A J Bono Plumbing

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/16) */
As a contractor we have a contract with the home warranty company that Mr *** hasSince we are contracted with the home warranty the 1st clause is that we will make a honest diagnoses, required by the home warranty if we can repair 1st
that is what is needed to be done before replacementIn this situation with Mr*** that was exactly the case no mechanical failures with his water heater it is still producing hot water, in this case the home warranty will not authorize any kind of replacementA lot of home owners that have a home warranty think before there contract with the home warranty expire should place a claim for replacements or repairs due to age of unit or appearance to be covered before their home warranty expiresAs we stated we do need to take proper steps in diagnoses a report is given to the home warranty and they make the final decision if they want us just to repair or replace, we never make a decision without the home warranty giving us a proper authorization and in this case since no mechanical failures we did not get authorize to replace this home owners water heaterPlease keep in mind the report given by different technicians was the same and water heater is working properlyIf Mrhome owner would like water heater replaced he can have it done out of pocket, but we will not give a diagnoses to the home warrantyWe have been contracted with Fidelity National Home Warranty for years and we value our business relationship with them and they as well appreciate are honesty that we have with themWe will not jeopardize our contract with the home warranty for any customerAt this point we stand with our tech's diagnoses
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/09/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
First let me say that I'm appalled at the construction and structure of this responseThis just reiterates how unprofessional this company appearsI'm not asking for a water heater replacement if it is not necessaryHowever, there is defiantly a problem with the thermostatAn example would be an A/C unit that only cools to degrees when the thermostat is turned down to degreesI'm not sure what is so hard to understandWhen the thermostat is set to the manufacturer"s recommended setting, the water is approximately degrees less than what it should beAn HONEST diagnosis was not done by AJBonoI'm offended that this company accuses me of wanting to take advantage of my home warranty before it expiresThere is a problem and AJBono refuses to correctI could say the same thing about this company in that they and the home warranty are working together and that AJBono is just trying to save the home warranty moneyI hope that is not the caseIf they want to be a professional company, do the right thingIf a thermostat needs replacing then so be itIf it is more than that then I expect a professional company to solve the problemOn a side note as stated before, there was only technician who took the temperature of the waterThe supervisor who came out the second time did nothing but talkHe did not take the temperature of the water nor did he even diagnose the problemIf this company wishes to thrive then their best interest is to take care of customers and not buckle under a business partnerThere is a problem with my water heater and I request AJBono to resolve

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/08/05) */
AUGUST 4, 2015
Ms. [redacted]
Revdex.com
Dispute Resolution Specialist
RE: CASE [redacted]
First we would like to apologize for not responding to the 1st request as you stated on the 2nd notice, but we never received the...

1st notice so we apologize for the delay on the respond to this matter.
As we know there is always two sides to a story and sometimes working for a home warranty company, it creates friction between the contractor and the home owner. In this particular case the chain of events are as follow:
On July 8, 2015 @ 9:05am we received a work order from Old Republic Home Protection in regards of a gas leak at the property [redacted] XXXXX, by 9:19am we called the home owner and set appt for July 9, XXXX XX-Xpm. Upon arrival our Technician inspected the problem with the water heater and he came to a conclusion that it needed a new gas control valve. The technician went to our local supplier to pick up a universal gas control valve, he explain to the homeowner if it is the universal part does not fit her particular water heater we would need to get one directly from the manufacture warranty of water heater. The universal part failed to work for this water heater at this point the technician informed the home owner it will take 5-7 business days to have a gas control valve directly from the manufacture, Mrs. Home Owner stress the fact to our technician that they need hot water due to the fact they have 2 toddlers and they could not go without hot water so long. Our technician sympathize with home owner's situation & told Mrs. Home Owner that he would call Old Republic to explain the situation & see what they would authorize for him to do at this point.
After calling Old Republic and giving them a report regarding the water heater they authorize to have the water heater replaced, since water heater replacement was approved we called the home owner on July 9, 2015 @ 4:08pm to set apt for Saturday 7/11/15.
On July 10, 2015 @ 2:07pm representative of Old Republic called our office to cancel the appt for Saturday 7/11/15 reason why being they offered the home owner a CASH OUT, in other words the home owner will get a check for the total amount of replacement of water heater.
In this complain Mr. Home Owner states that on July 11, 2015 he states that morning he notice a smell of gas again, what had happened at this point the universal gas control valve had failed. But at this point the home warranty had canceled the claim 24hrs prior to this.
I personally spoke to the authorizer Joe @ Old Republic on 7/16/15 @ 11:53am providing us with a 2nd opinion report which was identically the same report our tech had explain to home warranty.
We understand the confusing part between the home warranty and Mr. Home Owner since we only had dealt with Mrs. Home Owner at this point.
We as a company don't feel the accusation of us trying to scam this Home Owner is what happened, at this point we are not sure if home owner took a cash out from the home warranty or not. In regards of $60 deductible we collected on behalf of the home warranty. According to the home owner warranty plan it stated that the deductible is due if service provider does or does not do any repairs or replacement the deductible is still due. This is a agreement that home owner has between themselves and home warranty.
As a company we strive to provide Steller customer service to all our customers. Our employees are trained with customer service to provide to our customers on a daily basis.
It is unfortunate that this home owner did not see the way we were trying to help them out due to having kids and being without hot water. We at this point did not want the home owner go so long without hot water so we attempted to find another solution in order for them to have hot water.
As a good gesture we don't have a problem in waiving the $60 deductible we will refund the home owner, we honestly believe this situation was taken out of contact.
Please don't hesitate to contact our Customer Relations Dept. and ask for [redacted] our supervisor for further information regarding this matter.
Thank You,
[redacted]
Supervisor.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/08/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I'm not sure where this story came from but a lot of it was factually incorrect. My wife was initially the one who worked with the plumbers at AJ Bono but the majority of the communications were myself Mr. Homeowner and the two plummers. The idea that they replaced the control value is false. Both the PGE inspector who came to investigate the gas leak the next day and the 2nd set plumbing company that was sent by Old Republic both said that the control value had not been replaced only the hose leading to the control valve. The two plummers never said anything about ordering a new part from the manufacturer. They told my wife that the water heater was broken and had to be replaced, when I asked what was broken the only thing they would tell me was it was broken and had to be replaced. They then went on to explain that in order to replace the water heater that they would have to do a number of things to get it up to code as well. When I asked how much it would be, they said they wouldn't know until the work was done.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2015/08/11) */