LeProvost Plumbing, Heating & Cooling

I arranged for a 2:00 P.M. appointment on Friday, March 29, 2013, for a technician from LePrevost Plumbing and Heating to repair a frozen pipe at my residence in [redacted] When I originally called on Monday, 3/25, to schedule the appointment, I was not informed there would be a charge for "travel time." Only when the [redacted] had arrived and begun working was it revealed to me that this charge would occur. Had I known prior to the visit, I would have called a business much closer to my home, e.g., one in neighboring [redacted] as opposed to [redacted], which is approximately 20 minutes away.To make matters worse, their [redacted] did not arrive until 4:30 P.M. I was made aware there is normally a "two-hour window" (1 hour before, 1 hour after) around the scheduled appointment time. Thus, I took a half-day off from my work to get there by 12:30 P.M. At approximately 3:30 P.M. I called their office, obviously frustrated by the wait, and upon inquiring what the delay was, the [redacted] stated, "Well, I'm not going to help you if you're going to be an [redacted] about it." I immediately asked to speak with the [redacted], and after waiting on hold an additional 10 minutes, [redacted] answered. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the [redacted] comment and the delay, suggesting that I hope either or both would be taken into consideration when the invoice was figured, and he adamantly refused and canceled the service order.Fortunately, much to his credit, the technician [redacted] called me directly and stated he was a [redacted] with the [redacted]. and was called "away" [redacted]. He did not make his office aware of the delay to possibly send another technician out to the jobsite. He finally arrived at 4:30 P.M. and remained until 6:00 P.M. Although somewhat verbose, he repaired the pipe and attempted to repair the hot water heater, determining that the age of the appliance might not be cost-effective and suggested purchasing a new one.Desired SettlementI am not disputing the full amount of the invoice I was given, but rather the two-hour charge for labor (@ $94.00 per hour). The extra half-hour "travel time" was never identified to me until the technician had already arrived. Obviously, with the poor quality of service and the inexcuseable comment from their rep, I will never use this business again. The invoice remains unpaid at this time, and I am requesting a reduction in the amount from $250.91 to $203.91, minus one half-hour ($47.).Business' Initial Response Please accept the following response to case #XXXXXX.In service fields, it is common practice to include travel time into the customer's invoice. That being the case, we generally assume that customers are aware of this fact. When the customer called into our office and spoke with our [redacted] to inquire as to the timing of our [redacted], he was, in fact, fully informed of the fact that [redacted] was called out to a [redacted] as he is a [redacted]. At this point, the customer became very impolite and angry. It is generally our policy not to work for such unreasonable customers as these delays often happen in our field. We try very hard to stick to a timely schedule but unfortunately, that is not always possible. It was our intention to cancel this service call but our technician, [redacted], was out of cell phone service and could not be reached to inform him. [redacted] did arrive around 4:30 and completed the service call to the customers satisfaction. We are always happy to work with customers who have any complaints. We did not hear from the customer directly or we would have been happy to adjust his invoice in the amount he has requested. Consumer's Final Response I never received an adjusted invoice from LeProvost Heating and Plumbing.Business' Final Response Business supplied email: [redacted]Use this address for any contact with the Revdex.com