Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On October 3, 2024, Pipe Wrench Plumbing came out to my house ** **** ********* ******** ********** ** to unclog a bathroom sink drain for their advertised special price of $99. Their service technician attempted to snake the drain, but the pipe trap under the sink broke due to age. The technician said the job would require pipe repair and replacement and quoted me $1400 but that he could not guarantee that would fix the problem. He then suggested I agree to let his estimator come out for additional estimates to make proper repairs. I agreed, and that person came out and gave me two quotes of $4248 to repair the pipes for the sink only, or approximately $8000 to additionally include the bathtub and kitchen drain pipes. I agreed to the $4248 with a cash discount of $300. I anticipated from such a substantial estimate that the work would be extensive, but this was done the following day by their technician in only three hours time and with inexpensive PVC pipes, a labor rate of over $1200 per hour. Only later did I realize I was a victim of a bait-and-switch strategy, first, with a $99 offer, then with an inconclusive $1400 offer, and finally with a $3948 quote, which their staff actively promoted as the only solution to my immediate plumbing problem. Furthermore, although the sink now drains properly, the new pipes visible next to the sink were not cleaned up and are an eyesore. The promised escutcheon flange was neither installed as promised, to cover the hole in the floor. In conclusion, I am requesting a partial refund of $2548, which is the difference between the second and third quotes, and that their technician return to install the escutcheon flange and clean up the above-floor piping.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/16/2024

  I've attached the letter explaining our GM's response and collaboration with customer **** *********. This should explain everything. Is there anything additional that we need to provide? 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2024

  Pipe Wrench LLC refutes Mr. *********** claims of misdirection and what he calls bait and switch.  Mr. ********* was given all options upfront and agreed by signature to having the work done.  At any time during the initial visit and the second visit with the field supervisor, Mr. ********* could have refused to move forward with any of the estimates he was given and would have owed Pipe Wrench LLC no money.  Mr. ********* claims that the amount he agreed to and was charged was "outrageous by any standards." This is merely an opinion and does not take into account Pipe Wrench's costs of doing business, or pricing guidelines.  As the signed estimate shows, there was no agreement to any time or hours that would be spent on the job to complete the quoted work.  Pipe Wrench LLC fulfilled its part of the signed contract and in no way is responsible of refunding Mr. ********* any money, however, Pipe Wrench is willing to refund Mr. ********* $1280.76 as stated in our last response.  Pipe Wrench LLC is also willing to return to the residence and clean the exposed piping and install an escutcheon where the pipe penetrates the floor.   According to Mr. *********, he is not willing to budge on his desired amount of $2548.00 and will not allow Pipe Wrench to return to fix the work until he resolves the billing issue causing this complaint to remain unresolved. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/21/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22386478, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  Pipe Wrench Plumbing has offered to refund me $1280.76 and to return to the residence ** **** ********* **** ********** ** to clean up the bathroom sink plumbing. Once these have been done, I agree to promptly close out the complaint as resolved. My address for mailing the refund:

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

  125 Westlook Cir

  Oak Ridge, TN 37830

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Knoxville Utility Board (KUB) detected a potential leak in our rsidential outside water line near the meter. We hired American Leak Detection to pinpoint the leak, and they dug the entire hole that lead to the copper line where they located the leak. We hired Pipe Wrench Plumbing to repair the leak, and they charged about $1,200 for repairing the leak, and they then filled in the hole that was dug by American Leak Detection. The $1,200 also included a 5-year warranty for the repair. Pipe Wrench Plumbing conducted this repair on the afternoon of June 30, 2023. Although we cut the water line leading in the house, the meter still showed that water was running from the line, which the Pipe Wrench Plumbing technician described as simply "air in the line". On July 1, the very next day, KUB recorded an increase from an average of 233 gallons of water usage to an alarming 590 gallons. Although the weather was raining at the time, it was apparent that the leak was not only *not* repaired correectly, but in worse shape. We contacted Pipe Wrench Plumbing on July 7, after the holiday and rain, to report that their repair failed and the leak had increased. Pipe Wrench sent technicians to examine the leak on July 11, 2023. Although the technicians could not visibly inpect the pipe and their work, they claimed that the issue was new and not related to their previous repair at all. They have refused to honor the 5-year warranty that we had purchased for $1,200 on June 30, 2023. We attempted to escalate the issue to upper management of the company, and we were told that they would not speak to us. We have since contacted the Knoxville Utility Board to examine the issue and we have been forced to remedy the situation by consulting with other plumbing professionals at our own expense.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/16/2023

  After the customer hired a third party leak detection company to locate an underground leak, the customer called Pipe Wrench to repair the leak.  Customer was given options to replace or repair water line.  Our field supervisor strongly recommended replacing the water line after customer told our field supervisor that he has had multiple leaks in the past on the water line.  The customer declined the option to replace the water line and opted to repair the water line instead.  The customer called back on July 10th and stated that our repair did not work and there was still a leak. On July 11th, a crew went out and dug up the repair.  They documented that the current leak was further back in a new spot and photo documented that the previous repair was not leaking.  Our field supervisor contacted the customer and again gave the option to replace the water line.  The customer argued that it was our repair that was leaking and did not want to move forward with any new estimates.  Our field supervisor and crew on site advised the customer numerous times that it was not our repair that was leaking and did not fall under our warranted work.  Our field supervisor advised the customer that we would discount half of the previous work if the replacement option was accepted.  The customer still declined all estimates.  The customer advised our field supervisor that the credit card charge would be disputed and they would not be paying for any services that were rendered.  While Pipe Wrench maintained that the new leak was not part of the previous repair, Pipe Wrench did not dispute the reversed credit card charge which the customer was refunded in full.  Pipe Wrench has cleared any balance due with the customer and the customers account has been closed.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/20/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Spent $460 on a service call for a defective heat pump damper assembly, that was improperly diagnosed one year and five days prior to return service call. Second tech "Steve" agreed that the recommendation initially should have been to replace either the entire damper unit or actuator motor, rather than just pulling an inch of insulation from around the units top base assembly. My issue was spending $460 on a bandaid fix that lasted just over a year, rather than investing that cost initially if problem would have been properly diagnosed by first tech. It should be noted, that at no time during the original techs on scene time, did he provide me with either an estimate or accrual of charges and had to contact his field manager "Chris" to determine a bill amount, as he wasn't sure how to bill for services rendered. Second tech recommended contacting his field manager " Chris" to see if some sort of common ground could be reached regarding offsetting additional labor costs for replacing damper or actuator assembly, which second tech "Steve" stated to me and my wife, should have been the recommendation during initial service call. A call was placed to main office immediately after tech left, to which a customer service rep advised me he wasn't answering his phone but would leave a message for him to call me back by the following monday at latest, as call was placed on a friday afternoon. Several days passed with no return call and only after I posted a negative review on their site did I receive a texted response to my original post, to have me contact them rather than them contacting me. To date, I had to replace unit myself at a cost of $180. I belive at minimum, I should be reimbursed for the $180 I spent on the new damper/actuator assembly that I had to replace, rather that paying an additional $800 I was quoted on top of the already $460 I payed previously for the "bandaid" repair which was mis-dianosed by initial tech.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/16/2023

  I completely dropped the ball on reaching out to Mr. ******** regarding this matter, after having been given permission immediately to refund $180 to him. We completed the refund on 4/14/23, and the slow response is all on me. I just got off the phone with him, and he is a delightful man. Thanks so much, ***** ., Customer Satisfaction Specialist 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/17/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/23/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid for services from Pipe Wrench for work performed approximately 3 times over the course of April-May 2021. During the first visit the agent offered me some type of membership plan. I was not sure I wanted the plan; I was told to call the office and put my credit card on file to start the membership- which I never did. Last fall I called the office for a service call about a separate work order and the person I spoke to said I had a balance on my account for the membership plan. I told the person to cancel that- I did not want to the membership. Back in March of 2022, I received a call from Pipe Wrench from someone trying to collect on a supposed debt- you guessed it: the membership plan. She said I had to cancel in writing. I refused to pay and told the person what happened and told her to not contact me again or I was contacting the BBB but I did send a cancellation letter so that they had something in writing. Pipe Wrench has since referred this "debt" to a collections company that contacted me. My desired resolution is for Pipe Wrench to close my account with a $0 balance and for them nor anyone else representing them contact me again and for them to not do this to any other future customers.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/27/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2022/06/09) */ After receiving the customer complaint letter, we updated the collection status to Settled in Full on April 22, 2022. This account is now closed.