Complicated Water Line Repair Done With Care

“The meter reader said that I had something going on,” Michael M. of Jefferson, Oregon, said. “He said, ‘there’s a lot of water passing through the meter, the reading is high.”

Michael knew that he had an emergency home repair plan to protect his water service line, introduced through a partnership between Jefferson and the NLC Service Line Warranty Program offered by HomeServe. So, he made the call to HomeServe to report that he had a water line leak.

“They answered all my questions from the get-go,” he said about calling the operations center. “They followed up after I was contacted by the company that did the work to make sure they had contacted me.”

Oregon Environmental Services arrived at Michael’s home in a timely manner and began the process of leak detection. They were able to find the source of the leak without having to dig, which relieved Michael, since he had a sprinkler system that would complicate digging in his yard.

Oregon Environmental Services communicated well with Michael and let him know when they expected to arrive and walked him through the process of the repair.

“They started one day, then came back the next and said, ‘there it is,’” he said. “The guy spoke about the repair with good, basic language, explained how they would do it.”

About five feet of Michael’s water service line needed to be replaced, and the job was complicated by the presence of the sprinkler system.

“It was this small area and you could see the (sprinkler) lines,” Michael said. “They were very careful. At the location of the leak, there were sprinkler lines crossing it. Once they located that first line, they slowed down. (The water service line) was below that line. I was very appreciative, because it was clear they were careful and very professional. They were timely, they didn’t drag it out.

“I was chatting with the plumber, and he told me that HomeServe is very particular and that they don’t just take anyone,” he said. “And that’s a good thing, because the service was excellent.”

The repair, which would have otherwise cost Michael $1,750 if he didn’t have the emergency repair plan, was completed at no cost to him. He was so pleased with the service that he spoke about it at the next city council meeting. Of course, it wasn’t unusual for Michael to attend these meetings, because he is the mayor of Jefferson.

“I shared it at the council meeting, because I wanted people to know what the experience was like,” he said. “When I called in, I didn’t tell them I was the mayor. I don’t like to do that. But I have told several people about the program.

“I can tell you that the service is excellent. The program did a great job for Jefferson, and I’m fully supportive.”