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While your pipes may legitimately need a thorough drain cleaning with a high-pressure sewer jet if the water is backing up, the problem could be solved with simpler means. Snaking your pipes with an electric rotating cable is often sufficient. However, sometimes plumbing businesses use tricks to get your business. To ensure that you don’t fall victim to a scam, it’s important to follow these three tips.

3 Ways to Avoid Drain-Cleaning Scams

1. Watch for Inappropriate Questions

When you make an appointment, the contractor should help you schedule a time that’s convenient for you. If they ask inappropriate and irrelevant questions, such as whether you’ll be home alone or if you’re divorced, you should find a different company. These questions could lead to this business taking advantage of you.

2. Don’t Allow Evidence Planting

drain cleaningSome shady companies work in teams to plant evidence and secure future jobs. While you’re talking to one of their employees, the other one may be distributing rocks throughout your pipes to ensure a blockage in your drains. They may even get you to replace your piping after the second or third “blockage.”

3. Verify Video Recordings

Plumbers have tiny video cameras they can send down a clogged pipe to find out what’s going on. Unfortunately, this tool can be used to trick you, too. For example, a scammer may actually be showing you a recording of a blocked pipe at someone else’s home to get you to pay for costly repairs. To ensure the footage is from your home, ask them to film something unique to your property before going down the pipe with the camera.

 

If you have a clogged drain, call the experienced team at American Rooter at (888) 863-4638. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Watertown, CT, and they are officially known as The Drain Experts. They clean and unclog drains every day in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and their snaking cable reaches distances of more than 400 feet. American Rooter is available for emergency drain services and scheduled drain cleanings. To learn more about the company and how they can help, visit their website

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