Replace inside ISO valve for outdoor hose
My wife and I along with our newborn son moved into our first home in Mimico last September knowing full well that with purchasing a house that was built in the 1930's comes many pocketbook setbacks. During our initial renovations, before we moved in, we discovered that there was a leak in our basement laundry room streaming from the wall. I decided to call the plumbing company I knew best, from seeing Terry Cord's smiling face on vans all around the city. Every review I read was positive so I did not hesitate to make the call. A DrainWorks plumber, who will remain nameless, was dispatched to our home and made me sign a $69 dollar diagnosis initiation fee that was to be waived when work began. Another fee was charged to cut through the drywall so that the problem could be found. When cutting through the drywall could not find the problem he made the diagnosis that the primer line from the laundry tub was backing up and filling the bottom plate of the drywalled wall in the laundry room and running along the plate to where the leak was spilling onto the floor. Myself being a carpenter by trade and not a plumber believed the diagnosis was true and could be taken care of easily enough. The DrainWorks plumber sold me a new tap for the laundry tub removed the primer line and that was to be that. Being impressed by the way DrainWorks had handled themselves so far I agreed to buy a new toilet for the main bathroom at approx. $600 plus installation. A couple of months later I noticed the same leak in the laundry room make its presence known. I inspected more closely and removed the cover plate in the wall of the laundry room and discovered that the valve that lead to the outdoor hose nozzle was leaking and dripping down behind the wall. Not needing the outdoor hose in the winter I decided to shut off the valve and deal with it in the spring, thinking that DrainWorks would help me out with the repairs seeing that the original diagnosis might have been incorrect. Spring came and we started to plant the garden so knowing that DrainWorks would have to get behind the drywall and I didn't want to be charged for something that I do for a living, I tore down the wall. It was lined with black mold and soft to the touch. When the wall came down I noticed that the original primer line was nowhere near the bottom plate of the wall and could have never backed up into it but the leaking valve was directly above the plate and was not able to shut off completely. I immediately made the call to DrainWorks knowing that the leak needed to be fixed ASAP. Upon speaking with their representative on the phone he told me that he could not say anything about a discount or comment about the past work because the warranty had expired and he did not do any of the original work. He gave me a possible appointment for the following Friday, two days from the call, or the following week with the original plumber. Having my hours fixed I could not meet with the original plumber on the Friday and not being able to wait for the following week I opted for another one of DrainWorks plumbers to come in on the Saturday, hoping that they could stay true to their image. Wrong. The new plumber came in, totally disregarded anything I had to say about past work done by the company and again made me sign a $69 diagnosis slip before he quoted me anything. With a new non freeze hose bib I was quoted $369. Watching the water drip into the bucket below the valve I agreed to let the work be done. He drained the pipe. Cut the pipe. Drilled a bigger hole through the original hole leading outside and cracked the brick and mortar two feet in either direction and then told me that the brick was just falling apart everywhere, maybe if he didn't drill though a joint that wouldn't have happened. He couldn't screw the new bib to the brick because he had cracked it so badly so he stuffed the hole with chunks of wood around the pipe and screwed it to that and told me that I should buy some non shrinking cement and fix the cracks to give the pipe some more support. He left and I felt hosed. Pun intended. I will make it my duty to make sure that everyone I know and everyone I do carpentry work for or renovations to never use DrainWorks. I truly had high hopes for them. I do love the toilet I bought from them. Too bad they wouldn't flush the cost of the second repair for me.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,000.00
- Company Response
**David** First it is important to clear up the fact that you agreed to a $69 assessment fee when you called to book the appointment. A plumber getting signatures on the invoice as confirmation of the fact is not out of line. It is also important to note that on our initial visit, as the assessment could only be done by cutting into the drywall, you were not charged both fees, but rather only the drywall access fee. The plumber made his assessment and proceeded with the repair. That repair does come with a 1 year warranty, however, there is no warranty on work that has yet to be done. In this situation a new problem developed in your 1930’s home and additional repairs were required. To assume that we are responsible for, or that additional work should come free of charge is out of line. By your standards any new leak discovered in the laundry room could be construed to have been the initial problem you called about and thus DrainWorks’ obligation to repair at no cost. What is also puzzling is why one would wait almost 7 months to even divulge that fact that there was a leak at the home, especially since you so whole heartedly believed it to be a DrainWorks error? Even more puzzling is why, if you were so dissatisfied with our service the first time, you would agree to pay us to do MORE WORK? You say it is because the leak needed to be fixed ASAP, but you had already waited for several months? Some things do not add up here or seem logical based on your review in relation to your actions. Simply put, we honour our warranties, we assessed your issue and found it to be a new problem that required additional repairs, we provided pricing and you agreed to have the work done.