These guys were pretty quick to respond to my request to replace or repair my toilet and their pricing was pretty competitive but I had to follow up with them a few times.
The main guy Serhiy was getting annoyed at all my questions and requests (not sure if this is a Ukranian, Russian or Eastern European thing). But I talked to other plumbers of a similar background and no one gave me a hard time like him.
He told me things like:
"You can find somebody to do free job for you... we have expenses", "Don't take this job too serious...it's just simple toilet not Airplane"
"Please don't make me feel too busy..this is small plumbing service"
"I feel like I'm doing full house renovation"
"If you don't want to pay, please find another company. Our company is not the cheapest"
I get that it's a simple toilet repair, but you should treat every service as the most important service...especially if you want repeat customers. It does not matter how cheap your prices are and how good you are at your craft. Not being friendly and courteous is a big no-no to me.
In the end, one of his plumbers found the crack in my toilet and charged me accordingly to asses the problem. He even corrected the flushing on the upstairs toilet...however it still makes the water filling sound.
Another issue I had was that they wanted to charge me again (double) to have the new toilet installed. I don't think this is fair (even his plumber said he should charge less). If I got them to take out the toilet and i paid in full, they should be able to quickly put in another toilet and even not charge or charge me considerably less. Oh well. I guess that is their policy.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $200.00
- Company Response
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We appreciate your response. It looks like there was misunderstanding with the pricing and it might have looked to you like we charged you double, but it was not the case. We charge a minimum service fee of $180 plus HST, as we did with you. That included investigation of the problem and a solution, if possible, with no time limit. In your case, the toilet was cracked and there were no possible solutions but to replace the fixture. Since new toilet had to be ordered and was not there to install with in the same time frame, the technician would have to come again at a different day when the toilet is delivered. Therefore another minimum service charge has to apply. But before anyone comes and any changes are applied, all the pricing is agreed with the customer on the phone or during a free estimate in person. We have absolutely no hidden fees and are very clear with our prices. In your case our technician did suggest a discount, since your address was within a close range of out office. So we offered a $140 plus HST service charge for installation of a new fixture (all the parts like hoses, bolts, wax seals and so on are included) in the charge. And as well you wanted us to property dispose of your old toilet, and we did offer to do so for standart $40 fee plus HST (including all the cardboard boxes that come with the new toilet, styrofoam, packaging and so on). In total charges would have come to $140+$40= total of $180 plus HST. All of that was discussed with you and explained in detail. And all the questions were answered as well. Our company gave you a choice of going with us for that charge or choosing someone else to do it for you. Unfortunately we were not able to provide you with a severe discount, because company has a running cost, and needs to make at least minimal profit is order to exist.
We are very sorry we were not able to make a deal with you a second time and really hope that qualified professional that you hired instead of us were able to satisfy your need. We wish you all the best luck in your future projects
With kindest regards
Sergey Marechak, owner of the Tornado Plumbing & Drain