Pipeline Industries

Same thing happened to me and I'm still paying it off. Be warned of this company.

It appears that since late 2012, the company has ceased operations in Minneapolis since I imagine enough people started complaining about them. I was referred to them by a plumber and a representative came to my house, put his camera down my main line and it went black. He did the fast talk thing and led me to believe that I needed to trench out my lawn and have a cleanout installed outside so that they could get a jetter in that would clean out the rest of the tube. When I asked whether they couldn't just jet it out from the main cleanout within my house, he said that it would flood my basement.

He was also trying to get me to believe that if the jetter didn't work, I would have to replace the entire line and that it could run up to 20K. They came out the next day with their backhoe and replaced an 8 foot section of my 100 yr old main with PVC and had the cleanouts installed. In the next few days, they came out with the Jetter and were unsuccessful in clearing the line. I began to realize after talking to some other honest local sewer companies that I had been taken for a ride.

They knew exactly what my problem was and told me that I could have the city sewer company scope out my main from the sewer main under the street FOR FREE! Sure enough, I did just that and discovered that the only break in the line was right where it meets the main sewer under the street. It was the final elbow joint that drops into the line. They put their little camera robot in there and even printed out the pictures for me.

Furious, I promptly called the inspector general and insisted that these *** at Pipeline get removed from the trusted vendor list and that is just what they *** did because I saw the list before, and I saw it after. I proceeded to select an honest company on the list who fixed the problem completely for about 5K (dig 16ft under the street and replace the broken section). The dudes at Pipeline really knew that I was onto them and started suggesting that maybe I go with another company that would be a bit more at my budget. He tried to get me to believe that they were more expensive because they had fancier equipment.

Seriously? I think every Backhoe, jetter and sewer camera is pretty much the *** same. They charged 3K to my credit card and I demanded that they give me 1K back and that I would only pay for their labor. They did give me 1K back.

Later on, there was class action suit that I found out about and I gave them my story. I was later informed that it fell through and there was no win against this company. But at least enough bad reports to the inspector general and bad press came out on them that they left Minneapolis. I won't give out the dudes name that screwed me over online, but I will say this: if you have any serious sewer backup and it is determined that you need to replace anything, call up the Inspections office and get a list of the trusted vendors in the area.

Also, get quotes from each these companies and know that the city owns the main sewer line and can look at the other end of your main for free (at least in Minneapolis). I did google the said *** that tried to screw me over and found that he now works for a place called "ASAP Underground LLC" and coincidentally started working there in late 2012. H'mm... A nice way to wipe the slate clean I suppose.

They appear to be working mostly in the South metro area of the Twin cities even though they are based in Roseville.

I think that is fresh ground where people might not be aware of these types of scams. BEWARE!

Pipeline Industries runs their scam in Denver and Seattle now. They have front plumbing companies that send unlicensed, fast talking salesmen to the job site.

The fast talker pressures the homeowner into believing their is a catastrophic plumbing problem that needs immediate attention. I was a victim of their scam in November 2011. Ben Thomas was their unlicensed fast talker who convinced me to let Rock'n Rooter plumbing excavate my front yard on a Saturday. I told him not to start that day because I was going to be out of town in two days (Monday) and I wanted to see that the expensive work was getting done.

He said it would be finished in 24 hours (complete lie.) Bradley WAkeham was in charge of Rock'nRooter. After getting the homeowner to agree to the expensive excavation work (that fast talking salesmen secured,) Bradley would feed the excavation and repair work to Pipeline Industries, run by brother John Wakeham. When the Better Business Bureau lowered Rock'n Rooter's rating from AAA to F (because of my complaint), Rock'n Rooter simply folded, and resumed operating under a different company name that used the identical company license number as Rock'n Rooter used. I believe the name of the new company is Trench Rights LLC.

I had to find out on my own that it was Pipeline INdustries in my front yard, not the scam front company going by the name Rock'n Rooter. I recommend that you never use a plumbing company in Colorado that has an employee named Ben Thomas, John Wakeham, Steven Wakeham, Tony Wakeham, Bradley Wakeham, or Lincoln Peacemaker.

Demand that a plumber present their Masters Plumber's License at the job site. If they cannot or refuse to do that, tell them to get lost.

Absolutely true. Pipeline Industries is running the same family-owned scam in Denver, only they team with numerous different sham plumbing companies.

With me, it was Rock'n Rooter Plumbing. They came to my house in an unmarked van, so they could call themself any scam phony company they wanted. The business card of the phony unlicensed plumber (not even a registered with Colorado as a plumbing apprentice at the time) had his name handwritten on it, but I brushed that one off. He never even mentioned the existence of PI (I found that out on my own).

He told me I needed my sewer line replaced immediately on that same day, Saturday. I was leaving town Monday and did not want to start, but the make-believe plumber insisted they could finish the following day before I left town. They (supposedly Rock'n Rooter, but really Pipeline Industries) just happened to have a bulldozer available, and it got to my front yard within 20 minutes after I agreed to the work. Them digging up your yard is what creates the damage.

Without me asking him to do so, the next day the same unlicensed technician returns and runs the video camera further down my sewer line to make sure there were no other "breaks" in the line. He insisted he had found more breaks in my sewer line that went out to the street, and tried to pressure and intimidate me into agreeing to more sewer line repairs for another $4,600. By then, I said no thanks, but he would not stop applying the pressure, and insisted I would have a massive problem in my front yard. He finally backed off when I told him absolutely NO!!

Brad Wakeham, President/Manager of Rock'n Rooter (when it existed,) just happens to be the brother of John Wakeham, the President/Manager of PI at the time. Brad (Rock'n Rooter) fed the fabricated repair work to brother John (PI.) The Rock'n Rooter email and mailing address on the business card and invoice were both bogus. I reported Rock'n Rooter to the BBB. The BBB dropped their rating from A or AAA to F when Rock'n Rooter failed to respond to my allegations.

Immediately, Rock'n Rooter immediately disappeared from the web. I have photos of the mess they made in my yard, their unmarked van, their invoice, Rock'n Rooter's web site (which no longer exists) and web site pictures of similar scam companies that operate under different names. At the time I was ripped off, Steve Wakeham was listed on the internet as the head of Mamba Jamba. I believe they are just another scam corporate shell for PI.

Steve just happens to be the brother of Brad and John Wakeham. Also at the time I was ripped off, Angies List listed Tony Wakeham as the contact for Pipeline Industries in Minneapolis.

Pipeline Industries and Roto-Rooter are alleged to be doing exactly the same thing by several of their customers in Colorado. Pipeline Industries, Inc.

is incorporated in the state of Colorado.

It is operated by a family residing in Colorado. The Colorado General Manager of Roto-Rooter was recently transfered to Minneapolis.