Notice anything funny here?
 

We're looking at contractors to waterproof the crawl space under our house after recently experiencing 3" of flooding and a $2800 cleanup bill (the insurance guy arrives today to access damage and hopefully reimburse after our deductible). So I went to this one site that listed 19 positive reviews. I know that reviews are not always what they seem-- some people actually make a living writing bogus reviews for websites.

Here are two reviews on the site, one right after the other. Notice anything familiar with each?

Amie ‎ - May 24, 2010
Very happy with service! "Great job! He designed some changes in my yard with underground drains and grading to compensate for the garage and garden that the previous owner had built. Now my yard dries out after it rains and I can put my dog out without him tracking up the house with mud when he comes back in."
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John ‎ - May 7, 2010
Amazing Work! The results were amazing! Actually, that is an understatement, he's better than amazing! Great job! He designed some changes in my yard with underground drains and grading to compensate for the garage and garden that the previous owner had built. Now my yard dries out after it rains and I can put my dog out without him tracking up the house with mud when he comes back in.
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Wow, thats a weid coincidence that two people wrote the same thing. I guess with only so many word in the English language, its bound to happen!

Personally, I smell a rat..... It's these fictitious reviews that will keep me away from this company!

You gotta sump pump?

Yes, luckily we do, otherwise we wouldn't be able to have insurance coverage in the crawlspace. I think the best solution for us will be to add a sump pump alarm so that if it turns off we'll know without having to constantly check the basement.
We had a company come out last week that quoted us their "super deluxe" sump pump install at a whopping $2700!! Another company will come by this morning.

Amie got a sex change operation?

If you already have a sump pump then what is there to install? It's a straight swap.

My advise is to skip any 'Water-Proofing Specialist'..and call a reliable Plumber.

Maybe they liked the work so much that they contacted them a couple of weeks later to do the same job again!?

Yes, we do have a sump pump, so it should be a relatively easy install. The floating mechanism works but is no longer triggering the on switch. The unit's 20 years old. I'm planning to have a new one installed and am thinking about having a marine battery installed as well as a power back up. Yesterday's company quoted me about $750.

I'm also going to call our plumber and get a quote from him.

What looks fishy is exact same sentence used by two different "people". Many companies either write fictitious reviews themselves or hire professional review writers to post positive reviews of their products and services. So positive reviews don't always mean good service!

If a guy shows up wearing a yellow cape with the "SuperPages" logo on the back, you're good to go!

Fixed!
 

So here's the final tally:

First basement guy's estimate: $2700 for the super-deluxe sump pump with alarm

Second basement guy's estimate: $750 for a regular sump pump and alarm

Our personal plumber's estimate: $480 for a sump pump and alarm

At that point, I asked our plumber to recommend a sump pump. He said go with Zoeller. I ordered one on Amazon.com for $131 plus $15 for an alarm and installed the thing myself yesterday.

Total cost, including about $4.00 for some replacement PVC piping: about $150.

I'm happy. :)

Refer to post #8. The cast iron Zoehlers are excellant units.

Yup. The old unit was also a Zoehler. It still works if I manually flip the switch, so I'm keeping it handy as a back up if ever needed. Made here in the US too. And we've got an excellent honest plumber. :)