Preferred Plumbing Heating & Cooling McCarl's

[redacted] Time Line ReviewMay 7th 2015[redacted] stopped by the office on May 7th, 2017 at 10:30 AM attempting to give me a check for $160.00 for two hours labor. He said that he issued a stop payment on his previous check he had given us and agreed for us to keep if we would remove...

the gas water heater we installed.He agreed to allow us to keep the $500.00 check we had already received if we agreed to remove the new water we had just installed.I pulled my notes after that discussion to document the time line of conversations we had and the service we provided.May 1st, 2015[redacted] called in the morning wondering if he purchased a water heater for his house would we install it.I asked him what kind of water heater he was buying and he told me a natural gas water heater. I told him yes we could install the water heater and our hourly rate was $ 80.00 per hour plus parts. He asked if we would also haul away the old water heater and I said yes we would just charge him additional time for the removal and scrapping of the old tank. He did not setup a service call at this time.Later in the afternoon [redacted] called back into the office to say he had purchased a water heater and wan[redacted] to setup installation of the water heater. We agreed that I would have a tech install the water heater Monday morning. May 4th, 2015 [redacted] our MPS service tech arrived to install the water heater and found that the water heater was connec[redacted] to a Field Draft inducer which was common ven[redacted] with the existing furnace. The draft inducer allows the water heater to be power ven[redacted] through the sidewall of the house not gravity ven[redacted] into a chimney. [redacted] reviewed the situation and realized that the water heater [redacted] purchased could not be used with the field draft inducer because the safety/control kit would not work on the new water heater.[redacted] called APR supply and after discussions with them it was decided they would have a water heater that could be used with the Field draft inducer. [redacted] went and picked it up and came back to [redacted]’s house. [redacted] opened the water heater box only to find this water heater could not be used either. [redacted] and [redacted] discussed options and [redacted] recommended installing a new Power vent water heater that has a “built in” draft inducer. [redacted] picked up the water heater and installed a new flue out through the side of the house and electrical outlet to power the water heater along with the normal gas and plumbing connections.When the job was completed[redacted] created a bill based on his time, water heater and material used. [redacted] gave [redacted] a $500.00 check toward the amount of the installation. [redacted] signed the work order accepting the work performed. This was approximately 1:00 PM.Later that afternoon at about 4:00 PM [redacted] called and said he was unhappy with the cost of the water heater installation. He explained that what he thought he and [redacted] discussed was different than the actual amount but admited that an actual amount IE $1,700.00 installed was never discussed. The only way the water heater pricing was discussed was this option will be several hundred more than this other option, etc....no hard quo[redacted] number. I called [redacted] and he explained this as well. As a goodwill gesture for the mistake of picking up and returning the water heater that could not be used with the Field draft inducer I offered [redacted] a discount of $100.00 of the final bill. [redacted] seemed happy with this adjustment.May 5th, 2015[redacted] called back into the office reques[redacted] a manager and wan[redacted] to revisit everything that happened Monday. I talked to him since I am the service manager. We discussed everything again and I explained why the change to the power vent water heater was necessary. Due to installing a gas water heater and making sure it was safe to operate it as needed to be the style we installed. As a second attempt at a goodwill gesture I offered to adjust the installed price from $1,693.10 to $1,450.00 so that he would be satisfied he received a fair deal.[redacted] then countered why we didn’t offer to install an electric water heater. I said would have never offered to install an electric after heater for someone that has gas due to the operating differences.He was adamant that we should have given him every conceivable option even though he never asked for electric water heater pricing and didn’t think about it himself when he purchased his original water heater.I knew at this point I could not negotiate a low enough price to compare with the electric pricing. I circled back and offered again the $1,450.00 install price and then said we could tear out the water heater and he could have someone else install the new electric tank he wants now. I offered we would keep the $500.00 check he gave us and come the next day to remove the water heater. He agreed someone would come the next day and we hung up.15 minutes later [redacted] called back again and questioned if I was going to charge him anything to remove the tank above the $500.00 he gave me. I explained no, the $500.00 would cover the removal of the water heater, parts we used to install the tank originally, some of [redacted]'s time and the fact we have a used water heater we can’t sell as new. He said that fine I’ll be here when your tech arrives tomorrow.May 6th, 2015[redacted] another service tech arrived at [redacted]’s house mid morning as planned and removed the gas water heater. [redacted] returned the water heater to our shop and we discussed [redacted] installing an electric water heater. I never heard anything from [redacted] that day so I felt the issue was resolved. I was coming back into the office and [redacted] was trying to get inside the office at our back door. He confronted me about everything again and wanted to give me a check for $160.00. I refused it and said we had agreed that we would remove the water heater for the previous $500.00 check he had given me. He told me that he stopped payment on the other check. I told him we had a verbal agreement on the water heater and he said “I don’t care this is all you are getting”. I told him I would pursue the bad check through the District Justice if necessary he flipped me the middle finger and walked away. I feel we had agreed upon a suitable resolution to both parties. [redacted] violated that agreement and never notified me until after the removal of the water heater that he wasn’t satisfied and had put a stop payment on the check.In yet another effort to settle this situation I will agree to accept payment of $350.00 for the work we performed if he agrees to be satisfied with the resolution.Please let me know if this is acceptable to [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted] Service Manager

Review: I contac[redacted] McCarl's Preferred Services to install a natural gas hot water heater in my home on Monday 5/4/2015. I had already bought a hot water heater from my local [redacted]s. I needed removal of my old and installation of the new water heater I had already purchased. Their tech gets to my house and after about 30 minutes he tells me the water heater that I purchased would not work with the current hook ups I have in my house. He then proceeds to tell me he may be able to get one locally that will in fact work that would be the same price as the one I purchased from [redacted]s.

The one I purchased from [redacted]s was $349. This price was communica[redacted] to the tech.

He left my house, and about 45 minutes later he returns with another water heater. Before even bringing it in my house he checked a few things on it and comes inside and tells me this water heater will not work either.

So I ask him what are my options. He proceeds to tell me I would need to buy a power vent motor out of their catelog that the tech told me was $700. He said even then he wasn't 100% sure if he could get the current water heater I had from [redacted]s to hook up with it correctly and he would need to order that power vent motor anyway and I would still be without hot water until that has arrived. I asked him what my other options were.

He told me the "The lesser of 2 evils would be to purchase a natural gas water heater that has one of the power vent motors already on top of it, which I can get today."

I told him that sounded very expensive. He told me it would be "$350 more than the unit that I had already purchased from [redacted]." I confirmed with him then that the price would be $700 for the water heater, and whatever the cost of the install would be. He said yes that is correct. Knowing he has already been back and forth between my house un installing my old hot water heater, and picking up the first one that did not work. I figured the labor would be at least $350 - $400, which would bring my total to $1100 worst case scenario. I confirmed with him that I was ok with that figure, and he left my house a 2nd time to pick up this power vent water heater.

In the meantime I returned my unit I had originally purchased from [redacted]s so I had got back some of the money I needed to pay him for his services.

He returned over an hour later after I had already been back from my return to [redacted]s and proceeded with the installation, which required him drilling a 2 inch hole in my foundation for the vent of the new hot water heater.

Once he finished with the installation, he hands me a bill for $1693.

I asked him where did an almost $600 extra charge come from? He told me then (for the first time) that the unit he installed cost $1293, plus the $400 labor. I was totally shocked! He told me the unit was $700 before he went to get it. Does all the installation, then decides to tell me that the until costs $593 more than what he told me to begin with.

I told him that was terrible business to blindside me with that much more of a bill, and he EVEN agreed with me that he should have told me what the unit really cost before he star[redacted] the install!

I asked him how he expec[redacted] me to pay him that much more, when I never agreed on a unit that cost that much extra. I told him if he would have told me that before he went to get the unit, I would have asked him to leave at that point because I could not afford the bill to be that much more. And I would have paid him for the cost of what he did (removal of my old water heater), which was about 2 hours worth of labor (their labor rate is $80 a hour) and sent him on his way.

I had no idea at that point what else I could do. The unit was already installed in my house, and I figured the deed was done. I figured I was stuck with it and I would have to pay for it.

I told the tech I couldn't pay near that amount at first so I wrote him a check for $500 at that time.

After the tech left I called and spoke with Dave, McCarl's Service Manager. I told him everything I mentioned above, and he offered me $100 off of the total bill and asked if that would help. I said yes it would help, but I'm still into this way more than I was ever told. I was still not happy. I told him I felt like I got taken advantage of, and his response was that he simply could not knock the price down to what I was expecting to pay (which was $1100 worst case scenario). Not knowing what other options I had I got off the phone with him and thought about it for a day.

Still not happy the next morning I called him Tuesday morning 5/5/2015, the day after the install. I told him I wan[redacted] him to come back to remove the hot water heater because it was no where near the price the tech told me about. He proceeded by asking if he knocked the total down to $1450, if that would be ok. I told him it still wasn't good enough. \

He said for a $200 fee, he would come the next morning and remove the water heater they put in. I agreed and got off the phone with him.

I called him directly back after we got off the phone because I realized he had already had a $500 check that I made to him. He said he would keep that $500 check, and we would call it even.

I'm still not happy with that figure, and I got off the phone with him before I got even more upset with how this whole situation was being handled by their company. I then proceeded to call my bank and stop the payment on the $500 check I made to him.

Because after they come to remove the hot water heater the next day (Wednesday 5/6/2015) they just put in the day prior. The only thing they did for me would be the removal of my old hot water heater. I had nothing else to show for the $500 check I made to him other than the fact that I no longer had my old hot water heater still installed in my house. I felt that wasn't fair at all. So I stopped the payment on that check.

Wednesday 5/6/2015 they came back to my house and removed the hot water heater they just installed.

Thursday morning 5/7/2015 I call my bank to confirm that the stop payment on that check went through and they could not cash it. After I got the confirmation from my bank that the check for $500 that I made to them was officially stopped I made a visit over to McCarl's to tell them in person that I stopped the payment on my $500 check I made to them. I told them because all I had to show for the $500 I paid them was a removal of my old hot water heater. I felt that was no where near a fair price. I brought a check with me for $160 to give to [redacted] the service manager which I told him I was paying to him for 2 hours for the removal of my old hot water heater, because all the labor that went into the installation of a unit I DID NOT AGREE ON I should not be obliga[redacted] for.

I told him that was his technicians fault for not being any where near upfront with the ACTUAL price of the unit.

[redacted] proceeded to tell me that since I stopped the payment on my $500 check, that "I was committing fraud, after a verbal agreement he would keep that check after the removal of the unit they put in that I was not happy with."

He did not see anything from my point of view, and did not feel like I was being taken advantage of at all. I asked him if he was going to take the $160 check I had written to him and he refused to take it. He threatened me saying he would take me to the District Justice office for this matter. After a few hea[redacted] words, I walked away and proceeded to call the Revdex.com. After I gave the operator I spoke with from the Pittsburgh, PA division of the Revdex.com my story, she did tell me I would be able to file a complaint about this matter and said to get online and file the complain on the website. So here I am.Desired Settlement: I am willing to pay McCarl's Preferred Services $160, which would be the cost of 2 hours of labor, that it took them to remove my old hot water heater. All other labor charges after the removal of my old unit I do not feel I am obliga[redacted] for since their technician wasn't clear to me about the $593 extra charge that the unit he installed would cost.

Why should I pay for the labor charges for a unit to be installed that I did not agree on, and the removal of that same unit when it was not my mistake? It was his technicians mistake.

Business

Response:

[redacted] Time Line ReviewMay 7th 2015[redacted] stopped by the office on May 7th, 2017 at 10:30 AM attempting to give me a check for $160.00 for two hours labor. He said that he issued a stop payment on his previous check he had given us and agreed for us to keep if we would remove the gas water heater we installed.He agreed to allow us to keep the $500.00 check we had already received if we agreed to remove the new water we had just installed.I pulled my notes after that discussion to document the time line of conversations we had and the service we provided.May 1st, 2015[redacted] called in the morning wondering if he purchased a water heater for his house would we install it.I asked him what kind of water heater he was buying and he told me a natural gas water heater. I told him yes we could install the water heater and our hourly rate was $ 80.00 per hour plus parts. He asked if we would also haul away the old water heater and I said yes we would just charge him additional time for the removal and scrapping of the old tank. He did not setup a service call at this time.Later in the afternoon [redacted] called back into the office to say he had purchased a water heater and wan[redacted] to setup installation of the water heater. We agreed that I would have a tech install the water heater Monday morning. May 4th, 2015 [redacted] our MPS service tech arrived to install the water heater and found that the water heater was connec[redacted] to a Field Draft inducer which was common ven[redacted] with the existing furnace. The draft inducer allows the water heater to be power ven[redacted] through the sidewall of the house not gravity ven[redacted] into a chimney. [redacted] reviewed the situation and realized that the water heater [redacted] purchased could not be used with the field draft inducer because the safety/control kit would not work on the new water heater.[redacted] called APR supply and after discussions with them it was decided they would have a water heater that could be used with the Field draft inducer. [redacted] went and picked it up and came back to [redacted]’s house. [redacted] opened the water heater box only to find this water heater could not be used either. [redacted] and [redacted] discussed options and [redacted] recommended installing a new Power vent water heater that has a “built in” draft inducer. [redacted] picked up the water heater and installed a new flue out through the side of the house and electrical outlet to power the water heater along with the normal gas and plumbing connections.When the job was completed[redacted] created a bill based on his time, water heater and material used. [redacted] gave [redacted] a $500.00 check toward the amount of the installation. [redacted] signed the work order accepting the work performed. This was approximately 1:00 PM.Later that afternoon at about 4:00 PM [redacted] called and said he was unhappy with the cost of the water heater installation. He explained that what he thought he and [redacted] discussed was different than the actual amount but admited that an actual amount IE $1,700.00 installed was never discussed. The only way the water heater pricing was discussed was this option will be several hundred more than this other option, etc....no hard quo[redacted] number. I called [redacted] and he explained this as well. As a goodwill gesture for the mistake of picking up and returning the water heater that could not be used with the Field draft inducer I offered [redacted] a discount of $100.00 of the final bill. [redacted] seemed happy with this adjustment.May 5th, 2015[redacted] called back into the office reques[redacted] a manager and wan[redacted] to revisit everything that happened Monday. I talked to him since I am the service manager. We discussed everything again and I explained why the change to the power vent water heater was necessary. Due to installing a gas water heater and making sure it was safe to operate it as needed to be the style we installed. As a second attempt at a goodwill gesture I offered to adjust the installed price from $1,693.10 to $1,450.00 so that he would be satisfied he received a fair deal.[redacted] then countered why we didn’t offer to install an electric water heater. I said would have never offered to install an electric after heater for someone that has gas due to the operating differences.He was adamant that we should have given him every conceivable option even though he never asked for electric water heater pricing and didn’t think about it himself when he purchased his original water heater.I knew at this point I could not negotiate a low enough price to compare with the electric pricing. I circled back and offered again the $1,450.00 install price and then said we could tear out the water heater and he could have someone else install the new electric tank he wants now. I offered we would keep the $500.00 check he gave us and come the next day to remove the water heater. He agreed someone would come the next day and we hung up.15 minutes later [redacted] called back again and questioned if I was going to charge him anything to remove the tank above the $500.00 he gave me. I explained no, the $500.00 would cover the removal of the water heater, parts we used to install the tank originally, some of [redacted]'s time and the fact we have a used water heater we can’t sell as new. He said that fine I’ll be here when your tech arrives tomorrow.May 6th, 2015[redacted] another service tech arrived at [redacted]’s house mid morning as planned and removed the gas water heater. [redacted] returned the water heater to our shop and we discussed [redacted] installing an electric water heater. I never heard anything from [redacted] that day so I felt the issue was resolved.