SepticPro

Even though it appears you weren’t our client, we never like receiving a bad review. We take pride in our work and maintaining our integrity. I can understand your frustration. As a seller, you want to get out of the house with as little expense as possible. However, if you are a buyer, who hire an inspector to find everything possible so you could make an informed decision. What we do is help prospective buyers make informed decision. As a seller you can us before putting your house on the market, and you would’ve received the same information, and potentially prepared for any issues. You see, the information we provide doesn’t change whether you are a buyer or seller. Any ratings, or opinions, that we offer, are based on fact. And if the buyers allowed you to review the report, you would find a detailed explanation, with pictures to support our findings. 1. You are correct. In Vermont a system is either passing or failing, but a septic system has a life cycle, and most purchasers want more than whether the system is alive or dead. In Vermont, a failed system is defined as coming out of the ground or surfacing. That's it! What if it WAS failing but no one has been in the house for a couple of years. All the evidence is there but it isn’t actively coming out of the ground on the day it was reviewed. But tomorrow, when you turn the water on, it surfaces. While that wouldn’t be classified as a failed system in Vermont, it is information a buyer wants to know. If I use a metaphor: Most people who get a check-up at the doctors office want to know more than whether or not they are breathing. If they have an underlying issue that has yet to present itself, is good information to have. Or what if, God forbid you had Stage 5 cancer, knowing is good information because you could prepare for the inevitable. As far as frightening people, that is not our intent. When we make a recommendation, especially one that we know may not be popular with the homeowner, we expect the owner will get a second opinion. That is the main reason, we provide so much detailed information and pictures in our report.2. I agree. The Vermont Environmental regulations as they pertain to new systems are extremely stringent - some of the toughest in the region. However, for existing properties, they ARE the most lax. Allow me to give you an example: We reviewed a septic system that was two feet from a popular lake. We placed a green dye in the dry-well and within minutes, the lake began turning green. Raw sewage was spewing into the lake 5’ from a boat dock where people were swimming. Although you could plainly see that the system was allowing wastewater to go untreated into the lake, where people swam, it did NOT meet the state’s definition of failure. In surroundings states, the definition of failure is simply not treating wastewater or threatening surface and/or groundwater. In my opinion, that is LAX. 3. I am not surprised to hear that some of our competitors may not appreciate us, but if you ask state regulators or one of our clients, you would likely hear a completely story. We are often invited by the state to help shape their regulator standards. 4. We have never been sued for a septic system inspection report.5. I can not speak for other company’s practices. I do not know their experience level, what they do as part of their inspections or how they conducted their review because Vermont has no regulatory standards for inspections (See Bullet No. 2). I do know what we do, though. And I do know that I would put my team up against anyone in the industry. Call us! Even our office personnel are trained and know more than many “septic professionals”.I am sorry if our inspection revealed information that impacted you negatively. Please feel free to call our office. If the buyers gave you a copy of the report, we can go over it with you.

Thanks Paul! Glad we can help.