Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/06/09) */
[redacted]corresponding document attached.
RE: Case #[redacted]
We have received the notification of the complaint from [redacted]. I am attaching a picture of the invoice and piece which apparently came out of the pipe when the...
shutoff was removed. The customer stated that another company had come over 15 months after we had installed shut off valve and found this piece in the piping. They stated that it failed due to improper service/repair. They were requesting credit for the other plumbers invoice. At B&D plumbing, Heating, & A/C, we are a company that prides ourselves on our workmanship and definitely go way above and beyond to make sure if we didn't fix a problem right the first time, we will stand behind it. If the customer would have called us to address the issue and we had determined it was due to our original workmanship, we would have stood behind it and made it right no matter how long it was after we originally did it. By them having another company address the issue, we have no idea what caused the problem or if it was related to the work that was originally done by us. Typically if it were an issue due to the original service (especially in this case where there was supposedly a big piece from a valve in the pipe), a problem will show up relatively soon, almost always in the first couple of months. In this case it was fifteen months after the initial repair until there was a problem. If it were an improper installation, there should have been a problem. If it were an improper installation, there should have been a problem sooner than fifteen months. We are always committed to working with customers to make sure that they are happy. It is our customers that make B&D a company, without them we wouldn't exist. At the same time, we have to protect ourselves as a company. If every time someone called and said we should give them a refund on past work because another company said it wasn't right, we would open ourselves up to problems. We are more than willing to work with people, if they give us a chance. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We appreciate being a highly ranked member of the Revdex.com and always work hard to uphold that honor.
Thank you for your time,
Tracy [redacted], VP
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/06/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
B&D insists that they stand by their work; however, they also state that the issue recurred 15 months after they performed the work and therefore could not be related to their service. They informed me in our conversation over the phone that the warranty period is only 12 months which gives further credence to our mistrust that they would redo the work that was improperly done. I have 8 sinks in my home and 16 hot and cold faucets in total. The exact same issue (no cold water would come out when turning on the faucet) happened in the exact same manner prior to B&D's service and in the exact same cold water faucet in the exact same sink in my home. I do not believe that is a coincidence nor does the licensed plumber that came out to resolve the issue the second time. We did not call B&D as they are much more expensive and with the exact same issue happening repeatedly in our home we did not want to risk recurring a high cost bill when we simply did not believe that B&D would stand by their work. Following this issue and having the second licensed plumber independently state that the work was improperly performed we thought it was fair to ask for remittance to pay his smaller bill versus asking for a refund of B&D's original larger invoice as a symbol of good faith. Unfortunately after going in to talk to the personnel at B&D they did not call us back for over a week after repeated phone calls from us. Then when they finally discussed it with my husband they promised an additional return call which we never received either. In two phone conversations we had, my husband and I, with two different representatives of the company, we were accused of finding a random plumbing part and asserting that it was in the pipe and bringing it in for them to see. I am seriously offended by the accusation that we are lying. If B&D is going to refuse our request for reimbursement of our second bill then simply refusing without resorting to that type of behavior would have been much more professional. Furthermore, my husband and I do not have the knowledge to pull this type of "ruse" as we have no personal plumbing knowledge. While I understand their frustration that we contacted another plumber we did so as we did not want to expose ourselves to another high plumbing bill as we had no real expectation that B&D would stand behind their work as they stated in their response to our complaint.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2015/07/07) */
[redacted]Corresponding documents attached.
[redacted] & [redacted],
I am writing this letter to let you know we feel so bad that this issue has gone on as long and as far as it has. We have been in business 33 years and are in the habit of settling customer complaints in a timely matter. There are a couple of things I want to address. I want to apologize that you think we thought you were lying. It's not that at all. My husband has been plumbing for 43 years; he started his plumbing career when he was 12 years old. In all that time, he has never seen the piece that came out of your pipe. I would like to offer up an explanation of how our first plumber did not see the piece. When a shut off valve is replaced the tech will go down to the lowest level in the house and turn on a faucet to make gravity pull all the water out of the water line to be replaced. our thought is that when the tech shut off the water to replace the shut off the piece was probably in the line and with the gravity pull went back in the line so that the tech did not see it. He then replaced the shut off valve. With the use of that faucet over time that piece made its way to the shut off again and damaged the one we replaced. So you can see without B&D being call again to come out to fix the repair we don't really know what went on. This is just our thought. Now given time to think about it, maybe this is what happened. Normally, what you see in a line that would cause a shut off valve to go bad is sand or small rock particles. I know you don't know this about our company but we do stand behind our work. At the end of the day, we live in this community and want to be able to feel good about helping our neighbors. I am not just writing this letter to pacify the Revdex.com I truly do feel bad that this has taken this long to resolve. I have heard from our son [redacted], who has had [redacted] for a teacher, you seem to be really nice people and [redacted] really enjoyed having [redacted] as a teacher. Sometimes, I think we let our pride get the better of us when we take a stand on something and we may lose sight of what is really the right thing to do. In retrospect, we should have resolved this issue right away. Please except this check for $115.00 and our apologies. We would like to consider this issue closed. WE would like to move on from here. If there is anything we can do for you in the future please let me know.
Sincerely,
Tracy [redacted], VP
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 20, 2015/07/14) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
We appreciate the response from Tracy. The matter is fully resolved. Thank you.
6/22/2016: Our Service Department Manager Eric [redacted] talked to [redacted]. This issue is resolved B&D issued a check back to the customer of $275.00. Thank you, Tracy [redacted] V.P.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/06/09) */
[redacted]corresponding document attached.
RE: Case #[redacted]
We have received the notification of the complaint from [redacted]. I am attaching a picture of the invoice and piece which apparently came out of the pipe when the...
shutoff was removed. The customer stated that another company had come over 15 months after we had installed shut off valve and found this piece in the piping. They stated that it failed due to improper service/repair. They were requesting credit for the other plumbers invoice. At B&D plumbing, Heating, & A/C, we are a company that prides ourselves on our workmanship and definitely go way above and beyond to make sure if we didn't fix a problem right the first time, we will stand behind it. If the customer would have called us to address the issue and we had determined it was due to our original workmanship, we would have stood behind it and made it right no matter how long it was after we originally did it. By them having another company address the issue, we have no idea what caused the problem or if it was related to the work that was originally done by us. Typically if it were an issue due to the original service (especially in this case where there was supposedly a big piece from a valve in the pipe), a problem will show up relatively soon, almost always in the first couple of months. In this case it was fifteen months after the initial repair until there was a problem. If it were an improper installation, there should have been a problem. If it were an improper installation, there should have been a problem sooner than fifteen months. We are always committed to working with customers to make sure that they are happy. It is our customers that make B&D a company, without them we wouldn't exist. At the same time, we have to protect ourselves as a company. If every time someone called and said we should give them a refund on past work because another company said it wasn't right, we would open ourselves up to problems. We are more than willing to work with people, if they give us a chance. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We appreciate being a highly ranked member of the Revdex.com and always work hard to uphold that honor.
Thank you for your time,
Tracy [redacted], VP
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/06/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
B&D insists that they stand by their work; however, they also state that the issue recurred 15 months after they performed the work and therefore could not be related to their service. They informed me in our conversation over the phone that the warranty period is only 12 months which gives further credence to our mistrust that they would redo the work that was improperly done. I have 8 sinks in my home and 16 hot and cold faucets in total. The exact same issue (no cold water would come out when turning on the faucet) happened in the exact same manner prior to B&D's service and in the exact same cold water faucet in the exact same sink in my home. I do not believe that is a coincidence nor does the licensed plumber that came out to resolve the issue the second time. We did not call B&D as they are much more expensive and with the exact same issue happening repeatedly in our home we did not want to risk recurring a high cost bill when we simply did not believe that B&D would stand by their work. Following this issue and having the second licensed plumber independently state that the work was improperly performed we thought it was fair to ask for remittance to pay his smaller bill versus asking for a refund of B&D's original larger invoice as a symbol of good faith. Unfortunately after going in to talk to the personnel at B&D they did not call us back for over a week after repeated phone calls from us. Then when they finally discussed it with my husband they promised an additional return call which we never received either. In two phone conversations we had, my husband and I, with two different representatives of the company, we were accused of finding a random plumbing part and asserting that it was in the pipe and bringing it in for them to see. I am seriously offended by the accusation that we are lying. If B&D is going to refuse our request for reimbursement of our second bill then simply refusing without resorting to that type of behavior would have been much more professional. Furthermore, my husband and I do not have the knowledge to pull this type of "ruse" as we have no personal plumbing knowledge. While I understand their frustration that we contacted another plumber we did so as we did not want to expose ourselves to another high plumbing bill as we had no real expectation that B&D would stand behind their work as they stated in their response to our complaint.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2015/07/07) */
[redacted]Corresponding documents attached.
[redacted] & [redacted],
I am writing this letter to let you know we feel so bad that this issue has gone on as long and as far as it has. We have been in business 33 years and are in the habit of settling customer complaints in a timely matter. There are a couple of things I want to address. I want to apologize that you think we thought you were lying. It's not that at all. My husband has been plumbing for 43 years; he started his plumbing career when he was 12 years old. In all that time, he has never seen the piece that came out of your pipe. I would like to offer up an explanation of how our first plumber did not see the piece. When a shut off valve is replaced the tech will go down to the lowest level in the house and turn on a faucet to make gravity pull all the water out of the water line to be replaced. our thought is that when the tech shut off the water to replace the shut off the piece was probably in the line and with the gravity pull went back in the line so that the tech did not see it. He then replaced the shut off valve. With the use of that faucet over time that piece made its way to the shut off again and damaged the one we replaced. So you can see without B&D being call again to come out to fix the repair we don't really know what went on. This is just our thought. Now given time to think about it, maybe this is what happened. Normally, what you see in a line that would cause a shut off valve to go bad is sand or small rock particles. I know you don't know this about our company but we do stand behind our work. At the end of the day, we live in this community and want to be able to feel good about helping our neighbors. I am not just writing this letter to pacify the Revdex.com I truly do feel bad that this has taken this long to resolve. I have heard from our son [redacted], who has had [redacted] for a teacher, you seem to be really nice people and [redacted] really enjoyed having [redacted] as a teacher. Sometimes, I think we let our pride get the better of us when we take a stand on something and we may lose sight of what is really the right thing to do. In retrospect, we should have resolved this issue right away. Please except this check for $115.00 and our apologies. We would like to consider this issue closed. WE would like to move on from here. If there is anything we can do for you in the future please let me know.
Sincerely,
Tracy [redacted], VP
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 20, 2015/07/14) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
We appreciate the response from Tracy. The matter is fully resolved. Thank you.
6/22/2016: Our Service Department Manager Eric [redacted] talked to [redacted]. This issue is resolved B&D issued a check back to the customer of $275.00. Thank you, Tracy [redacted] V.P.