A New Home for the Private Sewer and Water Corp?

I received another tip on Ron's whereabouts through email this morning:

Hi again,
   I just received a call from one my old electrician buddies, and he informed that Ron Janis has managed to find a new shop to operate from. This is for the Private Sewer and Water Company. I am sure there are many people who would like to know where to go to collect their monies or services that is owed to them. Me included. I'll be paying him a visit tomorrow. The address is 854 N Ridge Ave, Lombard, IL 60148. From the sounds of it, It is a very small unit. I am shocked to hear that someone else has actually rented to this guy considering his history. It's kind of sad actually, it's too bad no one was able to warn the landlord of this guy and that he will soon be swindled out of thousands of dollars. 

  And as of this past Saturday, his new store at 9 S Park Avenue has a sign on it that reads, "Opening Mid November!!!" How perfect is that? He can't even help but to lie about that as well. You would think he would change or take down the sign after mid-November has come and gone. 

 I guess he managed not to get evicted from his new plumbing location.  I wonder how many people he had to rip off to cover the back rent for that?

Ron Janis Jr Fails to Pay Rent at his New Venture

I received an email this morning with an update on Ron's behavior at the new plumbing store that he is trying to set up.

Here's another piece of comedy regarding the business man of the year, Mr. Ron Janis. He began renting this building in August and had no problem moving in and telling everyone about his great new business venture. However, he never bothered to pay rent and after 3 months he received this on the door for all to see and presumably laugh at. I think that may be a new record fort his guy....an eviction notice after only 3 months! Wow, that's impressive to even the biggest of losers and scam artists.

People must not run credit checks before leasing out storefronts these days.

The email also contained the following picture:

Ron Janis Jr Eviction Notice

The notice reads:

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October 22,2015

Landlords Five Day Notice

Ron Janis Jr
9 S Park Ave
Lombard IL, 60148

Re:  Lease of 7 & 9 S Park Ave, Lombard IL 60148

You are hereby notified that there is now due to Landlord, the sum of $2625.00, being rent for the above referenced premises, together with all buildings, sheds, closets, out-buildings, garages, and other structures used in connection with said premises.

You are Notified that payment of the amount due is now demanded of you, and that unless the entire payment is made on or before the expiration of five days after the service of this notice, your right to possession of the premises will be terminated immediately.

Only the full payment of the rent demanded in this notice will waive the Landlord's right to terminate your possession of the premises under this notice, unless the Landlord agrees in writing to continue the lease in exchange for receiving less than the full payment.

---

$2625 doesn't seem like much for a storefront.   Especially since I've heard of at least three instances of Ron ripping people off for that amount or more in the last week or two.   What does he spend his money on?

Ron is at it Again

A visitor left the following comment over in the Excuses page this afternoon.  Looks like Ron is still at it.

We needed sewer work done at a Marathon gas station we are building in Lake Zurich and we had the village inspector recommend us RON. I did not look into the company because he was being recommend from a good source. We gave Ron a deposit of $2,800.00 and he cashed it the same day. It's been three weeks now and Ron has not came in to work he just kept giving excuses of why he could not come in. I've had to call him from 10 different numbers just to get him to answer. His contract says R.Janis nothing about private sewer and water Corp. probably because he is getting smart and does not want people to google him. I've asked for a refund and he just says I'll call you back in 5 minutes and nothing. 

Hopefully she reported back the village inspector to warn him not to recommend Ron in the future.  Its amazing how much good will Ron can ruin in such a small amount of time.

Another Victim Story

I received the following email recently.  This is from the one of the Yelp Reviewers I've posted previously.  The story sound eerily familiar, just more sever then any I've heard so far.

Back in May I found your site after our friend referred Ron Janus and Private Water and Sewer to us for our tie in to Lake Michigan/City of Addison Water and Sewer. We had well and septic, and our septic tank was leaking into the storm sewers, health department was called, all that good stuff.  We paid Ron small amounts in May and June-  and my husband and I noticed that he went from our house straight to the bank to cash the checks (made out to him personally).   While Ron was at our house explaining how things would be done, I was on Yelp and saw all the reviews and found your page.    Ron has done the same thing to us as he has to everyone else.  Of course my husband’s father ALSO paid Ron a portion of the money due, so he was paid the full job amount.  

We didn’t hear from Ron for a few months.  We called and called. We tried to find his office. We called from different numbers.  Finally, in SEPTEMBER!, Ron and his crew were out to start the work.  (Mind you, during the summer they were dropping off forklift type digging machine, picking them up, dropping them off, etc.)  They started the job, incorrectly tied into the sewer (even though there were specific instructions on the tie in materials), and that was it.  We are still waiting for the sewer tie in to be fixed and the water tie in to be completed. Meanwhile, our yard and our neighbor’s yard are dug up.  And our permit expires 11/28/15.  The meeting for annexation for us to become a part of Addison is in December.  Without having all of this done, we ultimately lose our house.  And DAILY Ron has been saying, “We will be there later!” or “Tomorrow morning.”  My husband calls him sometimes 30 times in a row before he answers.

Today, Friday November 13, 2015 Ron and Sam confirmed they were working on a new job. I can only assume it means that they stole from yet another person. There has to be a better way to get the news out about this company and this thievery.   In the meantime, we need a contractor. Any referrals would be greatly appreciated.  Bonus- Ron IS a licensed plumber, and he has the permit pulled, so they can work under that permit.   I also started a Go Fund Me page to try to collect money to pay a new contractor so we don’t end up on the street.  (we live in a ranch with in-law arrangement, my husband and I, our 2 kids and his 65 year old dad with COPD and a heart condition).

https://www.gofundme.com/edandchristina

Lots of good stuff there.   If by good you mean scumbaggish.

1. Cashes the check 5 minutes after he has it.  At this point its already too late.  You're going to get screwed.   I fell for this too, but this is exactly why you don't pay a contractor until the job is done.
2. The old I'll be there first thing tomorrow routine.  Classic.
3. Dropping off and picking up machinery without actually doing any work.  I've heard that Ron got evicted from his workshop. It sounds to me like he was using their yard as a storage facility.  It would have been hilarious if they called the cops and had the equipment impounded for being illegally parked on their property.
4. Starting a new job before finishing the job he was paid for.  
5. Doesn't answer the phone for paying customers. 
6. Actually got a permit  This I find hard to believe.  I'm fairly certain Ron is not licensed.  I wonder whose license he used to get the permit.

I wonder what Ron does with all the money he steals.  I've heard that his equipment is getting repossessed and he's getting evicted from his workshops so it obviously isn't going there.  I've heard he owes his employees weeks of back pay so its not going there.   I'm pretty sure his house is being foreclosed on so its not going there.   Maybe he owes a large sum to the mob and this is the only way he can get it to them.  I can't figure out what else he could be using it for.

If you've found this page because you or someone you know has also been victimized by Ron Janus or the Private Sewer and Water Corp and you can spare a few bucks to someone who is also in your situation check out the gofundme page they set up that I  linked to above.  It sounds like they got hit worse than most of us.

Lombard Plumbing and Supply - Ron Janus' New Scam

This is the third person to contact me about Ron Janus' treachery in the past week alone.  Either my site is getting really popular or Ron is getting extra scummy.  Anyway, apparently word has gotten out on the Private Sewer and Water Corp so Ron is trying a new tactic. 

Hey,
 First of all, great job on the website. People need to be warned of this predator and protect themselves from this criminal. The main reason I'm writing is to let you know that he is at it again and people need to be aware. We all know about Private Sewer and Water. As of November 2nd, he has now been evicted from his third location. Now he is in the process of trying to open a new business in downtown Lombard, IL. He is opening a retail store for plumbing supplies and residential plumbing services (for anyone who may be interested in hiring a unlicensed, uninsured, unbonded plumber). The new name of the scam, I mean business is...Lombard Plumbing and Supply and is located at 9 South Park Avenue Lombard, IL. He is also continuing to run Private Sewer out of this location because he has nowhere else to go. All of his machines have been repossessed and he now has to resort to borrowing equipment because no one will rent or sell him anything due to his payment history. I know all of this information because I was hired to do a majority of the rehab work in this new building on Park Avenue and surprise, surprise, after I completed the work...Ron was nowhere to be found to pay me. He refuses to answer phone calls or texts and is a coward, thief, and mainly a drain on society.

 At the very least, the good thing about Ron opening this new "business" in Lombard is that he should now be relatively easy to find for the hundreds of people he has wronged and the others he owes money and services to.  Especially since he drives around in that pink Private Sewer van and parks it in front of his new store. I added a pic at the bottom of this email.

  I hope this info helps and keeps at least one person from getting manipulated and scammed by this loser.

More Feedback About Ron Janus

I received this email this evening.  I don't know the exact back story, but I'm pretty sure I know more or less what happened.


From: M.T.
To: Private Sewer Blogger

RON JANUS JR. IS A THIEF

This man and his company LIES, CHEAT PEOPLE OUT OF A COMPLETED JOB AND STEALS MONEY FROM UNSUSPECTING CUSTOMERS.  HAS BEEN REPORTED TO ANGIE’S LIST, BBB, AND REPORTED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE.

DO NOT USE HIS SERVICES OR HIS COMPANY!

More Activism Against the Private Sewer and Water Corp.

Ron Janis has made a lot of people angry.  You can tell by the vast number of complaints on the BBB site, the negative reviews on Yelp and other review sites, the complaints on the Private Sewer and Water Corp Facebook page (before he took down the reviews section that is).

Different people have reacted to his scams in different ways. Once they realize he's a scumbag and not going to do right by them they resort to one of the few avenues they have left.  Things like the review sites mentioned above and the courts.  I'll get into the legal side of it some other time.  Personally,  I started this blog as a result of his scams.   I had already started writing down all of the lies that he spewed so I figured why not just publish them.   I hoped that if his tactics were publicly exposed in a forum that he had no control over that it would persuade him to be a better citizen.  Alas he has no shame and continues with his behavior.

Another fellow victim has taken a rather creative route.  Here's a post from James at Yelp.  James has contacted me a few times with stories of his adventures in dealing with Ron.  I applaud his effort.

The grammar isn't the best but you get the point:

now it is end of Oct and this company still has not reimbursed me what they owe.it has now been over a year to get the money owed me
A few weeks ago I put a sign in back window of my car saying before you call The Private Sewer & Water Co  to call me(I put my home phone) and I have a long story of lies and excuses, then I put  .COM address to check "THE PRIVATE SEWER & WATER CO SCAMMED ME" also "YELP", so far I have had eleven calls. One person called me back and thanking me for the info, he also said he called a plumber who knew all about Ron Janis and the crooked things he has been pulling  this looks like he will be losing jobs
Wallmart parking lots are the best place to park to solicit phone calls

Kudos to you James for being willing enough to  give out your home number.  And I if I read that correctly, thanks for helping promote the site.  If you want to send me an email with any of the stories or lies or excuses that you've heard I'd be happy to publish them here.

Back to His Old Tricks

I guess I jumped the gun when I suggested that the lack of recent BBB complaints for the Private Sewer and Water Corp. meant that Ron Janis may have turned over a new leaf.  I found that there is a second Yelp page dedicated to the Private Sewer and Water corp with a slightly different address.  I suspect this is intentional to split and dilute negative feedback.  Regardless on this other page I found the following.

The review reads:

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!  THEY STEAL FROM YOU. None of their addresses listed are current either, they probably do not pay their rent. Addison, Elmhurst, and Villa Park are all abandoned.  Unfortunately my husband had given Ron money upfront, before I was able to look at anything. We looked him up after Ron cashed our check FIVE MINUTES after he left our house.  He is a liar, cheat, thief and all around terrible excuse of a human being. My husband called him 40 times and sent 20 messages before Ron answered.   For MONTHS (since May) he has been saying "tomorrow". We are in jeopardy of losing our house because of our septic tank leaking into the storm sewers. And Ron stole from us.  A family of 4, with 2 small kids, making less than 100k a year with a 40k septic problem.  This man should be rotting in jail.

This kind of makes you sick doesn't it?  Sure Ron ripped me off for a couple thousand dollars, and while I don't have thousands of dollars to waste it wasn't the of the world.  I'll survive.  It looks like he took these poor people for 40K?  Or left them in a 40K hole.  40K is a lot.  Most people don't have that kind of cash laying around to piss away on scumbag contractors.

It seems as though he's gone beyond just petty theft now.   Maybe he's getting desperate for money and is upping the stakes.  Its somewhat ironic I guess.  If he hadn't ripped me off I would have referred him to at least 4 large jobs in my neighborhood.  He could have earned 40K from that by actually doing work.  Then maybe Ron wouldn't have had to resort to this.

Four Months with no BBB Complaints

Its been four whole months since the last time the Private Sewer and Water Corp got a complaint at the BBB.  I think that's a new record. So to what do we attribute this new found professionalism? There's a few options.

1. Ron Janis has turned over a new leaf.  Maybe just maybe Ron Janis has decided to be an upstanding citizen and an honest professional and start actually doing the work he's been paid for.  I doubt it but stranger things have happened.
2. Ron Janis is laying low hoping to repair his image so that he start scamming again.  - More likely but still doubtful
3. People have wised up and stopped paying the Private Sewer and Water corp for work that they haven't yet completed.  With all the bad publicity out there it wouldn't surprise me if Ron has a hard time getting money out of people up front.  If this is the case, and if option niumber 1 above is not the reason, then  I hope this is then Ron's almost forced to behave.  
4. People have wised up and just stopped hiring the Private Sewer and Water Corp.   This is possibility too judging by how infrequently Ron's been updating the Private Sewer and Water Facebook page lately. This would be the most ironic option.   Ron rips off a bunch of his customers and then ends up hurting his input stream.  So in the end he has less money than he would have had if he wasn't such a scumbag.

We'll see how long it lasts.  As the weather turns cold people's pipes are bound to burst and someone is going to get desperate.  That's when Ron is at his worst.  I predict at least one more BBB complaint by the end of the year.

Ron Janis Throws a Tantrum

I got back from vacation today and received an email from another victim of the Private Sewer and Water Corporation.  It contained a screenshot of Ron's latest post to his Facebook page.

It seems that Ron is a little upset that I've publicized his business practices.   He only has himself to blame.  I paid him upfront for a job that he continually blew off.  He's admitted to taking money for a job he didn't do, and done everything in his power to not pay it back.  And yet somehow this upsets him.

Lets analyze his comments a few lines at a time.

We'd like to congratulate [Private Sewer Blogger] on his most recent award! Biggest Trolling Loser on the Internet!!! Even though he's mentally retarded, he hasn't let that stop him in all of his endeavors!!! Way to go [Private Sewer Blogger]!!!

You can tell he knows he's in the wrong because he just jumps to calling people names like a kid in middle school.  I also don't think he used enough exclamation points.

What comes around goes around 😉 (That's a wink face if you didn't notice) douche bag!!!

Not really sure what he means here.  This is kind of the whole point of this blog.  What comes around goes around.  There are repercussions for your actions.  You steal people's money and take advantage of them, then that information might get publicized.  If that makes you unhappy then perhaps you should try not lying and stealing.  You could finish a job when you say you will.  You could not take payment for things you haven't done. You know, average decent human being type behavior.

And I did notice that was a wink face. I'm not sure what that changes.  Is he hitting on me now?  Do wink faces have some other hidden meaning that I'm not aware of?  He seems really proud of the wink face.  Maybe he just learned how to use emoji.

And then we're back to the name calling.  Apparently giving Ron money and expecting him to do the job he promised to do in under a year's time makes me the bad guy.

You and your bust out friend (Yes little piggy, we got your number too) ... Another one bites the dust!!!! Bwaahhhaaaaaaaa!!!!

And more name calling.  Because Ron Janis is nothing if not classy.  I'm assuming the bust out friend reference is to the bounced check that he cashed prematurely.  That's an amusing choice of insults seeing as all indications I've seen have him not being able to make payments on anything.

And then he goes off the deep end and starts threatening people.  Another one bites the dust?  What does that even mean?  Are we in some sport that I don't know about and he thinks he just won another round?  Scumbag contractor 1 - Paying customer 0?  In what world is any businessman trying to defeat his customers?  And he actually typed out an evil laugh?  Seriously?  And more exclamation points, because  who doesn't love exclamation points?

---

Hey Ron, since you are apparently reading this now, feel free to post your side of the story, or correct any inaccuracies.  I'd love to hear about the mental gymnastics that you have to do in order to convince yourself that you haven't wronged me and the countless others whose complaints I've found or had forwarded to me.

Another one of Ron's victims comes forward.

I recieved an email a few days ago from another one of Ron's victims.

I have PLENTY of info on this SCUM and he still does have his business in Addison, I also was contacted by currency exchange he CASHED my check at, and yes The reviews online YELP, Citysearch, and many OTHERS are all FAKE reviews he had someone do for him. He is over a year in the rears with the property he rents in Addison for his business and owes ALL of his employees weeks in back pay. 

I asked for more infomation, and how they knew all of these details

Long story short he knew my late husband and I needed work done and called him thinking he would be "safe"
To have work done by and he conned be into writing a check for work that he didn't start he then cashed the check before the funds has transferred at the currency exchange and never did the job. I canceled the check and I know one of his employees who told me
All crap he was into and then got a letter from ten currency exchange owner who I promptly called and told him the story he said he knew
Ron was a thief and Ron owes that guy about 20k
In bounced checks. We 3 way called Ron and the currency exchange owner went ballastic on him and I am working with him to press criminal charges against Ron. But his employee told
Me about the rent and not paying his employees. I choose to stay anyonmous because of pending criminal charges but he is truly a piece of shit

They followed that up a few days latter with a picture of the letter that they recieved from Ron.

Letter From Currency Exchange

Enclosed you will see a copy of a check that was cashed at Villa Park Curr. Exch.  The check was returned with a stop payment.  It was made payable to Private Sewer and Water which is owned by Ronald Janis Jr.  It was cashed by him.  Since he is a well known customer so there is not a forgery.  So Please contact me about this matter by the end of June or I intend to litigate this matter.

Sounds like the currency exchange guy was originally pissed at the customer for stopping the check, but then realized he was dealing with a scumbag who was probably taking advantage of people.

What I don't understand is what Ron does with all the money.  He should be rolling in it. He takes large sums of money from his customers and doesn't do the work to ear it.  Apparently he doesn't pay his employees, or his rent or his bills, so where does it all go?

Ron Janis Finds a New Way to Screw Someone Over

Yet another negative Yelp review for the Private Sewer and Water Corp.  I think this one is for just general negligence and not being accountable for his actions.

I don't even think this company Ron runs should be on business if you can't trust the person  who runs it. His truck full of mud  or crap driving on the highway hit my cat and put a dent and scratched  the paint off. I called him and he first accused  me of wanting to fix something I already had. First red  flag. Second he asked me to send him a picture and get him the paper work from an estimate. Sure thing I did what he said.  Now he is not returning  my calls, or txts.   His FB page contains a comment about him being a lier and plain a bad business guy...just not right.  He is a guy with no integrity whatsoever. My insurance will have to deal with his so called business.  Don't hire this guy to do your work.  Hire someone  you can actually trust, but now that I think of it.  He deals with shit because  he is one.

Ron Janis Jr. Scam's Another Victim

Another day, another complaint on Yelp for the Private Sewer and Water Corp.

If I could give a minus star I would. He scammed us into paying him twice. Now a check cashing business has one of our checks that he cashed there  it was NSF cuz Ron didn't wait the 3 days it would take to transfer funds from a IRA. He came back to say his office manager accidentally shredded the NSF check so he could not return it. So we wrote checks to cover the NSF and he made sure to go to our bank to cash them. The bank followed proper procedure and called to verify. The check cashing business is threatening litigation on us. BUT the police and our lawyer say that the check cashing business has no standing. DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS!!!!!!!! Ron has the money from that NSF check.

Not much else I can say about this. He seems to be getting more and more shady.  Maybe people are starting to wise up to his scams so it is more difficult for him to pull them off, so he has to resort to stuff like this.

Yet Another BBB Complaint Against Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp.

The Private Sewer and Water Corp made it almost three months without registering another BBB complaint.  That's like a new record for them.  In an interesting twist Ron actually responded to this complaint.

Here's the full complaint:

Complaint
Paid this company up front to perform pluming and concrete work. It was a 4 day job and 6 weeks later we can't get the owner to finish the job.

The owner tells us everyday he will have a grew at the location and no one ever shows up. He cashed the check and started the job and never completed it. The diveway is al torn up and we have no front step to get into the house.

Desired Settlement
$ 2,500 or complete the work.

Business Response 
They did pay us half down and yes, we cashed the check and started the job - normal business practice. Since then, we have completed at least half of the work and are in the process of finishing the last of it. The time frame extension is strictly due to bad weather and additional work requested and authorized by *****. The only issue we will have to acknowledge is ensuring there is no problem with final payment upon completion. This has been a lingering problem at their house for years, now time is of the essence? I know it's frustrating but it is what it is.

Consumer Response 
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This was a four day job and we are into week 7. That's right WEEK 7. Every time we ask when he will come back and finish it becomes one lie after another. ***, when are you going to finish this job?

So lets review....

This story seems pretty familiar.  Ron starts a job, accepts payment for the job and then disappears.  He does the whole promising to show up bit and then just not.

Ron Janis's response is telling.  He left his customer with at torn up driveway and no front step for over a month and his response is basically "what is your hurry" and "are you still going to give me more money?"  Any honest business man would have completed the job by now, or offered a refund or at least offered to complete it as soon as possible.  Not Ron though. He doesn't care about inconveniencing his customers.  He'll get to it when he feels like it.  As long as he already has his money, it doesn't really matter to him.

Like Father Like Son?

A user posted the following comment on one of the other pages:

BEWARE OF ANY COMPANIES WITH NAME OF RON JANIS owner beware of home plumbing & heating 225 W SAINT CHARLES RD VILLA PARK OWNED BY RON JANIS SR--I BELEIVE TO BE FATHER OF THE SCAMMER THERE MUST ALSO BE A LITTLE SHINANIGANS GOING ON HERE ALSO BBB GIVES THIS COMPANY GRADE C+ KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY WHEREAS THE PRIVATE SEWER & WATER CORP GETS GRADE F BY THE BBB

I'm going to go ahead  and give Ron Janis Sr. the benefit of the doubt.  I think the only mistake he made is naming his son after himself.  His son then did everything possible to tarnish his name.

According the the BBB site Ron Janis Sr's business has been around since 1972 and they've had a file on him since '96.  This is the first BBB complaint that they've received since I was screwed over by Ron Janis Jr.

Here's the chronology of what I think happened.  This is just speculation, but I'm pretty sure this is how it went down.

1.   Ron Janis Jr's business was located at 511 W Winthrop Ave, Addison, IL when I first hired him in February of 2014.
2.  After running away with my money and not finishing the job Ron Janis Jr relocated to 225 W Saint Charles Rd, Villa Park, IL, which just happens to be the address of his father's business.  My guess is that Ron Janis Jr.  didn't pay his rent at the old establishment and got evicted.  I'm basing this on the fact that he doesn't seem to pay anyone he owes money to, and the numerous court cases I've seen of Ron Janis Jr. getting sued for everything from failure to pay rent at other locations, to failure to pay for equipment and supplies that he's purchased.
3. Ron Janis Jr.  Gets so many complaints from the BBB that he knows he can't defend so he and anyone at the new address are in the habit of just tossing them out.
4. Ron Janis Sr. Gets a complaint.  Since Sr.  isn't a scumbag everyone assumes the complaint goes to Junior and they throw it out.
5. Ron Janis Sr thus never gets a chance to respond to the complaint and his BBB rating takes a hit.

In my personal opinion this is just another case of Ron Janis Jr. screwing someone over, in this case it just happens to be his father.

For reference, here is the complaint against Ron Janis Sr.   Seems like just a mix up and not nearly as severe as the complaints Ron Janis Jr seems to get.

Complaint
When I purchased a T//S valve from Home Plumbing and Heating Company Inc. on 12/12/2014 , I asked about installation and was told by *** , the owner that he. Had a plumber that charged a very reasonable hourly rate and could install the valve . On 12/13/2014. , I received a phone call from *** stating that the plumber was on the way to my. Home to install the T/S valve . ***** , the plumber arrived and before he started work , I asked for an estimate of which he told me $140.00 and I. Agreed , but. When the work was complete ***** , the plumber stated that *** , the owner said that the charge would be $250.00 , which I reluctantly paid . Severe misrepresentation by an agent of said buisness !

Desired Settlement
I wish to receive a refund of at least $100.00 , as I would have given the plumber a $10.00. dollar tip as he did a good job .

Another Unsatisfied Customer for Ron Janis and The Private Sewer and Water Corp

I was bored after work today waiting to for traffic to die down before heading home so I checked out the good old Private Sewer and Water Corp Facebook page to see what my favorite scam artist is up to.

And big surprise he has another negative comment copied onto a bunch of his status posts.  The content of the complaint seems pretty familiar.  And that's because its copied almost verbatim from my CitySearch review.

The Facebook account that the post was made from looks to be a brand new dummy account possibly trying to pretend to be me.  I'm not sure why.  There are a few scenarios I can think of.

• Someone has had similar problems dealing with Ron that I have had, and doesn't have the guts to stand behind his complaints.
• Someone doesn't like Ron for a different reason and is trying to make him look bad.  Seems like a add approach.
• Ron is trying to frame me for libel.  He's accused me of slandering him a couple times.  I honesty wouldn't be surprised if this his thought.  Unfortunately for him the statements are true so he doesn't have a case.  

If  its not him I wonder if he thinks its me.   I kind of hope he does think its me.  

Here's the text of the comment just in case the image isn't available.

Ron Janis is a liar and a thief. He posts halfway done jobs that he never complete here to cover up the fact that he has taken advantage of so many of his customers. Check out the BBB website if you want the real story. Private Sewer and Water Corp has more than twice as many complaints as anyone else in their industry. Whatever you do, don't give them money until the job is complete. There's a good chance they'll walk out on the job and you'll never see them again.

We paid Private Sewer and Water Corp in full for a job they had halfway completed, expecting them to finish in the next couple days. They haven't shown up since. We scheduled dozens of appointments to try to accommodate their schedule and they blew off every single one.
We paid Private Sewer and Water Corp in full for a job they had halfway completed, expecting them to finish in the next couple days. They haven't shown up since. We scheduled dozens of appointments to try to accommodate their schedule and they blew off every single one.

Private Sewer and Water Posts Fake Reviews on Yelp

I've long suspected this, but now it is confirmed.  And hilarious.  I went to the Private Sewer and Water page on Yelp today to see what kind of other scams they've been pulling and I was greeted with the following warning:

The text reads:

Consumer Alert
A number of positive reviews for this business originated from the same IP address. Our automated recommendation software has taken this into account in choosing which reviews to display, but we wanted to call this to your attention because someone may be trying to artificially inflate the rating for this business.

So rather than treat his customers fairly Ron Janis has decided to fake good reviews. I was wondering why the fake good reviews suddenly stopped and now I know.  They must have alerted him that they were on to him.   I  figured he was giving his customers discounts in exchange for good reviews, but it looks like he didn't even do that.  I guess if he did that he would actually have to follow through and provide good service.

Another Negative Review for the Private Sewer and Water Corp

Yet another dissatisfied customer for Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp.  For some reason this one didn't make it through Yelp's automated checkers, but that's ok.  I'll repost it here.

Very much unprofessional and dishonest, stay away. We had Private Sewer & Water come out to fix a minor seepage issue in our basement, nothing too serious, just one small area of our wall when we'd get a lot of rain or after a big snow melt, more of a nuisance than anything. We were assured that installing new drainage tiles would fix the issue and they would be done in a day. Long story short, after a day of jack hammering up the floor, leaving a mess that took hours to clean (topped off by the puddle of antifreeze that one of the cars leaked on the driveway), and over $1000 wasted, an entire wall is seeping water every time it rains. Couple weeks later, one of these guys comes back, says he'll come back with his crew on that Thursday morning (this was on Monday), lied right to my face and never showed up, all calls and emails have since been ignored. And for the record, this is not a business with an A+ BBB accreditation, they are rated an F, with numerous unresolved complaints.

What more can I say?  Unfortunately this guy checked the BBB after he got screwed.  

I win the bet. Ron doesn't call

Ron Janis bet me that he'd call Saturday or today to talk about the money he owes me.  As expected he did not call, so I win the bet.  Yay me.

Ron Janis Fails to Call. Again. Wants contract to return money he stole.

Ron was supposed to call me this morning to work on getting the money that he agreed to repay me over a month ago.  As expected he did not call.  Big surprise.

On the way home from work I gave him a call to remind him that he's a liar, and to explain that he doesn't need my help to complete the payment.  Its simple.  Even my computer illiterate father can do it.

He actually returned my call almost immediately.

He claims that he had a check all ready to go (from a different bank than he told me yesterday) but then his attorney told him that he saw all the things I said about him online and that he should have me sign something to say that I won't say anything bad about him in the future. He goes on about getting notarized, or not getting notarized, and then that he likes me and has nothing against me and I'm a stand up guy, and he likes my in-laws and yadda yadda yadda.

Then he asks if I would be willing to sign something saying I would take down my reviews and that if I violate that his lawyer is going to come after me and on and on.

The whole thing is a load of crap. He's stalling again.  He could have done this a month ago if he was serious.  I don't really care at this point.   I told him I'd sign it.  He said he'd call me on Saturday or Monday which I called BS on.  He wanted to bet me on whether or not he'd call.  I know he's not going to call but he's also not going to pay up when he loses.

There's also nothing I've said online that isn't 100% true. I've repeatedly offered to correct any misinformation in my reviews and Ron has never taken me up on it because he knows its true.  He just doesn't want anyone else to know it.

So now we're waiting for some sort of contract or whatever.

Think about how ridiculous this is.  What company screws over their customer and then admits to it and rather than bending over backwards to make things right, tries to cover their ass?   Dishonest companies like the Private Sewer and Water Corp.  That's who.

Ron Janis Calls again. Can't Figure out ePayments.

Ron called again this afternoon and this time I was around to answer it.  He claims the ePayments don't work.  He went to the bank and had them help him and it wouldn't go through.  Which is odd because he said he has the same bank I do.  And I'm pretty sure all you have to do is click accept through their app, or web page.    Its not rocket science.  Even my Dad can figure it out.

He said some BS about going to call me from the bank first thing tomorrow so I can make sure it goes through, or talk to the teller or something.  I pretty sure its just a stall tactic.    Whatever.  I've offered to take down a bunch of negative publicity for him and all he has to do is return the money that he stole from me.  Seems more than fair. I'm pretty sure he's paying more than that to try to recover his image.

He could always try to be an hones businessman but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Ron Calls

Ron called this afternoon.  I was in a meeting at the time and he didn't leave a message so I have no idea what he wanted.   It certainly wasn't about returning the money he owes me.   Probably a pocket dial.  Or maybe he misses me.  Or maybe he saw the review I put up City Search and he wants to cry about it.  Who knows?

Negative Review for Private Sewer and Water

I submitted a review for Private Sewer and Water Corp on CitySearch.com tonight.  I hadn't before because it seemed like a low quality site that I can't imagine many people use so why bother.  But Ron has been spamming it with fake positive reviews in an attempt to bury some of the other negative reviews that he has received.

I figured if he's paying that much attention then maybe it will piss him off a bit to see my post.  

I did find something interesting though.  One of the other guys who went on an epic rant about how Ron screwed him and bounced checks updated his review to say that he still hadn't been reimbursed for what was owed. His post went back to the top.  So I'm going to edit my post every week or so to make sure it stays relevant.

Still no Activity from Private Sewer and Water. One Last Chance

So its been over a month since Ron agreed to return some of the money that he took from me without actually doing any work. Since then he's essentially ignored all follow up requests.  I've had enough so I'll give him one more chance before I fill out reviews on whatever sites I haven't already hit.  I text him one last time:

Me: Last chance. Where is my money?
Ron:  Last chance, like or else?

First time he's actually responded to a test in a month.  What a douche.

Me: So you do get text messages.
Ron:  On this phone yes.

I've sent him numerous texts to this phone in the last month and he hasn't responded since confirming that he received an ePayment request from me.

Me:  So are you returning the money or we just going to play games?

No response from Ron.  I guess its back to games.

Another Unresolved BBB Complaint for Private Sewer and Water Corp

Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp just keep racking up the BBB complaints.  They added a new one on 3/31.  Sounds awfully familiar to what they pulled on me.

ComplaintSEWER PIPE FROM THE HOUSE TO THE STREET HAD TO BE
REPLACED WHICH I HAVE NO COMPLAINT FOR
BUT PART OF THE CONCRETE DRIVEWAY HAD TO BE CUT
AWAY. NOW I HAVE A 2 FOOT DEEP HOLE SITTING HERE
THIS WAS DONE FIRST PART OF SEPTEMBER-NOW IT IS
November,3 MONTHES LATER
I HAVE BEEN CALLING THE COMPANY--PRIVATE SEWER & WATER I HAVE BEEN CALLING ALMOST EVERY DAY AND I
AM GIVEN SOME KIND OF EXCUSE OR SOMETIMES THEY
GIVE ME A TIME AND DAY--I CALL THEM EACH TIME
AND AM TOLD THEY WILL BE THERE SHORTLY

Desired SettlementALL I WANT IS THE DRIVEWAY TO BE FINISHED SO I CAN
DRIVE INTO THE GARAGE AND NO ONE WILL FALL IN

Final Consumer Response
Information received from Complaint #XXXXXXXX:
SEP 11 I HAD HOME SEWER PIPES REPLACED DUE TO ROOTS.PORTION OF THE DRIVEWAYHAD TO BE DUG UP. THE JOB WAS FINISHED AND I PAID $13,981.53. *** ***** THE OWNER SAID WILL BE BACK IN A DAY OR SO TO RE-CONCRETE THE DRIVEWAYI HAD TO MAKE A CALL EVERY FEW DAYS TO FINISH THE WORK. EACH TIME WAS A DIFFERENT EXCUSE. I SAT HERE WITH A HOLE IN THE DRIVEWAY TILL NON 21.OCT 3 *** ***** ASKED FOR $1500.00 FOR BOND AND PERMIT,PROMISING HE WILL RETURN $1000.00 WHEN ADDISON APPROVES THE JOB. END OF DECEMBER RO TOLD MEHE GOT THE $1000.00 AND WILL RETURN ITI AM STILL WAITINGNOV 21 THE CEMENT TRUCK CAME, *** CALLED ME AND HE HAD TO GO OUT OF TOWN,ASKED ME TO GIVE HIS EMPLOYEE A CHECK FOR $885.60 TO GIVE THE TRUCK DRIVER AND HE WOULD PAY ME BACK. JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS I GET A LETTER FROM MOHR STATING THE CHECK FROM PRIVATE SEWER & WATER WAS RETURNED FROM THE BANK MARKED NSF AND A LIENWOULD BE PLACED AGAINST MY PROPERTY SINCE I WAS THE OWNER,I WENT TO MOHRAND PAID $516.93 PLUS $30.00 NSF PENALTY.I CALLED *** EVERY FEW DAYS, I TOLD HIM I WILL COME TO HIS OFFICE TO PICKUP A CHECK. I ASKED HIM WHEN AND WE AGREED TO DATE/TIMETHIS HAPPEND 3 TIMES I DON'T THINK HE HAS ANY PLANS TO PAY ME. EVERYTIME I TALK TO HIM HEHAS A DIFFERENT EXCUSE.

DesiredSettlementID: Refund
ALL I WANT IS THE MONEY HE OWES ME BOND=$1000.00 MONEY SUPPOSEDLY GIVEN TO THE CEMENT TRUCK DRIVER=$885.60 PAYMENT MADE TO MOHR CONCRETE=$516.93 NSF PENALTY=$30.00 TOTAL OWED ME===$2,432.53

BBB Complaint for Private Sewer and Water Corp

Ron Ignores All Attempts to Collect Money He Owes; Starts Putting Up Fake Reviews

Last post I was wondering what Ron's next play would be to avoid giving me back the money that he agreed to return, for the work he never completed.   His response appears to be to just ignore me and pretend like nothing happened.

Honestly, at this point he's just being stupid.  I've noticed that he has 2-3 posts per day going up on Yelp and CitySearch, I'm assuming in an attempt to hide his negative reviews.  The yelp ones never stick because they are obviously manipulated.  The CitySearch ones do, but who actually uses CitySearch?  I had never heard of it until I started googling for Private Sewer and Water Corp.

He's either faking the reviews or  begging/bribing customers to post them. Either way that's pretty pathetic.  Plus one 1star review and three 5star reviews only average out to 4stars.  If he just returns the relatively small amount of money that he owes me he would get one of those 1star reviews taken down.  That's a pretty effective use of your advertising dollar if you ask me.

Ron Pretends He Didn't Get The EPayment Request

I sent Ron a second epayment request yesterday, like Ron asked, and let him know that I did so.  No response from him.  I followed up again today and claims I never sent it.  So I sent a third request.  I also let him know that the first was still valid so he could still use that if the second or third didn't make it through.

I sent the second and third requests to the exact same email address that I sent the first one, which he acknowledged receiving.   He's out of excuses now.   He's admitted to owing me money, admitted to receiving the payment request, and yet he has not acted on it.  I'm curious to see what other stalling tactics he can employ at this point.  I'm pretty sure he is out of excuses.

Another Private Sewer and Water Victim Chimes in

Another guy that Ron has ripped off joined in on the Facebook thread  where Ron agreed to repay the money he had taken from me.

Other Guy: Curios if you ever got your money. He has been telling me the same thing for 6 months. Would lie right to your face.

 March 20 at 4:05am

Me: No. He asked me to send him an ePayment request, which I did. He acknowledged receiving it and said he would get on it. He has not, nor has he responded to a text in the almost two weeks since then. I don't know why I thought he would do the right thing for a change.

 March 20 at 9:12am

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation: You two should go on a date together!!! Lol! Seriously though, yes Mike I did get the request and I'll do it Monday when I'm back in town. I don't know if the request expires so maybe send me a new one over the weekend. Thanks.

Notice how there is no explanation from Ron on why he didn't take care of it a week ago when he first got the payment request.  Also, I'm pretty sure he could take care of it where ever he is. The nice thing about ePayments is you can take care of them from any smartphone.

Two More Days of Inaction from Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp

I texted Ron yesterday and today trying to get a status on the payment that he promised me almost a month ago.  Again he did not respond.  Here's the last few weeks of texts:

There's a whole lot of no responses from Ron there isn't there?

Another Day Another No Response from Private Sewer and Water Corporation

Still no refund from the Private Sewer and Water Corporation.  I texted Ron Janis yet again and again he did not respond.

Still no Word from Ron Janis on the Refund he promised.

As the title says, I still haven't heard from Ron, and I haven't received my refund.  I texted him twice today and he did not respond.

Still No Refund from Private Sewer and Water

Three more days have passed and I haven't heard from Ron Janis. I texted him to see if he was planning on acting on that epayment request yet.  No response.

Private Sewer and Water Still hasn't Issued the Refund They Agreed to.

Its been five days since I sent Ron  The ePayment request.  He has not acted on it yet, so I text him again.

Me:  Did you get my payment request?

Ron:  I did.  I'll get on it. 

This is the kind of service you can expect from the Private Sewer and Water Corporation.  Ron will not make any effort to solve a problem unless you constantly stay on him.  Even then there's a good chance he won't do anything.

No Movement on the Refund from Private Sewer and Water

Its been almost a week since Ron Janis agreed to refund a portion of the money he owes me for the job that he never finished. I haven't heard anything from him since.

I texted him this morning.

Me:   So what is the plan?  Did you send me a check?  Are you going to send me a check?  Do you want me to send you an epayment request?

Ron:  Do an epayment request, but it is contingent upon removal of all reviews.  By yourself and Jen.  I'm not being a jerk, its just what it is.

(Actually he is being a jerk.  He fully deserves those reviews and he knows it.  Whatever, I'll take them down if he actually returns the money he owes me.)

Me: I need your email address.  I'm happy to take down all reviews after you refund the money you owe me

 Ron:  ronjanis@aol.com

(Who still uses aol?)

 

I send him an ePayment request.  It takes seconds to respond to an epayment.  He should have taken care of it this afternoon.   We'll see what happens.

 

 

Ron Janis of Private Sewer and Water Admits to Stealing Money. Offers to Return Some of it.

So I had an interesting exchange with Ron on Facebook today.  He posted one of his ads which included a fairly large BBB logo.   I pointed out that he might not want to advertise that seeing as he has an F rating and more complaints than anyone else in the industry.

His response was rather amusing.

Me: You might want to take the BBB logo off your flyer. Unless you actually want to publisize your F rating. Hey, did you know you have more than twice as many BBB complaints as any one else in your industry? Why do you think that is? Is it the theft? I bet its the theft. Or maybe the lying? The theft and the lying that's probably it right? Oh and then there's the no-shows. So theft, lying and no-shows. Final answer. That's why you have the worst rating of anyone in your industry.

February 26 at 11:52pm

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation Lol stalker!!!!!

 February 27 at 12:18am

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation 9 complaints out of 2736 jobs in 3 years = 99+ % satisfaction baby!!!!!!

 February 27 at 12:23am · Edited

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation F = fantastic!!!!!!

 February 27 at 12:22am

 Feels like he's trying too hard to pretend it doesn't bother him that I know how bad his reputation is.

Me lol. I'm sure you did 2.5 jobs per day 365 days a year for three years. And counting people as satisfied just because they didn't complain to the BBB is a bit of a stretch, but if that's what it takes for you to feel better about yourself so be it.

 February 27 at 12:51pm

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation 3-5 service calls a day, Monday thru Friday, add up! lol! Do the math. Not every job is a major excavation. We always offered to rectify your situation and try to make you happy, unfortunately you have yet to give a response other than social media posts. We want you to be happy, so let us know what it will take.

 February 27 at 1:22pm

The math still doesn't add up. He posts pictures of major excavations just about every day.  And counting everyone who doesn't complain to the BBB as a satisfied customer is ridiculous.  Its not  worth the effort to complain over small items.  And I think he only rips people off for big multi-day jobs since he can collect money and go home for the day never to return.

Its also funny that he claims that he has tried to make me happy. All I've gotten in over a year of dealing with Ron is lip service.  He's full of promises and as far as I can tell has made no effort to remedy the situation.

Me We've been over this before. You rarely respond to phone calls or texts, thus social media is my only option. You certainly offer to rectify my situation, you just never actually follow through. How many times did we adjust our schedule to accommodat...See More

 February 27 at 5:15pm

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation The 700.00 is accurate, the 1100.00 however is not correct. The pit, pipe, pump etc.are in. The only thing to do is run approximately 15 lf. conduit. I'd go 800.00 all day

 February 27 at 5:55pm

Me Its closer to 50 feet of conduit, the pit was already there, the pump is refurbished, there is no cover, and you laid about 10 feet of pipe. You want half credit for that portion of the job then fine. 1200 all day, and my offer stands, I'll tell the...See More

 February 27 at 8:23pm

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation The pit was not there, we excavated that out and installed it. The pump is brand new. Fact. Now you're just playing games.

 February 27 at 10:27pm

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation 800.00 is EXTREMELY fair.

 February 27 at 10:28pm

So the pit was there.  They dug it out as part of the sewer line replacement.  The conduit that needs to be put in is about 50 feet and goes through multiple walls through the cellar. I doubt the pump is new.  The fact that he said "fact" makes me doubt even more that it is new.  Fact is one of Ron's tells that means he just lied to you.

So he agreed he owes $700 for the catch basin, and somehow only thinks that he owes $100 for finishing up the ejector pump install.  Pretty sure there is more than 10% of that part of the project left.

Me You already admitted that you owed us $700 for the catch basin. You're telling me that of the $1100 I paid you for the ejector pump that you did all but $100 of the work? Its going to cost me more than that to finish the project. I think $1200 is extrememly fair. If you want to stick to $800 then fine, I want to be done with this.

 February 28 at 8:40am

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation What's left to do except run electric?

 February 28 at 9:00am

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation Any competent electrician can run that line for 100.00-150.00 all day long. Throw in another fifty for pipe/wire. That said, I'd go 900.00. Total transparency in this deal. That's more than fair.

 February 28 at 9:06am

Me Fine

February 28 at 9:12am

His deal is hardly fair but $900 is more than the zero that I would have gotten and it saves me the time and hassle of having to sue him so whatever.  I'll take it.  We'll see if he actually follows through.

Another Negative Review for Private Sewer and Water

I'm not even sure how I found this since Ron took down the reviews on his site a while ago but I accidentally stumbled upon another negative review.  The story is remarkably familiar.

New Reviewer:  Almost nine months since this firm was paid for a job at my home . . . and guess what? They just didn't bother to finish it. Dozens of blown-off appointments, unreturned phone calls, no offer to make it right (let alone pay us back); vanished into thin air. Nope, can't say I recommend them.

Its the same thing over and over again.  Someone pays Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp in full for a job.  Suddenly they stop showing up for that job never to be seen again.

Private Sewer and Water Does Not Respond to Attorney General

I received a letter from the Illinois Attorney General's office today.  I had submitted a complaint about the Private Sewer and Water Corp's shady business practices back in November I think.  The letter was to inform me that the Private Sewer and Water Corp had not responded to the complaint.   The attorney general would try again and the Private Sewer and Water Corp had 10 days to reply.

I'm not surprised that they didn't respond.  I mean, what is Ron going to say?  "Yeah, I stole that guy's money, sorry"?

Ron Janis is a crook and he knows it and there is nothing for him to gain by attempting to work something out.  He already has my money so he has no incentive to actually do anything that he was paid to do.

I don't know what it will take for the attorney general to look into pursuing criminal action.  I'm sure I'm not the first to complain about the Private Sewer and Water Corporation's fraudulent activities and I doubt I'll be the last.  How many people have to be scammed before justice is served? As far as I'm concerned Ron Janis belongs in jail.

Ron Janis and the Private Sewer and Water Corp Earn Another Negative Review

Ron is at it again,  earning himself another negative review on City Search.com  See the screenshot below.  I'm not going to copy the text itself because its in all caps.  (Insert joke about old people an technology here...)

This one is especially egregious  He starts with the customary take money for a job and then don't show up to finish the job bit.  Then the customer actually gets Ron to show up to finish the job.  Normally you would think this is a good thing.  But Ron somehow manages to convince him that he needs even more money to finish the job.  The poor guy is so desperate to put this behind him that he agrees.

Later he finds out that Ron has paid for the concrete that he used with an NSF check and the concrete company threatened a lien on the customers house if he didn't make up the difference.

Liza Madigan is the Illinois Attorney General for those of you not from Illinois.

Now on the one hand I'm not sure this story is accurate.  The review mentions that Ron had a secretary which I doubt. He would have to pay her and we all know Ron isn't good at that.  Also I would think that she would have answered the phone at least once out of the hundreds of times I called.  But maybe she is new or Ron shares space with a company that has a secretary.

Also, I don't think the concrete company would come after the customer rather than the Private Sewer and Water Corp, unless they were either in on the scam, or they knew that Ron was a deadbeat and they would never get their money back from him.

That being said, the rest of the story sounds like it is right out of the Ron Janis playbook so I'm inclined to believe that it is mostly true.

I'll be checking the BBB site for this guy's complaint. It might be hard to find among the rest of the complaints, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

Ron Calls.

So Ron called this morning.  I have no idea why.  I was in a meeting and he didn't leave a voicemail or return my text asking what he wanted.

Six months ago the optimistic me would have thought that he was making an effort to finish the job I paid for a year ago.  I know better than to get my hopes up now.

Private Sewer and Water Picks up Another BBB Complaint

The Private Sewer and Water Corporation received yet another BBB complaint this month.   And as is their trend recently didn't respond.  The details of the complaint aren't available at the moment. I'll post an update when they are.

As of today the Private Sewer and Water Corporation has more the twice as many BBB complaints as any other company in their industry.  Here's a chart from the BBB page.

Out of 208 businesses, 11 have complaints.   10 of those 11 have at most four complaints.  The Private Sewer and Water Corporation has 9.   I think the numbers speak for themselves.

Private Sewer and Water Modus Operandi

Some interesting things occurred tonight.  Some guy posted a comment on my Facebook review of Private Sewer and Water Corp.  He said he's getting screwed too and posted his contact info because he might be able to help me out.  Its weird because Ron hid the reviews on his page after he got a bunch of negative reviews last week.

Turns out if you search a little harder you can find people's reviews.  This dude had posted the  confusing three star review I mentioned a few weeks ago.   So I did a little more digging and I found this on Google's cache of the Private Sewer and Water Page:

Private Sewer And Water Actually gets a Good Review

Its a 5 star review on 8/2/14.  I remember when this review originally showed up because Ron was blowing off a scheduled appointment at my house to do this job.  The review reads:

Thank you guys a million!!! The Jetting worked great!  Just in time for the baby shower tomorrow.  Ron, Sam, Eric and Anthony were incredibly professional and down to earth.  It is as if they were already family.  They have the bug picture knowledge and addressed every question to a T.  Can't say enough good thing about this company.  Outstanding work guys!!!!

Pretty nice right?  Doesn't sound anything like the lying conniving thieving Ron Janis that I know.

Then Ron Janis Shows his True Colors. 

 If you go to the guy's Facebook page now and find the review of the Private Sewer and Water Corp you get this:

Note this is an updated review from above.

Ron is a Lying thieving conman of the worst kind.  He lied to my face, hit on my mother and took us for $2000!  Called him over 20 times talked to him 12 times and every time he made up and excuse or didn't show up when he said he would costing days of work having to stay home to wait for no shows.  May god have mercy on your soul Ron

So here you have a customer that was so pleased with their service that he wrote a 5 star review.  You would think that Ron would go out of his way to make this guy happy.  Especially since he is helping to combat all of the negative reviews that Ron has been getting from so may other people.  At least that's what I would do.

Not Ron Janis though.  He'll apparently just use his loyal customers as a free money source and scam them.  Its almost the exact same thing that happened to me.  You think they are doing a good job, and you're happy with the service and so you pay them for the full amount of the project.  And then Bam!  You never see him again.

The Private Sewer and Water Scam

So this is the scam:

• Find someone in an emergency situation.  This way they don't have many options and can't shop around or check up on you.
• Solve their immediate problem. Make them trust you.
• Get the customer to pay for a number of additional services.  
• Keep the money and run
• Keep telling the customer that you are going to finish the job.  Schedule a time if you have to, just never show up.  

I'm sure they've been doing this for years and the internet if finally catching up with them, or if for some reason Ron is short on cash and is trying to make it up through nefarious means.  Either way there's an increasingly large number of people that are making it known publicly how much of a con artist Ron Janis is.

Ron responds. An Exercise in Cluelessness

Yesterday Ron made another post to his Facebook page about how cold it is. A picture of one of his tractors and a comment of  "Six below zero...no problem!!! Try to stay indoors today if you can!!!"

This is where it gets fun.  I commented:

Interesting.  It was warmer than this last year when you stopped showing up in the middle of our job, claiming it was too cold.  Coincidentally that was right after we paid you.  Still waiting on that refund.  Are you going to steal these people's money too?

That's right.   A little less than a year ago and almost as soon as we had paid them, the Private Sewer and Water Corporation stopped showing up at our house.  After  a week of no shows we finally got a hold of Ron.  He told us that it was too cold and that since they had already finished the major work, they would wait until it was warmer to finish.

At the time it didn't seem like a big deal  Ron seemed trustworthy and the remaining items weren't critical.  We made the mistake at taking Ron Janis at his word. Something I would never ever recommend to anyone else.  11 months later and we've heard every excuse in the book as to why he can't finish the job.  But he can advertise on Facebook that he works in the cold.

This morning I got a notice that Ron had responded to my post:

 At least acknowledge we solved your sewer problem!!!

This would be funny if he hadn't stolen my money.  One of the other customers he's screwed over, and I think I saw it on the BBB site complained about this same thing.  The Private Sewer and Water Corp finished half of the job that they had been paid for and when the customer complained their response as "At least we fixed part of the problem"

That's not the point, and the fact than Ron doesn't understand that is astounding.  Its like going to McDonalds and ordering a burger and fries.  If they only give you the burger I'm pretty sure you're going to pissed off that you didn't get the fries you paid for.  Imagine going back to the counter to inquire about where your fries are and having the cashier tell you "At least you got your burger"


My response:

You sort of solved it.  We still flooded last summer despite your guarantees that we wouldn't.  That's not the point though.  If you had only taken money for the sewer repair we'd be done and we wouldn't have a problem.  I probably would have even referred you to a number of friends.  But no, you gave us the hard sell for additional work that we didn't want in the first place.  You took money for that additional work and have not performed the services promised.  In addition to the money you've stolen from me you've wasted my time for a year by continually scheduling times to complete the work and then not bothering to showing up.  Give me my money back for the work you failed to deliver on and we can go our separate ways. 

He did sort of solve the sewer problem.  Originally we hired him because we got a sewage smell throughout the house whenever we ran the washing machine.  He solved that problem.  Congratulations.  Have a cookie.  Solving one problem doesn't mean you get to charge for others and not attempt to solve them.  Originally I didn't want to remove the catch basin or install the ejector pump.  Ron talked us into it.  And then after we paid him, he never did the work.

Ron responds:

You didn't flood again c'mon now

Notice how he ignores that part about him stealing my money. There is really nothing he can do to defend himself against that.

Me:

Actually we did.  We got a couple inches of water in our basement the week prior to our block party on 8/23

Ron

No way. You would have been all over us and blowing up every phone imaginable.

Again Ron demonstrates how incredibly clueless he is.  He seems to think that if he solves the flooding issue then he can do whatever he wants.  Here's the thing:  I didn't hire him to solve the flooding issue.   I hired him to solve the sewer stench issue.  He took it upon himself to claim that we wouldn't flood anymore.  I didn't believe him when he said we would never flood again and I was right. So when we did flood I wasn't surprised.  My whole neighborhood flooded. I didn't consider that a failure on his part.  The fact that when the flooding occurred he had been in possession of my  money for over six months without moving  to finish the job, that is what angered me.

My response to Ron:

Problem with that is you never answer your phone.  I'd been calling you for six months at that point and gotten no where so why would this have been different?  I'll send you a picture next time.  Honestly I never thought you would be able to completely solve the flooding issue and that wasn't really why we hired you in the first place.  I'll give you that we probably flood less than we would have but that doesn't give you the right to skip out on other parts of the project unless you want to refund my money.  I'm not pissed about the flooding, I'm pissed about the theft.

Again, why would I call him then?  He already demonstrated his dishonesty by failing to complete the work that he had been paid for.  Why would I call him back?  If he won't refund money for work he didn't do, why would he refund money for shoddy work that he did actually do? And again, I didn't think his solution would solve the flooding issue.  It did help, but I think there are city wide improvements that need to be made before the issue can be fully resolved.

Ron's response:

I'm pissed that you keep motherf*****g us on the internet. If you removed every bulls**t stalker post you put on yelp, citysearch, web, etc. I'd gladly remedy the entire situation.

Uh Oh.  Someone's mad.  I don't know what to do about this other than laugh.  Its not like I posted bad reviews about him for fun. I'm way too lazy for that.  I posted bad reviews because he took my money and repeatedly lied to me.  That is something that is 100% under his control.  If he didn't want bad reviews he shouldn't steal from his customers.  He should also have the decency to show up for scheduled appointments.  Its not rocket science.  The fact that Ron is mad about this is  pathetic. I don't know what he expects.   Maybe he is used to scamming people before the internet when they couldn't fight back.

Also I don't know what he means by citysearch, web, etc.  I haven't put a review on Citysearch yet.  the top one about him hitting on the dudes' mom is to funny for me to replace.  Maybe he found this page and that is what he means by web.  I doubt it.  I have done nothing to promote this site yet.  If he found it he would have to be going way out of his way to search for himself.  Not that I rule that out.  Although if he did find it already then that means I don't have to put as much effort into publicizing the site as I thought I would.  But I digress.

My response:

You've offered that before and failed to follow through.  Why should I expect this to be different?  All the reviews I've put up are an accurate representation of my experience dealing with you. If/When my experience is improved I'll update my review. If you find an inaccuracy you let me know and I'll correct it.  If you don't want bad reviews then you should treat your customers better.  You give bad service, you get bad reviews.  That's how it works.  Stealing my money and wasting my time is bad service.  If you had done your job in the first place we wouldn't be here. Give me money back and I will never visit your FB page again.

The funny thing is that he has offered this before. When I submitted a BBB complaint and called him to see if he was going to respond before they closed it he said the same thing.  Then ignored me for a month.  When I posted a negative review to Yelp he told me he would be at my house promptly at 11:30 the next day and if when I removed the review he would finish the job. As usual, he didn't show up.

Again, I don't know what he expects.  If he think's I'm going to let him just take close to $2000 and not do everything in my power to get it back then he has surely underestimated me.

At this point Ron deletes the comment thread from his page and responds with

We'll be in touch

He may have commented something before than.  I got a FB notification that he did, but by the time I got out of my meetings all that was left was the above comment.

Over/Under on when he gets in touch?   It will be Tuesday or Wednesday because that is when I'm going to remind him.  I would be astounded if anything happens before that.