Drain Busters Reviews 71

I would give zero stars if it were possible. This is by far the worst service we have ever experienced.

The drain blockage is now significantly worse than before they attended, showing a complete lack of competence. Despite making 5 phone calls and sending 2 emails, nobody has bothered to contact us. This level of neglect is disgraceful.

This company is utterly unprofessional, unreliable, and clearly does not care about its customers once payment has been taken.

Avoid this cowboy company at all costs.

Terrible experience. Wish I’d read these reviews first.
Double charged for 2 workmen when only one was needed and the other sat in the unbranded van. Would not leave until I’d paid by bank transfer. I refused extortionate bill presented and eventually they agreed to reduce it to marginally less than extortionate. Charged VAT - not even sure they are VAT registered. Rough, rude, aggressive AVOID THESE COWBOYS AT ALL COSTS.

I like many wish I read the reviews first before booking this company to sort my guttering blockage.

I was told over the phone it would be £44.50 per half hour, what I didn’t get told is that this is per a person and that two people would be attending. They then had to fill their tank up using my water, which I had to ask on a few occasions can I turn it off now (only for the water to be emptied on the road at the end). They then surprise surprise went over the half hour by ten minutes which meant my invoice went up by £89, saying that they want to try and solve the issue (which I am not sure to be the case) as they did not solve the drain pipe issue and charged me just short of £350 for the pleasure. I then got told they cannot leave until I paid by bank transfer, which made me feel intimidated to say the least. I have since put in a complaint and asked for at least the plant breakdown but I am yet to receive a response. From reading other reviews I very much doubt they will reply.

The only good thing they did was tell me to contact the water board, who in return told me they charged me way to much.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Horrendous, incompetent and a complete rip off. Don't be put under pressure by these cowboys.

Avoid avoid avoid!!!! All they want is your money and overcharge their ‘customers’. 2 men attended our property and were here all of 20mins and concluded they could not clear our blockage due to a damaged soakaway (which was incorrect as per another company who carried out a cctv), and we were charged £214 without the 2 men doing anything other than re blocking the drain. I have put in a complaint and now no one will answer my emails or phone calls. Horrendous company with terrible customer service!

I called out this company to unblock a drainage pipe close to our toilet. The man poked about a bit with a rod, and then proceeded to tell me that the interceptor had collapsed and would need repairing with a sleeve and some chemicals. which would cost me just under £2000. I asked him if he could try to unblock the toilet whilst he was here, but he refused and said that the big job had to be done first, incase there was another problem in the other part of the pipe. I said I would like to get a second opinion and his manner was quite rude. He tried to get me to pay a call out fee, but then waived it out of "goodwill". When he realised we were not going to agree to the job, he walked out. I had Dyno Rod come out the following day, and guess what?? the interceptor had not collapsed, but there was a joint displacement and that was the responsibility of Southern Water, as it went from our house out into the road. I should have trusted my first instincts and not let him in the house to try and persuade us to part with our money unneccesarily.

If we could give a zero we would. Took our money and ran after doing a very bad job. Having since spoken to others and our insurers, they have a reputation, so be warned.

Found a blocked toilet and shower in the morning. Contacted Drain Busters after lunch and they arrived at 4pm. Explained charges (2 men and a jet hose) at the outset, recorded the time they arrived and got to work. The blocked drain was quickly found and jetted from the next access point. All done quickly and efficiently. Polite and tidy. Not additional sales pressure and provided some advice to prevent the problem recurring. Can’t fault them or their work. Recommended.

Well from reading all the negative comments here I can understand why an employee driving Marine drive this morning inbound town had the worst road rage and entitlement I have seen in a long time. Wanted to push infront of me and when i kept my position he flashed his brights all the way to town. Screamed out his window when he aggressively woved through cars to get next to me and them again behind me. He did not scare me. All he achieved was poor representation of his company and his character. Best to choose a company with better employed staff amd work ethic.

Awful experience 1 hour 19 mins and tried to charge 375 plus vat even though the issue was not resolved, luckily I stood my ground managed to get it to 180 but still with the same issue complete con artists, feel sorry for the elderly or anyone that wouldn’t confront the price, pure day light robbery

Appointment made for late morning to unblock a drain - no show. Contacted the company at 13:30 and was told he had run out of time and was not coming. No apology, said he was driving and would call me later, couldn’t even be bothered to do that. Having read other feedback it sounds like I had a lucky escape.

Please read the other one star reviews for his company. Our experience matches their's almost exactly.

Drain Busters were called by my next door neighbour, who has altzeimers, to clear a bockage in her soil pipe, which was causing blow-back in her extension bathroom. Instead of clearing the blockage and inspecting the drain afterwards, they told her that the pipe was blocked where it ran under the house and they would have to dig up her garden to lay another drain to divert the flow. They quoted her nearly £7000 + VAT for the work. They charged her £450 (and £90 VAT) for their first visit, which was for two men for an hour (@ £95 each - see other reviews, so £190), for "plant use" (£135) and for a CCTV survey (£125). This was an hour's inspection which left her still with the blockage. My neighbour paid that bill.

They began work on the second day by breaking up part of her drive with a pneumatic drill and charged for 3.5 hours for two men for work which could have been done by one man in an hour. At this point my neighbour called me over. I thought that the amount that they were quoting seemed extraordinary, as did the fact that they had started work without providing a written quote, which we then requested. The charge for this day's 3.5 hours work was £960, which my neighbour left unpaid.

The following morning, before they arrived, we suspended work until we had a chance to clear the blockage and find out the real situation of the drains. The blockage was subsequently cleared by HomeServe under my neighbour's insurance in less than an hour and a CCTV survey showed that the drain was clear and serviceable throughout its length, without need for any of the work that had been quoted.

Drain Busters had offered to waive the charge of £960 for the second day's work but, as there had been no need for any of the work, we subsequently cancelled it all. This still left my neighbour £540 out of pocket and with the expense of restoring part of her drive.

Checking the company on Companies House (where it is listed as PROJECTDRAINSGROUP Ltd.) it appears to be the successor to a number of other companies all run by the same director, who may have been the man in charge of the work and whom other reviewers mention). None of these companies appear to have filed a full set of company accounts in recent years. The company now has offices in Portsmouth and serves the South of England (we are in Southampton), rather than the London address which appears above.

My biggest regret is not checking with Trustpilot before I booked them. They ripped me off for £700 for 'unblocking' my drain. Fed me a line about tree roots and pipe liners. Then decided that they didnt need them because they couldnt find any. They 'unblocked' it - showing me a chunk of limescale and fatberg. They then charged me £700 anway. And yes the drain was still blocked the next day.

My elderly mother had a blockage and called in Drainbusters to repair.
Quoted £2400 , two 'workers' took the day and allegedly completed the relining of her outside drains.
Low & behold , months later the blockage returned, she took our advice and used a reputable company found on Checkatrade.
He put a camera down and NO WORK was completed! ZERO!
She has an invoice from Drainbusters however she paid a subsidiary company as requested (she did query this at the time), Project Resin & Drains who have now conveniently closed so she cannot reclaim her money even though the invoice was from Drainbusters
. They didn't even offer to rectify the fact nothing was done!

The guarantee is worth nothing.

They are an appalling company , just look at the other reviews.

We will be sending off details to Trading Standards & Media outlets to hopefully warn others.

Wish I could give zero stars. My Mum (who is 85 years young) employed Drain Busters to remove a 4" asbestos stench pipe and pipe work connected to it. 2 men were booked, but didn't turn up on the first date arranged and know contact was made to explain why, so Mum called them and a new date set, this time they did turn up, but not at 8am as arranged, they came at 11.30. After 2 days they ask Mum for £5k to be transferred to a bank account as they need the money for the weekend to pay wages? They then left all the rubbish including the asbestos pipe in the garden, I then got involved on Mum's behalf and they came back on the Monday to clear site. Within weeks Mum is on the phone to me to say the garden is getting flooded as a pipe has come apart, I had a look and the pipe had been cut short and none of the joints had been glued. Called Drain Busters to complain and the 2 guys came book and repaired???? So today Mum calls me to say its happened again, she called Drain Busters and got an answer machine, she asked for a call back, so yours truly has glued the joint. My Mum has never received a receipt for her money or a guarantee for the work. Avoid this company, Mum is now considering legal action against them.

I am extremely disappointed with the service provided by this company and feel compelled to warn others about my experience. I initially contacted the company for a plumbing issue and specifically requested a clear, upfront quote, including VAT. However, they failed to disclose the VAT, and I was left with an unexpected and inflated bill after the work was completed. When I contacted them to discuss this discrepancy, they refused to take any responsibility, leaving me out of pocket for costs that were never properly explained.

Adding to this terrible experience, I received a call from one of their team members who spoke to me in an abusive and threatening manner when I raised my concerns. The language and tone were completely unprofessional, leaving me shocked and feeling intimidated.

If you're looking for a transparent, reliable plumbing company that respects its customers, I would strongly advise going elsewhere. My experience has been stressful, costly, and unsettling.

We had an overflowing sewage drain. Drain busters came to clear it with 2 men and I was quoted for 1. They then said I needed to have the interceptors replaced as they had collapsed and this would clear the waste which they said would be £2,200 plus VAT. I called my home insurance and got emergency home care out . Thank god for Dyno Rod who came to clear the waste with the correct equipment , they ran a camera and said the interceptors had not collapsed . I am out of pocket by £369 but it could have been much worse if I allowed them to do what they said. Lesson learnt always call dyno rod to do the job correctly and trustworthy.

I was quoted £49 per half hour. However 2 people turned up doubling the cost and then “equipment cost” at £40 per half hour which consisted of an ancient camera on a flexible pole! To be fair they cleared the blockage but then recommended a one metre pipe replacement depth 50 cms at £1000 plus vat. 4 times the going rate which I refused. I won’t use them again

These people are con artists just want money AVOID THEM they give you a price for 1 person turn up with 2 and charge double the amount and not fix anything

Added second man unnecessarily to cost. £220 for 20min jet wash into access point in front garden which didn’t clear blockage. Wanted same fee again if we crossed over half hour mark to investigate further. Abandoned them and went for better options who charged similar amount to actually do the job.