ComplaintsforBurgess Pump and Supply, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  had a brand new well and pump installed at my property on September 9, 2020 from MTK, Ink DBA Knie *************** in ********, *****. They installed a 4" encapsulated ******** submersible motor and stated it had a 5 year warranty on the pump, motor and tank. On July 18th 2024 my pump broke down completely leaving us with no running water at all. We were unable to reach Knie *************** to do an emergency diagnostic and repair but had Burgess Pump and Supply come next day and confirmed that the motor was defective so they replaced the motor along with some additional wire and pipe. They stated my motor was in fact under warranty and would send a refund check for $1,200.00 as soon as the manufacturer sent the replacement (or however they get paid back for the motor). I sent them proof of original purchase on July 24, 2024 after I found my original invoice and they stated the warranty would not be covered as the installer was not an authorized installer. I do not believe this to be the case because they originally knew the installer and his reputation around our valley. The installer never mentioned there is a possibility that our motor would not be covered. I had gone back and forth with ***** from Burgess and she stated on July 26, 2024 that the vender would only credit $314.60 for the warranty due to depreciation. I feel very misled and honestly robbed. I have purchased many items with warranty and have never in my life been told there is a depreciation involved. They forced me to pay the full balance upfront with a promise of a $1,200 credit to be mailed to me within the coming couple of weeks. They are also stating that my new pump will only be warranted for the remaining time of the old one even though they charged me for the new one at full value. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

  

  Business response

  08/12/2024

  ***************,
  
  Our office has gone over this with you several times yet we are not getting through so lets go over the facts once more.
      - Per your complaint to the Better Business Bureau, you had a pump system installed by Knie Pump and Drilling in September of 2020.  You submitted paperwork to us that was difficult (at best) to read but nonetheless, we could at least tell that you had a pump system installed by ****.
      - You were unable to reach Knie Pump because **** does very little, if any of their own warranty work.  This is not your concern as this is who you chose in 2020, but the fact is that we are not Knie Pump and we have not worked with you before.
      - You called us on July 18th and a job order was created on July 19th of which we responded the SAME DAY.  We determined you had a bad motor.
      - Our technician explained to you that the motor May be under warranty and that its warranty status was not guaranteed.  In our terms, we call that warranty consideration and we send the motor back to the manufacturers representative here in ******  He did not tell you that you would definitely be getting back anything much less $1200.  Here is the original technician notes Motor was bad and causing drive to fault on locked pump. Replaced motor and tested. Pump preforms within curve (Grundfos 35gpm 1.5hp) but was able to draw down and **** air at a depth of 60'. Lowered pump to 100' and tested.  Original well report from **** states the well produced 70gpm with static only drawing down 6' for an hour. Well is not preforming like the report states it should.  Pump produced 14.5 gpm at 31 psi after a 25 minute pump out. I opened the valve to pump out at 25 psi to see if it would **** air at a slightly higher flow rate. It will **** air if it is run out that far.  Motor to be sent in for warranty consideration...  Paid in full by check #****
      - On July 24th, your husband?, *****, called and was concerned about the warranty status as the pump was running when it was replaced however, it was causing the drive to fault.  We told him we would have to wait for the warranty determination to come back.
      - On July 29th, we were refunded by our vendor for the cost of the motor in 2020.  They gave us, Burgess Pump, credit for the cost of the motor in 2020 dollars.  This was NOT an admission of warranty by the manufacturer, but rather a goodwill credit from our vendor.  The manufacturer of your old motor, Grundfos, does not recognize Knie Pump as being a Pro Dealer so he is not eligible for a 5 year warranty in the first place.  He is only allowed to provide a 2 year warranty and this motor is well past that.
      - Since we could not determine the exact amount you paid for the motor in 2020, we looked up the list price of your motor in 2020, which was $742 added tax to that and determined the full value of the motor is $786.52.  In 2020, things were much less expensive than they are now.
      - Had you originally purchased your pump system from Burgess Pump in 2020, we would have given you a full credit for the motor you purchased in 2020, however, you purchased the system from another company.  At that point, we did not have to give you anything, nor even send in your motor in for warranty credit as we were not the original installer and the original installer you chose at the time was only eligible for a 2 year warranty.
      - Your refund was based on a pro-ration of your old motors value of $786.52.  We are only doing this BECAUSE we received a goodwill credit from our vendor (we are a very upstanding contractor both with our customers and vendors), not because you deserve any warranty credit whatsoever.  If the motor failed in the first year, it would have been 100%, year 1 - 2 80%, year 2 - 3 60%, year 3 4 40% and finally years 4 5 20%.  ********** failed within years 3 4 so 40% x $786.52 = $314.60.  That is the refund we are generously giving you back.  This is more than we received in credit from our vendor and is the fairest calculation to use for these sorts of issues with warranties from other contractors.  It is always better to have the contractor who performed the work, deal with the warranty, but in this case, you did yourself a favor.  Your refund was in the process of being finalized and mailed until this matter came up and it is now on hold until we resolve this issue.  We are still willing to give you back this refund if you are ok with this further explanation.
      - The accusation of being forced to pay is also very misleading and incorrect.  We provide a service, much like any other service company.  If you approve the work, we expect payment once the job is complete.  In a similar example, If you take your vehicle in to get it serviced, you have to pay the bill when you pick up your car.  We explained to you the process prior to doing the work.  Our technicians are trained to do so.
      - The misconception here is that you were under a 5 year warranty in the first place.  This would have been true had you used and authorized Grundfos Pro Dealer in 2020, however, you did not.
      - Since your motor failed but your pump did not, you have a 1 year warranty on the replacement of either the pump or motor as a separate unit.  If we had replaced both, you would have had a new 5 year warranty.  We are extending the 12 month warranty, for your benefit to 13 months instead of 12 months just to coincide with your pumps warranty expiration.  This is for YOUR benefit, not ours.  This warranty will end on the 5 year date of your original pump purchase in September of 2020.
  
  Thank You,
  
  ***************************
  Burgess Pump and Supply

  Customer response

  08/12/2024

   
  Complaint: 22094894
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  The information in this response is not accurate. 
  We had confirmation 3 times on the day of the install by the installer that we would in fact get a $1,200 refund once the warranty was processed. Initially my husband was told our bill was going to be $1,700 and will get a refund of $1,200 for the pump. He came to me and asked me to go talk to the installer directly so he wasnt relaying misinformation as I am the one who handles our family finances. I spoke with the installer and got the same exact answer that we would pay upfront but would get a $1,200 check mailed to us once the warranty was processed. The pump was replaced and was still not working so he stated he would need to add sticks for length and the cost would go up $75/stick plus the wire but the refund would still remain for the pump. 
  Once the repair was done and the payment was requested I asked for an invoice but was told that the office would email a copy of the invoice which would show the $1,200 credit to be given once processed. I had him assure these facts prior to writing the check and post dated the check to give the office time to get that emailed to me for my records. Once I received the invoice, there was no details on how much any line item cost or how much the refund would be, just the full invoice balance. I had requested an itemized breakdown once told the refund would only be $300 and had to follow up multiple times as they stated it was against their policy to show clients how much they were paying per line item. Once I did get the breakdown, it showed I was charged $1,250 for the motor which confirms what the installer had stated as far as the refund goes. 
  
  They are claiming the manufacturer prorates the refund based on current market value as well as usage time while under warranty but this is false information. I have attached the response from the manufacturer which states they do not nor have they ever heard of such thing. Warranted items are always swapped out regardless of price increases since the date originally purchased and they never charge for the percentage of warranty life remaining. 
  

  This is bad business and I will be escalating this matter if we do not receive the full refund of $1,200 as promised for the pump which was covered under warranty and confirmed so directly through the manufacturer. I have several more attachments to prove my case but was limited to 5 as thats the max amount allowed for this response. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  

  Business response

  08/21/2024

  ****************,
  
  In response to your rebuttal, we can only surmise what is in fact true and accurate here so lets go over what has happened.
  
  A.   You originally had a well pump installed by Knie Pump and Drilling in September of 2020.  That well pump was manufactured by Grundfos.  This is stated on your invoice and was in fact what we pulled out of your well system.  ** pulled out 2 pieces, a pump which is attached to a motor.
  ** replaced you motor with a new motor manufactured by ******** ********* a different manufacturer.  ** stock ******** motors on our shelf and they are completely interchangeable with Grundfos pump ends.  Your Grundfos pump end was not replaced.

  B.    Knie Pump and Drilling is NOT an authorized Grundfos Water Pro Dealer, therefore the maximum warranty that he could have provided in 2020 was 24 months or 2 years on all Grundfos equipment installed.  At the time of the service, the technician was unaware of that and therefore replaced your motor under Warranty Consideration which means you will have to pay for it until the Manufacturers representative can look at the product and determine if the product failed due to a manufacturing issue.

  C.    ** submitted the motor to our vendor for warranty consideration and were DENIED because the motor was not able to be warranted due to the original installers relationship with Grundfos and that he was not authorized to give you a 5 year warranty in the first place.

  D.    Our vendor gave us a courtesy credit as we rarely buy Grundfos pumps and motors.  I am attaching a copy of the credit we received stating that our distributor is giving us a credit for a motor in 2020 pricing even though they DO NOT show us even purchasing a motor during that entire year from them.  They are the distributor here in ***** for Grundfos.  They pro-rated our cost of the motor due to its age and the fact that we didnt buy it from them.  **, in turn, pro-rated the list price, which would have been the sale price of that motor in 2020 to you. ** are giving you MORE than we received.  ** cannot determine what Knie Pump sold it to you for.

  E.    Everything you are stating is not corroborated other than with verbal words.  ** obviously have all the emails and no where do any of them state that you are definitely getting a check back for anything other than the $314.60.  Once we gave you a broken down version of your billing, you began to claim you expected $1205 which is what our invoice stated.  Our invoice is for a FRANKLIN ****** not a GRUNDFOS.

  F.    You are still under the impression that your motor was even under warranty in the first place.  It was not. It was not installed by a Grundfos Water Pro Dealer.  Burgess Pump is a Water Pro Dealer, but Knie Pump is not and therefore your warranty became null and void 24 months after its installation.  **** probably didnt tell you that.

  G.    Our Distributor did not have to give us credit for anything because no credit was due, yet they did because of our reputation as an upstanding contractor.  ** received a courtesy credit because we had not purchased a ************** in the entire year of 2020.  ** passed that along to you.  Had you waited for Knie Pump to call you back and deal with your situation, you would have been without water for sometime.
  
  ****************,  to make you WHOLE, I am offering to give you 100% of the value of the motor you paid for in 2020 which is $747.  To prove this, I am attaching the price list from Grundfos effective December 18th of 2020 with your motor highlighted in yellow. Your motor likely was even less than that but I do not have the price books any longer for that time frame.  Manufacturers were increasing prices steeply back then due to Covid and the supply chain issues.  ** can only surmise what Knie Pump charged you for the ****** but a full list price credit is more than likely what it was so we are offering you a great deal here.

  ** will only warrant the currently new ******** motor for 1 year because it is married to a 4+ year old Grundfos pump which is tied to an original installation by *************.  ** reserve that right due to the your situation having a non-authorized installers pump system. Should you want an entire new pump system put in, we would provide you with a 5 year warranty as we ARE an authorized agent of ******** and/or Grundfos.

  Should this be satifactory to you, the BBB will notify us and we will release a check for $747 within 15 days.  Should you not accept this, we can keep fighting about it and get nowhere.  This is VERY fair and we urge you to accept it.

  Thank You

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

  Owner / Managing Member

  Customer response

  09/05/2024

   
  Complaint: 22094894
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  At no point during the diagnostic or repair was it ever mentioned to us that they were installing a different pump other than the one that was covered under warranty. 

  The email I received from ***** states that they were waiting to hear from the pump manufacturer ********** about warranty coverage and never mentioned anything about the other distributor. If in fact they work with both brands, they would have replaced exactly what was already installed which is a whole different matter that should have been addressed. If in fact they installed a completely different motor, the warranty would restart from the date purchased and not continue from a completely different manufacturer. 

  I have also attached the response from ******** that states we should have never been asked to pay for the pump upfront. 

  The proof is clear that we were told exactly what our warranty refund would be by mouth because nowhere on the invoice or via email did Burgess give a cost breakdown until after I asked about the $1,200 I was promised. When I asked for an itemized list of charges, I was in fact charged $1,205 for the pump. How would I know the cost if I wasn't promised that refund from the start? 

  I am requesting the full pump cost of $1,205 which I pre paid and was promised a refund of the full purchase price as it was covered under warranty for another 14month after replacement date.

  I will be submitting a claim through canyon county courts if this is not resolved by October 1st, 2024. Idaho law requires LLC's to be represented by legal counsel which will cost much more than the fair amount I am requesting as promised. This is unethical and bad business. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

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