Incompetent plumber overcharged and ignored complaints
On May 12 I called John the Plumber for a possible clogged toilet. They sent a plumber that day. I was told that he would try augering and that would cost $250. If that didn't work, he would have to bring the commercial auger, which would cost $650. I said ok.
He didn't do an inspection of anything before he started to auger. He tried for an hour with no luck. He then told me he would be back the next day with the more expensive option.
He augered for 3 hours the next day and still couldn't clear the clog. He called his boss a couple of times. The boss told him to give up, I guess because he packed up his stuff. Before he left, he told me they might have to rip up my front lawn at a cost of $15000.
It finally occurred to him just before he left to inspect the pipe he was trying to clear. My house is a century home with some cast pipe. He finally realized that one part of that pipe had crumbled and was clogged at that part. A competent plumber would have done his due diligence before resorting to expensive options that weren't going to work.
The next day I got an invoice for $791. When I emailed them to inquire about this, I was ignored. They then sent me a quote to replace 40' of pipe for $4800.
I had two more plumbers give me a quote. I ended up paying only $783 for the replacement of the crumbled cast and the pipe that was clogged. Not the 40' they claimed needed replacing. The pipe that was replaced wasn't anywhere near 40'.
I sent them an email to tell them what had happened. I was called immediately by the office manager, who proceeded to give me excuses as to why competence and due diligence isn't part of their plumbers' job. She told me that she had to speak to the plumber that was here and would call me back the next day. That was two weeks ago. I gave them an opportunity to make it right a couple of times since and they've ignored me.
He didn't do an inspection of anything before he started to auger. He tried for an hour with no luck. He then told me he would be back the next day with the more expensive option.
He augered for 3 hours the next day and still couldn't clear the clog. He called his boss a couple of times. The boss told him to give up, I guess because he packed up his stuff. Before he left, he told me they might have to rip up my front lawn at a cost of $15000.
It finally occurred to him just before he left to inspect the pipe he was trying to clear. My house is a century home with some cast pipe. He finally realized that one part of that pipe had crumbled and was clogged at that part. A competent plumber would have done his due diligence before resorting to expensive options that weren't going to work.
The next day I got an invoice for $791. When I emailed them to inquire about this, I was ignored. They then sent me a quote to replace 40' of pipe for $4800.
I had two more plumbers give me a quote. I ended up paying only $783 for the replacement of the crumbled cast and the pipe that was clogged. Not the 40' they claimed needed replacing. The pipe that was replaced wasn't anywhere near 40'.
I sent them an email to tell them what had happened. I was called immediately by the office manager, who proceeded to give me excuses as to why competence and due diligence isn't part of their plumbers' job. She told me that she had to speak to the plumber that was here and would call me back the next day. That was two weeks ago. I gave them an opportunity to make it right a couple of times since and they've ignored me.