The Granite Crew Inc.

April 10, 2018Texas State Board of Plumbing ExaminersPO Box 4200Austin, TX 78765Re: Complaint # ***My office is compiling notes and statements from involved parties, should they become necessary to shed light on what consider a misleading account by my customer's spouseWe made several
attempts to make Mr*** happy with his purchaseAll work was done in good faith, for the purpose of giving the customer what he had requestedAccording to information from our supplier of the appliance (Moore Supply), and field verified (via temporarily bypassing the gfi outlet using an extension cord plugged into a nearby outlet), the only issue with the heater is the electrical serviceWe made Mr*** aware of this (not to be installed on a gfi plug), and suggested he involve an electricianUpon finding out that the electrician had failed to successfully correct the issue, we attempted to explain the issue to him over the phone (after his trip to the job was completed)He indicated he was willing to go back and correct the issue.This apparently was not satisfactory to Mrs***We made several offers to correct this problem which were all refusedI had even offered to hire an electrician out of my own pocket to complete the work properlyThis offer was countered with a very specific list of demands, and a threat to file a complaint to the B.B.Bif we didn't complyMy offer was an attempt to meet the customer beyond halfway, and it was returned with a threatI look forward to addressing the elaborate complaint, should the board find merit to any of it.Sincerely yours,*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because
April 13,
Mr[redacted]
Texas Board of Plumbing Examiners
PO Box
Austin, TX
Re: Complaint #: [redacted]
Dear Mr[redacted],
We received an e-mail today from the RevDex.com with a written response from [redacted] of Apache Plumbing
regarding our complaint noted above. We
beg to differ that we gave a misleading account in our original letter
outlining our concerns
We do not doubt that Apache Plumbing's work was [redacted]e
in good faith. We had them remove an old
hot water heater in the garage attic, fix a pipe that froze and asked them to
install a new tankless water heater under the sink in our garageOur
contention is that the Eemax electric tankless water heater they chose, model #
SP3512, was the wrong water heater for its location and did not adhere to the
electrical specifications written in the manufacturer's installation guide. If a more thoroughly researched water heater,
that met the specifications in the installation manual was installed, we would
not be in the position we find ourselves today
The Installation
Guide and Owner's Manual for this water heater states to "read and understand
these instructions thoroughly before attempting the installation of this water
heater." Apache Plumbing chose a water heater for our garage sink that failed
to meet two requirements as written in the manual
p"This heater must be used in a location where it
is not subject to freezing temperatures."
One of the reasons we had Apache Plumbing out in the first place was to
fix a busted pipe in the garage that was a result of several days of below
freezing temperaturesThe busted pipe is not far from the sink where the water
heater was to be installedIt could be argued that pipes in garages rarely
freeze but if it did the manufacturer stated it "is not liable for any damages
resulting from improper installation or misuse."
p"This heater must have its own independent
circuit
and protected by the correctly rated circuit breaker." This is the other reason this water heater should
not have been chosen and installed in the first placeBefore installing the
unit Apache Plumbing did not check
whether the unit would be on an independent circuit (it was not) and that it would
be on a amp breaker (which it was
not.) In fact, after reading over the
manual ourselves we mentioned this to Apache Plumbing and their response was "we
are not electricians."
In Mr[redacted] letter dated April 10, we need
to clarify a few of his statements
Paragraph "We made Mr[redacted] aware of this (not
to be installed on a gfi plug) and suggested he involve an electrician. Actually I was never told the water heater
should not be installed on a gfi plug on the installation dayI also was not
told this before I had an electrician out to see why the plug was not
working. He determined the plug worked
fine and that it was the water heater tripping the gfiOn the day of
installation at no time did the installer say the unit was not working because it
was connected to a gfi circuit. Rather,
he thought we had a bad plug the water heater was plugged into and that we
needed to have an electrician out to fix the plug
Paragraph "Upon finding out the electrician had
failed to successfully correct the issue, we attempted to explain the issue to
him over the phone (after his trip to the job was completed)." The reason the
electrician was called in the first place was not to correct the issue but to
determine why the plug was not functionalPrior to the electrician's visit we
were told you have a bad plug and nothing about the plug being on a gfi line. If it was to correct the issue we would have
been told by the installer that the water heater needs to be on an independent
circuit with a amp fuse ahead of the electrician's visit. It was only after the installation of the
water heater, and the electrician's visit, did Apache Plumbing notify us that
they had contacted the manufacturer and were told it should not be on a gfi
circuit
Paragraph 1 "He
(the electrician) indicated he was willing to go back and correct the
issue." The electrician gave us an
estimate of $to do the workIf I
had known the water heater needed an independent line and amp fuse ahead of
time, and the associated cost, I'm not sure I would have proceeded without
getting a recommendation and estimate from another company first.
Apache Plumbing has [redacted]e work for us in the past in
the main part of our house. They did
make several offers to correct the problem but none to our satisfactionA
letter was sent to Apache Plumbing dated
February 23, RE: Hot Water Heater Project Request for ResolutionThey did not respond to our suggestions as
noted in that letter
Unfortunately Mr[redacted] of Apache Plumbing sees
our original letter as a threatIt was not intended as such but rather a
recommended avenue for resolution in such a dispute. In my mind it comes down to thisI feel the
product Apache Plumbing chose to install in our garage sink failed to meet the
standard of what I would expect from any plumbing company, which is, choosing
and installing a product that meets the specifications for the location
intended as written in the installation
guide
Sincerely,
[redacted] and [redacted] Cc: RevDex.com Complaint ID [redacted]
Regards,
[redacted] [redacted]