Bell Home Solutions

While I completely agree with the path our technician took (keep in mind, the furnace was running when he left), as the customer is not happy with the services I'll gladly refund her money.  I'll make sure a check is in the mail today.  [redacted]Bell Home Solutions

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/24) */
The customer believes she was quoted for "X", but the work performed was less ("Y"). I tried to explain that this is not true. When the customer requested the shorter option, the tech adjusted the price on the fly bringing the cost down to...

$827 from the start. This is evident on his service ticket / invoice, a copy of which the customer has, as he scratched out the larger number and wrote in the lower number. The customer signed the ticket authorizing the work to be done at that reduced price. Our technician states that before beginning work he confirmed the location of the line with the customer's contractor (a common practice). The customer was not present when this happened. Regardless, when the customer was not happy with the location of the line, we moved it without charging the customer. Our service manager [redacted] gave a $100 price concession as the customer felt inconvenienced with this delay, despite the fact we did what we were contracted to do and for the contracted price. I've attached a copy of the invoice / ticket that shows the lowered price and the customer's signature. I think [redacted] acted appropriately and offered a good solution, and I don't think it's fair that the customers wants us to discount our services to the level of other plumbers who could not do the work. Truthfully, If she didn't see value in our pricing, she should have asked another company to do the work.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/09/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
There are many errors in their response which leads me to think they aren't getting the full and truthful story from their Tech. There were 2 parts to this job, the relocation of the shower pipe and installation of the shower valve and the relocation of the drain making it a shower drain instead of a tub drain. It's the Tub drain part I'll address first as it's the one I was overcharged for. I did sign off on the $827 original invoice on 8/24 and this amount was based on the tech saying the job would be over 5 hours long as the drain had to be brought up to code. I questioned this based on what other reputable plumbers had told me when estimating the work and they never mentioned any code requirement and the Bell Tech said that code had to be met and that's why I agreed to the quoted amount of $827. I was never given a "shorter option" and was told on 8/24 I had no choice that it had to be done to code and that's why it was so expensive. The paperwork they show was signed and quoted on 8/24. It wasn't until he arrived the next day on 8/25 to do the work that he said it wouldn't have to be up to code after all and the job was much simpler and only took a couple of hours. I was still charged the full invoice price of $827. There are 2 items changed on the original estimate signed on 8/24 because the Bell Tech sold me a $100 Bell Value Discount program which brought the original price down from $854 standard rate to $827 Bell Value Rate (saved me $27), this can be seen on their attachment but this was on the original estimate signed on 8/24 before any work was done and before the Tech knew he didn't have to do the code upgrade. So I was quoted for X, paid for X but received Y as I have previously stated. Once the work was done there was no discounting for the smaller job and I asked the Tech to make the adjustment and was told I still had to pay the original job price and if I didn't like it I'd have to call the main office. He also asked me to give him a good review because he was new to the company and needed good reviews to keep his job. I did call the office the next day and spoke to [redacted] who discussed the issue with his Tech and said his Tech told him it was the Contractor's fault. I pointed out that I didn't blame him for throwing my contractor under the bus to save his own job but it wasn't true and I confirmed this with my contractor who was still working on the room and offered to let [redacted] talk to him as well. [redacted] asked me what I wanted to make it right and I told him that based on the job that was done and the time it took felt $200 was fair. I based this on the fact that other plumbers who quoted the job without any extra code work estimated it would cost $400 to do it. I didn't feel it was fair to ask Bell for a 50% reduction so I cut it in half at $200. [redacted] was more interested in talking disrespectfully to me but offered me $100 and I felt this wasn't a fair amount. After all I had to wait to have them come back and correct what they did wrong, I had to delay my contractors work on the shower by 24 hours and I had overpaid for job y as it was quoted for X and I wasn't happy about how it all came about. I asked to speak to someone with authority to approve more and [redacted] said no one would or could so I asked to speak to his supervisor. A day or so later I spoke to someone who said the same as [redacted], that the Tech threw my contractor under the bus and $100 was offered again. I said I felt that wasn't acceptable and ended the conversation. A few days ago I received a check for $100 anyway.
The second part of this job was the relocation of the shower pipe. It was also on 8/24 when I met with the tech (my contractor was also present then) and told him exactly where to put the pipe so it was more centrally located in the shower, he then informed us he couldn't do the work that day as we had scheduled and I was going to be gone the next day so I gave permission for the contractor to let him in. I received several phone calls from the tech while I was at work on 8/25 regarding his arrival time and such yet he never contacted me about putting the pipe in a different position than I had originally requested and then when questioned about it he threw my contractor under the bus saying he told him to put it there. He didn't but even if he had the Bell Tech should have phoned me since I was the person who contracted him for the job and I was the person who told him where to place the pipe. I phoned Bell immediately to tell them of the error and they offered to send someone out in 2-3 days to fix it. Since that wasn't satisfactory to me as I was paying a contractor and this part of the job needed to get done before my contractor could finish the work I asked to talk to a manager and finally they schedule a Tech for the next day. I was there when the Tech arrived (Same Tech who did the incorrect install) I showed him what was wrong and he made a couple of excuses and said he was sorry and would fix it without charge to which I laughed because why would anyone expect me to pay for what I originally asked for. My contractor was present the entire time during this conversation with the Tech and at no time did the Tech say he put it where the contractor told him to and my contractor even told him how to do it since a hole needed to be drilled in the stud to do it as I had originally asked.
Based on a conversation I had with the Bell Tech I think he was in such a hurry to get to his next job and impress his bosses that he didn't take the extra time to move the pipe to it's correct position.
I still feel the $200 if a fair settlement even though other quotes were $400 less. I chose Bell because they were available, I wish now I hadn't done that but hindsight is always 20/20.
In summary, I was quoted for job X, paid for job X yet received lesser job Y with no reduction in price.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2015/10/12) */
Again, I'm very sorry the customer is not satisfied with the services our tech provided. I believe the technician did what he was requested to do and that the pricing was clear from the beginning. However, in an effort to satisfy the customer I will gladly refund the other $100. I'll see to it that a check goes out to her on this week's check run. [redacted], President, Bell Home Solutions.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 12, 2015/10/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I'm thankful that the company has realized that they overcharged for their services and have offered to pay the full amount of refund as requested. Hopefully they'll take this action into consideration the next time they quote a customer and then don't deliver the service or charge a fair price for the service they do provide. I will look forward to the check in the mail in the very near future and thank the Revdex.com for their part in reconciling this issue

Complaint: 1[redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I do have see any reason to have to wait for a refund that they have agreed that I should receive.  I told them on several occasions that I do not believe this is fair which is why I called him on several occasions.  He never returned my phone calls.  I should received the refund because they have agreed to provide it to me. The timetable they have given to me to received the refund is relative to nothing and in no way defines if something is working properly.  They were unable to repair the AC.  This is poor customer service and inconsistent with the stated values on their website. Sincerely,
[redacted]