Called Drain King for a problem with my shower panel. I couldn't get the shower to turn off so I was desperate and had them come in. When I called I was told that if they came and gave me a quote and I didn't go ahead with the work the charge would be $90. This made me question how often they gave quotes that customers were not satisfied with, but I was desperate. The guy showed up and told me he had no idea how to fix a shower panel. Said it might be the cartridge, but had no idea where to find one, but if I found one he'd come back and replace it, but that I should probably just replace the whole panel and if I got a new one he'd come back and install it. I had clearly explained when I called that the problem was with a shower panel, so I am unclear why the company would send someone who started his assessment with "I don't know anything about shower panels" He gave me a quote to turn off the water at the shower. It needed to be done and I told him to go ahead. I had a couple other plumbing issues including a toilet fill valve that required replacing. The quote for replacing the fill valve was $304 for labour. At this point it was clear that along with not knowing what he was doing he was also going to to gouge me. I paid the $200 (the quote I was provided) to make the shower stop running and sent the guy on his way. I did some online youtube tutorials and figured out how to remove the old cartridge from my shower panel. I found the replacement on Amazon (under $30!) and replaced it. No new shower panel required! I did need a plumber for some other work and called in another company whose pricing was transparent and reasonable and they sent a knowledgeable plumber to complete the work. Do yourself a favour and DO NOT call Drain King. I will be following up this review with a glowing review for the other company.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $200.00
- Company Response
Hi Joan,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide you with service.
We do provide free estimates during regular business hours so that our customers have the freedom to make a decision without having to pay a fee. Your request was outside of regular business hours and that's why you paid a fee for us to come out to provide an estimate.
If our estimates were over priced we would not be in business long providing them for free to our customers. Rest assured we had your best interest in mind.
Your technician would have advised you that because there was no way to tell what shower panel you had - that the time and materials to find and source the parts with no actual guarantee it would solve the problem would not be ideal. He recommended replacing the panel because the time and money put into sourcing and installing the part with no guarantee can often end up being more expensive than replacing the panel altogether. Your technician wanted to provide you with a guaranteed solution as to not waste your time and money on some thing that was not a guaranteed fix.
We feel your comments and review are a little bit harsh considering we did have your best interest in mind. At the end of the day we are happy your problem was solved.
We hope you understand and we look forward to working with you again in the future.