Benjamin's Carpet One

Review: Benjamin's Carpet One installed tile in my bathroom. The toilet was removed and replaced as part of the process. Several days after the job was done the toilet started rocking when used. I called Benjamin's and they came and tightened it down. However some months after I started to notice a sewer smell. I called [redacted] to find the problem. They investigated all they could and couldn't find a cause with the simple detection methods so they ran a smoke test. The smoke comes out of any leaks in the household plumbing with this test and shows where the problem is coming from. The test showed that the toilet in the back bathroom that was replaced by Benjamins and touched by no one else was not sealed properly. They said that even if there is not visible water leaking the smell can still get out of a toilet that is not properly sealed. The toilet was the only leak in the entire house in the plumbing. Everything else was good and sealed. One major clue was that the toilet rocked, which is a sign of an improperly done seal, at which point your re-do the seal and not just tighten the toilet screws.I contacted Benjamin's on January 3, 2013 and have made several phone calls back to them about this matter and have gotten no response. I have paid them in full for the job and I know the bad toilet seal is directly the fault of Benjamin's. I paid $405.99 dollars to find and correct this problem as the problem was not visible to the naked eye without the smoke test. I even offered to take in the bill for them to photocopy. I was told that time and every time after that the owners would be contacting me to see how they could best help me in this matter. I have not heard from the owners at all and it is now April.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded for the $405.99 dollar bill that accrued because Benjamin's did not properly re-install the toilet after tiling the bathroom floor. The service of Roto-Rooter and the bill for services are a direct result of work done by Benjamin's and no one else.

Business

Response:

We have in almost 30 years only had one other complaint filed with the Revdex.com, which we were exhonerated of wrong doing. Every customer who calls in is given my personal cell which is [redacted], and asked to call me for best and immediate action. this customer refused that course of action. The customer, did have us do the tile in her bathroom and with that pull and reset the toilet. When the toilet was removed it was discovered the flange under the toilet was rusted out at the bolt slots. The customer was shown- made aware of the problem, and advised of the need for corrective action. We placed the toilet and tightened as best it would take. We were called again several days later because the toilet had loosened up, so we went back and pulled and reset it. When the customer experienced further problems, instead of calling us,They called a different contractor and had them come out to find the problem. the note I recieved from the customer said they had the service company out 3 times. My objection to paying this is as follows. 1 the customer was advised they had a problem with the flange that needed correcting. 2 our contract as well as rcw's give us the right to take corrective action when a problem is discovered, we believed we had resolved the problem to the customers satisfaction and were not notified there was a further problem. 3.According to the customer it took 3 trips to resolve the problem by the other contractor. there is no mention of repairing the actual problem - the flange. There, are three things I am displeased about how this was handled. First my installer should have not reset the toilet until the flange was repaired. second I was out of town and ill while this set on my desk for 3 + weeks, and only made 1 attempt to contact the customer. I am willing to refund the charge to pull and reset the toilet, as again I feel we should not have reset the toilet given the condition of the flange, but the rest of the Repair is the customers responsibility. Thank You [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9492012, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

Regards,

First, I was never told anything about a flange by the installer, he mentioned nothing about the toilet, just re-installed it. I was advised of nothing wrong with the flange at all by the tile installer. Second, the repair was successful done by [redacted], and nothing was mentioned about anything wrong with the flange by [redacted] (who said every thing was in good condition with the toilet except the seal) who did pull the toilet, inspect it and reseal it. After this they did a second smoke test for free, and no smoke came out anywhere in the house including from the back bathroom toilet which is the one in question. The problem is completely resolved and all is well with the plumbing in my house. Also, I was given to [redacted] to deal with my complaint who handled my remodel (tile) who told me the owners were out of town and they would get back to me in a week or two. I called a second time after I received no word from the owners and was told that they were out of town again and would get back to me. I called again a couple of weeks later and was told that they might be back and would get in contact with me. I was never given the owner's cell phone, never contacted...if an attempt was made no message was left for me at all. I gave it some time and finally filed a complaint with the Revdex.com in hopes of a response. I had [redacted] do the repair as I had no confidence in the installer due to the problems right after the tile install. I feel the installer fabricated this false story of talking to me about a bad flange to cover himself and not get into trouble. This is not the only complaint I have about the installer, the others were reported to [redacted] right after the install. I paid in full immediately after the install was done. I just expect some responsibility for the problems caused by the installer in the improper re-installation of the toilet, also he didn't even cut off the bolts when he re-connected the toilet, which I reported to Benjamin's at the time. If I was told there was a problem I would have fixed it, I already had a plumber called to replace the water connection valve which was reported as leaking to me by the installer. I had a plumber put in a new one before the toilet was re-installed...If I was told there was another problem I would have had the plumber correct it at that time as he was already there replacing the valve. I did have other plumbers in and was not successful in finding the problem as it was not visible to normal means, I was told I needed a smoke test to fully determine the problem. I called [redacted] as they were the only ones that has the means to do the test. I started investigating this problem in October, and did not have it resolved until February, there are more bills than the one I submitted but I was trying to be fair and only submitted the main one that discovered it was the toilet re-installed by Benjamin's. I am told that remodels are a very common source of plumbing issues and it takes some time for these things to manifest, also that sewer smell problems can be very tricky to track down, I even googled it and the internet is full of stories like mine with this plumbing problem and the long term investigations involved. I am sorry the people at Benjamin's did not give me the owner's cell as we could probably have resolved this in a better way before this...but this is a matter for the owner and his staff.