Drainworks

Fantastic service! I’ve used DrainWorks on multiple occasions and each time, I’ve been impressed with the experience. From dispatch to plumber, everyone clearly communicates what is to be expected on a call and I never feel like I’m being «upsold». Kudos to the entire DrainWorks team for a job well done, yet again!

DrainWorks to the rescue!
I recently had the bad luck of a kitchen sink backup while visiting my mother in Toronto, a mere 3 hours before a dinner party. I had never had a drain backup before, so I went online and after checking their site, and all of the great reviews, I took the plunge and called DrainWorks.
Luckily, I made the right decision!
From the moment I called, I was put at ease that I was in the hands of professionals who care about their customers. Their dispatcher assured me they would have someone over within an hour (which they did). Armando, their technician came, put shoe covers on his boots, laid cloths down, to keep the floor clean, and went to work. He worked diligently, and soon enough, the sink was flowing again!
Disaster averted!
I can’t thank DrainWorks and Armando enough for their efforts and quality of service.

I share my time between Washington and Toronto, and I recently returned home to Toronto, in the midst of the deep freeze that the city was in, only to find all of my water pipes were frozen solid. I went online, and after doing some thorough research, chose DrainWorks. I called them and spoke to William at their office, and he assured me they’d be out within the hour to thaw my pipes and that he’d call 30 minutes prior to arrival. It all sounded good, but I was a bit wary, considering a few bad experiences I’d had with other companies in the past, but so far, so good. As promised, William called when technician Lou was 30 minutes away. Lou arrived on time, reassured me that he would get to work immediately to restore my water flow. He presented all my options to me upfront, and not once did I ever feel like he was trying to sell me more services that needed. Sure enough, after working tirelessly for more than an hour, all of the water was restored to my home. Relief! I could shower after my delayed flight home. DrainWorks was truly impressive from their online literature, to my initial phone call, and right down to the service Lou performed. Bravo to DrainWorks for exceeding my expectations and for providing such a timely, high quality service.

The technician who came to my home to fix a sewage backup problem in my laundry room was extremely nice. He figured out the problem quickly but told me I should pay extra for a camera to make sure we knew what we were dealing with. He cleared out all roots from the area he showed me on the camera. We thought all was well.
It wasn’t. the problem persisted and when i called and asked Drainworks to come back and fix the job 100% they told me I had to pay again. I had many discussions with them and their customer service skills and policies are extremely poor. They were down right rude and condescending.
The technician only cleared out the first blockage he saw and didn’t go any further into the drain to see what else was going on. I wouldn’t mind paying more to have the job done but I felt a courtesy call or discount for their return days later would have been appropriate. I would never call Drainworks again, they are expensive and they don’t stand behind their work.
I would go with an independent plumber next time for sure!

(FYI, Drainworks services the entire GTA, and has multiple locations all managed by a central office. This address is the office.)
First off let me say that the plumber who came out to my condo was top notch. If I were reviewing just his performance and professionalism I’d easily give him a 4 to 5 stars. He knew what he was doing, and took the time to do his job properly. I must commend him for that.
The reason I give Drainworks 2 out of 5 stars has nothing to do with their plumbing abilities, and everything to do with their policy regarding pricing. When I contact them over the phone to have a kitchen sink drain installed, they wouldn’t provide me a quote. I was told «every job is a little different, we don’t give out quotes, etc». But, what they do offer is a free no obligation quote in person. A plumber will come out to you place, assess the gig and give you a price on the spot. You can say sure, or you can say no thanks.
This is what bothers me. All of their pricing is in a book that the plumber references right in front of you. I needed a drain. The plumber flips to a book that shows single kitchen sink drain (not two — that’s a different price) and tells me that’ll be X amount of dollars.
So I’m left scratching my head. Why wouldn’t the guy just give me the price over the phone? Why isn’t this book on their website where customers can view it without the plumber coming in? I left a review for Drainworks on
(another handy review website for contractors) and the reply from Drainworks is that every job is different, and that someone could read the prices and raise a bit of a stink when the job turns out to be more complicated.
But my job wasn’t complicated. It was a new sink that needed a new drain. What stink could I have raised? Why can’t Drainworks simply post this price book on their website, but add a clearly visible footnote indicating these are base prices subject to change pending a plumber coming to see the job that needs to be done. I would totally be fine with that. If I didn’t like any change in the price, then I could decline the services of Drainworks.
This was, and remains my theory on Drainworks. They send a plumber to your place knowing full well that once the guy is there, chances are you’re just going to agree to the price even if you don’t like it. You’ve already partially committed to having the guy in your house, you’ll probably just cave and let the guy do the work. And if you haven’t shopped around, and you don’t know much about plumbing costs you won’t really know if they are too expensive or not.
For Drainworks its clever. Withholding the price book from customers gets their foot in the door, and once there they have a better chance of landing the job. My challenge to Drainworks is to put the price book online and be more open about their pricing before the plumber walks through the door. We’ll see if that happens.