Boucher Plumbing & Heating

Honest and reliable - Two qualities that are hard to come by. I would and do recommend this company to all friends and family.

Review: [redacted] aggressively forced me to pay $1500 in cash for basic diagnostic and digging out an old water pump that he performed in less than 2 hours during normal business hours. Other plumbers charge $200 for the same job.[redacted] stopped by my house at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, June 10. It was a normal business hour, obviously not an emergency service outside of normal business hours. He performed basic troubleshooting of my water pump and dug out the old water pump. I did not agree with his quote of $3800 to install a new water pump and informed him that another plumber offered to install the new water pump for $2000. He became very angry and demanded that I immediately pay him $1500 in cash for the work that he had already performed (in less than 2 hours, from 11:30 AM till 1:10 PM) claiming that it is a part of the $3800 price to install the new pump, that I never agreed to in the first place. As he was very angry and with his apprentice supporting him, I felt unsafe, so I paid him $1,500 in cash to get him to leave my house. Please see attached his bill/receipt.I request that the work that he performed in less than 2 hours during normal business hours (basic troubleshooting and digging out the old pump) be charged at $100 per hour as other plumbers charge, therefore I should be refunded $1,300.Desired Settlement: Refund of $1300.

Business

Response:

In response to complaint #[redacted] against Robert Boucher Plumbing, I am owner and operator in business for 30 years and in excellent standing with the Revdex.com. my phone number is unlisted therefore, happy customers are my best advertisement. I am in complete disagreement with [redacted]. he called my office the morning of June 10th and left a msg stating the pump I put in 5yrs earlier keeps tripping the circuit breaker. He stated he had an emergency on his hands. He is not a client of mine. The previous owner of the home was a client of mine. the call came through my emergency service line. I responded reluctantly because I knew I did not install the pump. I proceeded to rearrange my six other scheduled Appts to accommodate him due to the fact he had no water! Upon showing up he again accused me of putting in a pump that was not functioning. I told him I did not install and that my name and date would be on my work. We diagnosed the problem and the pump was bound,and needed to be replaced at the fee of 3800.00$ he then asked why so expensive I proceeded to give this breakdown of price, 1.locate well (which his map was incorrect and used my well locating equipment to locate) after hours of searching with inaccurate map, my knowledge experience and equipment located the well 65 ft. Away from where he said it was with that said he took it upon himself to use my equipment to probe and search his yard while I was digging my surmised location of well that my registered apprentice and myself located. The cover was 2 feet deep 4 feet around. We removed 300lb.concrete cover to unearth well casing, pipe and wire additionally 3feet deeper cover dig out additional dirt to unearth we'll cover using chisel and hammer to bust up rust deposits. from the condition of well seal I then turned to him and said this hasn't been touched in twenty years. We then proceeded to pull well pump 200feet deep By Hand. Approximate weight 200 lbs. upon pulling pump up and out I showed him the well pump without my name and date. And with date code on pump explained to him it was 25 yrs.old at that moment he then proceeded to tell me he got another price of 3500.00$ and would I match that price. I then said what didn't you understand about my 3800.00 $ price. I go by Connecticut flat rate pricing which included chlorinating and replacing pump, motor,wire,pipe,fittings, tork wire guides, new well seal, new shrink kits for waterproofing well, disposal of All old equipment.he proceeds to tell me he can have someone else do it 300.00$ cheaper. I then said sure after I did all the HARD work, you can pay me 1500.00$ for the work done thus far. He said thank you check or credit card I then asked for cash (because after all this hard work I did not trust him and felt he would stop payment on check or dispute credit card charge) He said follow me to the bank. If he was so threatened why did he not call the police? I met him at the bank he proceeded to pay me AND thank me again! Please feel free to call me if you have any further question. Office###-###-#### emergency cell ###-###-####. In my professional opinion due to the probe marks and log already marking his said location of well I believe I wasn't the first person called. I am an honest and upstanding Businessman. After all was said and done, I feel he took advantage of my knowledge and expertise labor and didn't want to pay for it. I don't know any licensed plumber that would respond in a timely fashion fully equipped to do the complete job for 100.00$ an hour. It's absurd. Regards, [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I apologize for making [redacted] feel that I was trying to

blame him for the pump failure. Over the phone I just wanted to let him know

that I was not a random caller, but I was calling regarding a water well system

that I believed that he installed as it had his stickers, so I told him so. In

person I was just trying to find the cause of the pump failure by figuring out

the age of the pump by asking him whether he installed it (so he knows its age)

or it was installed before him. I understand that asking him whether he

installed it may have been misunderstood as attempts to blame him. I apologize

for this. Plumbers do not manufacture pumps, they buy them, so it does not make

much sense to accuse them if pumps fail.

I understand [redacted]’s frustration that he performed

troubleshooting and removed the old pump only and never got to install a new

pump. I was definitely going to use his services to install the new pump if his

quote was more reasonable. His quote for the new pump installation was $3,800.

I have multiple quotes from other plumbers to remove the old pump and install a

new pump for $2,000 and below. One of those plumbers came to my house within 40

minutes of me talking to him and installed the pump as a normal non-emergency

service charging even less as the old pump had already been removed.

While I disagree with

many points from [redacted]’s response, I will cover the main points only, as Revdex.com limits the response size.

While I understand [redacted]’s point that he performed

emergency service because the second time I called him on a phone line that he

listed as an emergency number, and he arrived within an hour of me calling him

for the second time, I have reason to question that assumption. My pump failed

on Monday around 4:00PM, I left a message on his answering machine on Tuesday around

8:45AM and scheduled a normal appointment with another plumber for the same day.

I spoke to [redacted] around 10:45AM by calling another number that was listed

as his emergency number. I did not ask for an emergency service, so he did not assume

that my case was an emergency case and scheduled me for the next day service on

Wednesday. As I already had an appointment for the same day service with

another plumber, I did not need [redacted]’s next day services. Abruptly

without me asking for it, he volunteered to come within an hour without saying

that he now deals with my case as an emergency case. He arrived first and was

the first plumber to look into my issue. I put the log on the lawn to mark the

spot myself. I cancelled the appointment with the other plumber once [redacted] arrived. As it was his own initiative to come quickly and he did not

indicate at the time that it was an emergency service, I doubt that it

qualifies as such.

[redacted] performed some work. He has to be fairly and

reasonably compensated for his knowledge and expertise labor to troubleshoot

the pump and remove the old pump that he performed during normal business hours

in less than 2 hours. What does he think is a fair and reasonable compensation?

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

[redacted] called Tuesday morning on my office machine after I already left for the day. On the machine it clearly states, "We are unable to get to the phone, please leave a message and if this is an emergency call, you can reach us at ###-###-####". He then called me on my emergency line that clearly states it is an emergency line to lead me to believe it was an emergency by saying "I have a slight emergency on my hands" because he had no water. I then told him I was a little jammed up and would get to him within the hour. I already had seven more scheduled appointments to get to and put them on hold to service [redacted]. Upon diagnosing the well pump failure, I then turned to him and told him the pump needs to be replaced. He then proceeded to ask how much and I gave him the price of $3800. He relied, "how come so much?" I said, "it is emergency service, I had to reschedule my other stops. I also told him when I replace a well pump, I replace everything down the casing which consists of new pump, motor, torque guides, wire, pipe, shrink wire seal kits, well seal, and I also chlorinate to kill any bacteria that may contaminate the well. I continued to tell him he would not be able to wash colored clothes for approximately three days. I picked my tools up from inside the house and walked outside while he turned to me and said, "I have a map of where the well is located on my smartphone". I looked at the map, told him I begged to differ. From what I recall, the well was in a completely different location. We then proceeded to get the equipment out of the truck to trace wire and metal detector, [redacted] which is a $5000 piece of equipment along with a shovel, pry bars, crow bars and pokers and proceeded to begin looking in his location for the well measuring with his dimensions which yielded nothing. I proceeded to the location where I believed the well was located. I began using my equipment and was able to locate the well. I was well under the impression at this point that he was allowing me to proceed with the job because he picked up my tools outside and (looked for the needle in the hay stack) and equipment and was walking towards his well location not believing that I had found it. I began digging, found it, breaking the seal, pulling the pump then he believed me. He asked me what these are typically warranted for and I told him 5 years. Upon pulling the pump out, it was well over 20 years old. He wanted to see if I installed it and if it was warranted. He then wanted to re-negociate the price. I said it is still $3800 and then he told me he can get it done cheaper ($3500 and he can save $300) and I said sure after all the forensic and guess work is done. I told him he can pay me what I had into the job and I told him $1500. He then said thank you, check or credit card. I prefer cash on a situation like this and I guess I was right. My time involved working at his house does not correlate with the time he had said. The amount of work I had already done, could not have possibly been performed in two hours. Upon talking to my fellow well companies and plumbers who service wells, they think that $100 an hour for 2 men is ridiculous and that I was completely in line with them while some where higher and some were lower. In regards to his last statement of a fair and reasonable compensation, $1500 is my price for the work to that point because the rest was a lot easier by putting in new parts by going down by gravity. Another words, the hard work was performed and the gravy was left because I already located, diagnosed and hand pulled a 200ft deep well pump, pipe and wire that weighs approximately 200lbs. [redacted] thanked me, apologized for not allowing me to finish the job and told me to meet him at [redacted] bank in [redacted]. He paid me and then thanked me again. Sorry I do not feel any compensation is due for my hard work and the games he played. I do not do this as a hobby, I have 40 years of experience. My father taught me the business and now I teach my son. He is attacking my character. Thank you for your time.