ComplaintsforDrain King Plumbers

• Initial Complaint

  22/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company came to my condo to fild a water leak on July 24th, 2023. They said the quote was free. When I invited them to my condo, they said I must pay $310 to get a quote. He showed me terms and conditions that I needed to sign, and one of them was that I was satisfied with the work they did even BEFORE they started their work. I questioned the plumber multiple times about the issue but he said it's the company policy. I did sign it and he proceed with the work. He spent sometime and told me it could be caulking issue. He reapplied the caulking. It takes 24 hours to dry so I tried again after 24 hours. It was still leaking. I called their competitor and they found the cause of the leak right away. I asked Drain King for refund. They refused. I even invited them back to my condo to show them what they missed. They refused to come and told me they are going to put me on their do nor service list. Here are the stuff that I'm concerned with this company. This company forces people to sign documents that say customers are satisfied with their work even before starting the work. Advertises as free quote when it isn't. Doesn't do a proper diagnosis to solve the issue. Doesn't give people a copy of terms and conditions, invoices. I later talk to the manager about the issue, he was not surprised with his employee forcing signatures before starting the work. **** ******* *** **** ************** ****** ******* ****** ********** *** **** *** ******* **** *** ******. I asked this company to find the water leak and they did the wrong test and couldn't find the leak, so I need my money back.

  

  Business response

  22/08/2023

  Response to customer complaint:

  1. We Provide free estimates when the issue is easily accessible & identifiable. In your case there was some extensive testing and investigation of all the fixtures in your unit to source the leak. This estimate was provided to you at no charge. There is no company policy that requires customers to sign off that the work is done before it’s done. You signed credit card authorization and acknowledgment to willingly pay for the job after it was completed.
  

  2. Our technician pinpointed the leak to the shower base/surround area. Our technician informed you that it could be due to a variety of things such as poor caulking or failed waterproofing of the shower. Our technician went above and beyond and installed new caulking for you. Free of charge. He made it clear. It may not solve your problem, but it would be the first place to start. The customer made it clear he was not interested or looking to replace the shower.
  

  3. The customer then calls back almost a week later, requesting a “free warranty service call” to fix his leak. We reminded the customer that he did not pay to install the caulking, but rather it was done for free as a courtesy, and there was no guarantees it would work as it was mentioned, it could be waterproofing /membrane related. The customer initially claimed the technician said the caulking would “100% work”. This was false, and after explaining to customer that we have very thorough details of the job he admitted that it was not the case, and that the technician did indeed mention it may not work, and he could have deeper issues.
  

  4. After explaining to the customer that there is no warranty or refunds for services that they were not billed for, the customer quickly changes the entire story and then claimed there was a “misdiagnosis”. At this point in time, the customer did not have any other professional out to confirm this information. 
  

  5. The customer claims they since had another company come out to “find the issue”. The customer was politely asked to send over some type of information or proof to support his claim of our so called “misdiagnoses”. He was told that if there was a misdiagnosis we would, of course rectify the situation. However, absolutely no information or proof has been provided. Instead the customer says;

  “why should I help your company be better”. 

  “Refund my money first then we can talk”

  “I own a condo downtown, go check how much it’s worth”

  “I constantly modify my review so mine stays the newest.”

  We have tried to resolve the situation with this customer and have asked them to forward the so-called evidence of our missed diagnosis so we can look into the situation. We have yet to receive anything substantial from the customer other than insults and ********

  Yes, the customer has since been put on our “do not service list” as we are not going to allow our team to be mistreated, *********** and taken advantage of.

  Customer response

  31/08/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The fact that this company forced me to sign the documents indicating satisfaction with their work even before they commenced the actual work does not change. **** ** ** ******** ******** ********* *** *** *** ****** *********** **** ******* **** ********* ******** ********* ****** ** ****** ***** I have the entire conversation recorded and I'm willing to provide it to the BBB.
  
  I don't understand why this company keeps insisting that I wanted a warranty on the free caulking job. When the plumber was performing the free caulking job, I repeatedly informed him that I had a caulking gun with me at that moment and that I could handle the rest of the area myself. As a result, the plumber only applied caulking to one side out of the four, which took less than a minute. I possess a complete recording of the entire conversation, so I am prepared to present it. 
  
  After I mistakenly said the phrase "100% work," I corrected myself right away, rectifying my error and offering an apology. However, it's puzzling to me why this company has chosen not to address this in their response.
  
  After the plumber made a misdiagnosis, instead of contacting the company, I messaged the plumber. I did this because I wanted to offer him another chance to complete the job correctly before informing his manager of the initial mistake. The plumber indicated he would get back to me, but he never did until I reached out to him days later. Subsequently, I got in touch with the customer service representative to request a refund. The customer service rep assured me that I would hear from the company. However, days passed without any response until I initiated contact once again.
  
  In situations where customers grow frustrated with their workmanship and share negative feedback online, the company swiftly places those customers on their "Do Not Service" list. They don't provide follow-up visits; instead, they take the money and go to the next ******** house.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ***
  
  

  

  Business response

  14/09/2023

  Response to customer:

  1. Nobody forced anyone into signing anything. The estimate was provided free of charge and the customer accepted the estimate for leak detection, and willingly paid for the service once it was completed. There was no misdiagnosis here as the customer was well aware that the silicone work may not solve the issue. He was advised that it could be a deeper issue but it was the first & cheapest place to start. If the customer was not satisfied with our services why did he happily pay upon completion? Why would he willingly sign authorization to charge his credit card in full for the work once it was done? It was only until days later he decided to dispute his bill after finding out the caulking did not completely solve the issue whilst knowing that there was no guarantee the caulking would work. The customer has yet to provide proof of this so called "misdiagnosis" because there was no misdiagnosis.

  2. You called our office on august 8th (two weeks after the work was done) and this was the first time we heard back from you regarding your concerns. All inquiries are to be made with drain king directly and not privately through our technicians. We have records that show we attempted to call you back three times on the same day (aug 8). We the followed up again a week later to discuss your concerns and we were able to get InTouch with you then.

  3. Unfortunately we are not able to provide refunds for services that were provided in full and in good faith. The customer only paid for an investigation (not including any repairs) and the investigation was provided in full. There was absolutely no charge for the caulking work therefore there is no warranty or refunds for that work. The customer has yet to provide any proof regarding a "misdiagnosis". Without any proof of the customers claim of a misdiagnosis unfortunately a refund is simply not justified, and will not be provided.

  4. Based on our recorded phone call with the customer on aug 8 the customer clearly indicated on the call that he was upset that he paid for work that "didn't fix the leak". The customer was reminded that he did not pay for any work to fix the problem, but rather a simple investigation to identify where the leak could be coming from. The caulking was done at no charge with no guarantee.  After reminding the customer that he did not pay for the work he wanted fixed "under warranty" the story then changed to a "misdiagnosis". The chain of events here, and the statements made by this individual (some of which are included in our previous response) clearly show character, and who we are working with, thus the reason the customer was added to our "DO NOT SERVICE" list. We will not allow our team of excellent people to be taken advantage of, insulted, mistreated, or intimidated by any individual.

   

  Thank you.

   

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