Drain Detectives Reviews 70

Such a good experience with Drain Detectives, excellent customer service and quick response time. Ant was very polite and friendly, no hidden extras or costs. Thankyou!

I called Drain Detectives at 8.00am this morning. They were the only company to pick up the phone. They sent an engineer to my home in Sevenoaks and cleared the blockage within a few minutes, but then checked the drains with a camera to look for any problems that could have blocked the drain. He showed me that there was roots in the line. They are sending me a quote to clear the roots and patch any cracks. I would highly recommend.

Not surprised this company is delisted. Charged me £165 plus vat per hour for some root removal in waste pipe. Engineer there less than two hours but initial bill £495!

Called out for a blocked lavatory. Arrived within 2 hours as promised plunged the loo and left by the evening it was backing up again. Called again next day and after some discussion they said there would be no charge for this visit. Arrived 30 mins after time slot which was fine and put rods down the toilet (which I have since found out shouldn't have been done), on my assistance lifted man hole and as there was no blockage they left. Within 2 days toilet backing up again called another company who advised pipes should have been rodded not the loo itself and the man hole cover they had lifted was not the correct one!

Useless company, rather talk than actually detect the issue! I told them what the issue was and didn’t listen, only interested in the money! Avoid at all costs 👎 they sent an inexperienced guy from croydon to chelmsford who was early and wanted to charge from that point and should have known what to do but no communication there end in the beginning, absolute waste of money!

If I could have rated lower, I would. Seriously avoid this company at all cost! I had a weird smell occurring in my bathroom and airing cupboard (which houses my washing machine and boiler). The smell was similar to rotten eggs and sulfur. We couldn’t pin point what was causing this so we figured it might be the drains. Called this company and explained the issue- the representative literally advised the product “smells investigation” to pin point where the smell was coming from and then they would clear the drains to rectify the issue. Anyway I booked because I wanted the issue to be resolved asap- two cowboys showed up dressed in very dirty clothing. They were in and out of my property within 10 mins, the smells investigation they carried out involved them flushing my toilet multiple times, running the sink and the bath taps, and the kitchen taps for almost 5 mins. They didn’t even check the washing machine exit which I suspect was blocked and causing the smell. They had a smirk on their face while running up my water bill and I knew immediately that this was a mistake. This company doesn’t care about the customer or Thor problems, this company will capitalise on any customer problem to make a quick profit and I find this absolutely disgusting. The customer service was very aggressive and threatening when I called up to explain what happened and refused to pay the full amount of £125+VAT. It’s literally a joke, please save your money and do your research on a company before booking them. I was in a distressed situation and didn’t do my proper checks. Don’t become the next victim to this company and lose your hard earned money. Times are tough and it’s a shame that companies now result to this to trick and scam hard working people out of money.

The service this company gives is outstanding. The minute you contact the company, you feel you are in good hands: the calm polite telephone manner from the reception staff who give you realistic prompt timeline after asking basic questions as to the nature of query - may I add - with reassurance. The engineer arrives with a calm manner and with all the professional know-how and excellent van of all possible tricks of the trade, including a camera, to tackle the problem. In no time at all, the engineer is able to identify the problem and COMMUNICATE this to you, the customer, and yet again reassurance is given.
I am a pensioner and had the worst possible day when the manhole at the back of my property was leaking raw sewage. This was an emergency above all possible EMERGENCIES. An engineer called Neal arrived and took charge of the situation straight away and with a camera Neal found out that the problem was not me, but a manhole on the public pavement that was totally blocked with sanitary wear, nappies, wipes and builders' rubble - responsibility of Thames Water. Neal told me to phone Thames Water urgently, which I did. However, he managed to clear my drains. The DRAIN DETECTIVES are NO 1 in their field. I have no hesitation in recommending their service. I wish the other company involved had been as thorough.

If your criteria for choosing a drainage company is reliability, i.e. they will turn up at the approximate time, and even day, they promised, then AVOID this company.
I discovered we had a blocked drain one morning so I phoned Drain Detectives and was promised an engineer would arrive that afternoon, he never turned up. Later that day I was told he would come between 11:00 and 1:00pm the next day, no one turned up. Around 2:30pm that day I was then told he was `on his way, would be there in about 30 minutes', what I wasn't told was where he was coming from, when I eventually got that information out of the company, the distance was so far I realised he would never get here that day.
What I have learned from this experience is this:
either use local companies, or if you can, try and do the job yourself.

I wouldn’t recommend this company at all. Sadly, I didn’t check Trustpilot but only looked on Google where they seem to have decent reviews.
I have a property where the washing machine keeps filling up with water after washing dishes or when the kitchen sink’s tap has been on.
Both the lady who answered the phone and the man she put me on to seemed very decent and professional.
On the phone I said that it’s possible there was a block, but I wasn’t sure (how would I know?! I’m not a plumber - it’s just a layperson’s every day guess).
Someone turned up to the property and was there for 20 minutes, used some handheld vacuum to “unblock” the sink’s drain and left. I was charged £150 and the problem persisted. In the report it says that if the problem persisted, I would have to have XYZ replaced.
I have since had a different plumber from another company out to look at it and he fixed it by telling me that my washing machine’s waste pipe was not positioned high enough, was in the wrong place and that was it. The guy who fixed it charged me a third of what Drain Detectives charged me!
This means that the plumber from Drain Detectives did zero investigation. He simply heard the word ‘block’, didn’t assess what was actually wrong with my plumbing, tried to unblock a non-existent blockage (?!)) and I was charged £150 for it (I was billed before he would turn up at my property. Stay away. Absolute cowboy behaviour!

Amazing from start to finish, called them in the morning - arrived 2 hours later. Great service thanks Drain Detectives!

Having had a previously bad experience of a drainage company last year, who subsequently went out of business, I searched around and found this company which I thought was local. It's not, although they use local telephone numbers to make you think they are local.
They initially appeared efficient. The person I spoke to on the phone was helpful, looked through the previous drainage report, provided an estimate for the work needed (based on digging up a 5ft x 2ft area of concrete), and booked a visit on a convenient date.
The engineer was late in arriving but appeared to know what he was doing. I had to go out briefly and in this time they found a large hole in the pipe which they replaced. I was a little sceptical as this appeared to be exactly the area that the previous company I had used had installed a new pipe. It didn't involve any digging up of the concrete area initially discussed. The whole job took less than 3 and a half hours and they took an hour for lunch in the middle. I asked for video footage and a report which the engineer said would be sent to me on their return to the office. Bill cost £2214, exactly the same as the estimate, even though it involved significantly less work than anticipated.
My real issue is that the payment demand came the same day as the work was undertaken, with a chase each day since. I queried when I would receive the report and video footage, which I need to share costs with the upstairs owner and also to prove the work has been done when I put the flat on the market. I was told this would not be forthcoming until 7 days after I had paid the bill. I now doubt whether I will ever see a report or video, and for that reason could not recommend.

Excellent service, efficient, Father & son team Dan arrived promptly within 1h of my call. Super efficient, polite and friendly. I would definitely use them again.

Disappointing- I called about a bad drain smell from the bathroom in the house we just moved into. The woman I spoke with on the phone seemed nice and helpful, but from the booking stage onwards it all went downhill.

The technicians that arrived (about 45 minutes early which would normally be fine but we were a first thing in the morning appointment), were very unprofessional. They went through the home in dirty shoes, smelling so intense of tobacco that they couldn’t smell the drain issue. They then proceeded to “investigate” which was more like walking through our home looking at everything but the drains… made me feel like my home was being canvases for a break in. They didn’t even bother running the taps and told me they would have to take out a large portion of our wall to get a camera in.

Obviously I’m shocked that they didn’t even look at the drains and are saying they need to do extensive destruction to set up a camera. They then said that they’ve broken quite a lot of bathroom fittings before so we’d need a plumber to come out…. I thought the whole point of booking a drain specialist would be that someone with drain experience would attend?

So I call the office to talk to the helpful lady and tell her how uncomfortable and unhappy I am with the two techs not even looking at the drains, to then walk all through the home checking out the doors instead of the pipes, and leaving after 10 minutes to say I need a whole wall taken out. No way am I paying almost £100 for nothing.

She arranged an actual drain specialist to come out and told me at no additional cost, and the guy who arrived seemed like he actually knows what to do- checks the water in the taps, empties the drain catch in the sink, and is done in 15 minutes. He says there’s no other issues and I don’t need anything done for the vent which the first guys said needed a whole wall removed for.

Told I’m to get a call back with a plan and report on the findings, but receive no call that day.

Late morning the next day I get a call saying “You need to make the payment for two appointments”. So completely disregarding the terms I was given the day before, and with no report of what is actually going on with the drain, if there’s a vent issue, if it was just a simple blockage, nothing.

So my feedback is that this company is very unprofessional and I would have done much better to have found someone else who actually knows what they’re doing.

Quoted £600 + VAT to replace two feet of PVC pipe. Complete rip-off.

I called Drain Detectives to help with a blocked loo. It was the morning and I was after same-day service (as there is only one loo in the flat). I took comfort that the website at the time said that all engineers would have all the equipment they'd need.
Unfortunately, when the engineer arrived in the afternoon, he had nothing more than a plunger and I had to rebook for the next day to get someone with the right equipment. I couldn't find any other drain experts to come on short notice as it was evening by the. By the time the second engineer cleared the blockage the following afternoon, I had been without a loo for 36 hours.
To add to the insult, I was charged for both visits! (£330)
I noted the misleading promise on the website to the booking team - I'm glad to see the website has now been updated. I was refunded the fee for the first visit.

Dreadful experience with these cowboys.

Cowboys - do not use this firm. Failed to unblock my drain; failed to deliver on their 30 day guarantee. Came round for 10 minutes, the drain re-blocked in less than two weeks. Came round again, the drain blocked the next day. They then started blaming me for "system misuse". It is a domestic kitchen, with a sink and a dishwasher running into it. Last time I had it unblocked it lasted four years. When I complained 'customer service' told me to "pipe down" and asked "Who do you think you are" - they then blocked my number. This is probably the worst experience I have had with any trader. Rude, incompetent - just seriously awful.

I have used Drain Detectives twice and on both occasions they have been fantastic. They show up promptly, do a great job and don't overcharge. There are a lot of cowboys out there, as I have learnt to my cost (one company caused £7000 damage by not knowing what they were doing), so now I would never use anyone other than Drain Detectives. And they are always so polite and helpful. True professionals. And they didn't even ask me to post a review - they don't need to!

Where do I start? Efficient, communicative, courteous, effective.
They were clear upfront about pricing, they turned up when they said they would. They contacted people about access(which wasn't trivial). They fixed my issues, which I am over the moon about.

Finding a Drainage specialist or a plumber, I am comfortable with, is challenging. These guys were so good - I will use them again.

Very efficient company, professional and friendly. All staff seem very knowledgeable.
Darren, visited my property on time and throughout the time he was there was helpful and communicative.
The survey was with me the very next day, I would recommend as was well priced and job was left clean and tidy.