The Sprinkler Man

Blew a station valve on my irrigation system and needed a qualified contractor to replace the valve - the project appeared too complicated for my skillsI felt the job needed to get done fairly soon since my system had been down for nearly two weeks and lawn & garden had gone neglected in the heat wave and wanted to stop the deteriorationFound The Sprinker Man online after getting no return calls from several other firmsTo his credit Alex responded and found his way to my home the next morningI thought be replacing the one faulty valve at a premium but instead I allowed to Alex talk me into replacing all valves at $per or $totalI have no idea if this was fair price - my fault for not getting comparisonsHe defty explained that the mechanisms in valve usally erode within 5-years if left uncovered, which they wereThis seemed logical and since I was in midst of fuhome improvement mode - jsut completed interior painting, hardwood restoration and window treatments , so I was admittedly vulnerable; I had plans to renovate the backyard with hardscape and drought resistant plants and knew from Spirnkler Man's website these were services offeredI even mentioned these plans to Alex thinking we might be able to establish a more permanent relationshipAlex evnced moderate interest - in retrospect his interest level was probably lowerHe insisted I give a $deposit before he schedule the job and despite proudly displaying credit cards on his website, only accepted a checkThis was on a Friday and the job date was set for following Tuesday mid-morningAlex called on Tuesday and rescheduled for FridaySprinkler Man showed with a helper finally on Friday over hours late after my wife contacted himValves got installed late the afternoon by which time I had got home from workWhen I inquired if they had been tested, Alex said the glue needed a couple hours to dry before we could run the waterThat seemed peculiar because they could have tested the first valves installed hours earlierNonetheless, I let the matter pass since I knew how to operate the system and if there were any mal-functions would immediately voice a complaintThen came payment time and again Alex winced and whined about a $charge for using a credit cardFoolishly, I paid the balance with a check - not sure what woulld have happened had I not had the funds to the cover the checkI tried again to broach the larger project; Alex politley obliged but made no effort to set up an appointment to draw up some plans and get an estimateAlex only contribution was to remind me couple times that the valves were under warranty for a year and labor for threeIn a couple months when the weather cools, I will get some estimates on the backyard; Spirnkler Man will not be among those unless Alex makes a proactive effort to contact me It is not the Sprnkler Man was incompetent or even disagreeable, just come away with the impression he wanted to make a quick profit with minimal effort

The Sprinkler Man overcharges, cancelled appointments and sometimes doesn't show up. Gives a quote for a big job, starts the job, then wants extra money for this and that which was in the quote, but he has a way of wording his quotes with his sprinkler knowledge so he can deceive you and charge you more money.