Garabedian Plumbing and Heating Reviews (6)
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Garabedian Plumbing and Heating Rating
Description: Plumbing Contractors, Heating Contractors
Address: 208 Austin Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, 01609-2906
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I have requested this company to fix my sink and we have now called 5x and the issue is still not fixed
I called the company on 09/04 for services to my sink as my sink water would not go down. I was charged $304.00 dollars for the hourly service. Hours later the sink still did not work and we had to call back. The next person came here and told us also the previous person did not complete his job and that there were parts to be ordered. We had to pay an additional $81 for the parts but was not charged the service. A week later the sink still was not properly operating and someone had to come back out on 09/11. I was not charged anything as it was not my fault in the beginning. I was told it was all set that third time. I had the same issue again with the sink another week later on 09/17 I had to call them back for the 4Th time. I am being told it's my sink disposal. We have had a bad sink disposal from the beginning and suggested this as the issue. We were told that was never the issue and now we are told someone needs to fix my disposal. I was told I now have to pay for service and the parts. My issue is that it took 5x for someone to come here to notice it was my disposal. The previous charges I was charged for the first and second time needs to be refunded so I can pay for the proper issue of the labor and service for the disposal. The company does not want to work with me and not taking blame. Why did I pay for parts if those parts were not the issue? Why did I pay for a $304.00 service if nothing was done properly? I am disappointed and the company managers and owner stated they will not refund me anything. They stated they discussed it with the owner and president of the company and they agreed they do not need to refund me anything and that I am responsible to pay for services. This is UNFAIR! This will be the 5th time someone comes to my home during Covid-19 and nothing was done. I need a refund for the previous charges or for the new service to be completed for free. The customer service is horrible
I am looking either for a refund of $385 (304.00 and 81) for the services previously charged that nothing was done. Or for someone to come fix the drain issue without charging me anything
Contact Name and Title: P Garabedian, Pres
Contact Phone: ***-***-***
9-4-20
Our technician snaked the blocked kitchen sink drain line with a powered drain machine. He hit a blockage at approximately 15 feet and could hear the water drain in the piping. He ran an additional 15 feet of wire. The drain piping was then put backed together and he filled both bowls of the sink twice and observed the water draining fine.
Three hours later our answering service received a call from the customer stating that the sink we had just serviced was blocked again. We have techs available for after normal hours service. The tech was dispatched to the customer.
He found the sink blocked again and some piping leaking. He did not say that our technician "did not complete his job". Obviously our first tech had completed his job because he had reassembled the piping and tested the draining action. As to the leaking of the pipes he asked the customer if they had done anything and they stated yes they had used a plunger to try and get the drain to clear. They were told that a plunger should never be used on a kitchen drain because the pressure developed by a plunger causes the normal slip joint piping used on sinks to leak.
Evidently when our first technician snaked the line whatever was blocking the piping was pushed further down the piping system. So our second tech stated he would snake the line again and replace the leaking piping and trap under the sink. He also stated that there would be no additional labor charge but the customer would have to pay for the new parts. Customer paid additional $81 for parts as agreed. We absorbed the loss of or man's labor which would have been $316 for two hours of overtime service.
9-11-20
This call was serviced by the same tech that had been there for the second visit. I don't understand why he didn't charge for the call as this blockage was caused by improper use of the garbage disposer. He found the disposer plugged up by someone over filling the disposer with food waste and failing to run sufficient water to drain and flush the unit. The previously snaked sink drain piping was not blocked it was the piping under the sink between the disposer and the trap under the sink that was blocked. So anyhow we absorbed another $104 by wrongly not charging.
9-17-20
This last call 9/17/20 a different technician arrives to find the disposer jammed with food and some pieces of plastic which never should have been placed in the disposer. However now the disposer is found to not be operating. He checks the wiring the unit is not getting power. He tells the customer she needs an electrician. He is told the unit is less than a year old. So he tells her to call the plumbing company that put it in for her because there should be a 1 year warranty on the disposer. He leaves and again we absorb another $104 by not charging her for this service call.
Finally the customer calls our office and states that she wants us to come and install a new garbage disposer (which she will provide) but she insists she will not pay us for the labor to put it in. She's told we will not install it for free. She doesn't think that's fair. She wrongly insists that the garbage disposer was the source of all her prior drain issues and that our techs misdiagnosed her problems. Note: the disposer was running during each visit prior to our last visit. The misuse of the disposer not the disposer itself had caused all her previous drain blockage problems
In summary she states we were unfair. We gave her $524 worth of free service and now she reports us to the Revdex.com because we refuse to install a new garbage disposer for free.
We have reached the end of the line in trying to please this customer.
P*** Garabedian, President Garabedian Plumbing & Heating, Inc.
Ordered and requested installation of new shower fixtures
Since day one these new fixtures did not work properly, the valve to shut the water never worked, can cause severe burning issues when someone takes a shower. They sent 4 different times their help over ( 2 different plumbers) never resolved the issue. Manager and owner mentioned they will get back to us they never did. They trying to repair the new fixtures, new items do not require repairs, we did not purchase used ones. Total Bill was for $ 1,000
we paid $ 500.00 they try to bill us for the remaining although they know that threes a problem. Either they re-install with all new fixtures again or they refund and take the *** they sold is back.
either pick the broken stuff you sold us and refund us or we call someone else to fix it and we are even on any balances. We don't trust these people to fix anything since they are not able to do so for 4 times, and broken promises.
Consumer states that he ordered and requested the installation of new shower fixture.
When our technician checked out the situation he told the customer that the shower valve (fixture) needed to be replaced entirely. The fixture is as old as the house (46 years). Due to the conditions and the fact that the wall behind the fixture would have to be cut open to gain access, the customer did not want him to replace the valve with a new one. The customer wanted the technician to order new internal parts and trim to rebuild the valve. We always try to talk customers out of making repairs to old plumbing valves because we cannot guarantee that putting new parts into an old valve, ( especially a 46 year old valve), will cure any existing problems. (Quite simply you can't put new parts in a 46 year old valve and restore it to its original condition). So we ordered the "new" internal parts and installed them. Upon completion of the repair our technician ran the shower and everything was working as it should. Shortly thereafter we received a call with a complaint about the operation of the valve. We returned took the valve apart, lubricated the parts and put it back together and again it seemed fine. It was not, we returned 3 more times trying different things to try and get a satisfactory solution.
Now they contact the Revdex.com and state that we sold them old broken parts and they want us to install new parts into their 46 year old faucet. We could install more new internal parts put the valve will never work correctly. The main body of the valve is old and worn-out, dead, Kaput! They tried to save money by not letting us put in a complete valve in the first place but it didn't work out.
To date we have $509.49 for new parts and $480 in labor into the job for a total of $988.49. We only charged them $938.00
We were paid only $500.00, leaving a balance due of $438.00.
Plus we sent our technicians back for another 4 hours of labor to try and get the valve working which came to an additional $384.00, which we never charged them for.
Now they want a complete refund! Totally ridiculous!
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The initial call was made to them that the valve was not working properly , leaking and would not switch to the shower head or spout. Thta's the reason we contact them. They are lying. why they did not call us both *** and their manager
when they said so ? So why should I make a call for valve problem and have the same problem... they never offered anything... Big Huge lie !
as said they can come and pick their used staff...
the work they done stinks and still have the same issues... the situation remains... call was made for leaking none functional valve and we still have leaking none functional valve where's the solution here ? Where are the work order estimates where are the part numbers ? where are the parts description and broken down per item ? absolutely nothing..just a billing statement... lies lies lies
As I stated before, you can't make a 46 year old faucet new again by rebuilding it. We put in brand new parts that worked well when our technician originally tested them but we can't guaranty this type of repair because of the worn out condition of the old valve body of the faucet.
Company damaged our new sink upon installation and refuses to take responsibility even with photo documentation of the damage.
After poor communication and rude treatment by their staff on the phone arranging the date, Garabedian Plumbing sent a worker and an apprentice to install our antique sink which had just returned from a 2 month refinishing process at a cost to us of over $700. They screwed up the install resulting in an immediate leak, which after more rude and dismissing phone calls from their employees was fixed 4 days later. This complaint however centers on the scratch damage done to the sink upon initial install on Thursday Sept.13th. We have photographs immediately before their arrival that shows no scratch, and a photograph while they were still cleaning up their tools that does show the scratch.
The only phone call response we were given was that "My guys say they didn't scratch your sink." No comment on the photos or any other returned emails for further resolution.
Full context story :
Horrible work, no call back or response to emails. We made an appointment for a sink install, our sink delivery was delayed so we called Garabedian's front desk a day before to say "We have to reschedule for next week". Their crew shows up the next day anyway and are annoyed "Nobody told us". We call their desk back "Please tell your crew, come next week like we instructed you, call my wife's cell phone when you are arriving at 8am." Next week comes, 8:30am and no crew .. so my wife leaves for 20 min to drop off my son at school. They show up, call MY phone and leave a message "Since no one is home, we're going to charge you an extra hour for not being home" and they leave. I call back, explain that their dispatcher screwed up again by not calling my wife as instructed. They finally show up and scratch / gouge the new sink upon install, and now two days later we find a slow and steady leak from the new pipes ... I call and am told "Oh, we'll see if we can have someone out in a few days". They finally have repaired their initial plumbing work but we have received no returned emails or returned phone calls about the scratch damage.
It will cost us a minimum of $200 to repair the scratch damage to the sink. We seek reimbursement for this repair. The final amount may be slightly higher.
Business has sent a check to us for the repair costs to the damaged sink in question.
Technician's misconduct and incompetence at the time of replacing cartridge in Shower Faucet: 1 use of mismatched screw 2 use of used-cartridge
On 10/5/17 *** came to replace a cartridge in the shower faucet because of the leak. The first thing he said was that the tile wall had to be broken down, which was a strange thing to hear to start with, since my request was only just replace the cartridge. In my life until this age I've met numerous Plumbers for various types of plumbing works living in different houses and condominiums and I've done some of the works myself too. But getting old I no longer felt like doing even this type of simplest work myself. My impression of this man was that he was trying to make the job as big as possible in order to make more money. Strangely when I refused him braking the wall he started replacing the cartridge. Next strange thing he did was forcing a screw into the plastic handle very hard using electric screw driver until the handle cracked. Then he went back to his truck and brought another handle and again very forcefully put the screw with screw driver. After he replaced the cartridge, it seemed, the leak got stopped. But a few days later the leak started again and gradually though very slowly it got worse and worse. I was getting by re-tightening the screw every time after I took a shower not knowing what could be the cause.
A few days ago when I had a different plumber for other problem I asked him to just take a look at it. Then he said immediately the screw used was a mismatched one. So I went out and bought a new handle set and checked. Certainly the screw *** used was slightly bigger. This is why the screw was moving outward I had to re-tighten so often. So I changed the screw but it was still leaking. Finally I contacted my condo's plumber. Then he said this cartridge is not even a new one and when he replaced with a new one out of the package the leak stopped completely. I'm expecting a bill for this now.
***
Yesterday I emailed my complaint attention to the manager *** Then he replied: Hi ***,
In regards to your shower valve repair, it has always been Garabedian Plumbing policy (no warranty or guaranty on faucet repairs)
As fair as *** goes you couldn't ask for a better plumber and he's a great asset to our team.
Best, ***
***
*This is not a matter of warranty nor guaranty. This is Issue of Technician's misconduct or Incompetence. It could even be willful misconduct because he thought he had a chance. Someone said to me they do it whenever they think they can...
I demand Garabedian fully refund what I paid for in the amount of $174.00(invoice# XXXXXX)
When the technician arrived to make the repair on 10/5/17, the technician looked at the work that was being requested to make a repair to the shower valve. The technician *** noticed that the tenant was doing some work on replacing the tile for the floor and the wall. The tile work was less than perfect and was amateurish in its quality. The shower valve had also been worked on by others prior to us being called to make a repair to the valve. With our knowledge of the building and the condition of the plumbing in the building and with the quality of the water for the Town of Shrewsbury, the recommendation to change the valve was the best option for the tenant. This of course was not what she wanted to hear, so Kevin began making the repairs. The suggestion to replace the valve was not an attempt to make the job any bigger than it needed to be. The recommendation to replace the valve comes from years of experience from our company doing work in the town of Shrewsbury and in the Shrewsbury Green complex. We try to provide the best option based on our experience with items such as this. To begin with, the handle for the shower valve was being held on with a sheet rock screw. Once the, old screw was removed and the handle taken off, the cartridge in the valve was removed and replaced with a new one. Once the new cartridge was installed, the leak in the valve had stopped. When the handle was being installed, *** did not have an exact replacement screw that fit the Moen cartridge, but he was able to find a screw in his truck, from another manufacturer, that was a better suited screw than a sheet rock screw. The screw was a tighter fit needed, but it did secure the handle.
It seems a little odd that this complaint is just coming to light after 6-months time. If the repair made by us lasted only a few days, we should have been called at this time to return to correct the problem. While we have a policy of not warrantying repairs to faucets and shower valves, because we do not know the condition of the internal body of the faucet or shower valve when we install new parts. If the body of the faucet or shower valve is worn from bad water quality or age, then new parts will not fit properly and will eventually fail, returning the faucet to the condition it was originally in when we were called in to service it in the first place.
As far as the comment from the other plumber regarding the use of a used cartridge by Garabedian Plumbing. This couldn't be more false! When parts are replaced on other jobs, the parts are discarded at the end of the day. Only new parts are stocked on our vehicles. The cartridge, after 6-months of service and being installed in an old valve body and with the quality of the Shrewsbury water, it would look old when removed.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I find some false comments made by the plumber, also some comment which doesn't make sense in this letter. It seems whoever wrote this letter is only trying to cover up such unprofessional job one of their employees did and busy coming up to some excuses.
First of all, when I called Garabedian to make the appointment I specifically requested to replace the Cartridge not the Valve. Woman who answered didn't seem to like that. She said "Oh Ya~~, we do that kind of Small Job". Then she rudely and loudly said how much they charge per hour starting from the moment their vehicle leaves before even I was asking . Such comment was utterly strange to me I was almost laughing when I was telling this experience to my son over the phone afterward.
It's been my habit that when I hire some company I never ever give a big job from the beginning. I always start from giving a small job and once I confirm I can trust them I give them a bigger job. During 15 years of residence here the only time I had to hire plumber was when I replaced my disposer. But recently many troubles all came around the same time; replacement of the kitchen faucet and two valves, replacement of the bathroom sink faucet, one valve and one handle for the valve, on top of that fixing the leak in the shower faucet. The leak was happening off and on. If I spent a few to several minutes moving around the shower handle and found the exact spot the leak would stop. It wasn't an emergency kind of problem but rather annoying problem.
I made a clear plan for how I would work on these project within my financial frame before I sell this unit in near future. Fixing the entire bathroom(tile wall and tile floor) was the biggest and the last project I have to deal with. If a major plumbing job is going to get involved that would be the best time for it. And from my past experiences I knew the leak would stop by replacing the cartridge. And I was right. It got fixed completely by other plumber but not by Garabedian. The work took only several minutes.
The plumber Garabedian sent was a silent man. He moved slowly too. After he broke the plastic handle with the mismatched screw using a big electric screw driver he had to go back to his van to pick up another handle. He spent unusually long time forcing the screw in it again. It's strange that he didn't even have popular brand like MOEN's screws in his van prior to visiting customer's house. If I said OK to break down the wall, he would have immediately started breaking down. Who was going to fix the wall afterward? Even if he was intending to break only some portion of the wall, that would have resulted in the entire wall falling down. After he finished the work he was just going to leave? There wasn't any kind of explanation done by him. It appeared to me that he just wanted to break the wall and do the job and leave.
You said he noticed someone was doing amateurish tile replacing work ? No one was replacing the tiles, I was placing plumber's tape on top of the loosened bond that hold two rows of tiles so water won't get inside the wall. In his eyes did it look like someone replaced the tiles by holding by tape? Also you said Kevin said shower valve had been worked on by others prior to us being called? No one ever worked on the valve during the past 15 years. You mean someone worked on the valve 16 years ago? I myself Valve is one thing I want to stay away, don't even want to get involved. He also said "The handle for the shower valve was being held on with a sheet rock screw and tighter fit was needed??? Did he mean shower handle or valve handle inside the wall? The original screw for shower handle was rusted and the tip was a little cracked, so I was holding with some screw I had temporarily just to hold until the plumber arrives. He thought that's why he needed a tighter screw? Or he used a thicker screw because he didn't have MOEN's screw in his van as you stated? Which is it??? He brought a new handle from the van, so why tighter screw was still needed??? By the way not so important but the word I used "truck" in my previous letter was my mistype, it was "van". Why did you say his vehicle was truck? You don't even know what kind of vehicle he was driving? Have you ever watched what kind of work he does?
Any way after he finished the work, seemingly... only seemingly, the water was stopping. But I had some insecure feelings because even before he came it did stop off and on though I had to move around the handle right and left trying to find the exact spot.
Normally when it comes to hard materials if mismatched screw was used, screw loosening, fracture of material around the screw and some kind of distortion could happens. I believe this is a common sense for people involved in manufacturing.
And I suspect this is exactly happened in my case; the hole of the handle got definitely bigger gradually (and some kind of distortion happened inside the cartridge?) This is why the screw started loosening and I had to retighten every time I shut off the water. Today I was taking a new look at the cartridge he used and discovered one of the metal washers had about 1/4" opening and the edge of the opening rough and irregular. It seemed the washer got cracked. I need to ask you what this is? It got busted when he was using the big electric screw driver?
Now the reason for making my complaint after 6 months was that I couldn't tell the real cause of the continuous leak until I talked to other plumbers. On top of that I had a big hesitation in getting another plumber from Garabedian, if it's not the same man, also remembering that customer service woman's attitude.......
You said "If the body of the faucet or shower valve is worn from bad water quality or age, then new parts will not fit properly and will eventually fail, returning the faucet to the condition it was originally in when we were called in to service it in the first place".
I'm sorry to say but that wasn't the case this time. After the cartridge replaced again by the different plumber It's been working perfectly, no more leak at all and that stressful act of moving around the handle in order to find the exact spot ended. No matter how many times I took a shower it's been working fine!
Your company policy "we have a policy of not warrantying repairs to faucets and shower valves, because we do not know the condition of the internal body of the faucet or shower valve when we install new parts"
In my opinion, this policy should be posted big on your website so everybody can read before making their appointment.
Now talking about used Cartridge, how about that busted washer? Where is this coming from?
I feel you are still responsible for the money I wasted for this ridiculous job one of your employee did. If you have normal consciences you should be taking this seriously.
Nowadays aftercare customer services are such important factors for any businesses especially because of the digital communication system so highly developed. I believe If you take care of each customer well, not only they don't abandon you but may still give you another chances.
2nd Final Response;
On October 5, 2017 we sent an experienced Massachusetts licensed plumber to respond to a call for a leaking shower valve. Upon seeing the condition of the old valve which was all rusted and corroded our tech said the valve should be replaced. Customer told him that another plumber wanted to replace the valve also but she refused his recommendation as she did our plumber's recommendation. Putting a new cartridge into an old corroded valve body is not good common practice as it will quickly fail. Our tech then installed a new cartridge into the old valve body, turned the water back on and found no leaking taking place. Customer seemed happy with the work and paid him on the spot.
Over 6 months passes and we never had any calls or complaints from the customer. Then on April 18, 2018 with receive notice from the Revdex.com that the customer has filed a complaint. We believe that common sense would be for a customer to call the contractor and state that the valve we worked on was again leaking. If she had notified us of the leaking problem we would have again told her she needed to install a new valve.
We do not feel that she is due any refund and we will not give her a refund.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Garabedian,
When the correct cartridge was replaced everything was fine and HAS BEEN FINE! What else do you need to know more?
When you start coming up with some lies in order to cover up I no longer consider I can have a decent dialogue based on common sense with you. You are the first plumber who ever worked for my bathroom. Who was another plumber existed in his imaginary world? By now I suspect this has been possibly your normal business practice; You use only one type of cartridge and when customer's valve doesn't match you tell the customer the valve is corroded so need to be replaced rather than getting a correct cartridge. It doesn't matter what kind of condition the customer's valve is. Customer's wall gets unnecessarily ripped off and new valve gets unnecessarily replaced just like malpractice done by some dentists. You make more money that way. If you charged $175 for the work that normally takes only a several minutes, who knows how much you are going to charge for that work. You don't even interact with other tile workers as most plumbers do and just want to rip off the wall. I can't live here when tile workers are working, especially in my case, since I need to fix the wall and the floor at the same time. At this point I find your attitude deceptive and low graded. I am no longer interested in having conversations with you on Revdex.com site. I'll take a different approach from now on. At least I had an opportunity to expose who you are in this society. No need to respond to this any longer.
no verbal response after 48 hours
While we understand that the weather is record cold, the receptionist at Garabedian would not commit to if and when a repair person was available to fix her heat. We called repeatedly and she said we are trying to get to you. She never returned our call and left at 5pm never responding to our issue. It has now been 48hrs and all we get is the emergency operator. A simple phone call is not too much to ask.
Communication is not too much to ask. She has been very understanding that the company needs to respond to worse emergencies, but no one has been in touch as to when our problem can be resolved
To begin with, Garabedian Plumbing & Heating apologizes to the customer for any inconvenience that this situation has caused them. At the time of the complaint Friday Dec 29th, by Mrs., the area was in an unprecedented deep freeze with temperatures in the low teens and lower. *** Plumbing & Heating was receiving calls and dispatching men as quickly as they could to help people with frozen & burst piping and heating systems that were completely out. When the customer Mrs. called into the office, she did have some heat in the lower level of the property, but was not happy with the amount of heat she was getting. We did inform Mrs. that we were prioritizing people with no heat and frozen pipes at the time, which was a Friday before a long Holiday week-end. Our dispatcher is also instructed to inform all customers that called, that we will do the best we can to get a technician to them, but at no time during this cold weather, do we give any time frame for getting technicians out for repairs. The customer did understand this and our dispatcher did let them know that we would try to get a technician out to them as soon as we could, keeping in mind that the no-heat calls were a priority. At the end of the day, Mrs. state's she was unhappy with the fact that she didn't receive any service and she wasn't called by the office staff to let her know what the status of her call was for the day. We do understand that communication with customers is a crucial part of the dispatch and service part of the business, and we do make attempts to contact people when we feel as though we may not get to them. (Now with that being said, at this time, we were taking so many calls and talking with so many customers, that by the end of the day, the list of customers that would have been needed to call back was so great that someone would have been in the office for an additional 1-2 hours making calls to customers.)
Mrs. later called the answering service either Friday night or Saturday to cancel the call stating she could get someone sooner.
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Garabedian Plumbing refuses to pay for repairs/damages caused by their negligence after warrantied hot water tank gave out and flooded our basement.Garabedian Plumbing installed a new hot water heater tank in our basement on 1/29/14. Aside from a very odd looking gas line installation on their part, we did not see anything amiss with the tank, nor did we ever see any leaks. On 9/23/14 at 7 PM my 6 year old daughter complained that there was no hot water for her shower. Because my husband was out of town, I called a local plumber we had been using for the past several months to ask how to relight the pilot light since the tank was new and I was not sure if it worked the same as our old one. As I walked down the basement stairs with the plumber on the phone, I was horrified to see that the basement was flooded. I panicked when I saw all of the water because I have severe mold allergies. At that moment with my husband away and my two, small kids in tow, I did not think about who the proper person would be to call. From my reaction, the plumber I had called understood the urgency and told me he would be there right away. Upon arrival, the plumber immediately pointed to a large gash at bottom seam of tank that had gone unseen by us as it was facing the basement wall. The gash was worse at the bottom but the dent continued up the back of the tank. I was incredulous that Garabedian Plumbing had installed a new water heater tank in that condition, knowing that we would not see the gash since it faced the wall. The plumber said that this particular tank was very heavy and he guessed that Garabedian Plumbing had accidentally dropped it while trying to get it down our basement bulkhead stairs and took a chance by installing it anyway to avoid having to take it back. The fall probably caused an internal hairline crack in the glass at bottom of tank and the continued force of the water above that crack over 8 months time finally caused it to give out. The insulation at the bottom of the tank was soaked, another indication that it was coming from the gashed area. It took 4 people over 4 hours to clean up the basement that night. The plumber replaced the tank the next morning (due to the warranty) and was able to get us up and running by the afternoon. After having been loyal customers of Garabedian Plumbing for many years, after reporting what happened, I was yelled at by the owner and made to feel like an i
t for not calling them directly the night the tank gave out, even after explaining the situation. The owner was abrasive and said that I should have known to keep the tank for them to see, even after I asked him how I would have known to do that as a homeowner and not a plumber? He was adamant that my pics/video of gash in tank were worthless w/out the actual tank, saying the maker of the tank would have paid for ALL the damages/service fees involved if I had. When I asked him why the maker of the tank would pay for damages after seeing a big gash/dent at bottom of tank that ran all the way up the backside, not mention that they would undoubtedly question why Garabedian had accepted and installed it if it had come out of the box that way, he just continued get more belligerent saying that he knew this business and that's how it worked! At one point he got so angry with my questions that he told me he had wasted too much time on this already and he was done. This was after he relayed he was not going to pay for anything. It wasn't until I told him I was going to contact my insurance, the Revdex.com and spread the word online about how they were handling this failure that he changed his tone and finally gave me the phone number for their insurance company, GB Kerkorian Partners Insurance. On 10/14/14 I sent the pictures and the video of the water heater tank to [redacted] of [redacted] Insurance and as of today (10/21/14), I have not heard back from them or Garabedian Plumbing.Desired SettlementToday is almost a month after the water heater tank failed. I feel that we have been more than patient trying to get Garabedian Plumbing to pay the service fee associated with removing and installing the new water heater tank along with the cost to replace the damaged insulation in our basement. The total for both of these costs is $1,566.26. I have calculated these costs using the plumber's invoice for the work to remove and install the water heater tank and the damage assessment report of my insurance company to replace the damaged insulation.Business Response Contact Email: [redacted]@garabedianplumbing.comGarabedian Plumbing did install an [redacted] water heater for the [redacted] at [redacted] XXXXX on 1-30-2014. The installation was issued a plumbing permit and inspected by the local plumbing inspector.Months later during October about two weeks after the tank leaked I received a call demanding payment for damages caused by a leaking water heater. The customer had called another plumber when the leak occurred. This plumber called a plumbing supply house that handles Smith water heaters and gave them the model and serial number of the leaking tank and when it was found to be under warranty he picked up a replacement tank and installed the heater. Unfortunately not knowing any better the plumber took the old heater to a scrap yard and now there is no tank to inspect, to determine why it leaked.I contacted my insurance company and was told that they were not going to start a claim because there was no tank to inspect. The piping we installed to connect the tank did not leak and cause damage the tank leaked and the warranty for that tank is handled by [redacted]The plumber she used "guessed" that the tank had been dropped and damaged. First of all in [redacted] warranty they state, "THIS WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER WATER HEATERS REPLACED FOR COSMETIC REASONS". They say this because all water heaters have a very thin metal jacket covering which dents very easily. We have seen all sorts of damages to heater jackets over the forty years we have been in business caused from handling and shipping. These jackets cover two inches of high density insulation which surrounds the actual water tank. The insulation not only insulates but also protects the tank that is why the company disclaims dents which occur. Mrs. Vieby took a video which shows a dent. The video was rough but did seem to show, as she also stated, a dent at the bottom of the heater was the worst. The water containing tank is about a foot off the bottom, so I know the dent at the bottom didn't caused any damage to cause a leak. Without the tank no one will ever know. We have had water tanks over the years that leaked prematurely for no apparent reason and without any sign of damage, it just happened. In the past manufacturers wanted to get these tanks back so they could inspect them but now since it happens so infrequently they just give warranty replacements. The only exception would be for insurance claims when they definitely what to inspect the tanks.Bottom line we do not accept that we were negligent in any manner. I would suggest she take here case up with the [redacted]Peter GarabedianPresident Garabedian Plumbing & Heating Inc.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I am the plumber who [redacted] called when she noticed that her basement was flooded. When I arrived that night, I immediately could tell that the leak was internally. I could hear the water spraying from the inside. It was odd to have an internal leak so prematurely (6 months). I noticed a big dent on the back bottom portion of the water heater. [redacted] has some pictures of that dent. From my experience, that tells me the tank was either dropped at the warehouse or dropped down the stairs of Gails home. Being that the tank weighs over 400 lbs, it wouldn't take more than a 6" drop to crack the glass liner in the water heater. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time before the 80 psi of water pressure finds a path of least resistance and causes a leak in the thin metal tank. I have had that happen to me once in the past. Imagine the force of a 400 lb object falling that is lined with delicate glass. If that were me installing a tank that had a big dent out of the box, I personally would have returned it to the supplier and asked for another. How can you sell a damaged product to a customer without at the very least, pointing out the dent to make sure its ok. I called my supplier and offered to return the broken water heater once I removed it. I was told not to return it and to just remove the serial number tag. So I dropped it off that day at the local scrap yard. Final Business Response As I stated previously I have forwarded all the information to the [redacted] company, the tank manufacturer. They were going to look into the situation and make a determination based on the info I forwarded. I am trying to help the customer get restitution. They are a very large company and the info is making it's way to the proper department but it takes time to work through their system. I called 12/2/14 and today 12/3/14 and no answer is available yet. The info was sent originally 11/13/14.Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I'm wondering what Mr. [redacted] forwarded to the [redacted] company since he was so adamant that the pictures and video I took of the large gash/dent at bottom to top of tank were not relevant? And, I'm assuming that the A.O. Smith company is not getting back to him because they feel from the pictures/video that the tank was dropped/damaged by the plumbing company upon installation. I'm sure A.O. Smith would not warranty a tank in that condition. It is now December 8 and we are no further along than where we were when this complaint was filed. The issue has definitely not been resolved.