Job was changing all old galvanized pipe in the house to copper. He changed everything except lines to bathroom sink, "because they were too hard to get at". I wasn't happy, but allowed this. Later the connection he made between these and his new copper lines started to leak. A guy came back and made a new connection, which also began to leak in a few months. Eventually I changed these lines myself, but mad that I had to because it should have all been part of the first job -- estimate was for ALL pipe in house, not "except bathroom sink". Meanwhile the math was wrong when he made up the final bill, and he wrote down a $200 discount but didn't subtract it from the total. Didn't notice that at first, overpaid by $200, then later noticed and phoned. Secretary could not do math and argued. Eventually got the money back but not friendly. Worst of all is their "service partner program". The plumber told me that if I signed up for this, I would pay so much a month for one year but it would entitle me to a percentage discount on the work, which was worth more than the total monthly sum over the year. So I signed up, and got the discount, and had the plan amount put on my credit card every month. BUT the year ended and they kept taking the amount off every month. I had to keep cancelling it. They told me there was nothing about 'one year only' in the plan. Well when the plumber is in your house he's the company's rep and you can only go by what he tells you, and "Louis" said one year.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,800.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Make sure that their staff acts friendly towards customers instead of adversarial, and require plumbers to put in a little extra effort to make sure the desired job is actually done fully satisfactorily. Print the full details of how the "partner plan" operates onto the form so customers don't have to rely on what the plumber tells them, since obviously that can be wrong. And teach the tradesmen and staff simple math or get them calculators.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Make sure they do the whole job. Do not take pity on a plumber who pleads for permission to omit some work when he says it's too hard to get at some of it. (it wasn't very hard at all: when I ended up doing it myself I could see that. And I didn't have an assistant like he did.) And make sure you get ALL the details in WRITING about their service plan before you agree to it, don't believe the plumber who presents the info.
- Company Response
We apologize for your experience with our company. We always provide written up front quotes for all of our customers, and only after a customer agrees will we begin any work. Often times there me secondary problems that arise during work, that we may recommend our customers having serviced. A lot of our customers find our Home Assure Program membership more comprehensive than our competitors, and would cancel it at any time if a customer requested. Again we apologize for your experience.