Almeida Plumbing, Heating & Air, Inc.

I never expect anyone to understand the whole plumbing repair world,but I do expect them to understand that there are expenses formaintaining the plumbing in their home much like the plumbing in theirbodyThey both require care with attempts to repair problems with noguarantees that come with a
cost.I've done everything possible with my years of experience withspecialized tools including an Internet connected *** and a fullystocked truck with a live person to answer their calls hours a dayproviding top notch professional serviceI specifically preparedmyself for their uncommon product with a variety of speciallypurchased parts and utilized all my best contacts in the industry inour area to obtain the properly required manufacturer's engineerassistance to get the right parts after many tech support errors thatwas not my fault.So, here is the real story so you can see why I think there should bea place for businesses to file a complaint about their customersbefore they complain about us!Before even touching their shower valve I said, "Wow, who's decisionwas it to install this shower valve? The average experienced plumberknows that this manufacturer makes great faucets, but their showervalves are the absolute worst!" I added, "I know it would be a lot ofwork and expensive to replace it, but you would probably be better offin the long run with something new we could guarantee."I was asked, "Well how much would that cost?" I said, "Depending onwhat you choose it could be thousands and that's not including wallrepairs that we don't do." So she upsettingly said, "We paid a lot ofmoney for thisWe shouldn't be having a problem with it already." Mywords were, "I know, but I can't see why it can't be repairedItsjust a matter of taking it apart and locating partsIt shouldn't betoo much trouble and it would certainty cost a lot less." So anattempt to repair rather than replace was discussed with her husbandand the nightmare began!I couldn't even figure out how the handle comes off after extensivetime with online research and manufacturer's tech supportIdiscovered that this fancy looking thermostatic shower valve was onlymanufactured for a short period of time because they had problems withitHey! Maybe that's why the three wholesalers I called who carriestheir lines wasn't familiar with it! That was enough evidence foranyone to realize that this repair could be in jeopardy.I'm proud of my reputation I've obtained as a well seasonedprofessional and don't give up easy for the best interest of ourcustomersEspecially this good long time customer.So fInally, I managed to successfully disassemble the valve withoutdamages, but the only parts that were available that I brought with mewere incorrectTherefore, more extensive time spent with themanufacturer was required to order partsThankfully they wereavailable and would be shipped at no cost under manufacturer'swarranty.The customer called when the parts arrived and I returned to installthem only to find that they sent the same part I already had which wasincorrectMore time spent on the phone with the manufacturer's techsupport, emailing them pictures and following them on their web sitetrying to find the right parts to make sure they get the correct partsdelivered this time.The customer called again when the parts arrived and I returned toinstall them only to find that they sent the wrong parts a secondtimeMore time spent on the phone only to find that their techsupport is under qualified and refused to elevate my call to anadequately qualified representative.I took things further and used a special contact to assist me inreaching the right person from the manufacturer.In short time, I received a call from one of their design engineerswho asked all the right questions and wanted the pictures I alreadysentAfter sending the pictures directly to him and having anotherlengthy conversation, he coached and navigated me on their website tosee and understand about a conversion kit that was needed to make therepairHe ordered it to ship right away under warranty.The customer called when the kit arrived and I returned for the thirdrepair attemptAfter properly following the included instructions andturned the water back on the shower valve had different problems thanwe started withNow the valve had low flow and wouldn't shut offIcontacted the engineer to discuss the issues and he felt that eitherthere was an existing condition with foreign matter inside the pipingthat entered the new conversion kit or the new kit was defectiveHeordered it to ship right away under warranty, again.I suggested to open the wall to install shut off valves but theydecided to have me try and re-install the old parts since it shut offfine beforeReluctantly, I agreed to try it with no warranty andcarefully got the old parts back together successfully.By this time I was asked to total up the cost incurred up to thepresent time before wasting any more time and money with nowarrantiesAfter providing the amount of $he said, "I thinkthat's ridiculous! My problem is still not fixed!" I made the customeraware that I reduced the price in consideration of his loss and withgood faith for a good long time customer.This led to a lengthy conversation resulting in their interest for meto spend time to find a new good quality replacement shower valve anddiverter valve to best match the finish of their existing exoticshower componentsI reminded that it's what I mentioned before eventouching this thing and reluctantly held the bill in good faith for afinal decision and completion to have the work done.I again used my best contacts to assist in providing the best choicefor their requestAfter more extensive time spent, I sent them anemail containing links to product and the details for the work and theinstalled price.I received an email reply the next day that explained his unfairthoughts and offered to meet me half way on the $existing billincluding a request for material costs breakdown for the proposedworkI told the customer that I generated the price with reduced timeand material costs to give him the best price and don't give costbreakdowns because it often leads to negotiating that will only berejected.I was shocked when he angrily said, "If I have to spend $plusanother $2,for the replacement, I might just remodel the wholebathroom! I just can't see spending thousands for a repair!" Ireplied, "Well, just know that when you choose to have an expensiveexotic shower they are expensive repair." It ended with his promise tothink about and call be back.After not hearing from him in over a week I called and was told he wasout of town and would call me backI gave him more than days tocall me back upon his scheduled return and called him againMeanwhilethe customer had not called me back and had my office schedule for meto stop by to work out the details.I arrived at their convenience and discussed the reduced charges of$that must be collected with a special offerThe offer was togive a $credit towards the new replacement if he paid it nowwith a 50% deposit for the replacementSince he couldn't make adecision I offered to extend the offer to the end of the day, butagain, never heard back from him.While tired of promises not kept, I gave it a couple of weeks to seeif the 50% that he previously tried to negotiate would possibly appearby mailSince he showed no attempt to satisfy his debt, I drafted aletter requesting full payment and sent it certified with returnreceipt.Upon notice from the post office of unsuccessful certified mailattempts, I decided to personally deliver the envelope unannounced inattempt to collect a debt before to incurring legal obligationexpenseWhen the customer answered the door I tried to give her theenvelope and asked why they refused the certified mailHer responsewas, "I don't want it." I said, "Please take thisIt includes thatoriginal copy of the debt with a letterI worked long and hard foryouAll I ask for is for you to read the letter and give me acourtesy call." She refused and said, "I don't want toYou said wedon't owe you anything."I proceeded to place the envelope into the door and dropped it theirfloorShe picked it up and through it out towards meI picked itback up while she slammed the door on meI squeezed it into her stormdoor jam and said to her while she watched through the door glass andsaid, "You owe us moneyI worked hard for youDon't think that I'mwrongThis could lead to a legal process that would go to court thatyou could not winI've been in this situation before more than onceand have never lost because I'm good at it!"Maybe I went a little too far with my choice of words, but thefrustration had built for my excuse.As a result, I received a call from an attorney who represents thecustomer who tried to tell me he knows about the citation with hisclient and attempted his conversion with my abrupt responseI simplyasked him why he hasn't asked me what my side of the story is andcontinued with his attempt to continue his conversation withouthearing it.I immediately defused the conversation and made him aware that hisclient actually lost his chance to pay 50% of the bill that is nolonger acceptable due to the chain of eventsI made him aware that Ishall be represented by our corporate attorney or our highlysuccessful collection attorney and that nothing less than the fullamount plus legal fees shall satisfy their debt.When I gave him the names of each attorney he proceeded to tell methat he knows both of them and asked me to have one of them call me.Since this event has elevated to legal office, I expect this complaintand response to be null and void from the Revdex.com process