Our Customer’s Biggest Complaint When It Snows

Trista Polo: Sharon, tell me about the challenge you're having with finding people's tanks in all this snow. 

Sharon Herring, CEO Herring Sanitation & Septic Services, Inc.: People that are calling this time of year are calling because they're having a problem. They're backing up. They have a clog or they just need service right away. So almost everything this time of year is an emergency. When we go out the yard is snow covered and when we ask them where their tank is, they may say It's in a general area but they don’t know where the lid is. It’s under snow and the ground is frozen. So as you probe around, you can't really feel what you would feel in the summertime when the ground is not hard as a rock. 

We can't find it magically. We need to use our tools to do that. That means we send out a special crew that brings the camera, with the locator, and we find it for them. They don't want to spend the money to do that. And I understand that. But that equipment is very costly. And the extra crew we have to send out costs us money too. So we try to pass it on as economically as possible for them. But it's not our fault that they're having an emergency and it's not our fault that it's snowing. So, all we can do is just be as kind as we possibly can. And make enough money to still pay our men and our overhead. 

Trista Polo: What can the customer do to minimize or eliminate your need to find it? 

Sharon Herring: Well, we had a commercial customer just yesterday. He runs a business. And he couldn't find his tank that was backing up. We brought our camera out there twice. Once we found a clog he stopped us so he could bring his machine in to fix it. He brought his machine in but they couldn't find the clog. So late in the afternoon our camera went back out a second time. Of course we discounted it for him, but Jimmy called him this morning and said, “Hey, listen. This is what you need to do. Triangulate your septic tank. Take a measurement from the center of the lid to one point on your building. Take a measurement at another point on the building. Our customer said, "Yes I did that. I just couldn't find where I put that f___ing paper." 

So Jimmy said, "Well you know what? Take it and draw it on the wall in your garage next to your electric panel or next to your furnace. And this way, you always know where that drawing is and you'll be able to find it without a problem.” Our customer said, “That's a great idea. That's what I'm going to do!” Jimmy went on to tell him that we had a customer that did that with everything in his house. And then the guy passed away and his daughter went ahead and painted the wall. Of course when they needed the tank serviced  they called Jimmy and he told the daughter that her dad had drawn the tank location on the wall. UH OH!

The Board of Health will be able to tell us what yard your tank is in and where it is roughly in the yard. But nothing is going to tell us where that lid is except that triangulation. We'll try to triangulate when we do a pump out and we give the measurements to the homeowner. But we have 25,000 customers and we can't keep track of everybody. We do the best that we can. 

Trista Polo: If they were to shovel the snow off of the tank, would that make it easier for you to find it with your probes?

Sharon Herring: When you're out there doing seven of these a day and you're dragging hoses through the snow it certainly would be nice if they shoveled a path. But not everybody can shovel. Not everybody wants to. 

Trista Polo: So it kind of comes down to cost of time and effort versus cost of the money. The more they can do to find the tank and lid, clear a path to it and give you an easier time to get access, the more economical it will be.

Sharon Herring: Right. 

Trista Polo: What can somebody do in the spring, summer and fall to prevent these kinds of emergencies cropping up in the winter. 

Sharon Herring: Well, if they have regular service, they shouldn't have to have their tank pumped in the winter. But nothing can prevent a child from throwing a GI Joe down the toilet. Or a healthcare worker that comes into the house. They shouldn't be flushing wet wipes down the toilet, but it happens. 

And then you have a clog. 

And then once it starts to back up, pretty soon, you can't use anything. 



Trista Polo: So get pumped regularly and as we always say: Don't flush those wipes!