ComplaintsforJ & S Plumbing, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  J&S Plumbing quoted me a price of $4600 for the entire job. I was having a bathroom remodeled. The charged me $6800 ($2200 on 9/18/23 and $4600 on 10/10/23 ). They left my basement in shambles. They disconnected the ground to the entire house, cut the wires to the house alarm and doorbells, left water dirty water stains running down the newly painted basement walls (they still aren't completely clean) , broken ceiling tiles, new basement floor scratched badly and a lot of dirt and cleanup that I needed to do and I had to pay someone else to have done. On top of that, they disconnected the water to my washing machine so I couldn't do laundry for two weeks. I had to take it elsewhere.

  

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  As funny as this will likely sound I just realized that this 2nd complaint is actually from a customer who wrote us a negative Yelp review late last October, shortly after we performed work at his home.  We were made aware of this review on October 20th, and I personally called Mr. ****** multiple times between the 20th and 24th in an effort to discuss his concerns directly.  On October 26th, after deciding we were unlikely to hear back from him, I posted our response to his negative review.  Apparently, I was a bit more on my game (in terms of response time) at that time.
   
  That said, I am simply attaching our response to this negative review from last year, because it actually covers all the necessary bases.  This man never told us he had any issue with the work we performed at the time of service, he just wrote a bad review.  We then responded immediately to his review, and he never reacted to our response.
  Apparently, he stewed over this for a few months, then chose to reach out to you.  Again, without ever contacting us.  This is very strange behavior.
   
  I apologize.  Had I paid more attention to the details of this complaint, initially, I could have sent our response much earlier.  Im sorry!

  Customer response

  02/29/2024

   
  Complaint: 21182953
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

   

  For Kaz to say that he didnt know I was not happy with their work is disingenuous at best, as his comments in his previously reply certainly show. 

   

  The first time I called was to voice my displeasure that they turned the water off to my washing machine without telling me, saying that they couldnt do anything until then unless they came out again, and charged additional amount, otherwise I would be without water for the two weeks. I was without water for two weeks. 

   I called a second time when I discovered the condition in which the basement was left, only to be told by *** that he would send out the same crew to survey the situation. When I told him that I didnt want those particular two employees in my house again, he said there was nothing he could do. After two unsuccessful calls, why would I have any reason to expect a third would produce a different result?

   

  Given the photos, and showing the amount and the severity of the damage, it strains the limits of credibility and credulity to suppose that someone would be happy with this work. Is this how they work on all customers projects? Of course not. So, it begs the question why this time on mine, and why defend their work and the employees, then blame and insult the customer?

   

  It is very unfortunate that employees like these can damage a previously good business relationship between a customer and a business.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* Palace

  

  Business response

  03/09/2024

  To Whom It May ****************** responded in great detail to this customers initial complaint, and we believe strongly that our response speaks for itself.  The initial complaint is highly inaccurate in almost every way, and if referred to again now, will clearly refute Mr. ******* claims.  Were not sure what more we can really add here.  What is most disappointing, is that this complaint is knowingly inaccurate and intentionally misleading.  In short, its dishonest.  We completed the project in question here on 10/10/23, and were surprised when made aware of a negative Yelp review approximately two weeks later. Once aware of this unflattering review, we made several attempts to contact Mr. ****** by phone, left multiple messages for him, and ultimately responded to his review a few days later when it became apparent he would not be returning our calls.
  Below is a copy of Mr. ******* negative Yelp review, officially posted on 10/25/23:
  The team that came out to repipe a bathroom I'm doing (I'll call them Bunman and *****) left my washer without a water supply for two weeks, cut wires to my house alarm, disconnected the ground to my entire house electrical system, cut the wire to the doorbell, and goodness knows to what else. Wires hanging in the basement, ceiling tiles not replaced, didn't sweep up after making a mess and exceeded their estimate by about 50%. Absolutely awful! I can't give this crew a low enough rating. They didn't even arrive in a J&S truck. It was a plain white van. This experience has been bery upsetting. To be fair, I've used J&S many times in the past and was quite happy with them. Something has definitely changed.
  You will notice that there is no mention of a badly scratched new basement floor in this review, because this didnt happen while we were here.  We believe there is a new linoleum floor in this basement, and it may have been scratched at some time during a lengthy renovation process, but certainly not by us. Had we scratched a floor while working in this home, we would have made our customer aware of this.  Had Mr. ****** found scratches on his floor that we did not make him aware of, he would certainly have pointed this out to us. He did not.  Several months after posting this Yelp review in an effort to hurt our reputation (while not answering any of our calls or being willing to communicate with us directly), he approached the BBB with a similar complaint and added some new details.
  
  In response to Mr. ******* rejection, and at the risk of being redundant, please note the following
  Mr. ****** being left without water to his washer for two weeks, was the direct result of a series of his own decisions.  First, he specifically instructed us to remove the plumbing wall in this area at the time we did, after we CLEARLY cautioned him against this action and told him what the result would be.  Second, it took Mr. ****** two weeks to build the wall needed to allow our return trip to restore plumbing to this washer,something we had no control over.  And third, we offered to rectify this matter but were told not to because an additional trip to do so would have generated an additional cost, and this was unacceptable to Mr. ******.  We are not aware of any phone call from Mr. ****** regarding the condition of his basement, and he definitely did not speak to *** about this. If a conversation like this had taken place, and our customer was not comfortable with having the same plumbers return to his home to survey the damages they were being accused of, we would simply have sent someone else to take pictures.  These pictures could then have been shown to **** and ****** in an effort to resolve this matter.  After looking over the photos that Mr. ****** has attached to his complaint, our only thought is that the accompanying characterizations are wholly disingenuous. It is our responsibility to clean up the mess WE make while working, and we did this each day.  We will clean OUR mess,but not someone elses.  We did not leave Mr. ******* basement in shambles as he suggested.  This simply isnt true.  We did not disconnect the main electrical ground to his home, as this is not something we would be comfortable doing.  We did have an old piece of low voltage wiring crack while we were attempting to move it out of our way while working on nearby piping, were made aware of this at the time, and repaired it properly before leaving for the day.  We know this cracked wire affected the security system (an issue that our repair resolved),but were never made aware of an issue with a doorbell.  We are not responsible for the stains shown in these photos, either to the ceiling tiles or the walls.  Were not certain, but they appear to originate from some kitchen drain piping in an area of the home we didnt work in.  Mr. ****** knows this, and its offensive that he would attempt to blame us for something he surely knows we have nothing to do with.     
  
  We bid a particular scope of plumbing work here. There were clear responsibilities for both parties.  Demolition was to have been performed by the homeowner (or someone else hired by the homeowner).  We arrived on Day 1 to find that this demolition had not been performed.  After some discussion with Mr. ******, we were instructed to begin demolition ourselves,and did so.  Much later in the day, we were told that the original party who was to have performed this demolition,will now finish it.  At this point, we switched gears again and began other work. These events were dictated by Mr. ******, not by us.  As a result, two things are true additional work was performed by our men, and further demolition work was performed by others.  This matters because additional work equals more time and greater expense, and demolition work performed by others is just one illustration of the fact that our scope of work was one component of a larger overall project. Scratched flooring doesnt mean flooring scratched by J & S Plumbing.  Had this occurred, we would have said so.  We spent three days on site here, and wrote an invoice each day. Luckily, we chose to utilize this level of documentation and all three of these invoices were signed by Mr. ******. If there are any questions, please read each of these invoices, as they will not only support the details of the facts weve presented they make it clear that Mr. ****** approved each step along the way, and that he was fully aware of the changes and additional work that he authorized.
  
  Ask yourself these questions
  If Mr. ****** really felt that we were responsible for stained ceiling tiles and walls (which would include determining the source of these stains and repairing the piping that caused them), along with badly scratching a new basement floorwhy were we not made aware of any of these serious matters while we were here?  Why would Mr. ****** have paid our invoices in full when this work was complete, if he believed we had caused this type of damage to his home?  He was home each day.  He signed an invoice each day.  And he assuredly inspected our work as it was performed.  Why did he leave a horrible Yelp review without contacting us first to discuss concerns of this nature?  Why would he not return any of our calls after we saw his negative Yelp review and attempted to address it?  And why would he submit a BBB complaint months later and add new details regarding additional damages, and STILL not reach out to our organization to discuss this directly?
  We can answer all of these questions with one simple and accurate statement
  BECAUSE WE ARENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CAUSING ANY OF THE AFOREMENTIONED DAMAGE.  Because the facts dont support his narrative.  Because Mr. ****** is hopeful that someone with less direct knowledge of the situation may see things otherwise, if not properly presented.  And sadly, because people are often willing to set aside the truth, if they believe it will benefit them.             
  
  
  Respectfully,
  J & S Plumbing

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  J & S Plumbing has been servicing Saint ***** Condominiums *** for many years. On June 30th of ********************************************************************************************** more details. On June 23, 2023 they were called for a standing water on the kitchen sink for Unit 1E @806 building. One of the crew members ****** suggested that the issue was not in the unit but in the main pipe that *** was responsible for, they came back on June 24th stating that they received permission to do the job, but not sure what method and from who. Based on the invoice received for the June 24th service, they are stating that they performed hydro jetting which costed us $1,800. Couple months after I happened to have a conversation with the unit owner, which stated that the issue in her place was never fixed. I called J & S Plumbing and asked if there was any warranty with their work- their answer was short confirming that there is no warranty on multi unit building. In December of 2023- we had another unit with plumbing issue along with unit 1E. This time, I knew better not to call J & S Plumbing, but got estimates from two other plumbing companies- when we explained to them - both of the companies had one statement in common- if a company was called for that kitchen sink- the pipe that J & S plumbing worked on has absolutely no relation. I mention ****** on this statement because- he is extremely persistent on getting people to commit to their services which are twice higher in price then their competitors. Hydro jetting main sewer- ****** suggested $3,000 we got it done for $1250. It seems to me that ***** sends ****** and he chooses to perform a more expensive service whether is needed or not. I am looking for $1,800 refund of the service that was suggested from J & S Plumbing with no relation to the problem they were called for.I don't think is fair to charge people for service they don't need just because the price tag is higher and real issue is not solved

  

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  see attachment

  Customer response

  02/18/2024

   
  Complaint: 21129723
  I am rejecting this response because:J&S Plumbing was not able to provide who approved their work to be done in our building and that HOA had to pay when the original call was initiated from one of our units ownerJ&S Plumbing called my comment that they double charge for their services laughable?Not nice I have attached screenshot of the invoice received from our current provider @$1,250 for the same service J&S Plumbing was pressuring us to get it done for $3000Another disagreement I have with their response is that they stated I called after six months, not true - I called couple months after the service and asked if their work had any warranty because we had same problem and I was laughed at on the phone- the response was - no warranty for multi unit building The reason , I called six months later was because all companies that I had coming out for estimates confirmed that if they were called for that units kitchen , no matter what they would never hydrojet the line that J&S Plumbing performed work in June 2023I felt, I needed to bring to their attention that what they had done was not rightLastly, I am a true believer that customers should be treated with respect and honesty because that is thanks to them and their loyalty businesses are able to fulfill their dreams and stay in business.I did mention to J&S Plumbing that I was going to post my experience in social media and make others awareMy social media review is very reasonable, all I have mentioned is for others to get second opinions in pricing and work that needs to be done I did made them aware that I was going to file a complaint with BBB Both statements are not extortion. J&S Plumbing outta look on social media because I was not alone when it came to being overpricedOwner stated that - his crew would never start work without approval but this time that they are being questioned from a customer- they cannot find records? This is unacceptable I hope that I have clarified that I remain firm on the reimbursement of the invoice of $1,800 HOA has not approved the work that was done in June 24,2023 and the provider is unable to provide any proof 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Migena Meta

  

  Business response

  03/07/2024

  To Whom It May ******************* work that we performed at this building (hydro jetting)was ABSOLUTELY necessary.  No discussion.  The main waste piping involved was completely packed solid with coagulated grease to the point that no amount of electric power rodding could have hoped to open this line and allow it to flow for any more than a very short period of time.  Making matters worse, the length of this run of common drain line is significant and picks up multiple units, thereby driving home the reality that this issue was an emergency which required immediate resolution.
  Our job notes, taken directly from our database for the work in question, are listed below.  These accurate details were provided to ******, in their entirety, at the beginning of our discussion.  They clearly illustrate the need for the work we performed, the details of what we encountered while performing this work, and the results we achieved in the process.  There simply is no argument regarding the validity of these facts.     
  SEE BELOW
  
  6/24/23 (Lupe/Beto/*****):
  MINI ********** UNIT 1E:  Kitchen sink drain is backed up again.  ****** was just here yesterday for the same thing.  He rodded, then told customer that a Mini Jet is necessary or they will back up again soon.  Work was approved, so we are returning today.
  
  ****'s crew rodded and opened this line.  Went out 50 feet.  Line popped and began draining, but needs to be Mini Jetted.  Work has been authorized.
  
  UPDATE 6/24/23, 9:45AM:
  Lupe didn't load the Mini ****** on his truck as instructed this morning, so we will need to return for it.  Luckily, this job is nearby.  He rodded and opened this line, yes, but it WILL NOT stay open.  So he is coming back to the Shop now, will pick up the Mini ****** and return immediately to perform the hydro jetting that our customer still needs and has authorized us to perform.  *** contacted the tenant,apologized, told her we will be returning shortly...
  
  UPDATE 6/24/23, 3:35PM:
  We picked up our hydro jet equipment, returned and spent the rest of the day rodding and Mini Jetting. We encountered significant resistance in this line, as expected... which is why we were here all day.  When we returned, we rodded with a 2" cutter a full 105', all the way to the Main.  We then rodded multiple additional times, ultimately getting a 3" cutter and finally a 4" cutter to go this same full distance.  After we completed this rodding, we hydro jetted with our Mini Jet the same full 105'+multiple times, then televised this section of sewer and determined its condition to be satisfactory.  This was a time consuming process, but we don't expect to have a backup of this same section of sewer anytime soon.  Line simply hadn't been maintained in a very long time and needed to be.  We will charge the same $1800 we quoted for this service today.
  
  
  ____________________________________________________________________________________________
  
  6/23/23 (******/*******/*****):
  UNIT 1E:  Backed up kitchen sink drain. 
  
  Tenant: ************ *******.
  Called in by ****** (board member).
  
  Rodded the kitchen line. Line is packed with grease and needs to be Mini Jetted.  Drain is open for now, but will back up again soon if not addressed.
  
  ____________________________________________________________________________________________
  
  That said, I very much wish that I had the name of the customers employee who contacted us and authorized us to address this emergency, but I do not.  However, as I told ******, there is NO WAY ON THIS EARTH that we would ever perform a service like this for a customer without authorization. Our notes clearly state that this work was authorized by Saint ***** ****************** but a name was not documented by my staff at the time.  As I stated previously, we appear to have received a phone call at night, asking us to return and address this matter in the morning, as the record was made by one of our second shift dispatchers at 10:07PM on June 23rd, 2023. ****** took over right around this time period, and would certainly have a ****** insight as to whom from her maintenance staff or management team may have made this call.  I do not.  However, it is common for maintenance staff from many of our customers to contact our employees or answering service directly during an emergency.  I do find it interesting that our invoice for this work was paid not long after the work was performed, but the idea that it somehow wasnt authorized came much later than that and only after ****** had attempted in numerous ways to gain a refund of our charges by insinuating that the work we performed wasnt necessary, was too expensive, etc.
  I have not seen the screenshot ****** has referenced regarding an invoice from another plumbing contractor, but I honestly dont see the point in arguing with her over the value of the services performed or discussing what we charge in relation to what other companies charge.  There are far too many variables involved,from time spent, to equipment used, to efficiency of service based on the experience level of the tradesmen involved, etc.  I am fully aware of the value of the methods we employ, and where we land on the cost spectrum.  I could illustrate very easily how much less expensive we are in relation to many of our competitors, and I could just as easily provide you with a list of smaller companies who charge a lesser rate.  We fall somewhere in the middle, generally lower middle, and pride ourselves on the quality of our work and how quickly we make ourselves available when truly needed.
  We have no record of a phone call a couple months after these services were performed, asking about a warranty, but a record would generally not be generated if an appointment wasnt set as a result of this call.  If this phone call had occurred,its true that there would not have been a warranty provided on the backup of a kitchen drain line.  This is an industry standard, and for good reason.  Plumbing contractors cannot be responsible for kitchen sink drains, common or otherwise,backing up after simple maintenance was provided.  We cannot be responsible for the condition of these lines, many of which are not regularly or properly maintained.  And we cannot be responsible for, or have any knowledge of, what people choose to put down these kitchen drains.  Had ****** called and explained that she believed this buildings common main waste trunk was backing up after recent hydro jetting, we would have responded to that situation by investigating it to verify that the line we hydro jetted a couple months previously did not develop a blockage.  If THIS had been the case,and it wasnt, some consideration would be given under these circumstances.  The trouble is, and Saint ***** ***************** is not alone in this, that buildings like these are very often not properly maintained and by the time things really get bad due to lack of maintenance, significant effort is required to bring this maintenance back in line or expensive repairs become necessary because maintenance will no longer suffice.
  When ****** states that other contractors she spoke with told her that they would never hydro jet anything when called out for a single kitchen line backing up, I completely agree. We responded to this call for service by rodding that single kitchen line, and nothing more.  However, after doing so we quickly realized that the single kitchen drain we had just rodded would not stay open because the larger drain that this small drain dumps into was COMPLETELY packed with hardened grease. If another contractor had rodded the same units kitchen drain and encountered the same problem we did they would have recommended the very same hydro jetting service that we performed, and they would have expressed the same urgency of providing this service immediately. Period.  And if these contractors that ****** had out for estimates were to have investigated this issue, they would likely have televised the common drain and discovered that it was wide open and clear.  The reason BECAUSE WE HYDRO JETTED IT, AND MADE IT THAT WAY !!
  At this point, I am exhausted from the effort of defending my companys actions in this matter.  In a professional sense, I have made it my policy to always conduct business in such a way as to sleep well at night and feel good about the decisions we make here and the policies we choose.  We dont lie or misrepresent ourselves.  And we dont take advantage of people.  My staff and I collectively spent quite a bit of time explaining, directly to ******, our actions in this matter.  In fact, we did this over and over again.  And I have taken a significant amount of time to respond to this BBB complaint in writing, as well I should.  The truth is,I believe ****** is trying to take advantage of us.  She knows this work was both necessary and urgent.  She knows the cost was reasonable.  And she most certainly should know by now that we solved the REAL problem that existed at the time of service.  During her inquiry, she became aware of the fact that we didnt document the name of the individual who authorized this work.  Our second shift dispatcher spoke to this individual, had one opportunity to ask their name, and either didnt ask or didnt write this information down.  ****** attempted to leverage this fact into a full refund of charges for urgent and absolutely necessary work, performed by three men and expensive equipment, over the course of a full day, charged at the very reasonable rate of $1800.  When she was denied this refund due to lack of merit, she complained to the BBB.  Im not sure what else I can add here.  As I said before, Im just not a fan of extortion.
  
  Respectfully,
  ******************; 

  Customer response

  03/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21129723
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The owner was not able to provide a name that approved / allowed them to come perform any service on our properties. All good businesses have records and should have them ready to provide in response to any complaints regardless of when they are asked. Name is the first thing you should have on file. Lengthy responses are unnecessary. I should not care to read their correspondence as to what equipment ****  forgot one day and they had to go back.
  Bottom line is that the customer should have the last say, whether they want to spend the money or not. 
  As President of Saint ***** Condominium it is my duty to protect and have best interests of our business 
  Since July 2023, I have saved our business 40% , doubled our reserves account and have budgeted for maintenance plans

  True, we had people in charge that J & S Plumbing has taken advantage for years

  J&S Plumbing should respond to the calls, assess the issue, provide an estimate and give their customers advise 

  All customers should take their time to make decisions on how to spend their hardworking earned money 

  It is not their place to say it was NECESSARY , all they need to do is let people know , not take control and manipulate to the point that  people simply fall in their trap. 
  I can come tonight because I leave for Mexico tomorrow and be gone for a month- is what ****** their senior plumber has told me twice in 2023- what a coincidence? one of the services he was pushing for was the $3000

  J & S Plumbing had our business marked as late payers on previous invoices- dont worry said ******, I am very close with the owner and I will convince him that you will be paying the invoices 
  Hence- thats why the invoice was paid, because I feel that you should pay bills on time and when I took over I made sure of that.

  All these findings developed later

  Voicing my opinion is my right, and it is very offensive to hear or describe my conversations as extortion. 
  I dont need the business to respond anymore, it is clear that they dont take any responsibility of their poor record keeping. 
  it is clear that they have no interest on issuing a refund 

  I will continue to raise awareness with my story.

  Sincerely,

  
  Migena Meta

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our hot water heater was having difficulty operating. This company was listed as a repair company. On their first visit they spent 45 minutes on hold with the water heater manufacturer only to realize they didnt have a remote to troubleshoot. They charged me $226. I was told this fee would cover the cost of the repair. I had to hire a different company to install a remote. They then returned to analyze and repair the issue but were unable to replace the regulator. I asked for a 50% refund as they were only able to identify the problem and not to repair. I also feel that I was overcharged as being a female unaware of costs. I would like a refund.

  

  Business response

  05/09/2022

  Good afternoon. 

  I was not able to find any information in our data base for this customer.   WE are located in a suburb outside of *******.  Her address is in *******.  Are they sure we did the work for them?  If so, please forward an address.   I am not aware of any remote needed for a water heater either. 

  Regards,

   

  Kaz

  Operations Manager

  J&S Plumbing ****

  370 *******.

  *****************, **. 60007

  ************.

*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. ↩