t n.
05/11/2021 12:00:00 SA
BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!! SCAM!! SCAM! Im a landlord with properties all over Phoenix & Mesa, over the last 15 yrs, and I have a list of vendors that I've used and trusted. So one of my properties had a leak in the kitchen, and it was a Sunday, so the plumbers that I regularly use, were not available for same day service on a Sunday, and this situation was a bit of an urgent matter. So after searching on yelp for plumbers, I came across ASAP Plumbing. The only reason I called them was because they have good yelp reviews. I talked with the owner, Nick, on the phone and he said he can have a plumber there within a few hours. The plumber from ASAP, his name is Daniel, he showed up and after he his inspection, he called me and after that a few red flags came up for me:
1) The first thing Daniel asks me is... Sir are you in the Valley? I told him no Im not (Im in Tucson, but I didnt feel the need to tell him that). In my experience, I know that some vendors want to see if you are a local landlord / investor, or if you are out of town, and if you out of town... guess what, they are more likely to try to rip you off.
2) After finding out that Im not local in the Valley, Daniel then tells me that we have a slab leak (where the pipe underneath the slab is leaking and it is coming through to the floor in the kitchen), and that the repair that he recommends is a rerouting of the pipe ...a job that would cost over $3,200!! Naturally, I became suspicious. Daniel said they would need to come back and perform a leak detection with their equipment to make sure.
3) Then, Daniel then tells me Hey you are going to want to have a restoration company come and clean up this water damage ----- HUGE RED FLAG!! (for anyone that doesnt know, PLUMBERS GET PAID A KICKBACK COMMISSION, sometimes bettween $500 to $1500 or more from a restoration company to send them referrals. Then the restoration company comes in and tears up your property (before the insurance company can come do an apprasil), and holds you hostage with the repairs that need to be done, and the whole time they will tell you that your insurance company will pay for it. They will create more damage, to increase the bill ---- because someone has to pay the Plumber's kickback --- And you the homeowner could be out THOUSANDS of dollars out of your own pocket to get your property repaired, because the insurance company likely will not cover all of it, no matter what the restoration company tells you).
4) Daniel tells me, write down this name, Preferred Choice Restoration, call this number, and tell them that Daniel from ASAP Plumbing referred you ----- RUN FOR THE HILLS!! If this is not so blatantly obvious, that Daniel is getting a referal bonus from this company if they close a sale with me.
After that phone call with Daniel, the scam artist, I was so weary about ASAP Plumbing. Not only did Daniel suggest a $3200 repair, but he told me to call this restoration company and tell them that Daniel referred me.
The next day, Monday, Daniel came back and did the leak detection with the equipment. And sure enough, Daniel told me me, yup, its a slab leak, and the cheapest repair would be the repipe option, which is over $3,200. That same aftertoon, guess who I got a phone call from? A person from Preferred Choice Restoration called, and said that Daniel from ASAP Plumbing gave them my phone number and they wanted to sell me their restoration services!
***NOTE TO ASAP PLUMBING: HOW DARE YOU GIVE OUT A CUSTOMER'S PHONE NUMBER TO ANOTHER COMPANY WITHOUT PERMISSION??!?! DONT EVER DO THAT OR YOU GET NASTY YELP REVIEWS LIKE THIS ONE!!***
Being wary of this scam artist, I called a different plumbing company, to have them come for a second opinion.
So on Tuesday, the other plumbing I called, comes out and inspects the leak, and they determine that the leak is a broken faucet and pipe underneath the sink, and it is NOT a slab leak!! They fixed the pipe and facuet right away, and it cost me only $450 with this other plumbing company.
After the leak was fixed (not by ASAP Plumbing), I called Daniel back, and asked him why did you give my phone number to Preferred Choice Restoration? (which by the way, has horrible yelp reviews) And he replied... oh we work exclusively with them, so I gave them your number ---- SCREW YOU DANIEL!! That's like a car dealer telling you its okay for them to sell your phone number to Bank of America because you asked them about auto loans, so Bank of America can call you try to sell you a car loan. The only reason why Daniel gave them my information, is so they he can try to collect a huge kickback if I use their restoration services.
The owner Nick, will likely respond to this review, trying to make it better. But the truth is, you have a bad apple Nick, his name is Daniel, and it's not good for your business. Or this might be a companywide practice, who knows?
STAY AWAY FROM ASAP PLUMBING!!!