Review oddness

Work reviews are usually garbage, I see it with my wife. Her company gives an average percentage to give out usually 3%. Now if she wants to give someone deserving on her team a 4 or 5% raise, she has to penalize someone else to a 1 or 2% even if they don't deserve it. There is always someone pissed off on either side.
 
I don't trust many Yelp reviews. I've used Yelp and found great businesses. And I've used Yelp and found complete rip off businesses.

I took my Jeep to four places that all had 5 star reviews. And alot of them. All 5 business tried to rip me off on a transmission replacement/rebuild. Until I finally got a good referral from mrblaine. And my problem was solved for free in about 15 minutes. The tv cable simply needed adjustment. All 5 business had told me I needed a new transmission or a rebuild. And one guy I found drunk joy riding in my Jeep with his 5 yr old in the back. And his reviews sounded like he walked on water.

Alot of Yelp reviews are either paid for, done by friends or if they mess up really badly reduce the customers bill until they change their review.

I actually put more faith in a few good reviews (that I read - not just look at the stars) than a business with many and they are all 5 star. You can't provide 100+ services and not have one customer give you a 4 star or a 3 star or less. It's just the law of averages and shitty customers.
 
The field runs across a slope since we are built on a hill. At the fence line, the yard drops down 2-3 feet on our side and I want to know if I can add some good dirt over the top of the field to sort of even things out a bit.
Where I live that may be no bueno depending on how much soil you want to add because there are max and min coverage rules for the drainfield pipes. Your city or county municipal code should lay it all out. I have the same issue.
 
Where I live that may be no bueno depending on how much soil you want to add because there are max and min coverage rules for the drainfield pipes. Your city or county municipal code should lay it all out. I have the same issue.
I'm aware and all the searching I have done points to the same but with no clear answer. The codes would have been very loosely followed if at all since this was unincorporated county area when the house was built. The sewer problem has been a large issue and so much so that they placed a building moratorium on the area for about 8 years that started shortly after the annexation.
 
When I built my house here in Riv. ca. about 10 years ago. Minimum water table was 13' at my lot after a heavy rain, 15' 2 weeks later. So happens 13' is the minimum you can be. That's 8' from water table to line and 4' to cover back to original grade. They didn't say anything about more cover. I wouldn't think it would be much of a problem. Only if you ever have to repair or replace.
 
I have a very similar system to yours. 1000 gallon tank runs to a D valve which feeds 4 runs 65 feet long in the leach field. And there can be very real issues with adding soil on top. A small amount will not really affect it but start talking feet of fill and the weight of the soil alone will cause compaction of the under laying substrate which can hamper the percolation in the leach field. There is a science to engineering and making the systems perform correctly. Where I'm at they can only be designed installed and maintained by certified companies and they are regulated by the local health department. Only a local company, with all the required information and a decent engineer, can really answer if what you want to do will negatively impact your system.
 
Blaine, I've been involved with specifying and designing on-lot septic systems since 1990. The first rule to know is Sh*t runs down hill ;)

Each state has their own regulations, and many small municipalities (local to me) have adopted mandatory pumping of the septic tanks. Each family usage is different. I usually recommend poking a stick or something you don;t want to reuse down into the tank and to determine the depth of the sludge layer. If only a few inches, you're good. If over a foot thick, have it pumped.
 
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Blaine, I've been involved with specifying and designing on-lot septic systems since 1990. The first rule to know is Sh*t runs down hill ;)

Each state has their own regulations, and many small municipalities (local to me) have adopted mandatory pumping of the septic tanks. Each family usage is different. I usually recommend poking a stick or something you don;t want to reuse down into the tank and to determine the depth of the sludge layer. If only a few inches, you're good. If over a foot thick, have it pumped.
I have a long stick if you want to show me how. Otherwise, it ain't happening. I mess with lots of unsavory stuff, I draw the line there.
 
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My orthodontist has something like 100+ reviews on Google, all 5-stars. There is only a single 1-star review, and when you read it says something along the lines of:

"We had an appointment scheduled for 1:30, but we ran into traffic and didn't end up getting there until 2:00. When we arrived they told us they couldn't see us anymore that day and we would have to reschedule the appointment. I'll never recommend this place to anyone!"

My orthodontist and I were laughing the other day when I was in there getting my final Invisalign trays. How on earth does someone feel that something that is clearly their fault warrants a bad review? People these days are out of their mind.
 
What gets me with reviews is how people constantly give 1 star reviews to restaurants just because of the wait staff. I mean, when I'm looking for a place to eat, I could care less about whether someone had a problem with a wait staff. I just want to know if the food is good and the place is clean.

Waiters/waitresses turn over all the time and even the best restaurants will get a bad apple every once in a while. I mean, if the food sucks, it will always suck. If you have a shitty waiter the next person at least has a chance of getting someone who does better.
 
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I have a long stick if you want to show me how. Otherwise, it ain't happening. I mess with lots of unsavory stuff, I draw the line there.


I'm perfectly happy to pay $25 a month to the service that maintains our septic system just so I don't have to do any of that.
 
I just have somebody come every so many years and pump mine. No maintenance required other than being careful. Simple things like trying not to run the washing machine and dish washer at the same time, no solids in the toilet or garbage disposal, etc.
 
Then I wish you worked in my area. I had to fire the guy sent by the home warranty company.

Well even if did work in your area, I would not be coming to your home. Home Warranty Companies for the most part pay about the lowest rates. You most likely wont find any large plumbing companies working for them. We did a little of that type of work when we started our Service Dept. as fill in work to keep my Service Plumbers busy. Once they were on site they had to call in and discuss the problem with a call taker that wanted to do the least amount possible. And when you told them something like the garbage disposal needs to be replaced they would ask how much $$. One you gave the the rate the would always try and get you to lower your rates, saying things like your rates are much higher than what we are allowed to pay. But if you could lower them to $$$ I could approve it, the we would have the remind them we are in the San Francisco Bay Area not Alabama ( not there is anything wrong with Alabama ) where we have some of the highest living costs in the country. So after getting beat up to many times most REAL Plumbing Companies move on.
 
Sometimes I glance at restaurant reviews but, I generally go back because I like the wait staff. I mean if I can get a waitress to laugh for a minute in their bad-day-at-work, that makes me happy.
And when the chef or short-order cook feeds me better than I feed myself, that makes me happy too.

And I pride myself for being a good tipper, because my wife and her bros & sisters were fed better when their Mom
(a waitress) earned good tips.
 
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I don't use Yelp but I have found the reviews on amazon for different products worded very similarly, almost makes one think that these are the paid for reviews. That's why I am kinda skeptical reading them sometimes.
or when the wording is so bad, you KNOW it's a Chinese company and they are padding the reviews