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 ***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 “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 ***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] / [redacted] Style Definitions */ Regards, [redacted] [redacted]
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 ***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 “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 ***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] / [redacted] Style Definitions */ Regards, [redacted] [redacted]