The many red flags that I ignored out of desperation…I called Dawson Plumbing at 8:am I was told that someone from scheduling would call me to set up an appointment After hours, I called them back I received apologies for the oversight and so we proceeded with schedulingAfter providing my water heater model and serial numbers, I was told that my unit was no longer under warranty by the manufacturer (who is providing free replacements for their defective control valves – as long as they are still under warranty) They also tried to convince me to buy two new water heaters since I would already be spending so much I took it upon myself to double-check the warranty information with the manufacturer I learned that I was still under warranty and that I should only be charged for labor to replace the defective valve because the manufacturer provides a full refund to the plumber I assume that had I not checked for myself, they would have just pocketed the part costI was given a price quote that I accepted, simply because we were desperate to have our hot water heater fixed and I hoped that they could still come out the same day After accepting, I was told that they would come the next morning (And I was assured that the delay was NOT due to the fact that the scheduler never called me back in the morning.)
The plumber replaced the two control valves (manufacturer recommended that both be done) in exactly minutes The invoice I was given had absolutely no detail on it – just “replaced two control valves, $each, total $425.” The water heater manufacturer offered to reimburse me for part of the labor to fix the defective part so I asked the plumber for an itemized receipt to submit to them I also asked him what their hourly rate normally is Unable to answer these questions, he called his boss and put me on the phone with Dawson Plumbing’s operations manager, who was rude and belligerent He tried telling me that they already gave me a discount (I paid $for minutes of work) and that I had agreed to the quote yesterday First of all, it was a quote, not a contract Second of all, I never said that I wasn’t going to pay I just had questions about their rate and I wanted to make sure that I received a professional, itemized invoice to assist in reimbursement from the manufacturer The man even hung up on me while I was in mid-sentence I assure you that I was not striking a rude tone with him My policy is that if you treat others with kindness and respect, that kindness and respect is usually returned And as a customer, I have a right to respectfully ask questions in regards to my bill and I should have those questions answered without hostilityIn the end, the on-site plumber apologized for his boss’ behavior The scheduler/secretary that I had worked with called to apologize for her boss’ behavior and to prove to him that she had discussed the estimate with me However, I never received an apology from the “operations manager.” Instead, they emailed an itemized invoice to me and changed the numbers, to add a trip charge so that the labor amount would appear to be less and I would be reimbursed less by the part manufacturerI did pay them because my water heaters were repaired, but because of the horrendous customer service I will never give them a dime again
The many red flags that I ignored out of desperation…I called Dawson Plumbing at 8:am I was told that someone from scheduling would call me to set up an appointment After hours, I called them back I received apologies for the oversight and so we proceeded with schedulingAfter providing my water heater model and serial numbers, I was told that my unit was no longer under warranty by the manufacturer (who is providing free replacements for their defective control valves – as long as they are still under warranty) They also tried to convince me to buy two new water heaters since I would already be spending so much I took it upon myself to double-check the warranty information with the manufacturer I learned that I was still under warranty and that I should only be charged for labor to replace the defective valve because the manufacturer provides a full refund to the plumber I assume that had I not checked for myself, they would have just pocketed the part costI was given a price quote that I accepted, simply because we were desperate to have our hot water heater fixed and I hoped that they could still come out the same day After accepting, I was told that they would come the next morning (And I was assured that the delay was NOT due to the fact that the scheduler never called me back in the morning.)
The plumber replaced the two control valves (manufacturer recommended that both be done) in exactly minutes The invoice I was given had absolutely no detail on it – just “replaced two control valves, $each, total $425.” The water heater manufacturer offered to reimburse me for part of the labor to fix the defective part so I asked the plumber for an itemized receipt to submit to them I also asked him what their hourly rate normally is Unable to answer these questions, he called his boss and put me on the phone with Dawson Plumbing’s operations manager, who was rude and belligerent He tried telling me that they already gave me a discount (I paid $for minutes of work) and that I had agreed to the quote yesterday First of all, it was a quote, not a contract Second of all, I never said that I wasn’t going to pay I just had questions about their rate and I wanted to make sure that I received a professional, itemized invoice to assist in reimbursement from the manufacturer The man even hung up on me while I was in mid-sentence I assure you that I was not striking a rude tone with him My policy is that if you treat others with kindness and respect, that kindness and respect is usually returned And as a customer, I have a right to respectfully ask questions in regards to my bill and I should have those questions answered without hostilityIn the end, the on-site plumber apologized for his boss’ behavior The scheduler/secretary that I had worked with called to apologize for her boss’ behavior and to prove to him that she had discussed the estimate with me However, I never received an apology from the “operations manager.” Instead, they emailed an itemized invoice to me and changed the numbers, to add a trip charge so that the labor amount would appear to be less and I would be reimbursed less by the part manufacturerI did pay them because my water heaters were repaired, but because of the horrendous customer service I will never give them a dime again