On October 4th 2018, Steven Brown of Plumbing Solutions came out to fix a leak in our downstairs hall caused by our upstairs tub and to fix the diverter in the upstairs tub. By cutting into the hall ceiling, he was able to tighten the joiner between the pipes, which stopped the leak. His work on the diverter, however, was unsuccessful. It had been stiff, and now it was looser, but it was not diverting. He had accomplished only part of the job.
When he arrived to try again, on October 9th, he insisted that he had done the entire job and that now we needed entirely new fixtures. He replaced our classic old round metal shower-head with a square plastic one, and the diverter still didn't divert. He lowered the volume of water coming into the house with the hope that that would solve the problem. It didn't, but it did make rinsing ourselves at shower's end difficult and time-consuming.
On October 16th, I wrote a negative review of Plumbing Solutions' work, but, before publishing, decided to share it with them first. I described what I wrote here and also mentioned the attitude of Steven Brown: when we questioned him, he would announce his expertise and experience; he ignored my wife's remarks and, speaking only to me while my wife was in the room with us, referred to her in the third person; he baldly claimed that our old metal shower-head had also plastic.(I guess that plastic can form rust, then.)
From my complaint to Plumbing Solutions, we received an immediate response. Robert Graham, the owner, and his wife, Melissa, the office manager, called us, listened with apparent concern, and then offered to make everything right. They wrote:
We do believe this fixture is of quality. However, if you desire a different look, we can definitely change them out. Of course, labor will be of no cost. And we would refund the price of the part Steven installed. We do want you to be happy with the fixture as you will be the one looking at it every day. So we want to install a fixture that you love.
We strive for our customers to be happy with our services. We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to make this right.
Due to vacations and holidays, it wasn't until December 27th that Robert Graham and his assistant, Jeremy, could come out to do the work. In the meantime, we had ordered high-quality metal fixtures to replace the plastic shower-head and the rest of the tub/shower fixtures.
Graham, however, immediately changed the rules of what he had offered: We will replace only the shower-head, because the rest is metal. When I pointed out that they won't match, he insisted that the agreement was only to replace the shower-head.
Graham restored the water volume to the house. When I pointed out that we were told that all the fixtures in that tub were to be replaced, he demurred: The fixtures you bought are larger and we would have to cut the tile. Then he asked me if there was anything else, and when I said, No, they left.
I wasn't sure why they had left, since they had not replaced the fixtures, as they promised. After twenty minutes, I called Robert Graham, and he stated that he would not be returning to our house to do any more work. He then began shouting at me that our business ended when we signed the invoice in October. When I pointed out that his offer to make amends was made AFTER that invoice was signed, he began shouting, Where do YOU work? Where do YOU work? I asked whether he was refusing to honor his commitment, and he said, When you signed off on the work, you have your answer. After about five repetitions of that, I hung up.
I realize that Plumbing Solutions will deny behaving this way on the phone and will assert, again, that their responsibility ended when I signed the receipt in October. I shouldn't have signed: We had a strong feeling that the work was inadequate, but, at that moment, we really wanted this over.
When, however, I sent my review to Plumbing Solutions, they made their offer quoted above. At that time, there was nothing from them about You signed off on the work, so we are done. On the other hand, they pushed aside that signature in their assurance to make things right. Thus, their argument now that they have fulfilled their commitment to us is as empty as their promises.
They may state that the offer was not for completely replacing the shower/tub fixtures. However, we have the e-mail messages quoted above and can supply scans & screenshots as needed. They may even claim--as Graham did, in fury, over the phone--that my wife herself chose those plastic Moen fixtures. She did not. (By the way, when I pointed out that the shower-head was plastic, Graham said, Most new cars have plastic bumpers as if that were relevant. I don't shower in my car.)
I would simply like this unprofessional work and attitude to be recorded for anyone else considering hiring this company: DON'T DO IT.
