Sassaman Services

Not even worth 1 Star
My landlord called in the warranty claim for a very slow (4-flush to get everything to stay down) toilet. I even called the warranty company (CHW) to verify that this type of work was covered under the warranty. CHW said "Yes."

Somehow, when the Sassaman got the job, it was listed as "Toilet doesn't flush." I found this out by calling Sassaman myself and when the woman who answered looked up my address, that's what she said: Toilet doesn't flush. I corrected her, told her we needed a big snake -- one that could go from a 2nd floor condo, out to the sewer line under the street (I had spoken to a couple plumbers and Roto Rooter by then). I asked her to correct the ticket because I wanted to be sure they came equipped. She said she'd correct the ticket. She booked the appointment, called a day later to move that appointment, and then the day of the appointment, called again to cancel and reschedule again. Now it's a week and a half later, and they are supposed to show up at 1 pm. I call at 4 pm to verify it's still on. They show up between 6-7 pm.

They walk in the door, and say, "So where's the toilet that won't flush?" I corrected them, told them the situation, and they proceeded to run a 6' snake -- even after I told them not to bother, a handyman had tried the same thing a couple weeks back and it just made it a little worse. I told them I was expecting them to have to remove the toilet, and run the Big Snake down the drain out to the street. They shooed me out of the bathroom, saying they had to trouble shoot it themselves, but thanks for the info. I overheard the lead guy say "These toilets are old" and I told him everything in the apartment was old, but that the toilets themselves were fine, they just needed to snake the line. No response, and nothing else was said.

At the end of the visit, they said they'd have to send in pictures for authorization, and someone would be calling to schedule an appointment to do the work. I waited until 4 pm the next day, and ended up calling myself to get on the schedule. The same woman I'd spoken to every phone call answered, looked up my address, and then chirped, "Oh, this claim has been denied." I was incredulous. I told her I had checked this with the warranty company myself and they said snaking a line was covered. The woman responded by reading the notes that the so-called plumber had made about the call: "Object stuck, needs new toilet." I exploded, and all she could do in response was to say, "Well, that's what it says here". I kept insisting that she quit reading emails to me and get to work sorting this out, that the communication in their company was seriously amiss, that it was her job to straighten this out. She hung up on me.

If they offered to PAY me to do the work, I would not have this company anywhere near me. They are dangerous and irresponsible. It seems evident to me that they pick and choose the jobs they want to do, showing up and collecting their $85.00 service fee as they go. Even IF a new toilet was needed, the service guy didn't say a word about his 'diagnosis' while he was with us and as far as I was concerned, they would be snaking the line. He clearly falsified the report so it would get denied. Maybe he didn't want to snake a line. There ought to be some sort of way to hold this company responsible for this kind of fraud.

We cancelled their check. The CHW Case Manager is due to call me tomorrow, and I was told that I would be able to ask for another company. We'll see. If they don't, we'll just pay Roto Rooter and get it done.