ComplaintsforBill Howe Plumbing Inc

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bill How Plumbing (BHP) was contracted to replace my kitchen faucet. They sent an employee of BHP who arrived and began to replace the kitchen faucet which we supplied. I was in the same room as he was installing the faucet. The Plumber called me over and showed me that he had cracked the granite. The granite is cracked both around the faucet mount and in three other locations along the back of the sink. Further, the employee left a scratch on my wood floor in front of the sink. I have spoken with a supervisor at BHP named ******** who is unwilling to accept responsibility for the damage. He will not provide me with his insurance company information and thus I am making this complaint in an effort to have the BBB facilitate a repair of the granite.

  

  Business response

  01/04/2024

  Dear ******,
  
  We're sorry to hear about the issues with your kitchen faucet installation. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused. We take such matters seriously and are committed to resolving them promptly. We're currently reviewing this job internally to verify the information and determine appropriate next steps to address your concerns. It's our understanding that you are also still in communication with our plumbing department.
  
  We value your business and are dedicated to ensuring your satisfaction. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Bill Howe Plumbing

  Customer response

  01/04/2024

  Dear Bill Howe Plumbing:

  Thank you for responding to the BBB complaint.  I only was given two choices to your response (accept or reject).  Thus, I am rejecting the response and adding this written clarification.  

  I am pleased to see that you are attempting to take responsibility.  However, that is not the tenor of your plumbing supervisor ********.  At first he completely denied the plumber did anything wrong, then blamed me for having old granite and gave me 3 or 4 reasons why it was my fault.  We had granite that was not broken before your plumber came and after he pulled on the faucet in the removal process the granite was broken.  

  Further, your plumber scratched our wood floor.  ********, without seeing the floor, or otherwise investigating the situation said the plumber could not have scratched the floor because he was wearing booties and has a special tool bag with soft feet.  This is an unfortunate situation that he would immediately discredit me and not even attempt to determine what happened.  The plumber removed tools and must have placed something on the floor and caused the scratch.

  I understand that this is a difficult situation for your business.  However, we have been left without water in our kitchen sink, been shunned by your company supervisor and made to believe this is somehow our fault.  Your company has left us in an extremely difficult situation.  Further, we have family coming from out of the country to stay with us in about 10 days.  Therefore, not having a working kitchen is clearly not an option.

  Should you not take full responsibility and approve repairs we will have the repairs performed and seek compensation for all of the damages caused by your plumber.  Thank you.

  Best regards, 

  ****** ******

  

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  Dear ******,
  

  Thank you for your detailed response. We sincerely apologize for any frustration caused and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter. We understand the urgency of your situation, especially with your family visiting soon.

  We plan to replace the countertop and complete the installation of your faucet to your satisfaction. We are coordinating efforts to ensure this is done promptly and efficiently and understand you are in contact with ********.

  We value your feedback regarding your experience with our company and want to assure you that we address this feedback internally to ensure better communication and customer service in the future.

  Your trust and satisfaction are our top priorities. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to make this right, and please let us know if you need anything else.
  

  Sincerely,
  

  Bill Howe Plumbing
  

  
  

  Customer response

  01/09/2024

  Thank you again for the response.  We have the repair contractors here today and the faucet to be installed on Friday.  I will update this complaint after the repair and install.  If the repair holds and the faucet is installed properly and in worker order I will close this complaint thereafter.  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  09/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hired Bill Howe Plumbing to install a tankless water heater. The installer made numerous mistakes and required FIVE total visits to our home to fix the problem. Due to install error, he didnt program the tankless water heater correctly, our electric bill went up significantly. We were told by ***************** the tankless water heater would reduce our bill. Through install error our bill went up. We would like to recoup money from higher water bill due to their installer incorrectly programming our water heater to the highest level when that was not the correct programming and caused our new tankless water heater to be running continuously and increasing our electric bill. Looking to recoup costs from higher electric bill due to faulty install. Video shows how hot water keeps coming out of cold waterfaulty wire installscratched exterior tankless metal. For some reason I cant attach video?!

  

  Business response

  09/27/2023

  Dear *****,

  We're very sorry to hear about these issues and we're committed to making the situation right. We understand that you've been communicating with us internally about some of this as well. Could you please send us a statement from SDGE for the household that includes the last 6 months? This will allow us to accurately determine any excess energy expenditure. You can send any documents to ********************.

  Thank you.

  Customer response

  09/27/2023

  I sent photos of invoices to ***************** on 9/27 via email to address provided. Your (BBB) online system will not accept my file sizes and only allow 5 files when they (*****************) are requesting 6. 

  Their claim (*****************) that they are communicating with me internally is simply not true. I havent heard from anyone proactively. I have only had contact with call center when I call requesting a service call and with the service employee five of them (sent individually) who are sent to my house. Thats five opportunities theyve had to make it right with 3 hour appointment windowsTalk about inconvenience?!
  

  I requested a supervisor contact me via txt to the service employee who came to my house yesterday, 9/26. Never heard from anyone. Thus I filed complaint with BBB. 

  

  Business response

  10/03/2023

  Hi *****,

  We've reviewed your install information and the **** documents you provided. We're very sorry for the inconvenience surrounding this job and for any miscommunication or lack of communication that occurred. It's certainly not reflective of how we aim to do business. We're mailing you a check in the amount of $250 to your billing address. Please let us know if you'd like this amount mailed to a different address. Thank you for your patience and for choosing us. We apologize again for any frustration, and hope you consider us in the future for any plumbing, heating and air or restoration needs so that we can provide you with top-tier service.

  Customer response

  10/07/2023

  I will accept ******************* response AFTER receiving check for $250.

  As you can imagine, I am skeptical it will be sent. I look forward to receiving. Please mail to my address: *************************************************************************************

  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Contacted Bill Howe plumbing due to a small leak at base of bathroom faucet. Was quoted $189 per hour over the phone. Technician said faucet needed replaced. He quoted $179 for the faucet (pricey I thought) and the above hourly rate. He gave me a verbal estimate of $450. I agreed before I saw the faucet. It's a very BASIC faucet for an old bathroom, nothing fancy. Technician replaced the faucet (entire visit took a little under 1.5 hours) and charged me $450 and said he'd send the receipt. The sent receipt was not itemized. I called the company twice asking for an itemized receipt saying I felt I was overcharged on the faucet and wanted a written explanation of time and labor. Two different calls resulted in no action.

  

  Business response

  01/03/2023

  Dear ***********************,

  I'm so sorry we weren't able to address your concerns with the faucet replacement job that took place on the 27th of December. I know you've had a chance to talk with our service manager ********************* now, and I hope he was able to clear up any questions you had about our parts and labor pricing structure. We've assessed the job and found that the technician actually charged less than he should have. We try very hard to keep our pricing competitive and often find that we come in under industry average. We're very sorry if you feel the pricing is still too high but hope that we've resolved any and all questions you had as to why the job was invoiced as it was.

  We apologize again for not being able to help you when you first called and will assess our processes as we're continually trying to improve our customer experience. Thank you for contacting the BBB and making us aware of your issue. If you feel you need further assistance please don't hesitate to call us back.

  Sincerely,

  Bill Howe Plumbing, Heating & Air, Restoration & Flood.

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ***************** plumber ************************* came to replace an existing 75-gallon water heater. Upon completion, asked for a payment of $3,622, paid with a credit card. A receipt was sent to my email address, but only the total amount. Upon request of a detailed receipt, it was sent to me showing labor=$895, water heater = $1697, and materials = $1030, total $3,622. I called the ** complaining the labor and material seem too high and an adjustment of $100 was credited back to my credit card.The total work did not take more than a half a day for which the labor was out of line, and the charge for the material used was also extremely high. A circulating pump was a part of the material used, and only very few feet of copper pipe used. I am seeking adjustment to this extremely high charge for a water heater.

  

  Business response

  12/15/2021

  Good Morning, 

   

  Thank you for letting us know that you found the charge too high. I have sent your information and complaint to our *************************** and they will be reaching out to help resolve this! We appreciate you taking the time and giving us an opportunity to address your issue. 

   

  Thank you!

*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. ↩