ComplaintsforMr Rooter Plumbing Of Wesley Chapel

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  On June 4, 2022 I was desperate because of a sewage backup and quickly contacted Mr. Rooter of Wesley Chapel *************************************** The serviceman was James M who immediately upon arrival had me sign his tablet a few times without showing me the language that I was signing for and he never provided me a copy of what I signed. I later learned that the agreement that I signed "entitled me to a copy of the contract at the time that I signed it". He determined that the sewage line from the property to the street was blocked. He used a drain auger machine to clear the clog and told me that the blockage was caused by tree roots. I paid him $398.75 by check. He was supposed to e-mail the invoice but never did. After getting the invoice via his helper's e-mail account on June 4, 2022, I read that he charged me for a "video Inspect to determine cause and provide a sewer analysis". He never did a video inspect of the line. The invoice also provided a "No Clog Guarantee" A few days later the drain clogged again but I was able to clear it myself by flushing 2 other toilets at the property simultaneously while slowly adding water with a bucket to the blocked toilet so it would not overflow. The procedure solved the problem and the drain cleared itself immediately. I reported this blockage/clearing to James M who returned to the property on June 11 and dug a hole exposing a small portion of the pipe and installed a 2 way clean out in less than 2 hours for a cost of $2100. ( Doctors and lawyers don't get paid $1000 per hour.). He said that tree roots are not covered by his "No Clog Guarantee" That is not true. Tree roots are not excluded from his warranty. Before he left, I asked him to again send me the invoice for June 4 and June 11. He did a few things on his tablet and neither invoice came to my e-mail. I insisted that he provide me a copy of both invoices before he left since he claimed that there was a problem with my e-mail and that is why I was not getting his invoices. I requested that he send the invoices to his helper (*******************) which was successful. His helper then successfully sent the invoices to me from his phone proving that there was no problem with my e-mail. It appears that he simply did not want to provide the invoices and legal terms for me to read and I made him do a workaround. His agreement also states: "This contractor is registered to do business in the state in which this work is performed. (see registration number on the front side of this contract)." THERE IS NO REGISTRATION, LICENSE NUMBER, ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER ON HIS INVOICE. During a conversation with Mr. M, he revealed that he was the owner of this Mr. Rooter franchise. I paid Mr. M the first payment with a personal check but the copy of the back image is not legible. However, I used a credit card to pay the $2100 invoice. Mr. M preferred a credit card so he did not have to wait 14 days for the check to clear. My credit card company posted the $2100 payment on June11 to " MR. ROOTER WESLEY *****************." I did a license search of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) web site for James M and there no record. I also searched for MR ROOTER OF WESLEY CHAPEL and again there was no record found. I also did a search of Sun Biz for Mr. Rooter Wesley Chapel and again found no records. I believe that I am a victim of fraud and dealt with a Mr. Rooter imposter. ******************************

  Business response

  08/19/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/06/16) */ Contact Name and Title: James E M Contact Phone: ********** Contact Email: ********************************* This customer Customer contacted Mr. Rooter of Wesley Chapel via phone call from Google customer customer wasStated he had an issue with a sewer call backing up into house he wanted to know what the price was the price was given to him over the phone to do a simple clear of sewer with a cable, He was also made aware the price may change it changed due to the fact if there is no clean outCustomer request that we come out was given a Documented "with pictures he signed he signed the agreement himself his self the call was fully recorded record it and can be used as proof that he was fully aware of the price after line was cleared Customer Was told there is a large root ball in line Partial of route came back with cable customer took the root Technician also may customer aware this will need to be repaired and will avoid his warranty Customer did not want to repair he States he will do himself what's the temperature changes it just. Customer call back on the 7th stating he believes his house rigetting he believes his house line is blocked again technician offered to return to reclaim line as a courtesy If customer said he wanted to try to put something down the toilet 1st because none of the other toilets are blocked just one It was also explained to him that if it is just a simple toilet clogged he will be charged he He called back and said don't worry about it it was already working But he wants to schedule to have the work done in the yard on Saturday the 11th He asked for pricing he was quoted initially $2000 he then also requested A new 4" clean out cap for front yard Be installed after pipe was exposed There was an additional charge due to the size of piping $100 He was present After the 1st hour and a 1/2 of the work was done to the completion He did not have an issue he did not state that he did not receive his invoice from the original job at completion that he signed for to be completed beforehand until after completion he is not using normal Google Internet for his search engine he is using duck duck go The email was sent to him 2 different times with him present his phone did not receive it it was sent to another party who was also present And then they were able to forward it to him we were present the entire time the job was not paid for until after every everything was completed he checked to make sure nothing was leaking he checked to make sure everything was up to par this is believed to be a racially driven issue he did not have an issue until he found out who I was The calls from him are recorded he he clearly knew what he was purchasing and signed for He did not look up sunbiz under fictitious names we are clearly listed Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/06/24) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) James M's BBB response was sent from e-mail gmail address and not a Mr. Rooter address or other business address. ********************@gmail.com . He responded that there was a large root ball in the line. He had no way to know the size of the root ball (his response to BBB claimed it was a "large" root ball which he never took a photo of or showed me the "large" root ball since he never did a "Video Inspect to determine cause and provide me sewer analysis "that was supposed to be performed as part of Task # ***** for $398.75 (1st Invoice). The only thing that was discovered was a small root clump that was expelled when he opened the clog I took a photo of the small clump. Since I was never provided the 1 st Invoice ****** dated 6/4/2022 advising me of the Warranty, I had no choice but to believe him that the pipe needed to be dug up. Instead of informing me of the Mr. Rooter warranty and complying with the Mr. Rooter warranty ("Purchaser understands that Mr. Rooter's liability under this warranty is limited to repair, replacement, recleaning or refund of the purchaser's money...."). he told me without a video or analysis that the sewer needed to be dug up but agreed that there no imminent problem and it was OK delaying this until winter with cooler weather. When the drain clogged the second time he never offered the "courtesy to reclaim the line" If he had I certainly would have taken him up on his offer. Instead he convinced me that the drain needed to be dug up and repaired instead of informing me of his recleaning and repair warranty. He had no basis for this recommendation since he never did a video or drain analysis which he charged me for on his 1 st Invoice. When he returned to dig up and repair the pipe on June 11, I took a photo of the pipe in the bottom of the hole that he had dug before the repair. The photo shows no damage or roots present. I had to leave for approximately 20 min. He told me that the roots were at the bottom of the pipe and never took a photo of the root or showed me the section of pipe that he removed, unlike his first visit which he gave me the root clump and I took a photo of it. Again he never e-mailed me an invoice of the first repair but insisted that he had sent it to my icloud e-mail address ******************. Every e-mail that I send goes to my sent box. If there is a problem with e-mail address, I receive a message to my inbox stating that the message delivery failed. Gmail works the same way he uses a non "Mr. Rooter" gmail address. When I insisted on having a copy of the 2 invoices, he sent them to his helper's gmail address ******************* from <******************************> at 1:19 PM on June 11 who readily received the invoices. The helper simply forwarded these e-mails to my icloud address which I received at 1:20 PM. This was the first time that I received a copy of the invoice for June 4 and also the new work on June 11. Instead of sending the e-mails directly to me this time, he sent them to his helper. The helper also stated that roots are not covered under warranty which is not true. The warranty does not exclude roots. My signature is on each invoice 3 times. Before he even started any work he had me sign his tablet 3 times without letting me read (or provide a copy) what I was signing. He simply kept telling me to sign here 3 times. These signatures show on both invoices. This web site ****************************************************************************** is Mr. Rooter from Kissimmee-St. Cloud which provides his 407 area code phone number and License #CFC ******* located in St. Cloud, FL 34771. Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Wesley Chapel (James M****) *************************************** lists the same Florida Plumbing license # on his company's web site. Mr. Rooter of Wesley Chapel also lists Plumbing Video Camera Inspection. ******************************************************************************* on his web site. Note that it states: "The advantage of a camera inspection is that we don't need to guess about the state of your pipes, nor do we have to dig them up before we give you a quote." Again James M charged me for "Video Inspect to determine cause and provide a sewer analysis. Discuss preventative maintenance options." He did not do this. The same page also states: "The advantage of a camera inspection is that we don't need to guess about the state of the pipes, nor do we have to dig them up before we give you a quote. Our licensed plumbers can have a clear look before beginning- allowing you to make informed decisions based on our accurate upfront pricing." The second clog may not have had anything to do with the small root clump that was found on June 4, 2022. It was easily unclogged on its own by flushing 2 other toilets in house. James M charged me for a video inspection and sewer analysis but never performed it. I was at his mercy to guess what the problem was and I was not allowed to make an informed decision without being provided a clear look. James M's 1st Invoice did not include any photos or copy of sewer analysis. The second invoice did provide one photo of the side of the house, one photo of the lawn with my shoe in it that shows the location he proposed to dig and another photo of the completed repair. He never took photos of the damaged pipe or alleged large root ball. He also never showed the pipe to me and let me keep it as he did on his first visit where he provided me the root clump and I took a photo of it. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/07/01) */ When job was completed initially, With recorded phone conversation customer was told what the cost of the job was before we arrived he also asked about a camera which was done as a courtesy and a location this is how the original job was completed was completed he is fully aware of this he also made both technicians aware that he was trying to take advantage of a secondary company who deal with his heating and cooling system at his house the day before he was gonna get his money back, There is no warranty concerning root mass in your line he was made aware of this is well we did not push the issue he contacted us back and requested To have a repair done and a clean out installed because he does not have one. Mr. Rooter does not have a warranty concerning concerning a route ball in your line no plumbing company is going to warranty A-line that is damaged Documentation is done by corporate not the owner This customer was contacted concerning his complaint he refused to talk to the company you cannot correct or fix an issue if there is not conversation by both parties there was no issue at all when the work was being done or at the completion of sad work until he found out the owner was in a minority then there was an issue. When he rescheduled job he was not present the 1st 2 hours we were on site There was a location and a camera done as well He was also made fully aware Of this At this point hes just trying to get something for free Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/07/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Response to James M's rebuttal of July 1. Mr. M makes references in his rebuttals to recording phone calls with one recording of my first call to Mr. M included with his 1st BBB response. This article ************************************************************************************** references the prohibition of private phone conversations in the State of Florida I NEVER gave my consent to Mr. M to record my call(s) as discussed in the article. Mr. M "claims" that I asked for the camera which is not true. I never discussed a camera at any time during either visit, because I never saw an invoice where he charged me for the service nor learned about the camera service until I visited his web site after the fact. He did not inform me that using the camera was included in the cost of his first visit. If indeed he used the camera, why didn't he show me the video so I could make an informed decision as claimed on his web site? He makes claims that I that I was trying to take advantage of secondary company who deals with my heating and cooling system. This is not true. I am a senior citizen, but still very cognitive of the difference between a heating and cooling business and the plumbing business. Once again he claims that there is no warranty concerning root mass. This is not true because the warranty on his web site does not exclude roots. It is not clear what he is trying to say but seems to imply that "corporate" makes the warranty but not the owner. Does he not represent Mr. Rooter" corporate" and its warranty as an owner? Again his response is contradictory/confusing claiming that he used the camera on the first visit as a courtesy (even though it was on his invoice). On the second visit he claimed that I was not present for the first 2 hours that he was on site. If that was true I would have missed him entirely because he was not on site for 2 hours total. He also claims that he used the camera on the second visit. If this was true, why did he not show me the video? He does know how to record phone calls. Certainly he would have made a video recording to show me. Once again, he also never showed me the clogged piece of pipe or even provide me a photo when he did take other photos. Mr. M's responses are all not acceptable.

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