Building Waters Inc.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[redacted] has changed his story yet again.  I never asked him to install a shower valve that Sunday. (I wasn't even sure what the problem was).  We agreed that they would do what was needed to get the water back on, assess the further repairs, and someone would call me with an estimate.  Now he is hostile and trying to blame my tenants.  That is a pretty classic response when someone has no real defense.  Deflect the blame and become angry.  Not to mention that it is not professional.  I never asked the tenants to try and fix anything.  That is just more deflection from [redacted].  As for bashing him on-line, that is absolutely false. I came to the Revdex.com because I have a right to file a complaint when I feel I've been wronged and people have a right to know about consumer experiences (good or bad) before they hire someone.  [redacted]'s responses say more about how he runs his business than anything negative that I could ever say.   As for this being a rental property, along with the fact that I own several, does not mean that it is okay to rip me off.  At this point (based on the information I obtained from my tenants) I no longer believe that they are entitled to even four hours of labor for the 4/13 repair, but in order to close this matter I will send $180.00 double time for 4/10, $25.00 trip charge for 4/10, $45.00 parts for 4/10, $100.00 for parts 4/13, $360.00 labor for 4/13 (4X$90.00), $27.50 for tub strainer from 4/13 plus tax, $775.11.  If [redacted] sends me to a collection agency or in any way attempts to damage my credit, or reputation, I will take this matter to court.  I have many text messages my tenants sent to each other while the repair was being done, so we have very clear documentation of the events, including when the repairman (Dean) arrived and when he left on 4/13, (both times) along with testimony from my tenants.  I also don't believe that a judge is going to buy that someone who is trying to stay on a budget would just tell a repairman to go ahead without some idea of what it would cost.  I just don't know anyone who does business that way.  So, I am sending a check today and will consider this matter closed.   
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: Got estimate around $2600.00 for plumbing remodeling in bathroom, kitchen and utility room. Got a bill for $3400.00. All plumbing was water supply for all three rooms and sewer for all three rooms. They also set the bath tub. They did not install toilet, vanity or hot water heater. Got billed for material for hot water heater that was not installed. Got billed for more hours than plumber was at house. Got billed for returning keys to house. Hade the water company turn water back on and they replaced the water meter and found out that the plumbers were going to do that without our approval and were going to be billed for that also. The water company does it FREE.Desired Settlement: Want hours for plumbers charged to be correct.

Business

Response:

The customers in the complaint [redacted], are or were family friends. They asked me to come over approximately a month ago for some plumbing advice on their rental property. I gave them the advice they were looking for on the rental property they had purchased. They then asked about how much would it cost to do the plumbing upgrade. I responded, after a quick look, with an approximate amount of $2500 -$3500, maybe a little more. This cost was based on him doing the work himself. They reponded that they didnt really have that kind of money to do the project and were probably going to bypass the project at this time. That maybe they would look at doing this project in years to come. I never thought another thing about it again. I hadn't given them a written estimate for this project either. A month goes by and I recieve a call from them. They had broken up the floors and wanted me to get over there and repipe waste and water piping in the house, and make it quick so they could get it rented by the beginning of the next month. They were putting deadlines on me through out the job and complaining constantly about every thing we did. I stayed professional and calm , and met every deadline and demand from them. My cousin works with them in there place of employment and told me throughout the job, that he was bashing me constantly at work to others. I believe this was their way of venting out of stress. During this time, they kept wanting the friend discount. After the rough-in of the whole house, new waste and water for every fixture in the house, I stopped and wanted to give them an update for the project. I wanted them to know where they stood financially. They told me to invoice them with " to date bill" and they may want to finish the rest themselves as many landlords do. The entire bill to date of time and material came to $4100.00. I gave them the "friend discount" by not marking up the material. They actually received the material for cost! They were shocked at the bill and have been bashing me ever since. They then asked for an itemized bill. I gave them that too. Now, they dont agree with the amount of labor hours. I called them various times to discuss the situation and they text me a reponse with "dont talk to us , we don't want to see you or talk to you!" They called today to argue the labor hours and to keep peace in the family, I removed my hours from the bill at a cost of $630. Which now brought the bill to $3,400. However, I can't remove my employees' time or the direct cost of the materials. I have no more wiggle room. These latest negotiations happened about 20 minutes before they put the complaint in! I thought we had a resolution, until I heard from the Revdex.com minutes ago! One last thing, The customer also said they only have $1000.00 for the bill and want me to finance them 300.00 a month for the remainder of the invoice. Which I agreed to do for them. What can I do? I accommodated them on that as well. They just wanted the job for nothing! They wanted the plumbing completed so the could make addtional income on their new rental propery, as long as it was at my expense. The last part of her complaint refers to my billing them for turning on the water, which the Water Department does for free. That was not the case what-so-ever. When they broke up the floor they cut the line to the water service to the rental property. I had to fix that and test it before the pipes were buried in the floor and walls. I am the one that called the Water Department to turn on the water so I could run my tests on the new plumbing. I also had to put on a final valve when it was all completed. Again, all part of the job. After all this, she wants me to take another $500 off the bill. The customer still can"t pay me the remainder if I were to drop the price another $500 dollars. I would still be financing the bill for 7 months. If they pay at all. I do good business, I am in the service industry, I do my best to give good service and accommodate people.

Consumer

Response:

Had examination and treatment for sewer tree roots. [redacted] was extremely responsive, and flexible to set up a time that was good for me. He had good suggestions to keep the cost down and prevent future backups. The young man who came for the service was on time, very polite and considerate of our home. He explained & showed me what he found, and how he would treat it. I would definitely recommend this business.

Had found them on Yellow pages & also checked Revdex.com! 1st Job A+, 2nd job B, 3rd job D, 4th job--F. Get Everything in writing. I'm disabled & the owner promised me the moon because of all the problems with his comp.and I helped him on Good Friday 2016 @ around 5pm by myself because of a leak that his worker did & was still dripping even thou I met his worker 2 hrs. late about a week earlier. To tell me wow, guess it's loose? & didn't solve problem. Then,when I wasn't around "told my friend bunch of lies" I still don't have grab bar. If your a Man, he might listen to you. He's likes to ask you a lot of your personal business like your age? Red Flags Big time! The owner can't handle to much at one time. Go somewhere else people. I want to trust people but these people make it hard

I placed a call to Building Waters on a Friday. He offered to come out later in the afternoon/early evening to check out what I needed done and to provide an estimate. Since I wasn't available, he came the next morning @ 7am. In lieu of just giving an estimate, he had the time fix my repairs. He was done in three hours, explained everything to me in layman terms so I could understand it, and was very professional and polite. He prices are very fair! I would defintely recommend him!!!

Review: Building Waters did an emergency job at one of my rentals on 4/10/16.The owner ([redacted]) told me they would fix it enough to get the water back on, would assess the situation, and call me back with an estimate for the remainder of the repair. They never called back with an estimate but went ahead and did the repairs on 4/13/16. I received the invoice and I found several inconsistencies. [redacted] told me the hourly rate was $90 but he charged $95, plus he charged a $25 trip charge that was not disclosed over the phone. I also had questions about the $200 parts charge. That is more than I would have agreed to spend on a rental (for a shower valve) so I asked for the model number and he refused to provide it (said he would charge me for his time to put that info together) He also charged me for 5.5 hours on 4/13 but my tenant said it was only 4 hours. I asked [redacted] to confirm the hours and he refused. I have requested parts and hours information more than once, and disputed the amount in writing pending receipt of the requested information. I told him I would agree to pay everything except for the disputed amount (including $100 of the disputed $200 parts charge) As of this morning he emailed and told me to pay the bill in full or he will send me to a collection agency. I feel I have the right to question items on my bill and ask for the model numbers. My main parts concern is the Moen single handle shower valve and rough-in valve that were installed (especially since I did not approve the work) I found a similar item on line for under $85, and $100 is about the most I would Have been willing to spend, but since [redacted] did not provide an estimate I didn't even get the chance to shop around. And my tenant has text messages that suggest the job only took 4 hours but [redacted] will not even discuss it. He did agree to honor the $90 but refused to remove the $25 trip charge or even discuss the parts and hours issues. And finally, [redacted] is claiming that we had an agreement for him to do the second repair without an estimate. I would never agree to that and have never heard of a reputable service provider doing a job without providing an estimate.Desired Settlement: I would like an itemized list of the parts included in the $200 parts charge including brand name, model numbers, etc.. And would like to know what they show as the arrival and departures times for the workman on 4/13/16. If such information is not provided or, if the information provided cannot be confirmed as accurate, or shows an excessive overcharge for parts installed, I would like my bill to be adjusted accordingly. I have already agreed to pay $100 of the $200 parts bill, 4 hours of time (based on my tenants text messages) and even agreed to pay the $25 trip (even though it was not disclosed)

Business

Response:

On a Sunday I received a call from the landlord that her tenant tried to repair a valve and broke the valve making it unable to be repaired. The water to the home had to be shut off. She wanted us to replace the valve. I told her to save her some money on overtime costs, we would install 2 valves to isolate the shower from the rest of the system and on straight time come and replace the valve. At that time, I enlightened her to our price structure. She agreed to that. I also said if there were any extraordinary circumstances such as walls had to be opened or valves couldn't be installed in the basement, I would call her. She agreed to that and a man was sent to the job. On straight time hours we went back to change the valve. Upon finishing the replacement of the valve, water was heard running in the basement and the waste and overflow needed to be repaired as well. The plumber on site made the repair. On the phone call from Sunday, the whole job was approved. The plumber could have done the complete job on Sunday at an overtime rate. When the customer complained about the bill, I gave her an itemized bill of labor and material charges. $260 was charged for Sunday and $750 was charged for material and labor on the weekday we returned. $750 is what we usually charge to replace a shower valve and $325 to repair or replace overflow. We only charged her $750 for the day. The plumber had 4 1/2 hours on the job site, but 5 1/2 hours total which included picking up parts at the supply house. We billed portal to portal for a total of 5 1/2 hours. When the customer called to complain about the bill, I had realized I misquoted her on our price structure and was more than willing to honor the price I gave her. When she was not satisfied with the resolution, I compromised again and we agreed to have her get an estimate from another reputable plumbing contractor on their letterhead with a Master Plumbers license number and if the estimate came in lower than mine, I would adjust my invoice to the estimate. I have witnesses to this conversation. She is asking to pay only costs for the material and 4 hours of labor. We have not received payment or an estimate from another plumbing company and are waiting for payment or the estimate. She is asking for our part numbers and costs so she can dictate what she will pay. I don't know any other company that gives the detail that she is requesting. We feel that we responded to her agreed upon requests at a fair price.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[redacted]'s account of the conversation on Sunday is inaccurate. I did hire him to do the initial repair at [redacted] to install two shut off valves to get the water turned back on. He said that should take about an hour @ $180 plus materials would be in the $200-$250 range. He never mentioned a $25 trip charge. Had he mentioned the trip charge (on top of the $180 an hour) I might have called another plumber. I would not agree to do the complete job at double time, (this is a rental and I have a budget) so he said they could come back during the week and complete the job @$90 an hour. He acts like that was a big favor to me, but had he wanted to do the entire job at the double time rate I would have just called another plumber. So anyway, we agreed to the partial work for Sunday. He said he'd have to see the situation to know how much it would cost (as he admits he didn't know if they needed to open a wall, etc) so he would assess the situation and call me with details and options. There was no call but I received an e-mail from my tenants that the job was complete so at that point I really had no other choice but to wait for the invoice. When I received the invoice I had been charged $95 an hour instead of $90, $25 for a trip charge that was never disclosed, and $227.50 for parts for the job. I was a little surprised by the 5.5 hour charge but at that time I did not dispute it. I called [redacted] to discuss the situation. I was not happy that the work had been done without my approval. He admitted he quoted me the wrong hourly rate and said he would honor the $90, but became very upset about the $25 trip charge saying "who is going to pay for my gas!!??". My point was that it should have been disclosed. I was also not happy about the parts cost. Since I had not approved the charges I wanted to know what was installed. Had he called me with an estimate I certainly would have asked what parts were included in that figure. The Moen shower valve and rough in valve have to be the most expensive items. I could have decided to purchase my own valve cover and rough in valve, but I wasn't given the choice. Again, this is a rental property so I'm on a budget. Also, had I been given an estimate I could have decided to shop around and get another estimate. Again, I was denied that option. During that conversation [redacted] admitted there had been a breakdown in communication and said the service person thought the tenant had the authority to make decisions. ([redacted] has now changed his story) [redacted] also says he told me to get another estimate and he'd honor it, etc.. but that is not really the case. But it is really a moot point because what plumber is going to waste their time to come out and give me a free estimate for work that was already done by someone else? As for the time, according to my tenant, the plumber arrived around 8:30 and was gone by 12:30. He did not have a necessary part so he left to get it. According to my tenant the whole job took 4 hours including the time he was gone picking up parts. I am going only by his text messages. As for these claims about normally charging certain amounts, etc.. that is irrelevant. Whatever he claims he normally charges makes no difference to me. He did not tell me any of that upfront, never even gave me a verbal idea of what the second repair would cost. So anyway, there is a lot of back and forth and "he said, she said" and now he's claiming he has witnesses to conversations, etc.. But basically here is what it all comes down to. I would NEVER, EVER agree to allow ANY work to be done by ANYONE without some idea of the cost. He provided no written or verbal estimate to me for the 4/13 repair so I could make an informed choice about the work. Somewhere along the line someone on his end dropped the ball and either forgot to call me, or misunderstood something, and now they're trying to "spin" their way out of it. I am not disputing the quality of the work itself, just the way it was handled. I have offered to compromise with him for what I believe is fair based on the information I have now. Had he given me a $750.00 estimate for the 4/13 repair I would have definitely asked questions and shopped around.

Business

Response:

Apparently there was a communication break down according to the customer. I made some comprises with holding the price I miss quoted. She wanted me to install a shower valve on the weekend. I said to save money we would just put valves in place so they still had use of the home for her tenant and get off the clock then we would go back there a on straight time and finish the job . She has received service and doesn't want to pay.She received a more than fair price. This is also a business for her. She owns many rentals. I have spent at least 5 more hrs on arguments with her about this (all on my off hrs ) and I refuse to spend anymore time on this! I've moved on to paying customers. I gave her a resolution to which she agreed to and now does not want to that either. She has threatened with attorneys , bashing me on line and with contacting the Revdex.com. If the bill is not paid, it's going to collections. Tell her to get the money out of her tenant. He had ruined the valve. I'm sure she can't because she probably asked him to fix it for money off the rent. What renter would start trying to fix things in a rental, without the land lords consent? I'm not wasting anymore time on this issue. Pay the bill.

Consumer

Response: