Ridiculous!
We first called these plumbers the same day we purchased a $29.99 Angie's list Big Deal for a Service Call because we were having two issues: 1) after long rainy periods, I and my downstairs neighbors with whom we share a rowhouse could hear a leaking sound in the walls, and 2) our cold water pressure would steadily decline the longer a faucet was kept running, even though the hot water pressure was normal.
My understanding was that we would be paying the $29.99 for the plumber to come and assess the problem, and tell us what was wrong. We assumed that once they figured out the problem, they would explain it to us and quote us a price for fixing it.
After our first call, we were told we'd get a call back to schedule a time when a plumber could visit. Several days later we called again, since we hadn't heard from them, and after getting to voicemail (and a full mailbox), we finally managed to reach the same person we'd spoken to before. He told me my problem had fallen through the cracks and that that was the reason we hadn't received a call back, but he at least seemed to remember the two issues we'd described to him as needing attention. He then scheduled a visit for October 21 between 9 a.m.-11 a.m. I had to take the morning off of work, as did one of our downstairs neighbors with whom we share a water main, to be available for the plumber to visit during that time, but we figured we didn't have much of a choice, so no biggie.
At 11 a.m., with no plumber in sight nor any calls about it, I called the service only to be told that there had been a mix-up and that we were on the schedule for the afternoon, from 2-4. Our neighbor had to go to work, and I had to take the rest of the day off to wait for this person.
I then got a call asking him for the address of our place, which the plumber didn't have despite the fact that I'd given it to the person who scheduled the appointment not once but twice.
When the plumber finally showed up, he immediately said that the leak was a roofing issue that he couldn't deal with (why he couldn't say this over the phone, I will never know), and then took a look at the pressure issue. In the span of about 5 seconds, he reached into the water main, flicked his wrist, and then turned around and diagnosed the problem as a wrongly turned valve, and then calmly told me that we owed this person $75 for the five second diagnosis/fix (this is on top of the $30 coupon). He did not preemptively explain the problem to me (Iwould've been happy to turn the knob myself, had I known the cost), he didn't provide a quote for fixing it, and he didn't give me the choice to decline the service. He just looked at the valve, reached in, and fixed it. The entire visit took less than 10 minutes, and the diagnosis/fix took about 10 seconds. When I was reluctant to pay, given that we had a coupon and had not even been given a choice of whether or not to fix the problem, the plumber said the $30 coupon was merely money that went to Angie's List for the referral. He added that if we didn't have the deal, the service call on its own would have cost $75, and that fixing the problem (ADJUSTING A VALVE) would have cost $175, so I guess we supposedly saved a lot of money. However, if they seriously intend to charge $250 for this sort of thing, they'll be out of business very shortly.
I should mention there was no apology for the fact that the plumber was three hours late or the attending inconvenience.
Afterwards, to add salt to the wound, I called them to complain about the unreasonable price, and they responded that while they would agree to refund the money (which I'd never asked for, I wanted to make a more reasonable arrangement), they felt they shouldn't have to since all the money from the coupon went to Angie's List, and they deserved to be compensated for the service they'd provided. They said that they do not like the policy of the customer is always right because in this case we (the customers) were definitely wrong. I responded by explaining that it is not our concern what their business arrangement with Angie's List is, and it is their responsibility to ensure their marketing deals are not unprofitable. Furthermore, I noted we paid for a consultation, and that is all we wanted/expected to receive; had we been told what the problem was and what the cost would be to fix it, we would have refused the service and either done it ourselves or searched for a cheaper option. I also added that had the plumber been somewhat nicer, or had he mentioned the cost of the fix prior to performing it, we would have been happy to pay $40 or so for the service. As it was, we are happy we are getting our money back.