Carter Plumbing

Review: this company came out to replace a hot water heater and over charged me for parts, after my home warranty covered the main water heater and labor.

This company came out to replace a hot water heater in my home. They quoted me at $840+ for the replacement after my home warranty (AHS) covered installations and the water heater itself. I was told this was not covered under my warranty because it was items that were needed to bring my new water heater up to code. Mind you my house is a 2004 with everything up to code so there were no major plumbing repairs except some fittings and lines that might need to be replaced. They ended up charging me only $630 because I told them that I would get the permit myself which cost me $32, they wanted to charge me $160 for it. They also wanted $75 dollar disposal fee for my old water heater which the city I live in can dispose of it for free. The $630 was for overpriced parts which included expansion tank approx. $50 they charged $199. Straps for the new water heater even though the straps for the old water heater were in very good shape. They charged me $99 dollars for those. They also charged me for a modification to vent, and added flexed gas line which I already had. These few items where the result of $630 dollar bill. Which I am unable to contest apparently according to my home warranty American Home Shield Desired Settlement: I would like for them to be contacted and verify that price gouging is not something that is taking place. I would like to receive fair pricing for the items that were replaced and issued a refund for the remaining balance

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

Mr. [redacted] has a home warranty plan with American Home Shield (AHS)

Carter Plumbing went to the home on August 17, 2013 we determined the water heater need to be replaced. We contacted the home warranty company regarding the replacement of the water heater, we gave AHS an estimate to replace the water heater at [redacted] Road, [redacted] CA at that time AHS informed Carter Plumbing Mr. [redacted] has the Standard Flex Plan, which does not cover all of the items for an installation. AHS contacted Mr. [redacted] and advised him there would be an out of pocket expense he would have to pay, that AHS did not cover according to his home warranty plan.

Mr. [redacted] was informed of these charges and agreed to pay the out of pocket expense of $630.00 Mr. [redacted] had an opportunity to take a cash out through AHS and get other estimates' from other contractors if he so desired. In no way does Carter Plumbing feel that we have gouged Mr. [redacted]. We invite Mr. [redacted] to get estimates from other plumbing contractors and see what they charge for a water heater install. We are far below the market rate.

Carter Plumbing feels that if Mr. [redacted] did not like our pricing he could have gotten a second opinion or took the cash out option with AHS.

Respectfully,

Carter Plumbing

Review: Carter Plumbing scheduled a water heater installation and removal on 8/13/15 for the following day 8/14/15. The appointment window was scheduled between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. At 3:05 I heard noises in my open garage. (I had left the garage door open for the technician's comfort.) The noises were made by the tech taking measurements of the existing water heater. The tech did not knock or ring the door bell for introduction. He explained that the the water heater stand I had purchased upon recommendation of Carter plumbing staff would not work. Before I had an opportunity to enquire further about the stand, I was accused of yelling at him. (I did not yell at him.) He then said, "[redacted] mother [redacted] and left my residence but not before swearing at me once again and strewing screws on my sidewalk and street. I have picked the screws up and have them in my possession.Calls to Carter Plumbling to return my call have not been met. At this point I fear for my personal safety.Desired Settlement: I need a Carter Plumbing owner or representative to contact me so that I can be assured that my personal being is be safe before installation continues.

Business

Response:

Greetings We were called out by the customers home warranty company on a leaking water heater . We diagnosed the water heater and what was needed for the install .. Then called our report to the warranty company and gave an estimate to do the install .. My dispatcher said the home owner did not want to pay for the non covered items on our estimate and wanted to do some of it himself . This is normally against company policy but the home owner was persistent to supply some of the parts himself .i.e platform' So we arrived at the home and advised what he purchased was not going to work for the install as the platform was not high enough and more modifications would need to be made . Mr Home owner became very upset and started yelling at our service tech after being yelled at for some time the tech asked the home owner to stop verbally abusing him .The tech stated if he went to go return the part and get the right one he would wait for him when the yelling continued our tech left the home as to not inflame the situation anymore . The reason we don't let the home owners purchase there own parts or do some of the labor themselves is for this exact reason The home owner stopped payment on the check he wrote and the customer was then referred to his home warranty company . The last we heard he received a cash out In conclusion after talking to our tech we feel the matter is closed as we were not there .we do applogise for any confusion and our dispatcher as been talked to about company policy

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:the response from carter plumbing is a fabrication. There have been other similar complaints. I called after the incident requesting a return call. They never called back. This is a terrible company complete with prevarications.

Review: The plumber came to my house and read some paperwork regarding what he was susposed to do. he took my money told me he would come back in after he got off the phone with our warranty company and he never showed up to tell me what was going on. I called the company and they told me that there was nothing that they can do because they don't know what the work order was and I told them what was happening and they refused to help me and told me that they can not do anythingDesired Settlement: I would like my money back that they took from me and would like for them to do there job correctly

Business

Response:

Greetings

Review: I filed a repair request with [redacted] in Apr 2014 for shower stalls in master and guest bathrooms, and toilet tank sporadically refills due to the water going low. [redacted] contracted Carter Plumbing. The tech came out stated he needed to order a part for the toilet and requested that I find the part for my showers because [redacted] sends the parts for free for Lifetime warranty. I contacted Carter Plumbing back to inform them that I could not locate the parts and they would have to do so. I never heard back from them even from repeated calls for a status. I kept getting told I was supposed to get the part and they would come out and change every thing at once. They had the toilet part. I told them that I had already called them numerous times that I could not locate the part. In addition, my water bill was going up for the toilet tank.In May, I called them again. They finally scheduled to come out on 5/19. The tech fixed the showers but broke the part for the toilet. He informed he was going to get another one and come back the same night if he could. If not, he would call me. No call. I called the next day (5/30) and the switch board op (very rude and disrespectful) said she had my file on top of a pile of other cases. She would contact the tech and let me know...No call. I called on 6/2, same op said she already told you the tech ordered the part and it takes 1-2 days. I informed that if I had been told that I wouldn't have called this day. I have waited for them for 9 hrs for a scheduled appt now for 2 appts at my home!She said she would call me when the part comes in for another 4 hrs window. I said I couldn't take off work for another 4 hrs. She stated that's all she could do and if I couldn't then she will not install. I hung up and called [redacted]. They informed Carter of my availability and stated that they would follow up w/Carter...that has not happened. 1-2 business and it's now 6/5! I have no idea why [redacted] would continue service with this company. I need my toilet fixdDesired Settlement: I need my toilet fixed. This company is not reputable and needs to be held accountable for their lack of follow-through and service to their customers. The person at their switch board needs Customer Training to occur. She is very rude. Their processes needs to be reviewed to make sure they are servicing customers efficiently.

Consumer

Response:

This is a follow up to ID [redacted]: I couldn't locate a button to add to the complaint.I spoke to [redacted] on 6/5. They contacted Carter Plumbing. They were told the part was in but I hung up on the scheduler when she tried to make an appt with me. I did hang up on her but she told an untruth. She did not have the part in when I spoke to her 6/2. She stated that part had to be ordered & she would call me to make the appt when it came in. Can't make an appointment with no part. I inquired as to how long it would take to come in & she stated 1-2 days. The reason I hung up is because I have had 2 appts, since Apr 3rd, & waited 9 hrs total for the tech to show up. I informed her of this info. Also, I told her that I do not have a job where I could keep taking off & expected to go in (depending upon appt time) for the tech to be late & not complete the job. I don't work remote. I told her that I could only do 4:45 pm. She told me that I would have to do a 4 hr window or not receive the repair. That's when I hung up & called [redacted].Back to today. I called [redacted], 6/5, because they was supposed to follow up with Carter. This is when I found out about the part. The operator told me that Carter would work with my schedule but I would need to call them. He would not conference us all together. Carter was closed by the time I got off phone with [redacted].I called Carter this morning (6/6). I informed the woman on the phone that I knew the part was in and was calling to make appt. She asked me did they call me & I said no. She spoke to her scheduler & stated that I would be called after noon PDT today because the earliest appt was on 6/9. I informed her that I could only come home at 4:45 pm PDT. As of 5:14 pm PDT, I have not heard from Carter. [redacted] will charge me another $75 for another tech to come out, in addition to, paying Carter. I called [redacted], again--escalated to supv. They are escalating to their Research dept..

Business

Response:

Im not sure what all happened on this call we did needed to order parts and when thay came in we tried to schedule with the home owner and could not get an appointment scheduled

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:This business did not try to call an make an appointment at no point in the entire process except the very 1st original appointment. If this was the case, I wouldn't had to call [redacted] to escalate the issue multiple times. The professionalism with this company was one that has left an extreme negative distaste for ever wanting to use their service again. So much so that if ** recommends them again I will drop my contract.

All the issues that I had withis company I have documented in my complaint. This company, by no means, is reputable.

Business

Response:

Greetings

There is not much more we can say other than we are a reputable company and have been in business for 35 years with a AAA rating with the home warranty company .. We are a long term contractor for them over 25 years .. We run over 600 calls a month sometimes mistakes happen running that many calls I'm not sure we did anything wrong given this call was in june but if we did something wrong in your case I do apologize

Sincerely

Consumer

Response:

Revdex.com,

I don't believe this issue will be resolved. This company may be "reputable." Yet, there are clear issues with the site I had to deal with that should be addressed.

If the person responding, who was not involved in the issue, wanted to truly understand what transpired in order to establish a better relationship or turn my negative view of them around then that would something I would be open to than his assumption that the site in question performed excellent service.

Review: This contractor was sent out by my home warranty company. There were uncovered items and I never authorized. When I called and geve my credit card # I thought it was for the service fee of $75.00. When they said it was for $895, I said Do Not charge me that, I did not authorize it. I had never seen a bill. This is for a rental house. They gave my tenant a list the work done without prices. NO ONE authroized the work. Further, they apparently charged $160 for a water heater permit when the true cost is $86.00. This was on Friday afternoon of 12/12/14. On Monday 12/15/14 I saw that they had put the charge through my bank. They have never called me back about this. I have never received an itemized receipt.It is very unscrupulous to perform and charge me for unauthorized work, expecially when I specifically asked them not the put the charge through.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded for all unathorized charges.

Business

Response:

Greetings I have investigated your complaint with your home warranty and they tell me you were made aware of the non covered charges multiple times also we have a signed contract on 12-19 before we did the install of the water heater .. Then after the install was completed we collected the credit card info from you and charged you for the non covered amount .. on 12-22 after the install on 12-19 you then called into to your home warranty and again disputed the charges . We feel this is a legitimate charge that the home owner authorized and after the installation of her water heater disputed the charges ... Please see signed contract. If the home owner does not want to pay the non covered charges and wants a refund we would be happy to remove the water heater and the parts we installed and refund her the money .less any parts that can't be removed .. Then she can start over with her warranty companyRespectfully[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: I never signed a contract. I specifically dispute that I did. I never spoke to anyone from [redacted] until they called me 6 times on 12/19 for payment. They appeared to be desperate for money on that date. There is no signed contract authrorizing $895.00. The only paperwork he gave my tenant - not me - is an itemization of things to be done WITH NO PRICES. I BELIEVE [redacted] DID THIS SO THAT MY TENANT WOULD NOT ALERT ME TO THE COST. I can produce this document. I was NOT advised by the home warranty company of the non-covered charges until many days after the work was done. When I gave [redacted] my credit card information on 12/19, it was with the understanding that I was paying the $75.00 service call fee. I had NO idea she was going to charge $895.00. When the woman from [redacted] told me the charge was $895.00, I specifically said "Do not charge that amount. I want to investigate this first. You are not authrorized to charge $895.00 to my card." [redacted] proceeded to charge that amount anyway WITHOUT my consent.I called [redacted] to discuss this and he did not return my call.Show me the contract I allegedly signed and tell me the name and date of when the Home Warranty company advised me of the non-covered costs. Neither of those things happened. Further, as I said before, [redacted] charged twice the actual cost of pulling a permit from the City of Elk Grove. I causes me to doubt all of the charges and I have not been shown the charges so that I could verify or authroize them. They were read to me by home warranty after the fact. [redacted] has many complaints with Revdex.com. I believe there are 19. I think his credibility should be considered in light of this.

Business

Response:

We are in no way desperate for money as we run aprox 6k in calls a year and have a 95 percent or more customer satisfaction . again we would be more than happy to refund your money as long as we can remove our water heater and parts ... and you can start over with the home warranty company ...and have another company do the install but its not reasonable to give you a refund and you keep the water heater and parts.. If you would like to call me to make arrangements to do that you can ... [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: I want to see the alleged signed contract that you refer to. I want to be able to review the charges.a and see if they are reasonable. I know for a fact that you jacked up the charge for the permit from $86 to $160.00. You are not answering any of my substantive questions. I cannot leave my tenant without a water heater. I want to know why you charged my card without my consent and why you did the work without my authroization of the charges, and why the only receipt you left my tenants did not show the prices you were charging. Basically I think that beside your dishonest business practices, you overcharged and I think yo owe me a partial refund. I can get the entire water heater for around $895. or less. I do not know what else you did beside strapping and permitting that would add up to an extra $895.00.

Business

Response:

I have uploaded the invoice to the Revdex.com please review this with them ... All the charges have been gone over with you thru American Home Shield ... We gave them an estimate they told us what they were paying for and what they were not . you need to review the non covered charges with them. the charge for the permit was the actual permit fee and a processing fee .. It takes time to process .. The permit has been put on hold for now pending on if you want a refund or not .. If you do not want us to pull the water heater out and start over with the warranty company I will need to know today as I need to pull the permit and the offer will need to be pulled off the table ...We do not feel a partial refund is in order as you have been made aware several times by AHS of the charges. If you feel you can get a water heater installed by a license contractor for 895.00 we invite you to do so and we will make arrangements to remove the water heater and our parts and issue a refund . Or your contractor can meet us there when we remove the water heater so your tenant does not have to go without hot water. Respectfully [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:the warranty company DID NOT go over the charges with me. I cannot respond until tomorrow. I am not at a location where I can review the alleged document you sent and I need to speak with the warranty company tomorrow. You have no basis to say who toms me what and to say I need to respond today is unreasonable. I will review your document tomorrow and speak to AHS and get back to you by Friday.

Consumer

Response:

Attached please find information related to my complaint against [redacted] Plumbing, ID [redacted]. The first page is the copy of a contract sent by [redacted] Plumbing. This contract has been doctored, as you can see by reviewing the second two pages, which is the paperwork my tenant signed for installation of a water heater to my rental property. It is signed by my tenant, not by me, and indicates that [redacted] got payment "from the landlord." He knew that the tenant did not own the house and was not authorized to approve work or charges.Most significantly, [redacted] sent the BB a doctored contract. He filled in the amount $895 in the COD calls section and also an amount of $107. At the bottom. These numbers are not present on the original. There is no other conclusion than [redacted] falsified this contract after the fact in an attempt to fool the Revdex.com into thinking there was a signed contract authorizing work in the amount of $895.00. None of what he says is true. He did not have authorization to do this work or to charge my card for it. I would like to know what my options are because I am highly unsatisfied and I also do not think this person should be in business as he is unscrupulous.

Consumer

Response:

I do not accept the offer to remove the water heater. issue a refund and "start all over with AHS". The water heater itself was coverd by and purchased by AHS. [redacted]'s charges were for various other thngs. I called AHS and set forth [redacted]'s offer. The representative said "that is not how it works" and advised me NOT to agree. She has referred this to AHS complaint department. The problem is if I let [redacted] remove the water heater AHS may not pay for another one.I do not trust [redacted] to give me a refund even if I did agree. Please see the attachment, which is the actual contract that my tenant signed. [redacted] sent the Revdex.com a doctored coantract that showed the $895. - although not where it should have been - in an attempt to fabricate that he had advised my tenant of the charges. He did not, as you can see form the ACTUAL contract. Further, there is no valid contract- my tenant was not authroized to accept charges or work. The contract itself is void. It refers to receiving payment "from the landlord" - so [redacted] knew this was a tenant and that I was the repsonsible party, yet he never once spoke to me. I told them this was a rental property at the start of the project, and that they would need to contact the tenant to set up an appointment.[redacted] is not honest so I do not wish to accept his promise of repayment, even if AHS would provode another water heater from another contracotr. I do not trust him.

Consumer

Response:

I filed with the State Contractors licensing Board. He violated the code that says whatever your invoice says is what you get paid. So, he gets paid 0. Apparently he tendered a check to CSLB but the he said the bank had reversed the $895 charge. I checked with my bank and that is not true- another lie.Bottom line is I will pick up the check next week and once it's cashed and the money is in my account I will let you know.

Business

Response:

Business states that the CSLB has been involved in this matter. Business believes the situation has been resolved to consumer satisfaction. Refund check along with water heater permit have been sent to the customer. It is the business' understanding that the check has been cashed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Review: We are part of home warranty program that assigned Carter to fix our toilets. They responded in 3 days (fair) and we paid their fee. The service tech was clueless as how a toilet worked despite water spraying at his face. He eventually agreed to order the parts I suggested. After 4 1/2 weeks and our call TO them we ascertained that the parts were in. They scheduled a Friday some 5 days later to perform the repairs between 1000-3. They had not arrived after 2 so we contacted them and they said still scheduled for that day (Friday). After 6 pm it was clear they weren't coming. On Monday after several calls unanswered (extremely rare that they answer) they said they were too busy "last " Friday so would come Thursday. By Wed we still hadn't received a time despite several requests for a time on their machine. Finally, they answered after a 30 minute hold and said, "It will be next Monday now." Finally after heated discussion they hung up despite my saying "OK what time on Monday?" Now they just disconnect when we call. This has been over 5 weeks and one day being held hostage at home. I notice this is not the first Carter Revdex.com contact. Additionally, the address comes back to a residential area, not a plumbing business area.Desired Settlement: I request my $75 diagnostic fee be returned, and I would like their business shut down. It likely violates zoning codes. My wife [redacted] may answer questions you may have. Thank you.