ComplaintsforAdvanced Plumbing & Rooter Service, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Advanced Plumbing was contracted by my home warranty company, Fidelity National, on August 8, 2022 when I put in a service request for a leaking water heater. Advanced Plumbing scheduled my appointment for 8/18 then cancelled it. Then they rescheduled for 8/22, causing me to miss a crucial day at work. I stayed home for the appointment, but they cancelled again. They finally came to give an estimate on 8/31. They determined that we needed to replace our water heater, and the replacement finally occurred on 9/14, causing another lost day of work. Despite the warranty policy, we paid $940 out of pocket on that day. Weeks went by without an inspection and I had to call multiple times to inquire. I was given the run around, and dealt with one representative who was rude and dismissive. One helpful representative marveled at how long this was taking and how patient I had remained. I asked to deal with the manager. The work failed the inspection on 11/10 when they finally arranged the appointment. Another repair person came on 11/25 after two more cancelled appointments. He discovered a cold water leak left by the first person, cut a new hole in my wall, and broke a main line that flooded my garage. An appointment with a firewall person was set for 12/12. He had to return on 12/13 to finish. On 12/14 I awoke to yet another leak and water in the garage, had to miss work again for an emergency appointment. This company is clearly incompetent, and has cost me time, money, stress, inconvenience and STILL NO COMPLETED WORK OR PASSED INSPECTION over 4 months later.

  

  Business response

  12/16/2022

  .Advanced  Plumbing went to this property on 08/31/2022 through their home warranty company for a water heater leaking. ************** ******* diagnosed that the unit needed to be replaced. Since we went to the property through a home warranty company, we had to give report to them and get authorization for the replacement before any work could be performed. Report was given to Fidelity on 09/01/2022. ************* had non covered costs of $940.00 (the home warranty did not cover this cost)Once the non covered was approved by Ms.  *****, the authorization was given to us for the replacement on 09/12/2022 and we had the tank replaced on 09/14/2022. We had pulled permit for the replacement from the city and once we received the copy of permit, inspection was scheduled. The initial inspection did fail with the city for the items listed on the correction notice and we did go back to make the corrections needed. While the technician was making corrections, a leak did occur while he was at the property( not previously) and it was fixed same time. A bigger hole had to be made through the sheetrock to get the repair done which we had a tech go back to fix. Unfortunately there was another leak from the supply line which the technician went back to fix( there was a drip from supply line). We have had technicians call in sick and have been short staffed due to Covid which we sincerely apologize again for rescheduling the appointment. Unfortunately with plumbing,there are unforeseen which we cannot control or limit time taken to perform a repair/replacement but we did try our best to work with the homeowners time for the corrections to be made after ****pm. I did offer $500 back for the inconvenience caused which the homeowner said she couldnt not accept until the final inspection was done which is scheduled for 12/20/2022. Unfortunately we donot accept the settlement requested by **************

  Customer response

  12/20/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:

  The follow up inspection was today, and this company failed the inspection AGAIN, because they did not make all of the corrections. The technician knew he hadnt done it, and told me so before he left. He claimed it couldnt be done because of the way my house was made and he made the comment that he was a little bit worried it wouldnt. His final words on the subject were, I hope it passes. Im relying on this company to complete the work they were paid to do, and to ensure the system is up to code. If the technician was unsure, he should have contacted the city for clarification. Now this is dragging on even longer, the company has to pay an inspection fee plus make the correction before it can be inspected again. This issue effected my Thanksgiving, and is now effecting my Christmas. I will likely have to take off from work at least twice more for the repair and then inspection. And frankly, that is an optimistic assumption. I have no reason to believe these next steps will go well. Of course I didnt accept a premature offer of $500. Im owed my money back, plus money for my time, inconvenience, stress, days off work and more. This is unacceptable and if we need to go to arbitration or small claims court, we can.

  
  

  

  Business response

  12/28/2022

  My apologies that the inspection failed again for the bonding of gas lines ( which has nothing to do with the water heater install but more what the city requires to check just like CO2 alarms in the house). We have contacted the city inspector numerous times for clarification as to what he exactly wants but have yet to receive a response from them. *****( the technician) has left message for you, if you can return his phone call so we can move forward and get this water heater inspection passed and permit closed. We also would like to get this resolved asap and not waste any further of your time. 

  Customer response

  12/29/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:

  ***** did call me, and his voice mail indicated he did not know specifically what the inspector wanted him to do. He said he would call me when he heard back from the inspector and has not called back. The inspector put this on the correction notice the first time, so at that point it became your responsibility. It has nothing to do with the carbon detectors. You need to understand the task before your technician returns, because if he comes over here and checks detectors, wasting my time is exactly what you will have done. Again. There is also a stop work order from the inspector and you have to pay a fee. He will not return unless you do so. Have you paid the fee? If not, it is also waste of time for your person to come here, because there will be no follow up inspection.

  My request for a full refund and compensation remains. My expectation that you do what you were paid to do correctly months ago remains, and if you are unable to do so, I expect you to pay for another company of my choosing to do the work. Im not calling your technician back until I have confirmation he knows what to do, the fee you owe was paid, and I will receive compensation.

  
  

  

  Business response

  12/29/2022

  Yes, we are taking care of the re-inspection with the city and need to schedule ***** to come for the bonding. Please discuss directly with us rather than going back and forth on BBB so we can get this inspection completed. 

  Customer response

  12/29/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have spoken with your contractor, and although I was dissatisfied with the conversation, we have an appointment scheduled for 1/3/23 at 10am. I am using the BBB portal because I can not trust the integrity of your company, and know I might need legal help and a written record. This is an open complaint.

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 28, 2022 we just received the keys to our new home. We purchased the $400.00 Warranty on the home through American Home Shield. Upon entering the home, we noted that the upstairs and downstairs toilets were loose and wobly, we also had a leak under the guest bathroom sink, and the shower head leaks when turned off. We also noticed one of the downstairs bathrooms toilets doesn't work and the kitchen sink doesn't work. We scheduled an appointment through American Home Shield with one of their contractors called Advanced Plumbing and Rooter Service in ***************, **********. The appointment date came and Advanced Called us and stated that they didn't have enough employees so they would have to reschedule the appointment. I agreed. The next appointment day came, and they said that they booked too much work and would have to cancel again. I was very angry as we have leaks. I reluctantly scheduled a third appointment because American Home Shield wanted a regular plumber to call them while diagnosing the problem and then they would negotiate the charges and decide what was covered and what wasn't. No regular plumber wanted to do this. I waited for the third appointment which was today, July 22, 2022, and sure enough, they called again stating that they couldn't come out due to a leak at another customer and had to stay to repair it. They scheduled a fourth appointment for July 27, 2022. This company is pushing us out, in my opinion, due to retail paying customers, and American Home Shield doesn't pay them retail rates so they just keep canceling. This is not right. Meanwhile, my toilet doesn't work, my sink and shower are still leaking, and I spent $150.00 of my own money to repair the kitchen sink, which we had to have. Please help me to get this resolved. Thank you.

  

  Business response

  07/22/2022

  My apologies for not being able to service your property. Unfortunately we are short staffed at the moment and since *********** is about an hour away from us, we are only able to service this area once or twice a week. Every customer is as important for us but due to being short staffed, there is only so much we can do to service a property especially out of our normal service area. We had informed American Home Shield that we were unable to service your property when we rescheduled the appointment that 2nd time and had asked them if they can send another service provider but they never sent the work order to another provider. Since we were not able to service your property today, we have again asked AHS to send another provider who services the area. My sincere apologies for the rescheduling. Please do check with American Home Shield and ask them if they can send another company out to your property as we have asked them already as well. 

  Customer response

  07/25/2022

  I am rejecting this response because: If this were actually the case, then they wouldnt have canceled the appointment 3 times.  And, every time they canceled it, it was on the morning of the appointment.  If what he is saying was true, then they wouldnt have bumped me 3 times to a month down the road with active leaks.
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  American Home Shield contracted this company to repair a toilet leak. After a No-show, the plumber came, removed tithe toilet to replace the wax ring. Upon doing this new he called me into the bathroom and told me that a piece of the flooring tile had broken off. Said this was done when floor was installed. This tile was not damaged whatsoever before he removed the toilet. He said after sending his boss pictures and talking to him by phone that we needed a ****** extension. Wanted me to pay $450.00 for the part, which is covered by our home insurance. Said they need approval and sent in the report that day. This was on April 4th, 2022. Since then, we have not had our toilet repaired. Upon contacting AHS several times since then, they still have not received their report. I was not given any paperwork for my records. This morning, AHS contacted them after several calls and emails requesting the report they have yet to receive. AHS called them this morning and were told that because we have a cracked tile, and improperly installation of the toilet they cant repair. AHS and myself were told repeatedly that the service report was complete and sent the week of April 4th. Today, AHS was told they are working in the report. To me, this is suspicious, they changed their story from the toilet needed a ****** extension to the tile is cracked, therefore they cannot properly repair. I believe they are currently fabricating the paperwork to cover the fact that the plumber broke the floor tile by improperly dismantling from the floor. Also, they closed out the service call with AHS without sending in the report and notification to me. We have been without a functioning toilet since the end of March. Also, the technician left without properly sealing and securing the toilet and we have had intermittent sewage smell throughout our downstairs. This is unacceptable. I believe they are altering the report to cover the fact that they damaged my floor. This is unacceptable.

  

  Business response

  04/18/2022

  We received a claim from American Home Shield on 3/30/2022 and scheduled appointment for  4/4 for a toilet issue. Unfortunately we had tech called in sick on the 4th so we had to reschedule the appointment. We called the homeowner and spoke to them and rescheduled for 04/06/2022 between **** pm. The technician **** went to their property on the 6th around 10:50 am(within the appointment window) for a toilet leaking at the base. The tech after removing the toilet found the ****** is lower from the flooring which was causing the toilet to leak. Replacing wax ring would not resolve the issue, we had to raise the ****** for which we needed approval from AHS. The tech did advise the homeowner that since ****** is lower than the floor due to the floor being redone, AHS doesnt cover for these most of the time and gave her a retail bid of $450 to get that done the same day if they wanted to. We submitted the report to American Home Shield on their portal  on the  04/08/2022. When the homeowner called us to check on status on Tuesday 4/12, we had advised her we have submitted a report but we don't have any information back from them so she should check with them. AHS actually denied the claim as they did not cover the ****** and sent us an email with the denial on 12th around 2:39 pm. The homeowner can check with the warranty if she thinks our report was suspicious. We informed AHS what needed to be done and it's up to them as to either approve or deny the claim depending on the homeowner's policy. The tile was broken on the side which the tech showed to the homeowners while he was at the property which is a pre-existing condition, there was alot of caulking used to around the toilet when it was installed which was also showed to the homeowner by the tech. 

  Customer response

  04/18/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:
  . The tile was broken upon removal of the toilet.

  After AHS sent out another company for a second opinion, it was found that the

  part that was requested to be replaced was not needed. The actual ****** was warped, 

  the extension was not needed. however, due to the misdiagnosed problem with the flange

  and the second plumber unable to prove that the ****** was not damaged before or after the previous 

  visit.  The floor tile piece that was broken off upon removing the toilet was not left here, thus, we are unable 

  to repair the tile. The technician said one thing to me, never leaving a paper report with me, and when contacted several times for the report from AHS, their diagnosis and reasons for the needed repair had differed. One was toilet too high on floor, needs extension

  then, they blamed the (previously not) broken tile. Because of their technician, I believe his inability and inexperience along with not taking accountability for the damages led to this complaint. The plumber asked me to pay for a part that he also told me should be covered. It was not. However, the part that actually would have been covered was not because of the second company not being able to say that the ****** was damaged either by the previous technician, or normal wear and tear. The part was installed in ****. Due to Advanced plumbing reporting different issues, our toilet is still not repaired. We are appealing AHS decision, however, whatever has to be done, I stand by my first complaint regarding the inability and misdiagnosed issue, the damage and the fact that they were trying to charge for a part that was not needed. We will find another more reputable plumbing company that will repair our toilet. Had the technician been honest and let me know that the part was not covered, I would have gladly paid him for the repair.

  I find is very suspect that I was not given anything in writing, told one thing, had to wait over a week for them to finally send a report to AHS that was different from what I was initially told.

  PS the tile wouldnt have been an issue, had the plumber left the broken piece here so we could have repaired it ourselves. Instead, he took it with him making this a much larger issue 

  
  

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

   After speaking to our technician, we were informed that piece of tile you were referring to was already missing upon removal of toilet. Per him there was a piece of caulking placed there to keep toilet leveled. According to him that was the piece he removed and showed you.
  I understand that you disagree with that statement but when looking at pictures tech took, we can see that theres something missing there. We will not be able to reach an agreement on this piece of tile/caulking situation because tech states it was not there and what he showed you was caulking, but you believe it was tile. Not sure how we can remediate that. We are going by information we were giving by both you and our tech.
  
  Also, the technicians original diagnosis was that toilet was leaking due to improper install of ****** being too low causing leak, we submitted report to warranty to have ****** raised and new wax ring put in. Regarding your statement about us trying to charge you for a part that was not needed, the reason our tech gave you private bid of $450 was in case warranty did not cover repairs and if you decided to do it privately.
  
  Tech is supposed to leave invoice copy with homeowners for all jobs, we will speak with him about that. Im not sure if he ran out of invoices but a copy is supposed to be giving to homeowners after all jobs.
  I do agree that our report to Ahs was sent a few days later,reason for that is office is a little backlog and we are trying our best to submit all reports in timely manner.I apologize for the inconvenience and for any trouble caused.

  Customer response

  04/21/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:we were not informed that the part was not covered while the plumber was here. We were told that they sent an approval request for the part ( wrong part) and would hear from either AHS or their company within 48 hours.

  I did not, at all refuse service, in fact I had to contact AHS several times because I never heard back from either one of them.

  Bottom line is I was told to wait for approval, from the plumber. I was NEVER informed that the said part was not covered when the technician was here. I was told I can pay in advance and get a reimbursement from AHS, the part was almost definitely going to be covered.

  Again, what Advanced Plumbing is stating is not accurate or acceptable. I am the consumer, and should have been informed at the time of service and also had a written report stating that the part was not covered  when the plumber left my home.

  Because of this inaccurate report sent to AHS, I was denied the service to be completed. Also, the second opinion we got could not tell AHS in complete certainty that the ****** ( now bent) was caused by Advanced plumbing due to the fact that they left the water sitting on the floor under the 

  toilet and the toilet was never secured to the floor, making AHS deny the second approval because of this issue stating that the water  not cleaned up is a possibility for the newly damaged ******. Advanced plumbing installed not one, not two, but 3 wax rings unsuccessfully before stating that we needed an extension. Not a ******. Second plumber said extension not needed, but ( now damaged) ****** needed replacement. Because of Advanced plumbing, we still, after almost one month are having to appeal AHS decision and do not have a working toilet.

  Advanced plumbing is not giving you accurate information 

  
  

  

  Business response

  04/25/2022

  Theres seems to be a misunderstanding here. Our techs are not aware of your coverage neither does our office. We dont have access to your policy only your warranty will have access to that. Thats why we are required by American Home Shield (and all other warranties) to submit the report prior to any repairs and wait for a response. That being said, we have been working with warranties for many years and ****** replacement is one of the items that is almost never covered.
  
  Our tech gave you a private bid, so you were aware of the cost in case you later on decided to have it done privately. I do apologize for the tech informing you that you could pay for it and later on get a reimbursement form warranty (that is called a cash out and it is possible to do with covered items) he did not know what type of coverage you have.
  I do believe when office spoke to you, we informed you that we had to submit report and wait for approval. But we also told you that most the times flanges are a non-covered item.
  Your ****** was installed too low causing a leak, our tech removed the toilet temporarily set it back to prevent leak (that would damage your floor) until we heard back from warranty.By doing that it would not cause the ****** to be bent. Also, the water you mention that was left there will not cause any damage to ****** as water passes through the ****** every time toilet is flushed. We informed warranty what was seen and what our advise was. We had no intention of changing our diagnosis to get a denial. You can check with your warranty and verify what report was given to them. 

  Customer response

  04/25/2022

  I am rejecting this response because:

  I know what I was told. I know that had it been properly diagnosed, it would have been covered.

  since I have no paperwork, nothing but what I saw, heard and was told.

  I did check with AHS, and I was forwarded your one-sentence report . 

  This is s no misunderstanding, this is a company giving me (verbally) incorrect information, told me to wait for approval,

   and I never heard from that company again.  Ever. Several attempts were made by AHS to reach them (according 

  to them) because they, like myself, had no report.
  had I been told this was not covered, I would have had it installed, at my cost, that day.

  I am glad I did not, as the part recommended was incorrect, according to the second opinion..

  again..I was left NO PAPERWORK FROM ADVANCED PLUMBING 
  clearlytheir series of events differ from mine.

  Because if this issue, we still have no working toilet, as I am holding AHS accountable for the misinformation, 

  and because this is now completely based on principle. We pay for reliable, experienced and (hopefully) honest contractors.

  that is exactly what we expected.

  I hope that this will be a learning experience for Advanced Plumbing, and hope they do right by their clients, no matter if

  th are privately hired, or contracted by a home insurance company.

  live never, beer contacted BBB for any reason. This alone should show that I am legitimately dissatisfied with this particular company.

  I hope they get better, and hope they do well in the future.
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩