Jessica P.
01/12/2018 12:00:00 SA
I called yesterday based on recommendations from the Nextdoor app that they were able to come out quicker than other companies and I needed someone to come out sooner rather than later. I had the bathroom floor replaced and when the company went to put the toilet back, determined that the valves attached to it were old and should be replaced (and we decided to get the ones on our pedestal sink replaced also since they were likely old as well) and it needed to be done by a professional plumbing company. I called and was quoted $163 plus parts by the woman on the phone. I told her I would call her back after I spoke to my husband. I was told to ask her if that included putting the toilet and sink back once the valves were replaced when I called back, which I did and she said yes. I asked how they know what valves to get and she said he would come by, look at them, go to the store and get the parts and come back to do the work. What I was clearly not told was that the cost was actually $163 per hour and that includes his time to and from the store plus a $28 service charge which was not mentioned at all. I appreciate that they were able to come the next day (although I was also told 8:30-9am they would arrive and they were here at 10:30am), but I do not appreciate being scammed over the phone to get my service by not disclosing their price is per hour and that's going to include however many times the plumber goes to and from the store because he needs extra parts - I had all the parts that had been on the sink for years and were working, but he determined that one of my extension pieces was too short and he needed a longer one - so I paid the extra time for that trip as well. I did ask for extra work while he was here - one of my other toilets wasn't flushing properly - I asked him if he had time and if it was an easy fix, if he could do it. We talked about price and he said it would be about 15-20 minutes extra plus parts and quoted me roughly $80-$90 extra. Now once I got the bill that was $250 more than I was expecting and I asked him how and he told me it's $163 per hour, I told him that is not what I was told over the phone. He proceeded to tell me that the receptionist had done that before. So I called the company and a man answered (I'm assuming the owner). I explained the situation and he said the woman was on speaker phone so her heard her tell me $163. Then later, after some arguing about how long the plumbers were here (because they had to go to and from the store twice) when I said I don't appreciate being scammed to get my service, he changed his story to say he heard her say $138/hr plus a $28 service charge. So now the price has changed and the service charge has been added. He then asked me if I thought they should work for free. Of course not, however, and what I told him in my response is that I expect to get an honest quote when I call. As I was explaining how they should make sure their receptionist is quoting the correct price to customers because that is a huge difference, he hung up on me. Had the owner not yelled at me and changed his story over the phone and then proceed to hang up on me, this could have been handled appropriately, but he did both of those things and no one else should have to deal with being overcharged or that type of horrible customer service.
