Cox's Plumbing Company

Over charging a 88 year old woman who lives alone for unclogging a sink and questionable time listed to do so.My Mother,[redacted], is an 88 year old lady that lives alone at [redacted], 27889. As she has aged, I've requested and been available to assist her with her needs as much as possible as we live two hours away in Louisburg, NC. She experienced a clogged kichen sink on 11-07-15 and rather than call me regarding her problem, she located the number of Cox's Plumbing Company ,through the yellow pages, and called to request their services. An employee came out that Saturday. My Mother also requested he "look at a slow draining sink in the bathroom" when he unclogged "in a matter of minutes". He unclogged the kitchen sink through a vent and reported it took him 1 1/2 hours to complete the work. He charged $232.50. She paid the plumber, [redacted], by check that day, check #[redacted]. I was outraged at what was charged an 88 year old woman that lives on social security. I have cleared many stubborn drains using a manual plumber's snake that has never taken more than 15 minutes. I telephoned a representative with[redacted] store in Wake Forest, NC that assists customers with big and small special projects to get an estimate of what a comparable plumbing expense would be in the research triangle area. My assumption was that rates would be higher here to match the increased cost of living. He reported that a plumber is likely to charge $75 for just coming out on a Saturday and the hourly rate is likely to range from $40-60 an hour. Taking the highest rate of $60 and assuming he did take 1 1/2 hours to unclog a drain, [redacted] charged my Mother $67.50 more that what could more than reasonablly be expected to charge in a metropolitan area. I telephoned the owner of Cox's Plumbing Company, [redacted], on XX-XX-XX to voice my complaint. He reported he would call me back after speaking with his employee that provided the service. After not receiving a return call, I called Mr. Cox back on XX-XX-XX and requested my Mother receive a partial refund to reflect a fair and resonable charge for services rendered. He put me on hold and the phone call was disconnected. I have not heard back from Mr. Cox since then. Per above, I think it's fair and resonable that Mr. Cox provide a partial refund of $67.50 to[redacted] that reflects an appropriate charge for services rendered./////Desired SettlementPartial refund of $67.50 made payable to [redacted]/////Consumer called on 12/29/2015 to say the requested partial refund of $67.50 was paid by the business in the form of a check, and the check cleared.