Cooke’s Environmental Services*

I was recently on vacation at my family’s vacation home, it’s one of those places where family and friends take turns staying for the week/​weekend, to get away from life. And I was the unlucky person who got to discover that the last person «forgot to flush», well at least that’s what we thought.
I tried a plunger and well, I wasn’t very happy with the results, i couldn’t get it cleared. But that’s not all, turns out it wasn’t just the toilet backed up. Apparently the sinks, showers & everything didn’t seem to work.
So I called a company and got a voicemail… called another who said they can have someone out tomorrow… and Cooks, who not only assured me they would make it out today, but delivered on their promise.
Turns out I could have plunged all day and night but the septic tank was backed up. So the big truck came out, cleaned everything and everything worked again! Took a total of about 3 hours after the first phone call until I was able to relieve myself.
As for pricing, was it cheap? No, but I’m not a cheap person. I’ve always been taught that even though things may cost a little more on the front side, there is a reason for it. I’ve also been a huge advocate in never using the word cheap, as you get what you pay for.
I now have their business card on the fridge so whoever visits knows who to call.

On accident I called Cookes, and thank god we didn’t use them! I called to have my septic tank pumped, and they send someone to come and see what we needed done and tried to upsale us. My husband asked him to leave because we told the girl in the office thats ALL we wantwd done! They wouldn’t send the truck for another hour! And that was if the tech they sent out thought we needed it pumped. It wasted half of our day off waiting for the tech who was also a ½ hour late and didnt call to let us know. Not good from the get go.

Major backup caused by a broken cleanout that allowed roots to plug the main line to the street. A plumbing firm I used in the past couldn’t get here within 8 hours. Cooke’s responded within 1 hour. Mechanized snake clean out and removal and replacement of the cleanout fixture solved the problem. Would give them 5 stars but didn’t because I thought the fee was too high… but I suppose that’s the price of quick service. Victor was thorough and courteous but was locked into the price of $ 451 for the cleanout and $ 250 to repair the cleanout. He didn’t have the 4″ Schd 40 pipe on the truck and couplings necessary for the fix (which I thought to be strange) so I went to Home Depot while he dug out and removed the broken cleanout. So my total cost was nearly $ 700 since I had to buy the pipe and couplings. My next door neighbor, who is a high end home contractor shook his head at what I paid… I should have called him as he has a group of plumbers and other tradesmen who would have done it at less than half the price. Overall, considering the entire house was backed up I still give Cooke’s 4 stars for their quick response. I gave them the rest of the 10′ pipe (about 8′ worth) to help with their inventory replenishment program.
P. S. I’m still waiting for the emailed invoice, will call them to expedite.

Their first price is never competitive
Be careful. Their work is good. Their pricing a joke.
Update ⁵⁄₁₁: The owner of the company did call me and explain why their prices are so high. I understand what he said, but disagree on his business philosophy. I stand by the review that their pricing is out of line, but maybe their cost of business is out of line as well. Their technicians are very good.
Just make sure you get competitive price quotes before you agree to let them do the work.

Very unhappy with Cooke’s. They showed up on time to quote me a price on pumping out my septic tank. The quote they gave me was about 900% higher than the company I ultimately decided to go with. Also the techs that showed up were unprofessional. They cracked the top of my septic tank getting the lids off. And then instead of referring to the stuff in the tank as «waste», in front of my mother, they choose the word «shit.» I’ve been a licensed journeyman plumber for 12 years now. These guys are a disgrace to the service industry. They should change the name to «Crookes Septic»

I would never use this Cookes again. They were suppose to clean a grease trap and we paid them. We failed our inspection and asked them to correct and they refused. Customer Service is terrible. Use them at your own peril.