BJ's Plumbing

Review: Water to my bathroom sink backed up, and a plumber from BJ's Plumbing came to my house ([redacted] ave., Goleta, CA 931178) to clean the sewer pipe on July 2nd, 2015. He operated a sewer cleaning cable machine, which is also referred to as 'snake', to clean the clogged sewer pipe. Instead, he broke the ceramic toilet in our master bathroom. Apparently the cable went to the bathroom instead of going down to the sewer pipe. The plumber replaced a part of the toilet, and then he charged $460 in addition to the cost of cleaning the pipe, which was $185, for the toilet itself (parts), labor, and his own parts that he claims to have used for the replacement. Total $646. The plumber argued that there is something wrong with the sewer pipe, and therefore the property damage that he caused is not his fault. The plumber demanded half of the amount ($323). In the midst of the mess, and not knowing what to do, we paid the amount. After a few days of consultation and thought, I came to the conclusion that the plumber's additional charge of $460 is not fair. Here are the reasons: First, consulting a few people knowledgeable about the operation of the sewer cleaning cable, I now understand that the plumber did not take enough precautionary measure to prevent the problem, namely listening to the sound of the cable in side. Second, the sewer pipe has been cleaned up regularly by other plumbers in the past, and none of them caused the problem. Therefore his claim that the damage was due to the problem in the pipe has no ground. The plumber is contacting me via cell phone requesting the rest of the payment.Desired Settlement: We would like to request cancelling the charges for the the replacement of the toilet that the plumber broke. That also means that out of $323 paid, we request $138 refund ($323-$185).