said that he did not know. I felt like the poor technician was the one left out in the cold to battle with customers that have been quoted prices for jobs , but yet required to list all of these additional charges by the management of the company upon arriving to a customers house. This is my perception, nothing that the technician said. It was very obvious that this is what is going on. After standing out in the cold in freezing  cold temperatures for hours, the inspection and pumping was done.  I had similar deceptive pricing issues concerning the septic distribution box inspection. 200-400 quote from them, was told the base charge included diging up the box, removing the cover and running water in the lines. If the box was really deep or hard to find then the charge would be more than 200. I got a septic plan drawing to make finding the box immediately. No time was spent on looking for it. The charge was 335 for the service. I called for an explanation of the price charge, since I was told any charge more than 200 would be time spent because of excees depth or probing for the location of the box. After calling to question the charges over the 200 base charge,the field manager then stated that the 200 charge was only for distribution boxes that had one line? Who has that? Someone living in a shed? I do not even think there is a D box for one line? I suggested that all charges should be stated clearly and up front for customers and charges should be disclosed that have been deceptively added to invoices. Price quotes should not be deceptive either. The field manager said that I was the only complaint in 15 years and all their customers were pleased with their company. Again he is a liar. My complaint is the second on this site. It takes a lot of time to file a complaint . Most people will not go to the trouble. These two complaints listed here, probably represent many unhappy customers. The manager would not take any of my suggestions to improve their business practices. He did not seem to care! By the way, the prices seem to change from day to day. I called MA Williams again acting like I was a new customer wanting a septic distribution box inspection the day after my service was completed. They quoted me a price of 200-500 this time. Believe you me, they will charge the 500.00 unless you have a determined spirit like I do. Their sliding charge allows for them to charge the highest or higher prices for the basic service you have performed. Poop on you! Toano