Upsell! Upsell! Who Wants an Upsell?

You’ll probably say, “not me!” But what if I told you that when you get a really good pumping price you’re actually saying “me me me!” Low ball the Pumping price!  Get on the customer’s property and then what? Up Sell! 

That is NOT what Herring Sanitation does. Herring does not create problems or make issues out to be larger than they are.  Since 1973 we have taken care of our neighbors and community by being honest business people. We pride ourselves on our reputation, after all - that is our name on the Truck!

What prompted this blog is that Jason Herring was sent out to a neighbor of his parents for an urgent call of ‘help me’.

The story goes that these people have used Herring Sanitation in the past but with a competitor advertising such a low pumping price they decided to save a few bucks on the simple pump job. When the pumping was taking place, the competitor convinced the property owner to replace their tank over a deteriorating baffle. The baffle could've been replaced with a plastic T baffle and instead had them pay to replace a perfectly fine concrete septic tank with an inferior plastic tank. Why would the competitor do this? 

Most people don’t know the ins and outs of how septics work and can be easily convinced that issues are larger than they appear.  In addition, they trust their septic expert to recommend the best equipment for the job…not the price or profit…the job. 

You will never find Herring doing either of these things. We do our best to explain and show our customers how everything works. A well informed customer is our favorite kind.

So back to this install job. Herring’s office took the call from the neighbor and immediately put Jason on the phone. The caller was frantic because they were just told by the installer that their septic fields were bad and needed to be replaced. The neighbor pleaded with Jason to come over immediately and Jason agreed. 

As Jason approached the property he spotted the original concrete septic tank up on the front lawn, jackhammered to pieces (likely at cost to the customer). Jason calls the property owner to make sure that Herring was welcome to enter the scene. As requested Jason goes and looks over the work being performed and goes into the home to report what he witnessed.

That was just the beginning of what Jason saw. In addition to the concrete tank in pieces, he saw the newly installed plastic tank installed in the same place as the removed concrete tank. The existing septic fields were working just fine as designed. 

The contractors present had told the customer to replace the fields for 2 reasons: 

One they weren't able to match the level of the plastic tank’s outlet pipe with the level of the newly installed tank. 

Two the existing sewer and drain pipe was brittle. 

While Jason was not affiliated with the company doing the work, he advised the property owner to have the contractor chase the existing outlet pipe back to where it had a lower elevation and hook it up there to reach the desired pitch on the pipe. This would save them the need for new equipment and fields.

This is where it got a little crazy. The property owner pleaded with Jason to please tell the installer how to proceed with the install.  Out of respect, Herring has never interfered or bad mouthed a competitor.  This situation never happened to Herring in 51 years of installations, but Jason did as requested. Jason approached the contractor respectfully and explained what was happening and why he was present. The installer told Jason that the SDR pipe was brittle and they were having a hard time finding the proper pitch and because of that they recommended replacing the entire septic system. He noted that the pipe in question was sewer and drain pipe, not SDR and explained to the installer that he could simply chase the pipe downhill to find the necessary pitch.

Jason didn’t charge the homeowner for his visit or advice. The property owner was already paying enough.   

So the moral to this story is to be careful. Letting someone get on your property with a low ball price isn't always the best thing to do. 

Their low price may just be an opportunity to UPSELL you later. And by then, you may be in for a lot more than you bargained for…or need.! 

Call Herring for an honest assessment of your septic problems and a FAIR price for pumping. We are licensed, legal, and pay our employees a fair wage. And we never try to pad your job to pad our profits.